Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Saturday of Judica (Lent V)

Saturday of Judica (Lent V)

Daily Lectionary Readings: Exodus 7:1-25; Mark 16:1-20; (Sirach 32)

Mark 16:1-20 [1] When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. [2] And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. [3] And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” [4] And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. [5] And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. [6] And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” [8] And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

[[Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9–20.]]

[9] [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. [10] She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. [11] But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

[12] After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. [13] And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

[14] Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. [15] And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. [16] Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. [17] And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; [18] they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

[19] So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. [20] And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]

Our meditation today is a section from my Christian Apologetics study guide, where we learn how to refute the many theories proposed by skeptics in an attempt to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Didn't Die The Swoon Theory

The swoon theory claims Jesus fainted on the cross, was believed dead, and was revived in the coolness of the stone tomb. There are a vast number of problems with this.

• Jesus COULD NOT have survived the crucifixion

◦ Our word in English, “excruciating,” comes from the Latin words ex crucis, "from the cross," which indicates the brutality of this method of execution.

◦ Romans did not invent crucifixion, but they did perfect it. Roman execution squads were legendary, and they were very, very good at their jobs.

◦ The Roman procedures for crucifixion were carefully followed to eliminate any possibility of survival.

◦ There is an account of someone surviving crucifixion, and the exception proves the rule. Four men were crucified, and a reprieve was given. They were removed from their crosses and given the best care possible. Three of the four died anyway from the procedure.

◦ Any Roman soldier who allowed a prisoner to escape in any way, including a bungled execution, would be executed himself. Allowing escape was never done.

◦ Furthermore, Jesus had been scourged before His crucifixion. Historical accounts of the methods, tools, and results of a Roman scourging are graphic. Many of the condemned died from their scourging and never even made it to their cross. Depictions of Jesus' scourging in movies such as The Passion of the Christ do not even come remotely close to how bad the reality was. The flesh was flayed open to the bone, and frequently internal organs were exposed. We know Jesus' scourging was severe because He was only on the cross for six hours before He died. Crucifixions could last for days.

• Jesus' legs were not broken.

◦ Jewish law would not allow bodies to remain on the cross through the Sabbath; therefore, they had to be taken down before sunset. The legs were broken to hasten death - because of the position of the body on the cross, one had to push his body up with his legs to draw breath. Broken legs mean a speedy suffocation. Jesus' legs were not broken because He was found to already be dead.

• John recorded that he saw blood and water flow when the centurion pierced Jesus' side with a spear.

◦ Jesus' side was pierced by a spear as a double-check to ensure He was dead. This wasn't a poke to see if He twitched - the spear pierced the lung, pericardial sack, and His heart, hence the flow of blood and water. Water collects in the lungs when the crucifixion victim succumbs to asphyxiation and hypovolemic shock, which is the actual cause of death. Jesus drowned in His own fluids. The Roman execution squad left absolutely nothing to chance.

• Jesus' body was encased in the traditional linen wrappings per Jewish tradition and burial laws. This is only performed on a dead body.

• Jesus' post-resurrection appearances convinced the disciples that He had risen from the dead.

◦ We see from the Gospel accounts how doubtful and cowardly the Apostles were. They were far too fickle to believe Jesus had died and risen from the dead if Jesus had merely passed out on the cross, awakened in the tomb, and staggered sickly and half-dead to where the disciples were gathered. They certainly would not have worshiped Him as Lord and the conqueror of death!

• How could a half-dead Jesus overcome the guard placed at the tomb?

◦ Even if it were possible that Jesus survived the crucifixion, there is no way possible for a scourged and crucified man to overcome a detachment of Roman soldiers - the best trained, equipped, and skilled military force in the world for hundreds of years, set to guard His tomb.

• How could a half-dead Jesus remove the stone sealing the tomb?

◦ Furthermore, the stones used to seal hewn stone tombs in first-century Palestine would be impossible for a half-dead man to move from inside the tomb. The stones sealed the tomb to protect the bodies from animal scavengers, and archaeological evidence shows that these stones may have weighed two tons or more.

◦ If the disciples had done it, they, too, would have had to have overcome the guard detachment. This also makes the Apostles liars, and we have moved into the conspiracy theory, which we will refute next.

◦ Neither the Jews nor the Romans would have moved the stone. The Romans would ensure the tomb remained sealed to stave off a Jewish revolt. The Jews had the stone sealed in the first place to prevent any tampering to avoid any claims to a resurrection.

◦ Again, the Roman guards would have been executed for letting the body of Jesus "escape."

◦ The "guards fell asleep" story the Jewish authorities spread is not believable for the outlined reasons above. Even if they had fallen asleep, the people, noise, and effort of moving the stone would have awakened them. Here we move into the territory of the conspiracy theory once again.

• If Jesus awoke from a swoon, where did He go?

◦ Consider, now you have a live body to hide rather than a dead one. Why did it disappear? There is no evidence for this, not even false claims, near the time of the crucifixion nor at any time after. No records at all. As infamous as Jesus was, He would have left some traces.

Conclusion: The swoon scenario is not plausible based on our knowledge of Roman History and modern medicine. The swoon theory must logically turn into either the conspiracy theory or the myth theory: The disciples either covered it all up, or they were lied to because they recorded that Jesus really died and rose again.

The Apostles Were Deceivers: The Conspiracy Theory

Why Could the Apostles Not Have Made the Whole Thing Up?

Seven Arguments against conspiracy

• Blaise Pascal gives the simplest, psychologically sound argument:

◦ Jesus was able to sustain the disciples while He was alive.

◦ Who could do so after He was dead?

◦ The human heart is too susceptible to fickleness, bribery, and self-preservation.

◦ All of them working together and keeping their stories straight is beyond improbable. Besides, they would have had to take on the whole establishment, both Jewish and Roman.

◦ It would take only one dissenter to make the whole thing come unraveled under the threat of imprisonment, torture, and death.

• It is a historical fact that no one, weak or strong, saint or sinner, Christian or heretic, ever confessed to fabricating the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not of their own free will, nor under torture, the threat of death, or promise of bribe. Even when men broke under torture, denied Christ as their Lord, and worshiped Caesar, not a single one ever admitted to partaking in a conspiracy. Not one let the cat out of the bag because the cat was never in the bag in the first place.

• If the resurrection was a made-up story, that would make this simple group of Middle-Eastern Jewish peasants the most clever, intelligent, not to mention best-selling, authors of fiction of all time!

• Finally, while a man may die for something he believes is true, he will not die for something he knows to be a lie. Eleven of the twelve Apostles were martyred for their faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• Read your Gospels - look at the behavior of the Apostles. They were fearful, despairing, frequently stupid, and cowardly. Suddenly, they were transformed by some event that gave them confidence, steadfastness, boldness in the face of hostility and persecution, and certainty. This proves their sincerity and testifies to a potent cause of this transformation. That is the power of faith in Christ crucified and raised for their salvation. In a hostile environment, people flocked to the Christian faith, which blossomed in an atmosphere of persecution.

• There can be no conspiracy without motive. The Apostles had none. The was no advantage and nothing to be gained by spinning the lies of a resurrected Christ. What did they acquire for their trouble? They were hated, scorned, persecuted, excommunicated, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, crucified, boiled alive, roasted, beheaded, skinned alive, disemboweled, and fed to wild animals. Not a prime motivation to spread a conspiracy theory.

• If the resurrection was a lie, the Jews would have produced the body of Jesus and ended all arguments. Rome was on the side of the Jews, not the Christians. And if the Jews couldn't retrieve the body because the disciples stole it? See the arguments against the swoon theory.

• The disciples could not have gotten away with such a conspiracy in Jerusalem at the same time and location of the crucifixion in an area full of eyewitnesses. They were able to proclaim the resurrection in Jerusalem in the faces of their enemies only weeks after Good Friday. This demonstrates that what they claimed was the truth because they could never have preached thus and been believed under such circumstances, was it not.

• If there had been a conspiracy, the disciples' enemies would have uncovered it. They had the interest, motivation, and power to do so, both religious and political. History shows, again and again, that such conspiracies are eventually exposed.

The Apostles Were Deceived:

The Hallucination Theory

• There were too many witnesses. Hallucinations are private. The witnesses were alive for a long time and could be interviewed, as per Paul (1 Cor. 15:3-8). Modern science and psychology deny that mass hallucinations can occur (not to be confused with mass hysteria).

• The witnesses were qualified to do so: Simple, honest, moral people with firsthand evidence.

• The five-hundred saw Jesus together at the same time and location, not five-hundred separate delusional "experiences."

• Hallucinations last seconds or minutes, rarely for hours. Per Acts 1:3, this supposed hallucination stayed around for forty days!

• Hallucinations usually only occur once, except for mental illness. This one repeatedly appeared to ordinary people (Jn.20:19-21:14; Acts 1:3).

• Hallucinations come from the mind built on what is already stored in our brains. Unlike a dream, this one said and did surprising and unexpected things (Acts 1:4,9).

• Jesus's reappearance was unexpected - they didn't believe it at first. They thought He was a ghost. Jesus had to eat in front of them to prove He wasn't (Lk.24:36-43).

• Hallucinations don't eat. Jesus did this at least twice after Easter (Lk.24:42-43; Jn.21:1-14).

• The disciples touched Him (Mt.28:9; Lk. 24:39; Jn. 20:27).

• They spoke with Jesus, and He spoke back. Hallucinations don't hold deep conversations for extended periods, let alone to at least eleven people at once over a period of forty days.

• The apostles could not have believed in the hallucination if Jesus' body was still in the tomb.

• If the apostles had hallucinated and spread their story, the Jews would have put a stop to it by producing Jesus' body! (Unless the disciples stole the body, which takes us back to the conspiracy theory).

• A hallucination would only explain the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. It would not explain the empty tomb, the rolled-away stone, or the inability to produce the body.

The Apostles Made the Whole Thing Up:

The Myth Theory

• The literary style of the Gospels is entirely different than that of myth. Myths contain overblown, spectacular, childish, and exaggerated events. Everything in the Gospels fits neatly together meaningfully.

• Psychological depth is at a maximum. In myth, it is at a minimum. Biblical characters have a great depth of character, especially Christ. Myths have shallow character depth and development because too many personal details would detract from the extraordinary adventures of the narrative.

• Myths are verbose. The Gospels are laconic (concise). The Gospels use an incredible economy of words.

• Myths do not contain tiny details that are not important to telling the story. The Bible is full of these small details which have no bearing on the narrative. This is the hallmark of eyewitness accounts. If the Gospels were invented, the evangelists would have single-handedly created the literary genre of realistic fantasy (like The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings) about 1,900 years early.

• Compare the Gospels to popular mythical writings of about the same era, like the "Gospel of Peter." The difference in style is plain to see.\

• As we've learned, the Gospels were written within a generation or so of the eyewitnesses, many of whom were still alive at the time of their writing. Not enough time had passed for a myth of Jesus to develop and supersede the facts, which then must fall out of collective memory.

• The New Testament writers distinctly disavow that what they have written is myth (2 Peter 1:16).

• Writers of a resurrection fiction, wanting to be believed, would not have had women be the first eyewitnesses to the empty tomb.

Conclusion:

Jesus actually died and actually rose from the dead, just as the Bible tells us: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16 (ESV)