He Is Risen! Considering the Witnesses

Recently I've been working on a doctoral level course through Charity Baptist Bible Institute called "Messianic Prophecies." The textbook for the course is Hebert Lockyer's All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible. There are several questions I must be prepared to answer in order to pass the course, and one of the most interesting (to me) has been the following:

Describe the witnesses to Christ’s resurrection.

I have considered the numbers of witnesses (over 500 according to I Corinthians 15:6) and circumstances under which they witnessed the resurrected Christ (at the tomb, in the midst, by the sea shore, on the road to Damascus, etc), but I have never stopped to describe these witnesses - in other words, I've never paused to think about the character of these men and women.

In preparing myself for the final examination, I composed this brief set of paragraphs, which I thought would be of value to share. My hope is that it will present you with another facet to observe in the crown jewel of Scripture: the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

The Witnesses to Christ's Resurrection

The witnesses to Christ’s resurrection were an unlikely bunch. It is also worth noting that they were far more in number than necessary under any system of law - Jew or Gentile - for veracity. Perhaps more importantly, not a single witness had any expectation whatsoever regarding Christ’s resurrection, which is important because it means none had any motive to invent fanciful notions, or to “see” what he or she wished to see against reality. In fact, Scripture provides evidence that these witnesses’ expectation was for Christ to remain in the grave (for example, John 20:15), and even after it had been reported that He was alive they had difficulty believing it (for example, Luke 24: 18-26). Not only did these witnesses have no expectations to color their perception, but they also had no reason to proclaim it in public so boldly - unless it was true! Wicked men, who had days before attempted to execute Christ, now had to contend not only with His empty grave, but also with witnesses who were so convinced of His resurrection that neither threats, nor imprisonment, nor beatings, nor execution would deter them.

Perhaps the greatest witnesses to the resurrection, however, was the one who not only had no reason to expect it, but every reason to refute it. Saul of Tarsus - the champion of the the Jewish tradition and an enemy of Christ - was so affected by the rumors of the resurrection that he became the early church’s chief executioner. However, after the encounter on the road to Damascus, this same man was so convinced of Christ’s resurrection (and subsequently His identity) that he not only abandoned his violent crusade, but became the one of whom it was said “he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed” (Galatians 1:23). Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle, arguably the boldest and most dedicated witness of Christ’s resurrection the world has ever seen.

These witnesses are - by God’s design - an unlikely bunch: within their ranks were outcasts, fisherman, common folk, and even enemies. Their lack of expectation followed by their willingness to suffer work in chorus to provide an undeniable testimony of the truth: Christ is risen!