For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1Corinthians15:3-8
The Resurrection is of "first importance." It is our reassurance that Christ was victorious, that His sacrifice was sufficient and that we have the hope of eternal life.
Paul makes a list of the witnesses of the resurrection. I don't think this is an exhaustive list, but rather a representative one. Paul, by this list, is showing that the resurrection has significance for all of us, no matter what we have done or where we have been.
Let's go through the list briefly:
1:Peter - Disciple, close to Jesus, denied Jesus after promising to stay faithful. Fled the scene weeping bitterly. Found it hard to forgive himself. Jesus specially appeared to him twice.
2:The twelve - His followers, those who had journeyed with Him for three years. They had run away and were very frightened.
3:Five hundred brothers at the same time - we don't have any additional detail about this, but the point is that it is hard to get 500 people to fabricate a false resurrection story. This appearance provides concrete proof the that the resurrection actually happened and although we can't interview the 500, Paul's implication is that the Corinthians could have verified it if they wanted to.
4:James the half-brother of Jesus (See eDev#05) had misunderstood and resisted Jesus, but after the cross and the resurrection, he became the leader of the church.
5:"All the apostles" was probably the group that gathered on the Mount of Olives for Jesus' ascension and they represent the church.
6:The appearance to Paul is interesting because it is a visionary appearance rather than a physical one and it takes place after the ascension and really implies that Christ appears to all of us.
So there are six in the list: those who have failed, those who are frightened, a big crowd that proves it true, those who misunderstood, the church and finally Paul who didn't meet Jesus physically but spiritually.
And by implication you and I are seventh in the list - He appears to us by faith.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
