Search Our SitesA fact of history that has stumped historians, psychologists, and skeptics alike is the disciples’ behavior after Jesus’ death. That these eleven former cowards were suddenly willing to suffer humiliation, torture, and death is a dramatic turnaround. All but one of Jesus’ disciples were slain as martyrs. Would they have done so much for a lie, knowing they had taken the body?
The terrorists on September 11 proved that some will die for a false cause they believe in. Yet to be a willing martyr for a known lie is insanity. As Paul Little wrote, “Men will die for what they believe to be true, though it may actually be false. They do not, however, die for what they know is a lie.”[1] Jesus’ disciples behaved in a manner consistent with a genuine belief that their leader was alive.
No one has adequately explained why the disciples would have been willing to die for a known lie. But even if they all conspired to lie about Jesus’ resurrection, how could they have kept the conspiracy going for decades without at least one of them selling out for money or position? Moreland wrote, “Those who lie for personal gain do not stick together very long, especially when hardship decreases the benefits.”[2]
Chuck Colson, implicated in the Watergate scandal during President Nixon’s administration, pointed out the difficulty of several people maintaining a lie for an extended period of time.
“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, and then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world – and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”[3]
Something happened that changed everything for these men and women. English journalist Dr. Frank Morison acknowledged, “Whoever comes to this problem has sooner or later to confront a fact that cannot be explained away … This fact is that … a profound conviction came to the little group of people – a change that attests to the fact that Jesus had risen from the grave.”[4]
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[1] Paul Little, Know Why You Believe (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1967), 44. [2] J. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2000), 172. [3] Charles Colson, “The Paradox of Power,” Power to Change, www.powertochange.ie/changed/index_Leaders. [4] Frank Morison, Who Moved the Stone? (Grand Rapids, MI: Lamplighter, 1958), 104.
The above post is an excerpt from “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?”. Click here to read the entire article.
