The New Testament gospels are anonymous. The shortest gospel
is attributed to Mark, a colleague of Paul. The earliest version of this gospel
reports that Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Salome (another
follower of Jesus), come to the tomb, find the stone rolled away, and are told
by a young man in a white robe that Jesus "has been raised" and gone
to Galilee, where he will meet them. The gospel ends by saying the women
"fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they
said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." (Mk. 16:1-8)
In the gospel attributed to the disciple Matthew, an
earthquake opens the tomb and an angel delivers to the two Marys, who come to
the tomb, the same message as in the gospel of Mark. When the two women run to
tell the disciples, Jesus appears and speaks to them, and the gospel says:
"they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him." After
the women tell the disciples what they have witnessed, the eleven disciples go
to Galilee, see Jesus, and worship him. But, the gospel adds, "some
doubted." (Mt. 28:17)
The gospel attributed to Paul’s colleague Luke says two men
in dazzling clothes tell the two Marys and Joanna (another follower of Jesus),
that he has been raised from the dead. Jesus doesn't appear to the women, but
does appear to two other followers and to Peter, before appearing to some of
his disciples in Jerusalem. He says: "Look at my hands and my feet, see
that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and
bones as you see that I have." (Lk. 24:39) This gospel says Jesus eats a
piece of fish, tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem, blesses them, and then
is lifted up into heaven. (Lk. 24)
In the gospel attributed to the disciple John, Mary
Magdalene comes alone to the tomb and finds the stone rolled away. Jesus
appears to her and says, "Do not hold me, because I have not yet ascended
to the Father." He gives her this message for his disciples: "I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." The
gospel of John also says the disciple Thomas doubts the resurrection, until
Jesus appears to him by the Sea of Galilee and eats fish with him and several
other disciples. (Jn. 20-21)
Paul’s resurrection account differs with all of
the gospel stories. Paul tells the Christians at Corinth: "I handed on to
you . . . what I in turn had received [from the disciples] that Christ appeared
to Peter, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred
brothers and sisters at one time. . . . Then he appeared to James [the brother
of Jesus, who became the leader of the church in Jerusalem], then to all the
apostles. Last of all . . . he appeared also to me." (1 Cor. 15:3-8)
As Paul is writing in the 50s and the gospel authors wrote
after the Jewish revolt that begins in 66, Paul’s resurrection account is
earlier. Moreover, Paul seems unaware of stories about Jesus appearing to women
at an empty tomb or eating with his disciples.
Paul is, however, aware that some Christians doubt in the
resurrection, for he writes to the Corinthians: "how can some of you say
there is no resurrection of the dead?" Paul explains that resurrection is
the fulfillment of God’s will for all creation, not merely the raising of Jesus
from the dead. Christ is the beginning of the resurrection of the dead that
will come for all those, he says, "who belong to Christ." (1 Cor.
15:20-23) And he argues that the resurrection of the Christians in Corinth will
be the same as the resurrection of Christ.
It appears that some among the Christians in Corinth, have
asked: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” Paul
answers: “Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies." And he
explains: "There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. . . . What
is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. . . . It is sown a physical
body, it is raised a spiritual body." (1 Cor. 15: 40, 42, 44)
The authors of the New Testament gospels ignore the earlier
resurrection account Paul received from the disciples and also his explanation
that resurrection is not physical. We, too, may doubt the resurrection, but
there is no doubt that Paul's spiritual experience of the risen Christ
transformed his life and the course of history over the following two
millennia.
Grace
and peace . . . Bob Traer