by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n
One of the most significant proofs of Jesus’ resurrection is the early disciples’ sincere belief that He had risen. They maintained this belief in the face of great hostility from earthly powers, enduring persecution, prison, and death rather than recanting. Whatever else they were, they were not deceivers.<\/p>\n
However, we also must ask why they were so sure that the risen Lord had appeared to them. Many of us have had a hallucination at some point in our lives (I have), and the ancients were aware of hallucinations too. If I were standing before the Sanhedrin, I’d want to be really, really sure that my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me before I spoke up!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Doubting-Thomas_filtered-300x172.jpg\")
One of the most elegant Biblical explanations of the disciples’ certainty appears in 1 John 1:1-2. John probably wrote these words to contradict the Gnostic claim that Jesus did not come in the flesh, but they serve just as well as a defense of the resurrection. They didn’t glimpse the risen Jesus at a distance or see Him early in the morning when they were fuzzily waking up.<\/p>\n
Instead, they heard Him. They saw Him. They studied Him intently. They touched Him with their hands. Their testimony isn’t based on wishful thinking. It’s based on the firm experience of their senses.<\/p>\n
A study of John’s gospel reveals some of these experiences. John watched as a Roman soldier plunged His spear into Jesus’ side, and the corpse didn’t even twitch. He looked into the tomb where Jesus had been laid and saw discarded grave wrappings but no body. He heard Mary Magdalene relate that she had laid hold of the feet of the risen Jesus as she worshiped Him. He was in the locked upper room when Jesus appeared in the midst of the disciples and displayed the wounds in His hands and side for their inspection. He watched later when Thomas reached out and touched those wounds. He ate breakfast with Jesus as the sun rose over the Sea of Galilee.<\/p>\n
To summarize, John had all the evidence he needed to be 100 percent convinced that Jesus was a real human being who really died and really was restored to life by God. So did the others. They knew this had happened.<\/p>\n
In an earthly sense, their experience did them no favors. It set them against all the rulers of their world, men who were determined that Jesus had not risen and were indifferent to the evidence. Without the resurrection, they could have lived ordinary, peaceful lives. Because of it, they were hounded to the end of their days.<\/p>\n
However, it also gave them the most precious hope imaginable. If Jesus was raised to life, they could trust His promise that they also would be raised to life through Him. Because of their steadfastness in testifying to their experiences, we can trust it too. Next to this, nothing else matters, either to them or to us.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford One of the most significant proofs of Jesus’ resurrection is the early disciples’ sincere belief that He had risen. They maintained this belief in the face of great hostility from earthly powers, enduring persecution, prison, and death rather than recanting. Whatever else they were, they were not deceivers. However, we also…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,73,664],"class_list":["post-44430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-jesus","tag-resurrection"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25277,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-timeline-of-resurrection\/","url_meta":{"origin":44430,"position":0},"title":"The Timeline of the Resurrection","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Recently, I've become aware that there is this thing floating around on the Internet called \"The Easter Challenge\". The inventor of this challenge is an atheist. He asserts that the Biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus contradict each other so significantly that they are clearly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG075-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-resurrection-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":44430,"position":1},"title":"The Resurrection of Jesus (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 13:16-41 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Central to every Christian\u2019s belief in his salvation is the resurrection of Jesus - I Corinthians 15:12-19 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If Jesus was not raised, . . . \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then every preacher has been teaching falsehoods \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our faith in the Bible would be useless \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our hope\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38750,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/claims-of-contradictions-in-the-resurrection-accounts\/","url_meta":{"origin":44430,"position":2},"title":"Claims of Contradictions in the Resurrection Accounts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I John 1:1-4 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People who don\u2019t want to hear a message will try to find some way to discredit either the messenger or the message \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If there is a perceived flaw, then they feel justified in tossing out everything they don\u2019t want to accept\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9359,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-gospels-contradict-each-other-regarding-jesus-empty-tomb\/","url_meta":{"origin":44430,"position":3},"title":"Do the gospels contradict each other regarding Jesus’ empty tomb?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian but my friend has pointed out several contradictions in the Bible I when the women went to the tomb of Jesus I was hoping you could help me to resolve: Matthew - Earthquake with an angel sitting outside on the recently moved stone; Mark -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/explanations-for-the-empty-tomb\/","url_meta":{"origin":44430,"position":4},"title":"Explanations for the Empty Tomb","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kenny Chumbley via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 Paul's belief in the resurrection, shared by early Christianity, was absolute and categorical; nevertheless, the apostle's exuberant faith has not been universally shared, and a literal resurrection of Jesus' body has been denied not only by non-Christians but also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63801,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-words-of-jesus-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":44430,"position":5},"title":"The Words of Jesus (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 12:44-50 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I continue to be amazed at the lengths people will go to justify a belief. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps you have heard the story of Martin Luther\u2019s decision that James 2 did not belong in the sacred text because of one small phrase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}