5. Jesus appeared only to believers.
The most complete list of His appearances is the one Paul gave in I Corinthians 15.
Just as the believers only were given “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3), only believers saw the risen Christ.
6. The Lord missed a great opportunity for dramatic effect by not making some “surprise guest appearances” to Herod, Pilate and the high priest.
Had this been a made-up story as critics have surmised, no writer could have missed the chance for a comeuppance in which the risen Christ dropped in on these men.
But Jesus was not here for dramatic effect. (Anyone doubting that will enjoy seeing how He healed people, e.g., the blind beggar of Jericho. Luke 18:42 says, “And Jesus said to him, ‘OK, you’ve got it,’ and his eyes were opened.” (Alright, I moderned it up a tad. But that’s about how it went.)
7. Jesus’ opponents did not steal His body, as some have claimed.
We know this for one overwhelming reason: When the disciples began covering Jerusalem with this doctrine (Acts 5:28), the easiest way to put a stop to this business would have been for His opponents to produce the dead body. They didn’t for one simple reason: They didn’t have it.
The next time you hear this foolishness that says “the Jews knew that Jesus expected to rise from the dead, so to stop it from happening, they stole the body and hid it,” remember this: Had they known where the body was, they’d have stopped the gospel movement dead in its tracks. Give me a break.
8. Some of the Jews did remember Jesus’ predictions to rise from the dead.
It’s almost funny that they did, but the disciples did not.
Matthew 27:62ff reads, “Now, on the next day, which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, “After three days I am to rise again.”’” Therefore, they requested and got a Roman guard for the tomb to make it secure.
We are indebted to them for this additional verification of the resurrection.
