{"id":16189,"date":"2015-04-17T01:01:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T06:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/?p=16189"},"modified":"2015-04-17T04:51:42","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T09:51:42","slug":"was-the-resurrection-of-jesus-a-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/2015\/04\/17\/was-the-resurrection-of-jesus-a-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Was the Resurrection of Jesus a fraud?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Does God raise Jesus or was everything a farce?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It often arises, at Easter time, some “expert” writes denying the Resurrection of Jesus and posing it as “a fraud” of the apostles and the Church.<\/span> Unfortunately, those who do not know the background to Catholic doctrine are no longer offended by such lies.<\/span> So let’s meditate on the highest point of our faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, it was Jesus himself who assured that he would rise;<\/span> something that the apostles paid dearly with their lives to believe.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Those who crucified Jesus were to say to Pilate: “And they said unto him, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while living: After three days I will rise.<\/span> (Mt 27, 63). “<\/span> “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes;<\/span> would be killed, and rise the third day “(Mt 16,21).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Resurrection of Jesus is an undeniable historical fact.<\/span> The first event of Easter Sunday morning was the “discovery of the empty tomb” (Mk 16.1 to 8).<\/span> It was the basis of all the action and preaching of the apostles and was very well recorded by them.<\/span> St. John says: “What we saw, heard and touched with our hands that we certify” (1 John 1.1-2).<\/span><\/p>\n

The risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20.19 to 23);<\/span> the disciples of Emmaus (Lk 24.13 to 25), to the Apostles in the Upper Room, with Thomas absent (John 20.19 to 23);<\/span> and then, with this Thomas (John 20.24 to 29);<\/span> on Lake of Gennesaret (Jn 21.1 to 24);<\/span> on Mount in Galilee (Mt 28.16 to 20);<\/span> according to St. Paul “he appeared to more than 500 people” (1 Cor 15.6) and that Christ died for our sins […] and that he was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and was seen by Khefas, and then the Eleven;<\/span> then was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of which most live today and some have fallen asleep;<\/span> then he appeared to James, then by all the apostles;<\/span> and, finally, after all was also seen by me as an abortion “(1 Cor 15: 3-8).<\/span><\/p>\n

“God has raised this Jesus, and to this we are all witnesses”<\/strong> (Acts 2, 32), said St. Peter at Pentecost.<\/span> “Know for sure the whole House of Israel, God made Lord (K\u00fdrios) and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2: 36).<\/span> “Christ died and lived to be the Lord of the dead and the living” (Romans 14: 9).<\/span> In Revelation, John concludes: “I am the First and the Last, the Living One;<\/span> I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and the dead area “(Rev 1: 17s).<\/span><\/p>\n

The first experience of the apostles with the risen Jesus was remarkable and unforgettable: “Jesus stood in the midst of the apostles and said,” Peace be with you”. Taken with awe and fear they thought they were seeing a spirit!.<\/span> But he said: “Why are you troubled, and why such doubts arise in your hearts?<\/span> Look at my hands and my feet, it is I!<\/span> “Touch me and understand that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have”.<\/span> Saying this, he showed them his hands and feet.<\/span> And because, for joy, they could not believe they still remained surprised and He said to them, “You have something to eat?”.<\/span> They showed him a piece of broiled fish.<\/span> Then he took it and ate it before them “(Lk 24, 34ss).<\/span><\/p>\n

The frightened apostles, thought they saw a ghost. Jesus asks that they touch him and find that has flesh and bones.<\/span> None of this was a hallucination or illusion or delusion, nor lie, nor fraud of the Apostles, because it was realistic that many people <\/span>at first <\/span>even doubted\u00a0 the Resurrection of the Master.<\/span> . .\u00a0<\/span> Christ himself had to talk to Thomas, “Touch me and see: ghosts do not have flesh and bones as ye see me have” (Luke 24.39).<\/span> The Emmaus disciples were disappointed because “we had hoped that he who would restore Israel” (Lk 24: 21). None of them believed in the Resurrection … until they saw the Lord.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

These <\/span>“first time” <\/span>testimonials, designed and transmitted by immediate disciples of the Lord, are sufficient arguments to dissolve any theory that wants to deny the bodily resurrection of Christ.<\/span> This faith did not come “later”, as some in the history of the early Christian communities, but is the result of Christ’s mission accompanied daily by the Apostles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rulers of the Jews became aware of the significance of the Resurrection of Jesus, and therefore decided to dispel it: “They gave soldiers a large sum of money, recommending:” Say that his disciples came by night, while slumbered, and stole the dead body of Jesus.<\/span> If it reach the ears of the Governor, we convince, and leave you without complication. “<\/span> They took the money and acted in accordance with instructions received.<\/span> And this story has spread among the Jews until this day “(Mt 28: 12-15).<\/span><\/p>\n

And Jesus really died, including being pierced in the side by the spear of the soldier.<\/span> It is a ridiculous theory that Jesus was just “sleeping” on the Cross.<\/span> The Apostles could only believe in the Resurrection of Jesus by the evidence of the facts as they were not inclined to admit it;<\/span> on the contrary, they lost all courage when they saw the imprisoned and condemned Master;<\/span> also for them the resurrection was a scandal.<\/span> They had no psychological dispositions to “invent” the news of the resurrection of Jesus or to forge such an event.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were still impregnated with the conceptions of a nationalist and political messianism, and fell when they saw the <\/span>apparently failed<\/span> and <\/span> arrested <\/span>Master. They<\/span> fled to avoid arrest themselves (cf. Mt 26: 31s);<\/span> Peter denied the Lord (cf. Mt 26: 33-35).<\/span> The concept of a God who died and rose again in human flesh was totally alien to the mentality of the Jews.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is further noted that the preaching of the Apostles was tightly controlled by the Jews, so that if any of them would lie , they immediately would be denounced by members of the Sanhedrin.<\/span> If the resurrection of Jesus, preached by the Apostles was not real, it was fraud, the Jews would have discovered it, but they could never do it.<\/span>
\n The twenty long centuries of Christianity, full of success and glory, were based on the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus.<\/span> Affirming that Christianity was born and raised on a lie and fraud would assume a miracle even greater than the actual Resurrection of the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

On behalf of a “fantasy”, a mirage, will thousands of faithful face death in the face of Roman persecution, as they face today before the Islamic State?<\/span> Of course not.<\/span>
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\n On behalf of a myth, would crowds go to the desert to live a life of penance and prayer?<\/span>
\n The testimony of the Apostles about the Resurrection of Jesus was convincing.<\/span> Building Christianity requires a more solid foundation than fraud or mental weakness.<\/span> Thus, it is much more logical to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus than to explain the power of Christianity by a fantasy of dishonest or hallucinating people.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Resurrection of Jesus is central point of the Christian faith, so that St. Paul says: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty;<\/span> empty is also your faith … If Christ be not raised, your faith is empty;<\/span> ye are yet in your sins “(1 Cor 15, 14:17).<\/span>
\n The Resurrection of Jesus is the basis of faith;<\/span> St. Paul calls Christ resurrected “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1: 18).<\/span> To him, resurrected first, then will be the resurrection of the brethren: “Each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;<\/span> afterward they that are Christ’s at the time of his second coming;<\/span> then there will be the end”(1 Cor 15: 23ff).<\/span><\/p>\n