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"Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say
some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead? . . . And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain. "
Psychologically, they were any–
thing but prepared for the trauma
of Jesus' imminent suffering, burial
and death. And His resurrection?
That was the last thing on their
minds. This is absolutely demon–
strated by the events that followed.
The Disciples' Continuing Unbelief
The final chapter of Mark records
that Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary carne to the tomb to anoint
the body of Jes us. They were
shocked to find the stone rolled
away. Then an angel, appearing as a
young roan, told the two women:
"... Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth ,
which was crucified:
he is risen;
he is
not here: behold the place [the
empty tomb] where they laid him"
(Mark 16:6).
Mary Magdalene rushed over to
tell Jesus' disciples
the goodnews.
She
found them absolutely shattered–
hopelessly bogged down in a state of
acute emotional shock. "And she
went and told them that had been
with him [theeleven disciples],
as they
mourned and wept.
And they, when
they had h eard tha t he was
alive ...
believed
not"(verses 10-11).
Later, Jesus did appear to two of
Bis disciples who went to tell the
rest, but
"neither be/ieved they them"
(verse 13).
Jesus ' disciples weren't waiting
around with bated breath to hear of
sorne great miracle. Each of the
Gospel accounts shows their stub–
born, almost numbed reluctance
and absolute unwillingness to be–
lieve that Jesus had indeed risen
from the dead!
Matthew's account says: "And
when they [actually] saw him, they
worshipped him:
but sorne doubted
[even then]" (28: 17); Luke's: " And
16
their words [Mary Magdalene's and
the other women's] seemed to them
[the eleven]
as id/e tales, and they
be/ieved them not"
(24: 11); John's:
Thomas said, " ... Except I shall see
in his hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of
the na ils. and thrust my hand into
his side,
1 will not believe''(20:25).
John's Enigmatic Statement
The apostle John, "the disciple
whom Jesus loved" and one of the
twelve, penned an enigmatic state–
ment in his Gospel: "For as yet they
(the disciples]
knew not the scripture,
that he must rise again from the
dead" (John 20:9). Why didn't they
know? Jesus told them about it over
and over again as has been abso–
lutely proved from severa! plain,
impossi ble- to- be-m is u nd erstood
quotations from Mark's account
alone. The only plausible ex–
planation, then, is that this scripture
constitutes another crystal clear af–
firmation that the disciples didn't
have the faintest idea of what Christ
was talking about. They were utterly
bewildered by His continua! decla–
rations that He would be resur–
rected.
Dld Disciples Steal His Body?
Yet sorne religionists would have us
believe that these same disciples not
only contrived in advance to steal
His body, but in fact
sto/e
it!
The biblical record shows instead
that they were in no mental or emo–
tional shape to steal anything. The
disciples were shocked into a state
of trauma by the fast-moving events
of those hectic lhiee or four days.
Yet this tired, old, worn-out fable
persists evento this day.
Matthew's Gospel tells us what
rea lly happened. Following Jesus'
burial , the chief priests and the
Pharisees approached Pilate with a
proposition . Seemingly. they had
better memories than the eleven dis–
ciples. They told Pilate: "... Sir,
we
remember
that that deceiver said ,
while he was yet alive, After three
days I will rise again. Command
therefore that the se pulchre be
made sure until the third day [is
over],
lest
his disciples come by
night , and steal him away, and say
unto the people, He is risen from the
dead: so the last error shall be worse
than the first. Pilate said unto them.
Ye have a watch: go your way.
make it as sure as you can. So they
went, and made the sepulchre sure,
sealing the stone, and setting a
watch"( Matt.
27:63-66).
T he_n, after Jesus had already
risen, sorne pol ítica! hanky-panky
quickly followed: "... Sorne of the
watch [the soldiers on guard] carne
into the city ..." and informed the
chief priests that the tomb was
empty. Plotting with the elders, the
chief priests then bribed the soldiers
to say, "His disciples carne by night,
and stole him away while we
slept. ... and this saying is com–
monly reported among the Jews
un–
ti/ this day
[right up to the time
Matthew wrote his Gospel]" (Matt.
28:11-15).
H owever, al l logic literally
screams out the fact that the dis–
ciples did not steal Jesus' body.
Remember again His disciples'
stubborn
reluctance
to believe He
had risen again. Even when Jesus
had appeared to them
after
His res–
urrection, Peter had said: "1 go a–
fishing" (John 21 :3). They all
thought it had been nice while it
(Continued on page
18)
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977