Truth Defined Online Blog

Driving on the way home today I was thinking about how the lives of the disciples of Jesus were changed during the time that they knew Him before His death, then again when Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection.  If the resurrection really never happened, then the disciples’ boldness to continue preaching about Jesus and support of one another beyond three days after His death makes no sense.

Before they came to know Jesus, these Jewish men had some problems getting along with one another.  Matthew was a Tax Collector, and as such he was probably shunned by most if not all of the common Jewish community who already hated having to pay taxes to Caesar.  How could they get along with a fellow Jew who had defected to the Romans (in their opinion).  Peter being a fisherman was not one of the social crowd either, and he probably was not used to being around the upper class such as tax collectors.  He was sure to have some issues getting along with Matthew.

Without thinking upon more details about the disciples, these thoughts came to mind – Peter and Matthew would have never been friends or companions unless Jesus had called both of them into His fold where they were taught by Him to Love one another as Jesus had loved them (John 13:34-35).  After Jesus’ arrest, Peter fled away, as did the other disciples, thus again separating himself from Matthew and the others.  He was not even the first to go to Jesus’ tomb on the third day when the tomb was found empty – it was the women who loved Jesus who first found the empty tomb, who then reported this to the others.

After their experience seeing the risen Jesus, the disciples once again were all together, including Peter and Matthew.  Once again Peter and Matthew were comrads, opposites otherwise in the social order of their world.  Jesus was the only one who gave them a reason to co-exist together – their lives also changed from selfish interests to serving God.

Now here is the point: If Jesus Christ had never risen from the dead, would not the disciples who had once followed Him have gone back to their old lifestyles?  They had believed that Jesus was their Messiah, that He was going to save them from their sins and change their world for the better.  They did not remember that Jesus had told them He would rise on the third day until they experienced the empty tomb.  Unless they really did see their Risen Saviour, who would have kept them from returning to their old sins of racism and hatred of one another? Who would have brought Peter and Matthew back together to the point that they would even become martyrs for the sake of following Jesus whom they claimed had risen from the dead?

Peter and Matthew had no good reason to lie to protect a false testimony, if Christ was still dead.  Matthew would again prosper as a tax collector, and Peter as a fisherman, and would soon return to their old ways and the social problems caused by the oppression of the Romans. Although I am sure that they had their opinions and arguments with one another regarding their roles under Roman rule, Matthew and Peter never had any arguments concerning Christ’s Resurrection.

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