And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he
appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still
alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all
the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:5-7
During a trial in a court of law there is nothing more convincing to the jury
and more damaging to the defense than an eyewitness testimony. Especially if you have more than one and if
they are intelligent, competent, sound in mind and ethical. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives evidence for Jesus’ resurrection by making
mention of hundreds of eyewitnesses who all testified to seeing the risen
Christ.
In v. 5, Paul says, “He appeared to Peter.” Think about Peter for a moment. In the hours leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter was having a difficult time. We are told, on three different occasions, that he denied Christ. Now you would think having ended his time with Jesus in this tragic way, our Lord may have just skipped Peter and appeared to and commissioned someone else. How amazing is it then, that He appeared to Peter—the one who denied Him angrily with an oath. If Jesus’ resurrection were a hoax, Peter would not have been a likely candidate to conjure up this story.
Paul says at the end of v. 5-6,
"...then (he appeared) to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep."
Can you imagine if, during a trial, the prosecution had eyewitnesses lined up out the door and down the street all saying the same thing? Notice Paul says, “Jesus appeared to the twelve and then to more than five hundred, most of whom are still alive.” Paul says, “You got hundreds of eyewitnesses, alive and well that you can go ask, and they will tell you the same thing.”
Paul continues in v. 7 by mentioning the fact that Jesus also appeared to James. Now he doesn’t specify which James here, but I don’t think he has to. I think by singling out James, it is obvious that he is talking about the brother of Jesus. The brother who in John 7:5 we are told did not even believe that his brother was who he claimed to be. The brother who in Mark 3 tried to restrain Jesus from doing the things he was doing because he thought he was crazy.
James like Peter would have been another unlikely candidate to fabricate a resurrection. He was a cynic and a skeptic. Yet Jesus appeared to James, and he believed and became the leader of the Jerusalem church and later referred to himself in James 1:1 as, “James a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
For more evidence of Jesus' resurrection click HERE and listen to the sermon, "CONSIDER THE EVIDENCE FOR JESUS' RESURRECTION."
