DID JESUS RISE FROM THE DEAD? (Part Two)

By Bob Myhan

Jesus is not the first person of whom it is affirmed that He rose from the dead. But He is the first person of whom it is af­firmed that He rose to die no more. Thus, His resurrec­tion was not only an ex­traordinary event; it was unique. It is also, to more than one billion people, the central event in human history. This, too, is extraordinary. What can account for this extraordinary circumstance? This writer firmly believes that nothing short of the resurrec­tion of Jesus Christ being a historical, rather than a fic­tional, event will account for it.

That His disciples were not expecting His resurrection is evident from Luke’s account of a post-resurrection conversation between Jesus and two of those disciples.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Him­self drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?" Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?" And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see." Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:13-32)

The Empty Tomb

William of Ockham (the most influential scholastic thinker of the 14^th century) suggested that, if several possible explanations are all compatible with the evidence, the simplest should be considered the most probable. This has come to be known as “Ockham’s Razor.”

The empty tomb is certainly the simplest explanation for the early spread of the be­lief in the resurrected Christ. This writer holds that it would be impossible to con­vince thousands of people, in the very city in which the resurrection occurred, that it did occur, were the tomb not empty. And there is no simpler explanation for the tomb’s being empty, than that the resurrection of the one entombed therein was a fact.

If it is alleged that the disciples stole the body to perpetrate a hoax, the apostle suf­fered immensely for what they knew to be untrue. If it is alleged that the enemies of Christ stole the body, why did they not pre­sent the body as evidence that the resur­rection story was a hoax? &

IS IT ALWAYS WRONG TO JUDGE? (Part One)

By Bob Myhan

There are those who seem to think that it is always wrong to judge because Jesus said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matt. 7:1). We can know with certainty, however, that this was definitely not what Jesus meant.

First, Jesus also said, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). Therefore we are not only permitted but commanded to judge. But our judgments must be righteous not unrighteous.

According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, the word translation “judge,” in Matthew 7:1, "primarily denotes to separate, select, choose; hence, to determine, and so to judge, pronounce judgment;" "sometimes denotes to condemn."

Jesus is not saying that you are not to tell your brother that he has a "speck" in his eye. He is saying that you should first examine your own eye to make sure it does not contain a "plank." If you find a "plank" in your own eye, you ought to remove it first then help your brother with the "speck" in his eye. He may not like hearing that he has a "speck" in his eye but he will be more receptive if he sees that you have removed the "plank" that was in your eye. Of course, "speck" and "plank" are figurative for some moral or spiritual problem that needs to be corrected. Your problem is a "plank," while your brother's is only a "speck" because you are acting as though you do not have a problem.

Therefore, Jesus is simply saying that you are in no position to judge your brother if you have things in your life that need correction. You should correct those things then help your brother. This necessarily involves judging but not the sort that Jesus condemns. It demands "righteous judgment" (John 7:24).

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[To be continued]