1 Corinthians 15:3-6. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
In these verses the Apostle Paul is quoting something called a creed. A creed was a list of things that Christians believed. What did the earliest Christians believe according to this creed?
- Christ died for our sins.
- He was buried.
- And he was raised on the third day.
Do you believe all these things? I hope so.
Even though Paul wrote a whole lot of the New Testament, he didn’t make up Christianity. Someone taught him what to believe. And they also told him about all the times Jesus appeared to people after he was raised from the dead. This included one time when Jesus appeared to over five hundred people all at once.
Wait what? Over five hundred people saw Jesus alive, in once place and at one time? Where did this happen? Why were all those people together? Was this planned? And who are these people who are still alive? Well, Paul doesn’t answer any of these questions for us, does he?
There are some people that think Paul is lying. Or maybe he is confused. Some people think that Paul believed that all these people saw Jesus, but it probably didn’t actually happen. So maybe someone lied to Paul about it.
But what if it did happen? What if the resurrected Jesus actually did appear to over five hundred people at once? Should that mean anything to us as Christians? Yes, it should.
First, Paul says that some of these people were still alive and that you could go and ask them face to face if they saw Jesus alive. Obviously, we can’t do that today, but we can explore whether or not the resurrection is actually true. And we should. If you are going to believe something, you should always make sure it is true.
Second, Jesus appearing to a whole group of people means that Jesus wasn’t only appearing to the “special” people like Peter and John, or his mother, Mary. Jesus is for everyone. Anyone can know Jesus and trust him to save them. And don’t let anyone ever tell you that your relationship with Jesus doesn’t matter. It does matter! It matters to Jesus very much. He loves all of us the same and wants us to know him personally. Do you know Jesus personally?
Finally, notice how Paul says according to the scriptures? Why does Paul say that? He wants us to know that everything happening to Jesus is exactly what God and the Bible have been leading to – Jesus Christ arisen from the grave!
And not just Jesus but us too. Because Jesus has been raised from the dead and declared by God to be perfect, we too can share his perfection when we trust in him. And if we share his perfection, then we can also share in his resurrection. That’s called eternal life.
John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
You: Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Why do you believe that?
You with Jesus: Do you know Jesus personally? Does he know you? How do you know?
Prayer: Father, you have given the resurrected Jesus to all who would believe. Help me to believe not only in Jesus’ resurrection, but also my own eternal life with him. Amen.
TLICfamily 