The world over, people are observing a long weekend this weekend as they celebrate Easter. I was introduced to Easter when I was a toddler, having been brought up by a father who was a Pastor in the Presbyterian church (CCAP). I have watched, or participated in, numerous Easter plays as a youth and have sung an untold number of Easter songs as a choir member. Some of the most complicated songs I have known, for example “Worth is the Lamb that was slain”, have had a message about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But whence all the excitement about Easter? Is Easter real? Did it happen? Was Jesus a historical character who trod this planet or simply a mythical character, the creation of some religious fanatics?
Like some scholars have observed, the resurrection story is the either most embellished myth in human history or it is the most remarkable event to have happened among humans.
I have met people who have been quick to trash the entire Bible as a book that belongs to ancient mythical writings. The problem with this position is that none of the societies who used the Bible in history ever regarded it as such. By contrast Greek or Egyptian mythical writings were acknowledged as such by their creators or users. That has never been the case with the Bible, its users instead affirming its truthfulness throughout the generations.
Additionally, Jesus, as a historical character, is mentioned by historians who were not part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. For example, the Roman governor and historian, Tacitus, made reference to Jesus when he wrote about Emperor Nero’s massacre of the early Christians in the first century. Here is what he said:
‘Nero.. punished with the most exquisite tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius; but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also’ (Annals XV. 44)
The celebrated Jewish historian, Josephus, who never converted to Christianity also wrote about Jesus and recorded the resurrection claim that the disciples dearly espoused. I repeat here a quote from the writings of Josephus which I also presented in earlier article during Christmas:
‘At this time there was a wise man … Jesus. … good, and … virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned Him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that He was alive’… (Antiquities xviii. 33)
Both these quotations present Jesus (Christus) and Pontius Pilate as historical characters that occupied space and time in our world. Maintaining an objective stand as one searches within the texts given above and similar historical writings, it seems logical to conclude that Jesus was a historical character and there is little intellectual merit in denying His historicity.
Next let us turn to the resurrection claim. The Gospel writers record that when the women went to Jesus’ grave early on Sunday morning, they did not find His body there. If we assume, for one moment, that this was a false claim and that the body was in fact there, it will be difficult to explain why the disciples, who at that time were devastated, confused and in fear, continued to proclaim that their Master had risen from the dead. All that the authorities needed to do was produce the body of Jesus and eternally silence them. The fact that they did not seems to suggest that there was no body for them to produce.
A theory appeared in the eighteenth century which asserted that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but rather simply “swooned” and fell unconscious. He later resuscitated and walked out of the tomb. This has been termed the resuscitation or the swoon theory. Historians and surgical doctors who have vigorously looked at this theory have stated that it was medically impossible for Jesus to survive the torture and the eventual crucifixion that he went through. Moreover, a resuscitated person would not have the strength to roll away the stone that had covered the grave.
Finally, some have claimed that the disciples stole his body. This is highly unlikely for two reasons: the tomb was heavily guarded by soldiers and secondly the disciples were themselves in a debilitating state of shock.