JESUS_page3

Rabble-rousers stirred up the people. No longer did the crowds shout out 'Hosanna!' Now they shouted 'Crucify him!' Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judaea from 26-36 AD, wanted to release Jesus but gave way before the popular outcry. To distance himself from this decision he washed his hands in public, as in the picture below from 'The Miracle Maker' [2000]. The High Priest of the Jews was Joseph Caiaphas. He had interrogated Jesus in his home with members of the Sanhedrin, The Jewish Council, present. It was this Council that had sent Jesus to Pilate.

Jesus was stripped. Nails were driven through his wrists and feet. The cross was raised, and he was lefty hanging between two criminals. Roman soldiers gambled for his single worldly possession, a seamless robe which they did not want to tear. Later, his side was pierced with a spear to ensure that he was dead. As he was dying, Jesus uttered several sentences which are recorded in the four gospels.

'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?- My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' [Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34;from Psalm 22:1]

'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.' [Luke 23:34]

'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'
[Luke 23:24]

'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.'
[Luke 23:46 from Psalm 31:5]

'Woman, here is your son...son, here is your mother.'
[John 19:26-27]

'I am thirsty.' [John 19:28]

'It is finished.' [John 19:30]

Then came the events of Easter. The followers of Jesus discovered that the tomb in which he had been buried was empty three days later. Then, on several distinct occasions, he reappeared to many of them, no longer dead but alive.

The effect of all this was electrifying. Certainly Christianity could not have come into being unless Jesus had really existed. Equally certainly, it would never have come into being unless people had believed in his resurrection; and this belief could not have arisen if the resurrection was not itself an historical event. The best evidence for the resurrection is the rise of the Christian Church; nothing less could have turned Jesus' despondent and disillusioned followers into a joyful and vigorous Church. But this is not the only evidence. Attempts to explain away the testimonies of the early Christians to the empty tomb and the appearances of Jesus have been remarkably unsuccessful. The historical resurrection stands on solid ground.

The resurrection had the immediate effect of confirming the teaching of Jesus. God would not raise from the dead a person who had been a false prophet; and, since only God can raise the dead, it followed that Jesus must have been true in what he said and did. Any doubts about whether Jesus had been the Messiah disappeared for his followers. As a result of the resurrection the early Church came to the conclusion that the Jesus whom they had known as a unique earthly man was indeed the Messiah, the Lord and the Son of God.