BRUCE OLSON PASSION WEEK LETTER

Copy and share this letter from Pastor Bruce Olson with family and friends this Easter season.  You will be blessed as I have been blessed.

March 28, 2015
Dear Faithful Friend,
The Passion Week is upon us. Easter Sunday will again let us focus on the great victory Christ won over death through His resurrection from the dead. Summarizing biblical revelation:(1) the prophets told of the Plan of God. (2) Christmas manifested the Grace of God. (3) The death of Christ on the cross expressed the Love of God. (4) The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, demonstrates the Power of God. And without the 4th, without the resurrection of Jesus – the first three don’t make any sense!Paul puts it this way in the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” If Christ is not risen, we are hopeless!
Let’s review the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection. The Gospels are the record of Jesus:His life, teachings, miracles, predictions, death and resurrection. In the 4 Gospels there is more attention given to the resurrection than to anything else, except for the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. But, are there “contradictions” in the account?Consider the facts about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
First note that in the great fundamental facts of the resurrection there are absolutely no contradictions.

1) Christ’s body is placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea on Friday afternoon.

2) The tomb is sealed with a great stone and Roman soldiers are placed as guards.

3) On Sunday morning women came to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away and the body gone.

4) These early visitors were told by angels that the Lord had risen.

5)On that day, the Lord Jesus appeared on five different occasions.

6) During the 40 days of post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, He showed Himself only to believers.

7) Jesus showed Himself in His real physical body.

8) This body was the same body that the disciples know was Jesus before His death.

9) During the 40 days, Jesus instructs His disciples to evangelize the world.

10) All appearances of Jesus abruptly ended at His ascension into heaven. In these fundamental truths, there are no contradictions!

 

Second, with regard to the variations in the accounts, details are givens by various witnesses.

No two witnesses see the same thing in precisely the same way. If all 4 accounts were precisely the same, we would assume they all copied some common source. But because they are faithful to the facts and to themselves, they differ from one another in their specific account of the experiences. So, any variations, or single recordings (such as the Emmaus disciples found only in Luke 24) only substantiate the reality of the actual events. Any variations are perfectly consistent with truth and of utmost importance for establishing it!
The evidence for Christ’s resurrection can be viewed in 5 classes: 1) the empty tomb, 2) the post-resurrection appearances, 3) the testimony of the guards, 4) the change in the Apostles, and 5) the rise of the Church. Let’s review the second set of evidences, the post-resurrection appearances of our Lord.
There are 10 appearances of the Lord Jesus during the time between His Sunday resurrection and His Ascension into heaven:
1. To certain women as they returned from the sepulcher after being told by angels that He had risen, Jesus greets them, Matthew28:1-10, (Mark 16:1-8).
2. To Mary Magdalene at the sepulcher, probably upon her second visit to the tomb, John 20:11-18, Mark 16:9-11.
3. To the Apostle Peter, before the evening of resurrection Sunday, but we have no specific details, Luke 24:34 and 1 Corinthians 15:5.
4. To the 2 disciples, Cleopas and one unnamed, on the way to Emmaus, Mark 16:12 and Luke 24:13-35.
5. To the 10 Apostles, Thomas absent, and others on Easter evening, Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:36-40, John 20:19-23 and 1 Corinthians 15:5.
6. One week later, to all 11 Apostles, the record of Thomas’s great confession, John20:26-28.
7. To several of the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, while they were fishing, exact time, undesignated, John 21:1-23.
8. To the Apostles and above 500 disciples at once, on an appointed mountain in Galilee, Matthew 28:16-20 and 1 Corinthians 15:6.
9. To James, under circumstances of which we have no more information, 1 Corinthians15:7.
10. To the Apostles at Jerusalem, immediately before the ascension of Jesus, on the Mount of Olives, Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50-52 and Acts 1: 3-8.
In these appearances of Jesus, it is interesting to note the following facts:
1. At first it seemed to be an unbelievable tale. They thought someone had taken the body.
2. They really have no idea He will rise from the dead (although He had predicted it)!
3. Upon seeing Jesus, He is not immediately recognized.
4. Those who heard about the resurrected Jesus from others, could not accept it. Thomas was the outstanding example of this. He needed to see for himself that the One crucified, was actually the One risen from the dead! Because of his testimony, the testimony of a realist, an empiricist, a sceptic, a later inquirer can be sure of the fact of Jesus’ resurrection!
5. Jesus appears to a wide variety of His followers, under very different situations.
6. The response of those who see Jesus is varied: fear, sadness, sadness and joy, unbelief.
7. The apostles needed to be convinced that this was not a vision of a spirit.
8. They witnessed the resurrected Christ consume food!
9. They are absolutely sure of the resurrection!
Some final thoughts:
The evidence for the resurrection was given at the very time, under the very place where these events took place. The facts may have been objected to, but, no evidence came forth which contradicted the facts.There is a beautiful naturalness about the appearances. No blazing manifestations. Rather, Jesus appears in a dignified humanity, the natural transition from human lowliness, to glorified humanity!The appearances abruptly cease after Jesus ascension – except to Saul whose name becomes Paul.
I pray you will be thrilled by the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Read again 1 Corinthians 15 and see that because He is risen, we too will experience resurrection from the dead!Blessed Easter
Bruce Olson

Faith Resources / The Twelve Basket Club