In my first faith builder post I went through the testimony of 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8. In this creed from some of the earliest Christians, we find that the Christian faith about Jesus was not invented over centuries. This creed was given to Paul by the eyewitnesses within a couple years of Jesus' death. If that was all this passage could offer, it would still be a remarkable text. The truth however, is that there is even stronger testimony that I haven't mentioned.
Looking at the passage again, notice the people who claimed they saw Jesus after his death. First Peter, then the apostles, then a group of 500 people, and then James, Jesus' half brother. This last appearance has great significance because we have some interesting information about James and Jesus' family in the gospels.
In what is thought to be the earliest written gospel, Mark, we find the first testimony as to what Jesus' family thought of him. "When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."" Mark 3:21. Then in John 7:5, "For even his own brothers did not believe in him". From these passages we begin to understand that Jesus was not accepted before his death by his own family, including his brothers. Fortunately, the story does not end there for Jesus' family.
(Archaeology has shown Luke was one of the most accurate historians of the ancient world. His precise details have time and time again proven to be dead on. Luke not only wrote the gospel of Luke, but also the book of Acts.) It is in Acts that we get a post crucifixion update on Jesus' family, including his brother James. In Acts 1:14 Luke states "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." There's more. In Acts 15 James shows up again at the council in Jerusalem, and this time he's speaking as one who is a leader of the early Christian church. In Galatians 2:9 Paul goes to meet with James because he's a "pillar" of the church. What happened?
First he calls Jesus insane, and now he is leading his church. In disbelief he saw him killed. Following his crazy brother could lead to nothing good. He would be mocked, scorned, and possibly killed for standing up for him. What could change his mind after Jesus had died? By his own admission to Paul, as stated in 1 Corinthians, it was seeing the resurrected Jesus.
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