For Iron Man, who breaks steel with his bare hands. I wish the best at Liberty.

In the study of history, the time between an event and when it is first recorded is more important than the time between the event and the present day. Within five years of the resurrection, the apostle Paul traveled to Jerusalem to visit Peter and James. This visit is recorded in Galatians 1:18 and is generally dated to within two to five years after the resurrection. What Paul learned during this visit, he later recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. He wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me.”

The rhythmic and formulaic structure of this passage is not Paul’s own writing style, but an early creed that predates his letter. In a world where only about five percent of the population could read, information was preserved through memorization and oral transmission. This creed would have been easy to memorize and widely shared with Paul.

Accurately dating a 2,000-year-old event to within two to five years is extraordinary by historical standards. Yet most biblical scholars agree on this early timing, making the resurrection accounts among the best-attested events of the ancient world.

In a news story or historical event, the number of witnesses lends credibility to the event described. Five hundred people saw the resurrected Jesus at one time. When Paul reported this in  Corinthiuans, many of them were still alive and none changed their story. 

At this time in history, a woman’s testimony was considered nearly worthless. So who was the first person to witness the empty tomb? It was Mary. Some might suggest that she was stressed and hallucinated Jesus. That is possible, but seeing dirt and folded white cloth does not seem like much of a hallucination. The dirt and the white cloth were emotional for her, and she was crying. When she turned after hearing her name, she assumed it was the gardener. It was not a gardener. She called him Teacher—he was Jesus.

Does this sound like a way to start a new religion? Shortly after this, at least three other women were also witnesses. Still, no men.

Mary and the other women ran to tell the apostles that Jesus had risen. The apostles were not action heroes; hearing such news from women would have been embarrassing. It becomes even more striking in John 20:19, where the men are described as being together in a locked room, afraid that the Jewish authorities would find them. Their fear is understandable, but it is unlikely they would invent a story in which the women were the brave ones

If I tell you that I like the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you can be confident that I am telling the truth. It would be fine with me if Pittsburgh never won another game, since I would have no reason to lie about my fondness for him.

Jesus also had enemies. Paul was an enemy of Christ who persecuted Christians before his conversion. This makes his testimony especially powerful. In addition to Paul, James and other members of Jesus’s family believed that he was out of his mind (John 3:21). However, after the Lord’s ascension, his family became believers, and James became the leader of the first Christian church.

In studying history, the interval between the event and its recording is more significant than the interval between the event and the present day. Within five years after the resurrection, the Apostle Paul traveled to Jerusalem to visit Peter and James. This visit is recorded in Galatians 1:18, and it is generally agreed that it occurred within 2 to 5 years after the resurrection what Paul learned during the visit he recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, four that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me.”

Note the rhythmic nature of the verses; it is not Paul’s writing style. Since only about 5% of the population could read, they memorized. This information was easily memorized by those who could not read and shared with others who could not read. It would have been spread orally before being shared with the Apostle Paul. Dating a 2,000-year-old event to within 2 to 5 years is incredible, but most biblical scholars agree with the timing.

I count the empty tomb as the most significant witness to the resurrection. News of the empty tomb would have spread rapidly, faster than TikTok, whether or not people immediately understood what had happened. Everyone in Jerusalem would have been talking about it, speculating and drawing conclusions. The Jewish leaders’ response supports this, as they moved quickly to suppress the story.

The guards were placed in an impossible situation. Admitting to Roman authorities that they had failed to secure a tomb, especially one holding a dead man, would not have ended well for them. 

As a result, a cover-up began almost immediately. Matthew 28:11–15 describes how the Jewish leaders paid the guards to claim the apostles stole the body, and kept it quiet with the Roman authorities.

Five hundred people saw the risen Jesus at one time. This would not have included women and children, many of whom were alive when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. Do you believe that all could have kept silent? Not really

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The apostles, who hid out in a locked room after the crucifixion, were willing to die after they saw the resurrected Christ,

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Watching the popular series “The Chosen” is a charming story about the life of Jesus and his apostles as they gather, work together, and grow close to each other in the early days of Jesus’s ministry. Not only that, but a group of women is also part of the ministry. They witnessed many incredible miracles: turning water into wine, healing the blind, helping the Lame walk, and raising a man from the dead. What a wonderful group of people to travel with. Then things turned south.

When I say south, I mean more than Antarctica and the Apostles. Hope and excitement were over. The crucifixion. Their Rabbi was executed or murdered sickeningly. His skin was torn off His back, He was spit upon and beaten by his own people, and he carried a heavy cross, and his hands and feet were nailed to a cross. It was the golden age for psychopaths working for the Roman government. 

Fortunately, death occurred within just six hours, and a sword penetrated the pericardial sac ( around his heart) to prove his death. Blood and water from the pericardial sac flowed down his body, and the ministry was over. The dead body was placed in a grave owned by a member of the Sanhedrin: Joseph of Arimathea.

For the apostles, it was over the ministry for which they sacrificed all their effort and emotions. They returned to the second floor of a building and tried to recover from an overwhelming defeat.
Now, what? How can you restart your life, and how can you find meaning in your life or purpose?

On the third day, after the crucifixion, the emotionally drained women were able to walk to the grave with hopes of wrapping his body in linen and various spices. The first woman there was Mary Magdalene. She was shocked; the stone covering the grave had been rolled away, and she saw the empty linen lying on the ground inside the tomb. Wasn’t the crucifixion severe enough? Did someone really have to take the body from its place of rest? Waiting for all this pain end.

Friday must have been the worst day in the lives of Jesus’ followers, but they didn’t realize that Sunday was coming. Mary first spoke to a man standing in the area, let me, and spoke to her by calling her name upon hearing her name. She recognized Jesus and called him Rabboni. This set off a chain of activities: she ran and told Peter and John, Peter and John ran to the tomb, saw the linen clothes, and believed, but they didn’t see Jesus. Christ then appeared to the other women, to Peter, to the 11 apostles, to a crowd of over 500, to James, brother of James, and finally to Paul.

In the earliest centuries, Jewish polemics did not necessarily deny that the tomb was empty; instead, they offered alternative natural explanations for its emptiness.2

• The Stolen Body Hypothesis: The earliest record of a Jewish response is found in the Christian New Testament itself. Matthew 28:11–15 claims that the chief priests bribed the Roman guards to say, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” 3
  
• The Significance of this Claim: Historians note that this polemic implies the tomb was indeed empty.4 If the body were still in the grave, the authorities could have produced it to crush the nascent Christian movement.5 By arguing theft, the early counter-argument implicitly conceded the body was missing.6
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• The “Gardener” Theory: Other early traditions (as referenced by church fathers like Tertullian) suggested that a gardener might have moved the body so visitors to the tomb wouldn’t damage his lettuce patches.

In the Middle Ages, Jewish communities circulated a counter-narrative known as the Toledot Yeshu (“The Generations of Jesus”).8 This was a satirical folklore collection designed to refute Christian claims.

• The Narrative: In this version, the body was not stolen by disciples but was moved by a gardener (often named Juda) specifically to prevent the disciples from stealing it and faking a resurrection.9
  
• The “Reveal”: The story claims that when the Christians began proclaiming the resurrection, the Jewish leaders located the gardener, who revealed where he had re-buried the body (often in a water channel or under a path). The body was then reportedly dragged through the streets of Jerusalem to prove Jesus had died, thereby debunking the resurrection claim for the Jewish community.10
  

In the modern era, the focus shifted from explaining the empty tomb to questioning the historical reliability of the narrative itself.

• The “Common Grave” Historical View: Many modern scholars (and Jewish thinkers) argue that the Romans rarely allowed crucified criminals a proper tomb burial. The standard practice was to leave bodies on the cross or toss them into a common pit (mass grave) for criminals. From this perspective, there never was a specific “empty tomb” to respond to; the story is viewed as a later legend developed by the church.
• Theological Irrelevance: From a strict theological perspective, rabbis argue that an empty grave—even if historical—would not prove Jesus was the Messiah. In Judaism, the criteria for the Messiah are functional, not miraculous:
  
  • Did he bring world peace? (No)
  • Did he gather all Jewish exiles to Israel? (No)
  • Did he rebuild the Temple? (No)
  • Since these prophecies were unfulfilled, the presence or absence of a body is considered theologically irrelevant to his status as Messiah.

EraResponse TypeExplanationAncientAdmission & Rebuttal “The tomb is empty because the disciples stole the body.” MedievalSatirical Folklore:” A gardener moved the body to a ditch; we later found it and exposed the fraud.” ModernHistorical Skepticism” He was likely buried in a common criminal’s pit; the tomb story is a legend.”

Scholars agree that Paul visited Peter and James (Jesus’ half-brother) after learning the Apostles’ Creed. The meeting recorded in Galatians 1: 18 occurred within five years of the resurrection. 

M Multiple and individual eyewitnesses. On several occasions, Jesus appeared to groups, including one group of over 500 people. In addition, Jesus met with several people, including the 11 disciples, James, his brother, and the apostle Paul.

E  Embarrassing accounts. People do not make up lies that are embarrassing to them. In that part of the world, and at that time, it was embarrassing that women were the brave ones to discover the empty tomb. If someone were making up a new religion, would they start with women finding the empty tomb? Of course not. Women’s testimony in a court of law was nearly useless in the culture of that time.

The guys were crying in their wine. I’m sure a guy could lose his “man card” over a story like this. 

E Early accounts. Eyewitness accounts are closer to an actual event and more accurate than later accounts. For example, nearly all scholars agree that the tomb was empty.

Jesus’s

Enemy attestation Bias is unlikely from a neutral or hostile source. Certainly, the apostle Paul was a hostile source. Before God appeared to Paul, he hated Christians and punished them. Per John 7:5, James, Jesus’s half-brother, did not agree with what Jesus said until after the resurrection.

T transformation of the disciples                                                                  

Most scholars agree that the tomb of Jesus was Empty; this includes skeptics, atheists, and Christian scholars. Perhaps more importantly, who discovered the empty tomb? In a section below, I’ll go into additional evidence for this miracle. 

No matter who you are, you must agree that this was a Transformative event in the lives of all who knew Jesus.