1 Corinthians 15:1-11
The Resurrection of Christ
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The most important fact in the history of man is the resurrection...It is the Sign of Jonah...It proves for those who believe that He did in fact, overcome this world and has overcome death...
St. Paul knows of the importance of the resurrection and writes a whole chapter on it...St. Paul is one of three key figures, we read about here, who saw Jesus after His death...There are many others who saw Jesus after His death...In fact, St. Paul writes of five hundred men who at the same time saw Jesus after His death...St. Paul mentions two other people who saw Jesus here...He mentions St. Peter, Jesus' disciple, and St. James, Jesus half brother...St. Paul in his writing to the Corinthians mentions James after Peter to separate him from the Twelve Disciples....This writing helps us conclude that this is neither James, the Son of Zebedee, or James, the Son of Alphaeus...These James were two of the Twelve Disciples...This James is Jesus' half brother...
St. Paul had visited St. Peter and St. James and knew them...He mentions meeting them in his letter to the Galatians (Galatians 2:9)...St. Luke also writes about St. Paul (and Barnabas) meeting with St. Peter and St. James at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-21)...So this group of three knew each other, as they spread the word of Jesus...All three were eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after His death...James being Jesus brother would have known Jesus all His life...
St. Paul is great for us, in that he is evidence of God, and evidence in Jesus...He was an eyewitness who saw Jesus after His death...He originally persecuted Jesus, but was a zealous follower of God...St. Paul would not have written his letters, which make up almost half of the New Testament if Jesus had not lived on earth and died on the cross...St. Paul's letters were written to soon after Jesus' death for Him to be a myth, or a legend...St. Paul makes Jesus an historical figure...The Pharisee opposition (and St. Paul was a Pharisee) and the Jewish opposition would have done anything to discredit Jesus' life and death and prove He was not the Messiah...Someone or many could have told Paul and the followers of Jesus that this did not happen...They could tell Paul, you are incorrect, this letter about the resurrection is not true...So if this letter is not true, how can you put your faith and any truth in the other letters he wrote...If Paul lied in this letter about the resurrection, no doubt Christianity would never have gained a foothold in the Near East, Mid East, and then the whole Roman Empire...Now it encompasses the whole world...
Jesus lived a life of truth and righteousness and Paul wrote about this...St. Paul and all of His followers would want to write about His truth and righteousness...These are the things Jesus stands for, not lies...St. Paul verifies the historical fact of the resurrection...It is the most important fact we have...It means if Jesus can overcome death we too can...By believing in Him and the One who sent Him, we to will not perish at death, and have eternal life with the Father and Son (John 3:16)...