1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Jesus Resurrected and was Seen by Over Five Hundred Men and Women
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 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. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But 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. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Matthew 16:1-4
Pharisees Ask Jesus for a Miracle from Heaven
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus. So they asked him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven.
2 He responded to them, “In the evening you say that the weather will be fine because the sky is red. 3 And in the morning you say that there will be a storm today because the sky is red and overcast. You can forecast the weather by judging the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
4 “Evil and unfaithful people look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will be given is that of Jonah.”
Then he left them standing there and went away.
Mark 1:29-34
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard about John, he left in a boat and went to a place where he could be alone. The crowds heard about this and followed him on foot from the cities. 14 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He felt sorry for them and cured their sick people.
15 In the evening the disciples came to him. They said, “No one lives around here, and it’s already late. Send the crowds to the villages to buy food for themselves.”
16 Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 They told him, “All we have here are five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 Jesus said, “Bring them to me.”
19 Then he ordered the people to sit down on the grass. After he took the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart, gave them to the disciples, and they gave them to the people. 20 All of them ate as much as they wanted. When they picked up the leftover pieces, they filled twelve baskets.
21 About five thousand men had eaten. (This number does not include the women and children who had eaten.)
Matthew 15:32-39
32 Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the people. They have been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they may become exhausted on their way home.”
33 His disciples asked him, “Where could we get enough bread to feed such a crowd in this place where no one lives?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, and they gave the bread and fish to the people.
37 All of them ate as much as they wanted. The disciples picked up the leftover pieces and filled seven large baskets.38 Four thousand men had eaten. (This number does not include the women and children who had eaten.)
39 After he sent the people on their way, Jesus stepped into the boat and came to the territory of Magadan.
John 12:37-50
37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Jesus did His Teachings in public, so many people saw Him and what He was doing...So large numbers of people saw Him and what He did, and heard what He believed in...So there were many people who saw Jesus do His miracles...One day, Peter's mother-in-law had fever and Jesus healed her...After He had healed her and later that day, the whole town gathered at Peter's doorstep, and He healed many that day...Later Jesus would feed four thousand people and later five thousand people with a couple of fish, and a few loaves of bread...So, in these three miracles Jesus did, the miracle healings of the many in the town, and the feeding of four thousand and five thousand -Jesus had thousands of eyewitnesses to these miracles...So, if someone questioned whether He could do miracles -they could check Him out by any one in these large groups...So, those skeptical about Him, could have ask any of this nine thousand plus people (or close to it,) about His ability to due miracles...
In another numbers story, St. Paul tells us that Jesus died and resurrected...After His resurrection He was seen by more than five hundred men and women at the same time...And although some of those who saw Jesus after He died, had died, there were many among the five hundred that were still alive...So if one wanted to ask someone if they saw Jesus after He died, there are many eyewitnesses who saw Him after His death and were still living...
So if you believe the Bible, when Jesus was living on earth, He did many miracles...Many sources write that Jesus performed thirty seven different miracles...And if one includes His resurrection that is thirty eight...And surely, I would guess many of the Pharisees would have seen, or at least heard about His miracles...After all, they could have ask any in the group of the nine thousand of those He miraculously fed or the many that He healed...Yet, one day when they confront Jesus, they ask Him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven...Jesus never traveled more than two hundred miles in the area He ministered to...And this two hundred mile region in His travels would have been buzzing with the miracles He had done...He had large crowds in places, including when He fed this different multitudes of four and five thousand...These crowds may have been driven by His miracles...
But, I sometimes I am like the Pharisees...And the Pharisees were there listening and watching Him...They wanted one more miracle, even though He did many...They ask Him for a sign from heaven...And besides the Pharisees, others who saw Him perform miracles did not believe Him...St. John wrote this very fact, "Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him...And He showed Himself to over five hundred people after His death, and that still was not enough for all people to believe that He is our Messiah..
I wonder if Jesus would have done more than one thousand different type miracles and showed Himself to over ten thousand people after He died -would that make Him more believable today?...Would those numbers make my faith stronger?...What numbers does one need to believe, to have a stronger faith?... And would those numbers make Him easier to believe in?...If it is not, ask yourself what would it take?...And if it is not about the numbers, ask what is the doubt really about?...