The Truth Behind the Resurrection of Jesus

As I write this article, it is currently around Easter and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are hot topics on the minds of Christians right now. I’ve been asked my thoughts on the topic of the resurrection as an ex-pastor and ex-Christian. In this post I’ll share a few of my thoughts on the resurrection simply to begin the conversation.

Harry Potter, Clouds, and Rorschachs

If you know anything about me, have read some of my writings, or have watched my lives or some of my videos on TikTok, then you know that I have come to see the historical context of the Bible as the most critical bit of information needed for interpreting the writings. Many Christians approach the Bible with little to no understanding of the historical context, and so they approach it as though it was somehow in some spiritual and divinely inspired way written specifically for them to apply in their lives right here right now in the year 2023. This understanding of the Bible couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Bible is a product of human beings in their own historical context, written for those living in that historical context, with motives derived out of that historical context. To see it in any other way is nothing more than a position of faith. This isn’t to say that one cannot go to the Bible, read something from it, and make applications to their lives in some way. Yet, this exact method can be performed by going to the Harry Potter series and applying something from that literature to one’s life. This would be the same idea as a Rorschach ink blot test or looking at clouds and deriving from them the forms of rabbits or dragons. The form is created by the individual looking at the ink or the clouds.

Of Writers and Resurrection

Understanding the Bible in the way that I do, and understanding the historical context and the importance of it in the creation of the Bible (and in this particular post, specifically the New Testament), the story of the resurrection of Jesus is not without it’s purpose in the minds of the writers of that specific period of time.

As I’ve made clear in previous posts (here for example, and here) and videos, the Gospels of the New Testament (along with some of the other writings) are primarily concerned with the existence of believers in the post-70AD world of a destroyed Jerusalem and temple. The concern of the Gospels is “How do we interpret what has happened to the people of God? How do we understand the destruction of Jerusalem and the very dwelling place of our God, the temple, and the Holy of Holies?” That’s the motivation of the writers. The writers are utterly concerned with presenting a theological reason and case to the believers at that time for why God would allow such atrocities to take place to his own people and to their place of sacrifice and worship, and how were they to carry on with faith. It was THE concern! “How will the priests make sacrifices on our behalf? Has God abandoned us? Have we been forsaken?”

The Birth of Emphasis

Thus, we have the birth of emphasizing the story of the one, the last, and the only sacrifice of all sacrifices: the sacrifice of the very son of God, the Messiah, for the forgiveness of the sins of God’s people. I say the birth of the emphasizing, because stories like these had been circulating starting a few decades after the death of Jesus. The Gospels are the first to emphasize these stories to make their case. The case being made in the New Testament is this: Israel was unfaithful, they rejected God, God cut Israel off and ultimately destroyed their city and temple; however, the previous death of the son of God, Jesus, can be accepted as the once for all sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people, and by being forgiven, they can once again be in good standing with Yahweh and also once again be in covenant with him as his people.

Since no further sacrifices need to be made, the temple along with the sacrificial system is no longer needed. The temple in Christian theology becomes anywhere the believers gather to worship their God.

Now, this is the story presented, but much more elaborately in the writings. However, this was a story hardly any Israelite would accept or believe. This was quite the unbelievable story. Essentially, there had to be thousands of responses that amounted to “Oh yeah? Prove it!”

And here we have the ultimate purpose of the story of the resurrection.

Zero Accounts From Original Followers

The followers of Jesus believed his message (whatever that message actually was is ultimately in question for many reasons). I’m not in this post making a case for or against the historicity of a Jesus character. Assuming a Jesus character actually existed, there were clearly followers of someone named Jesus relatively early on. Those followers believed his message (whatever it initially was), and after the death of their leader, stories about him began to spread (again, this is assuming an actual living person named Jesus). However, there are literally zero accounts directly from any of the original followers who supposedly walked with Jesus. And, it is an incredible leap of faith to believe that any of the Gospels were written by any of these early followers; there is zero evidence or reason to believe so.

Of course, one of the stories that eventually spread was that this Jesus character came back to life in some way, shape, or form (whether it was believed to be a spiritual or a physical resurrection is entirely another topic for discussion). Yet, shockingly, somehow the earliest written reference to some type of resurrection is from someone named Paul, and again, not from an actual follower of the living man Jesus. Whether the writings of Paul were actually written by Paul is yet another topic of discussion with many arguments for all sides. So, we have zero accounts from actual followers from the times of the living man Jesus, and we have a few references from someone named Paul, whose writings are heavily debated as being authentically written by the same author, or even by Paul himself. However, there obviously are (he said she said) references to the resurrection, whatever they may mean and whoever may be the reference.

Taking the Story to the Next Level

Now, decades, if not over a hundred years later, the Gospels take this story to an entirely new level. The question is why? Why do these writings suddenly appear (within a hundred years or so) after the destruction of Jerusalem with the supposed (and contradictory) detailed stories of Jesus physically coming out of the tomb after death?

They do this as the ultimate proof for the reliability of their story. What story? Again, the motive of the Gospels is to prove that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple were the very act of God in response to the unfaithfulness of Israel, the epitome of which became their rejection of the messiah, Jesus. All of this comes together tightly in the late writings of the Gospels. The writers take all of the pieces and form the stories and theologies to continue their religion in a post-Jerusalem world. In a Roman world without any sign of God’s presence. (Hence the “sign” of the holy spirit, which is another topic that fits right into this interpretation that I present.)

Did the Resurrection of Jesus Happen?

So, did the resurrection of Jesus happen? I can confidently say without a shadow of a doubt absolutely not. There is absolutely no real, tangible evidence of it being an actual event in human history; there is a clear theological, religious reason as to why the story of the resurrection exists at all (in light of the ultimate destruction of the temple and Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD, as proof that God is still with his people and no longer needs the temple as his dwelling place nor the sacrifices that took place within it); and it is simply a theological tool used to legitimize the stories and beliefs of the followers of Jesus.

As with the entire Bible, the story of the resurrection is a product of human beings in their historical context trying to understand and interpret the times they are experiencing. The story of the resurrection was a product of human beings used as the ultimate proof to legitimize their message and their faith. They heard bits of the stories passed on like the telephone game, and the writers responsible for the New Testament took the stories to elaborate new levels in an effort to present a solid foundation and proof for who they are as the post-Jerusalem people of God, the new Israel.

Why People Still Believe the Story

So the question now becomes, after thousands of years why are there currently human beings (numbering in the millions) still believing that a man named Jesus was actually raised from the dead and still expecting this resurrected Jesus character to return out of the sky? The answer very simply comes down to ignorance of historical context and blind faith fueled by the power of accepted tradition and fear. And it is indeed as simple as that.

Once this is realized, one can finally shed this ancient belief and expectation, and begin an authentic journey of finding one’s own truth. This is the beginning of the path of self-realization.

Resurrectpond Below

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