(#9) Everyone Would Have Known It

 If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#9) Everyone Would Have Known It [audio]

We will deal later with the charges against the resurrection, but we need to pause at this point and look at something that underlies a lot of them. And that is the notion that Jesus, if he existed at all, was some obscure, itinerate preacher who got himself on the wrong side of the power of Rome. And, then, as legends arise, so too did the myth of a miracle-working, God-in-the-flesh, resurrected Messiah, who, in reality, was nothing but a blip in the mid-eastern history of mankind.

Now, recall that I am not writing this to unbelievers, but to those who are in Christ and to help us solidify the reality of the resurrection such that it is not just a one-and-done, “Easter Egg” event that comes and goes like every other holiday on our calendar. To that end, we will delay the apologetic of the veracity of the Scriptures, which we will eventually cover, to help us recognize that if you had happened to be in Jerusalem at this time you could not have missed any of this. These events were not isolated nor were they obscure. The whole of Jerusalem was aware and directly, or indirectly, involved. In other words, everyone would have known that Jesus rose from the dead.

Let’s begin at the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate because it is important to recognize that these events were not just some isolated Jewish matter, but that the authorities from Rome were deeply involved. Here is an excerpt from that trial:

So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was because of envy that they had handed Him over.

And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death…

Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood…” (Matthew 27:17-20, 24 NASB)

There are two things that need to be recognized here. The first is that this wasn’t a small group of people that had gathered before the Governor, but it was a “crowd," and the crowd was large enough to begin a riot. The second is that this is not a minor, ho-hum case for Pilate where he might simply give a thumbs up or thumbs down, bring on the next one. Quite the opposite. Pilate is personally invested in this issue with the Nazarene. His wife had a dream about Jesus and had “suffered greatly” because of that dream, enough that she warned Pilate not to be involved in taking action against this “righteous man." It is highly probable nothing like this had ever happened to Pilate. And, with this warning no doubt in the back of his mind, he had a protracted dialogue with Jesus, one that led him to believe He was innocent. And, as we read in the other Gospels, he then argued with the crowd on behalf of Jesus. Pilate even went back and forth between the crowd and Jesus, seeking a way to release Him. But he became so worried that a riot would break out, he ruled contrary to his sense of justice and washed his hands in front of the crowds to show it was on them.

Let’s look deeper at the fact that a “crowd” had gathered before Pilate. Certainly, it must have been large enough for Pilate to have been worried. John 19:8 says that Pilate became “even more afraid” as the crowd grew increasingly agitated. It was this fear of a major riot that caused him to ignore his wife’s warning and his own belief that Jesus was innocent and condemn Him to death. If this were a small group of people, he might have told them to buzz off. But the fact that it was a crowd of significant size is important for us to note.

This is also consistent with what we see when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem earlier that week:

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:10-11)

The “whole city” was “stirred up." The Greek word here for “stirred up” is the same word used to describe how the earthquake “shook” the ground at the crucifixion (Matthew 27:51). It is the same word used when “the guards trembled” after seeing the earthquake and the angel. It is used in Hebrews 12:26

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”

The point here is that the words are telling us something significant about the state of the city. The whole place was rocking because of Jesus. He wasn't an obscure person. If we go back further in time, we see that Jesus had already developed a significant reputation:

“Jesus was…healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people…”

“The news about Him spread throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill…”

“Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan." (Matthew 4:23-25)

When Jesus came to Jerusalem, His fame preceded Him and the city was abuzz because of His arrival. When the chief priests and the Pharisees, later in the week, were seeking to arrest him, “they feared the crowds, because they held Him to be a prophet” (Matthew 21:46). When the chief priests and the elders plotted with Caiaphas, the high priest, on how to “arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him” they didn’t want to do it during the feast “lest there be an uproar among the people” (Mark 14:2).

Jesus was not some unknown, itinerant preacher who just happened to get crossways with Rome. The city was stirred up by Him. The religious leaders were stirred up by Him. Pilate was stirred up by Him.

Add to this the events during the crucifixion of the darkness, the earthquake, the temple curtain torn in two and then Sunday morning a second great earthquake and then, of all things, dead people from the tombs running around!

Everyone in Jerusalem knew something was happening… and it was happening because of Jesus.

Why is all of this important? Because the resurrection of Jesus cannot be dismissed as a hoax or a non-event turned into a mythical story that grew into an unfounded movement. The women and the disciples knew it and it radically changed their lives. The guards knew it. The chief priests and the elders knew it. For sure Pilate knew it. He was deeply invested in this Man Jesus. Not only do we have the contentious trial and his wife’s dream, but he irked the Jewish leaders by having the inscription “King of the Jews” put on the cross (John 19:19-21); he checked with the centurion to make sure Jesus was really dead (Mark 15:44); he had been a part of assuring the tomb was sealed and guarded by soldiers (Matthew 27:65); and now, the city was without doubt all aflutter with the news that this guarded tomb was empty, the soldiers gone, the stone tossed aside, the seals broken and the grave clothes still lying undisturbed inside.

Of course, Pilate knew.

And does it not seem a certainty that everyone in Jerusalem, from the chief priests to Pilate himself would then take a look at the tomb? Can you imagine, in your wildest dreams, that the entire Sanhedrin didn’t check it out?

Of course they did. It would be unthinkable for them not to.

We earlier referenced the movie Risen. I believe it rightly portrays the desperate search by Pilate and the Jewish leaders to find the body of Jesus. There was much at stake for both sides.

But the body was never found because that body was alive. It was not going to be found by a search through the piles of dead corpses as depicted in the movie. That dead body was now the living flesh of the risen Jesus, speaking compassionately to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, inviting the disciples to touch His hands and His feet, eating fish by the Sea of Galilee, appearing to more than 500 at one time, and meeting privately with the heart-broken Peter to comfort him and bring him restoration. 

The resurrection of Jesus was a public, inescapable, and widely known event. Rather than being some obscure, back-alley rumor or the subject of fringe speculation, the resurrection occurred in full view of a city teeming with people already stirred by Jesus’ presence and reputation. Pilate had a deep emotional and political investment in the fate of Jesus. This wasn’t a forgettable execution of a random criminal—it was a cosmic event.

Not long after, we are told in Acts 4:4 that 5,000 men had become believers in the risen Jesus. If the population of Jerusalem was, as historians believe, somewhere around 25 thousand, then in a short time almost one out of five had embraced the reality that Jesus was the risen Messiah. Certainly, there were those who did not believe, but it wasn’t because they didn’t know. They all knew.

Jesus had risen from the dead, just as He said.

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