New Testament · The Resurrection
The Resurrection
10 minute readintermediate
The claim the whole New Testament rests on, and what the earliest sources actually say.
By the end of this lesson
Describe the resurrection accounts and explain why Paul treats the resurrection as essential.
Passages to read first
- Luke 24
- John 20
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-28
Historical context
In first-century Jewish and Roman courts a woman's testimony carried little legal weight, yet all four Gospels name women as the first witnesses. Invented accounts aiming at credibility would not have been constructed that way. 1 Corinthians 15 preserves a summary of the claim that predates the letter itself.
The lesson
The accounts differ in detail — how many women, how many angels, the order of appearances — while agreeing on the core: the tomb was empty, and people who had not expected it encountered Jesus alive.
The reactions are not credulous. The women are frightened. The disciples think the report is nonsense. Two on the Emmaus road walk and talk with him without recognising him, and only know him when he breaks bread. Thomas refuses secondhand testimony. Jesus eats fish in front of them, which is Luke's way of saying this is not a ghost.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, lists appearances and states the staks plainly: if Christ has not been raised, faith is futile and we are still in our sins. He does not treat resurrection as a symbol of renewal but as an event on which everything else depends.
The resurrection also shapes hope. Paul calls Jesus the firstfruits — the first of a harvest, not a solitary exception. What is promised is bodily resurrection and a renewed creation, not merely survival of the soul.
People
Jesus · Mary Magdalene · Peter · Thomas · Paul
Places
Jerusalem · Emmaus · Galilee
Reflection questions
- Why might the differences between accounts count for their honesty rather than against it?
- What does Thomas' doubt, and Jesus' response to it, offer you?
- What difference does bodily resurrection make compared with an immortal soul?
Put it into practice
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 and write out in your own words what Paul says follows if the resurrection did not happen.
Cross references
- Acts 2:22-36
- Romans 6:1-11
- 1 Peter 1:3-5
Key takeaway
The resurrection is presented as a public event with witnesses, and the whole Christian claim stands or falls with it.
Knowledge check
2 questions. Nothing is graded against you — this is just to see what stuck.
1. Who are named as the first witnesses of the empty tomb?
2. What does Paul call the risen Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15?
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Scripture itself — not FaithTrainer — is the authority. These lessons are study aids meant to send you back to the text, your local church and, where you need it, pastoral guidance.
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