Lecture

Edwin Yamauchi: I think that one of the greatest arguments for belief in the reality of the resurrection was in fact the transformation that occurred to specific individuals who believe they had witnessed the resurrected Christ.

Dr. Vernon Grounds: They previously were doubters, and they were cowards, but for now they’ve become courageous witnesses, and it was the French philosopher Pascal, who once remarked,

“I believe those witnesses were willing to get their throats cut.”

People don’t die for a self-concocted lie. These apostles were willing to die as martyrs, not because they made up a story, but because they had met the risen Christ, and they were convinced of His triumph over death. And that fact transformed them.

Edwin Yamauchi: The Greek word for martyr originally meant witness, but since so many Christians were willing to die for their faith, the word has come to have the connotation of someone who is willing to die for his or her faith. And one of the most remarkable things about the history of Christianity is the many martyrs were willing to die for their faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

Kerby Anderson: It’s important to recognize that as we are talking about the disciples, they were scared individuals. They fled from Jesus, they were spending most of their time in hiding, and all of a sudden, something very dramatic took place. They were all of a sudden energized by some event in their lives. And what I think we see are a number of individuals who are afraid. They were fearful, and all but one of them died martyrs’ deaths. If they were dying for lies, certainly one of them would have cracked. Certainly one of them would have said, “No, this is too much.” Something dramatic took place, and I believe that dramatic event was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That changed them from fearful people in the shadows to those who are willing to step forth and die martyrs’ deaths because they believed that they had met the risen Lord.