Riddle me this ...

If Jesus is truly dead how do you possibly justify the fact that 3,000 people decided to follow Him just weeks after the resurrection. These were the people that would have seen Jesus' life, they would have seen Him die, and there is a very large chance they would have seen Jesus after He resurrected... If they personally did not see Him they would have known someone who had, guaranteed. They lived in a city that was buzzing with news of Jesus... If Jesus had NOT truly been resurrected everyone would have known it, it would have been disproved immediately and the buzz about Jesus would have died, even Judas the Galilean acknowledges this reality in Acts 6.

These three thousand individuals were not stupid, naive, or brainwashed, they were just an ordinary crowd in Jerusalem. They would have been people just like you and I. If I had someone preaching to me that Jesus had risen again I would go and ask my cousins, neighbours, friends, coworkers to see if they had heard or seen anything, and in all likelihood at least one of them would have either seen Jesus or knew someone who had seen Him post-resurrection, or not. Jesus walked on earth for forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3) which is enough time for many people to have seen Him.

If He had not risen from death there is NO WAY three thousand individuals would decide to follow "The Way" (what followers of Jesus were called before they were known as Christians). To follow The Way meant you would certainly be ostracized, you would have been cutting yourself off from the culture you had known your entire life and even risked death. Persecutions were rampant, Christians were killed for following Jesus, and if not killed certainly imprisoned or scorned. Thousands of individuals would never willingly choose that lifestyle if they had not been one hundred percent certain of Jesus' resurrection and Kingship.

So, again, riddle me this... If Jesus was dead, why would so many choose to follow Him immediately after His resurrection?

-kAt