The Resurrection Teacher's Manual

THE resurrection He is risen!

TEACHER’S MANUAL |

Written by Ryan Smartt

Contents 4 INTRODUCTION • THE RESURRECTION • UNIT AIM • UNIT OUTCOMES • UNIT OUTLINE—SCOPE AND SEQUENCE • USING THIS MANUAL 8 1. WHAT IS THE RESURRECTION AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT? 13 2. THE SWOON THEORY 19 3. THE LEGEND THEORY 25 4. THE STOLEN BODY THEORY 32 5. THE HALLUCINATION THEORY 38 6. THE HISTORICAL, BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS 44 7. THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION: NEW CREATION! 49 8. RESPONDING TO THE RESURRECTION 54 APPENDIX 1. ASSESSMENT TASK 60 APPENDIX 2. DEBATE

t h e s to l e n b o dy theory

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The resurrect ion He is r isen

Lesson aim

Resources

To evaluate the arguments and evidence for the stolen body theory.

As a separate purchase:

Lesson outcomes

CEP Teachers Lounge:

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By the end of this lesson students will be able to: •

define the key components of the stolen body theory make an informed assessment of the evidence and arguments for the stolen body theory.

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Title

Description

The stolen body theory

The stolen body theory is introduced through a series of facts as well as information concerning the burial places of Jesus.

Discussion

Using Matthew 27:57—28:15, students will explore the events surrounding Jesus’ burial and the claim that the disciples stole his body.

Investigation

Students consider the possible motives of different groups that could have stolen Jesus’ body, and the problems with these theories.

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What’s at stake?

Arguments against the stolen body theory include the discovery of the empty tomb by women, and the mention of witnesses including Joseph of Arimathea and the 500 in 1 Corinthians 15.

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Doubting the stolen body theory

Students use the information they have learned this lesson to respond to the stolen body theory.

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Reflection

Students reflect on the stolen body theory and their own response to it.

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Video clips for the lesson Links to extension readings Links to helpful websites.

Rationale The stolen body theory

Lesson outline Section

The Resurrection Student handbook.

This is the halfway point of the unit, so the Student handbook commences with four quick multiple choice questions to revise content covered in previous lessons.

This section also contains a number of statements that contribute towards a definition of the stolen body theory. After reviewing these statements, ask students to write their own definition of the stolen body theory.

The map provides an interesting discussion point.

No-one today actually knows for certain where Jesus was buried. There are two possible locations—the garden tomb is more likely than the traditional Holy Sepulchre location. Both contain archaeological evidence of ancient tombs that fit with the description of the tomb in the Bible.

A good discussion of the case for the Holy Sepulchre and the garden tomb location can be found in this short video clip by PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ religionandethics/?p=10645 A link to this is provided on the CEP Teachers Lounge.

The burial location of Jesus is not really a fundamentally important aspect of this lesson, but does provide an interesting debate. You might use it to engage students in this theory and broaden their knowledge on the topic of Jesus’ resurrection.

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T H E S TO L E N B O DY T H E O R Y

Discussion This activity involves a detailed exploration of the resurrection narrative as it appears in Matthew’s Gospel.

This gospel has been chosen for this lesson because it contains the stolen body theory as an alternative set of beliefs that were reportedly being spread by the Jewish authorities from the earliest days of Christianity.

Read Matthew 27:57—28:15 with the class and instruct them to answer the questions in their Student handbooks. Discuss the answers with the class.

Investigation This activity requires students to work through the different variations on the stolen body theory. For example, did the disciples or the Jewish authorities steal the body of Jesus?

By considering the motives of each group, and tabulating this information, students should judge the likelihood of each group’s involvement with the missing body.

By the end of this activity, it should be clear to students that the Jews and Romans had nothing to gain by stealing the body of Jesus. The question about the disciples stealing Jesus’ body still remains, but hopefully through the next activity, serious doubts will be raised as to whether this makes sense given the evidence we have. One argument to keep in mind when discussing the possibility of the disciples stealing Jesus’ body is that the disciples weren’t expecting Jesus to resurrect. They were genuinely surprised and shocked to learn that Jesus had risen.

They were downcast and defeated at the crucifixion, and they did not have any hope that Jesus was going to come back to life—this did not fit into their world view as first-century Jews.

What’s at stake?

This section prompts students to consider the evidence of the women as the first people to discover the empty tomb, as well as the inclusion of Joseph of Arimathea and the 500 witnesses in the narratives surrounding the resurrection.

The power of this evidence becomes apparent when putting these New Testament documents into their original context.

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The argument based on the testimony of women goes like this. Women were not thought to be reliable witnesses in ancient society. Their testimony could be easily challenged in legal circumstances. If the Christians were developing an elaborate hoax by stealing the body of Jesus and inventing the resurrection story, they would have been unlikely to place women at the centre of that story as the first witnesses to the empty tomb. This lends weight to the fact that the tomb was actually empty. It is highly unlikely that the disciples stole the body.

The argument based on Joseph of Arimathea and the 500 witnesses is based on the explicit naming of Joseph of Arimathea. Surely the point of this was so that people hearing the narrative or reading it at the time it was written would know him or at least be able to verify his existence. In his book, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony, Richard Bauckham presents an impressive case that the eyewitnesses named in the Gospel narratives would have acted as authenticators of those stories in which they were involved. Therefore, the section in the Gospels about Joseph of Arimathea and the burial of Jesus can be seen as authentic and historically reliable, as Joseph himself would have acted as guarantor and verifier of this tradition. Likewise, when Paul includes the 500 witnesses in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:6), he does this because many of them would still have been alive to verify that Jesus had indeed appeared to them after his crucifixion.

Joseph of Arimathea would have known where his own tomb was located and therefore would not have given the wrong details to the disciples or the women.

Even if they had travelled to the wrong tomb, Joseph could have guided them to the right tomb where Jesus was buried. This did not happen, and therefore we can conclude that the tomb that the women and the disciples found empty was the tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, where Jesus was originally buried after his crucifixion.

It is important to complete a thorough investigation of the facts surrounding the stolen body theory, as they cast sufficient doubt on the hypothesis that the disciples stole Jesus’ body.

The resurrect ion He is r isen

Doubting the stolen body theory

What is one of the main weaknesses of the swoon theory? a. It does not take into consideration the disciples’ reaction to Jesus when he appeared to them three days later. b. It does not take into consideration how brutal crucifixion was. c. It assumes that the Romans were not good at killing people. d. Any of the above.

This activity is a regular feature in each lesson.

In this lesson, students meet ‘Stolen body theory Sally’.

This activity provides students with the opportunity to put into practice some of the arguments and facts presented in this lesson. Encourage students to present both sides of the argument as best they can, and to include any other compelling arguments or pieces of evidence on this topic that haven’t been covered in this lesson.

What are two weaknesses of the legend theory? a. There are none—most conspiracy theories end up being true. b. The disciples died for their belief in the resurrection. Why would someone die for a lie? c. Jesus’ resurrection has been studied by professional historians. d. It doesn’t fulfil the criterion of multiple attestations.

Reflection The last few minutes of the lesson should be given over to this activity. It is important that students are asked to reflect on their own beliefs throughout this unit. Is the evidence swaying them?

You could use the first question to produce a score on the stolen body theory. Tally up the scores given by all students on the credibility of the stolen body theory and average this out. Keep track of this data throughout the unit and see which alternative theory to the resurrection of Jesus has the most credibility with your class.

When was the oral tradition of Jesus’ resurrection likely to have developed? a. Within two years of Jesus’ death and resurrection. b. Between ten and 15 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. c. Between 50 and 100 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. d. Not until at least 200 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Student handbook Quick quiz What is resurrection? a. It’s the same as the idea of reincarnation. b. It’s the term used to describe Jesus defeating death and returning to life after his crucifixion. c. It’s what happens when someone passes out and then regains consciousness. d. It’s what the ancient Egyptians believed happened to mummies.

Discussion Read Matthew 27:57—28:15 and answer the following questions.

According to Matthew’s Gospel, who started the theory that Jesus’ body had been stolen by the disciples?

The Jewish authorities (chief priests and elders) started the rumour that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body.

They paid guards to spread the story.

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Matthew makes a point of mentioning that Jesus’ tomb was

1. The Romans stole the body

guarded. Why did the Jewish officials go to Pilate in the first

Under the command of Pontius Pilate (the governor

place and ask for the tomb to be guarded?

who had ordered Jesus to be executed), the Roman

They were afraid that someone might steal Jesus’ body

authorities stole the body of Jesus so that his followers

and fake a resurrection. This would be worse than the

could not use his tomb as a monument or shrine. They

original problem of Jesus claiming that he was God.

wanted peace in Jerusalem, and the only way for this

Describe what the guards did after they had realised that

to happen was for Jesus’ followers to disperse and go

Jesus’ body was not in the tomb?

back to the countryside, where they had come from.

The guards were terrified at the sight of the angel

2. The Jewish authorities stole the body

and fainted. They fled the tomb and went to the chief

Under the command of the High Priest Caiaphas (who

priests to report what they had seen. The chief priests

led the plot to have Jesus killed), the Jewish authorities

conferred with the elders and they agreed to give the

stole Jesus’ body. This was done in order to prevent

guards a large sum of money in order to keep quiet

the tomb becoming a shrine to Jesus’ followers. In

about Jesus’ resurrection and to spread the false news

the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Mark, the men

that Jesus’ disciples had come and stolen the body.

dressed in white (traditionally thought by Christians to

Matthew makes a point of mentioning that the women who

be angels) were actually temple priests, and this is why

discovered the empty tomb were sitting opposite it when

they told the disciples that Jesus was not in the grave,

Jesus was placed inside. Explain how this piece of information

and that they should go back to Galilee.

weakens the case for the stolen/missing body theory.

3. The disciples stole the body

The same women who saw Jesus’ body being placed in

The disciples stole Jesus’ body with sinister motives.

the tomb were present when the tomb was opened by

They knew that Jesus was dead, and that their group

the angel. They were witnesses to both his burial and

was to come to an end because of this. But they did

his resurrection.

not want to go back to their normal lives, so they stole

If you were living in Jerusalem at this time, how would you

Jesus’ body and made up a story about his resurrection,

have reacted to news that Jesus’ body had been stolen by

claiming that he was the expected Messiah, the Son

his disciples?

of God.

You would probably have mixed feelings about this

4. Grave robbers stole the body

news. On the one hand, it might seem likely that the

Grave robbers knew that Jesus was a miracle worker

disciples wanted to bury Jesus in his home town, or

and a great religious teacher. They stole his body

somewhere else. But stealing the body and deliberately

believing that even though it was lifeless, the body still

deceiving people is against what we know about the

contained a great deal of supernatural power. They

character and ethics of the disciples, as well as being at

sold it on the black market.

odds with everything that Jesus taught.

5. The disciples went to the wrong tomb

Investigation

The disciples were so overwhelmed with grief and

There are a number of different versions of the stolen body

tiredness that they went to the wrong tomb, saw that

theory of the resurrection. Read through each of these versions

it was empty, and concluded that Jesus had been raised

and use the information provided to answer the questions in

from the dead. This was not as sinister as stealing the

the table on the following page.

body; it was simply an unfortunate mistake.

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Likelihood out of 5

What problems are there with this theory?

What was their motive?

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To stop Jesus being worshipped at his tomb

To bring peace to Jerusalem

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Similar to the Romans, the Jews were in opposition to early Christianity. They could have produced a body to put an end to the whole thing.

The Jewish authorities stole the body

The Romans stole the body

The Romans could have quickly put an end to the spread of Christianity by producing the body of Jesus. This did not happen.

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The tomb was guarded, and there is no record of a struggle between robbers and guards.

To use or sell Jesus’ body, which they claimed had magical powers

To deceive people and not give up the idea that Jesus was the Messiah

It doesn’t fit with their character or ethics.

They were willing to be put to death for this alleged lie they were spreading.

Grave robbers stole the body

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The disciples stole the body

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If they had gone to the wrong tomb, Joseph of Arimathea could have shown them the correct one. The women discovered the empty tomb and also were there when he was placed in the tomb.

None—an honest mistake by the disciples

The disciples went to the wrong tomb

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The resurrect ion He is r isen

T H E S TO L E N B O DY T H E O R Y

What’s at stake?

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he mentions that Jesus appeared to over 500 people at the same time.

Christians believe that Paul included such a statement because (i) it was true, and (ii) it was common knowledge that these witnesses were still around in the church and could be relied upon to verify this fact.

Explain how the fact that the women were the first witnesses to the empty tomb in the Gospels suggests that the resurrection is actually true, rather than just a conspiracy created by the disciples.

The testimony of women was not trusted in the ancient world. It is bizarre that if the disciples were making up the resurrection they would choose women as the very first witnesses to the resurrection. To the sceptic, this would suggest that the resurrection was not true, because women couldn’t be trusted. But to the discerning thinker, the logic of placing the women at the centre of the resurrection narratives can only be answered by saying, ‘this is actually what happened’.

The disciples were simply telling the truth about the resurrection of Jesus and the women being the first witnesses of the empty tomb.

Explain how the inclusion of Joseph of Arimathea’s name in the Gospel accounts of the resurrection lends support to its truthfulness.

As in the case of Joseph of Arimathea, the 500 witnesses were alive when Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, and could be tracked down and asked about their experiences of seeing Jesus resurrected.

Five hundred people is a large group, so it is unlikely they were collectively fooled into thinking Jesus was resurrected, or conspired to spread a fake rumour about it. The large number suggests that this is something that happened, and that these people could be relied upon to retell their experiences.

Doubting the stolen body theory

Joseph of Arimathea was a prominent and well-known local figure. People who read the Gospel accounts would have known of him, or at least been in contact with someone who knew him, such was his fame in the early church. By associating his name with the tomb, the Gospels are providing a piece of verifiable data about the truth of the claim that the tomb was empty. It wasn’t just some random person’s tomb; it was owned by Joseph of Arimathea—an upright, reliable person whose testimony could be trusted.

1 Corinthians 15:3¯6 3

Explain how the appearance of Jesus to over 500 people at the same time lends support to the truthfulness of the empty tomb, and causes doubt about the stolen body theory.

For what I received I passed on to you as of

first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

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Students draw upon all the information, including Bible verses, arguments and pieces of evidence about why the stolen body theory is an inadequate explanation of the evidence concerning the resurrection of Jesus. The response should be conversational in style and seek to address the questions raised by ‘Stolen body theory Sally’.

Reflection Students complete this section based on their personal insights and preferences. Encourage students to be as specific as possible in the final two questions.

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