Today’s reading is John 20.
We find it hard today to read one gospel record completely by itself, simply learning what each author wanted to teach. Our Bibles have four records in them. No doubt, one of the greatest puzzles for us today is why the accounts are so different. One might think as important a matter as the resurrection is, the authors would have worked harder to corroborate their testimonies.
That is an interesting question. Why didn’t they work harder at it? If the men were simply lying, if they were fabricating the story whole cloth, the only way it would work is if they corroborated. Otherwise, the ancient readers would be able to tell the gospel authors couldn’t get their facts straight and wouldn’t believe. Yet, somehow, the ancients (who could talk to and question the authors) did read the accounts, the same as we do, and they accepted them as a consistent story about the resurrection of Jesus.
Keep in mind inspiration does not mean God dictated to the apostles and prophets what He wanted written, but it does mean God got what He wanted into the writing. He allowed the men to write from their own experiences, backgrounds, memories, research, personalities. As such, what did Holy Spirit want us to have in the four gospel accounts? Not a singular corroborated, polished, harmonized account from four men. Rather, He wanted us to have the recalled and/or researched testimony of four men regarding a singularly unique event.
Each author provides different details based on what mattered to him or based on his specific goal. Each author writes from a different perspective and with a unique purpose. But each author provides testimony to the resurrection. And, again, we are left asking why, if these men were making it all up, they didn’t work harder to corroborate.
May I point out if they had worked harder to corroborate and we read four accounts saying exactly the same thing, today’s skeptics would not be pleased. Rather, they would tell us it didn’t sound like actual eye-witness testimony or actual recounting of memories and events. Rather, it sounds like a polished, manufactured, corroborated, fabricated fiction.
As it stands now, 2000 years later, we are unable to ask the original authors about the details and the differences. Therefore, we struggle to harmonize with precise detail. However, what we have are the hallmarks of eye-witness testimonies, of recounted memories, and of researched discoveries regarding a singularly magnificent event. Jesus died on a Friday. On Sunday, His tomb was empty. Some women discovered the empty tomb. The disciples were told and at first didn’t believe in the resurrection. Jesus appeared not only to the women, but also to the apostles. In short order, they all believed Jesus rose from the dead and began to proclaim it as such. And their testimony was so convincing, the message dominated the world in a matter of centuries.
Consider this. Recall the last time you and your spouse or you and your best friend tried to tell someone else about an event you experienced together. How many times did you remember details differently? How many different details were significant to each of you to bring up? And yet, did the fact you diverged on some details mean the car wreck didn’t happen or that the waiter didn’t spill the tea on you or that the home team didn’t win the big game? What God has provided for us is not polished, corroborated, manufactured, fabricated fiction, but actual eye-witness testimony, recalled memory, and researched discovery. And He included that with the realistic mess it always includes. Why? Because tales of the resurrection of Jesus do not need to be corroborated, manufactured, fabricated, or polished, they just need to be told.
Praise the Lord!
Tomorrow’s reading is John 20.
PODCAST!!!
PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family
How does John 20 admonish you?
Read the Bible 