How People Accepted Resurrection

Skepticism about the resurrection recurs in the New Testament. Even those closest to Jesus did not immediately accept His resurrection. Initially, the reports of the empty tomb were met with outright dismissal.

When the women returned from the sepulcher, the apostles reacted with collective disbelief: “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not” (Lk 24:11). Thomas remains a famous example of this struggle. He demanded empirical evidence before he would concede the possibility: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25).

Perhaps the biggest shift occurred within Jesus’ own family. During His earthly ministry, His brothers did not believe in His messianic claims, often treating His mission with sarcasm. Scripture says bluntly, “For neither did his brethren believe in him” (John 7:5). After the resurrection, James and his brothers are found among the faithful in the upper room. Paul attributes this to a specific post-resurrection appearance: “After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles” (1 Cor 15:7). James then became a pillar of the Jerusalem church.

Paul (formerly Saul) represents a different form of doubt — not just a lack of belief, but a violent opposition. To Saul, the claim of a resurrected Jesus was a blasphemous lie that needed to be extinguished: “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1). His doubt was obliterated by a direct encounter on the road to Damascus. When he cried out, “Who art thou, Lord?”, the reply was definitive: “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest” (Acts 9:5). Paul’s subsequent theology centered entirely on the reality of the resurrection, arguing that without it, “then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Cor 15:14).