Jesus’ Resurrection

The question of bodily resurrection in the afterlife was a subject of disagreement during the Second Temple period (see Resurrection). Josephus explained that while the Sadducees rejected the notion, among the ideas that attracted so many to the Pharisaic movement were the belief in the rewards of the afterlife and the idea that the souls of the good pass into another body (see “Pharisees on Fate and the Afterlife”). Some writers also maintained that the dead awaited a final Day of Judgment (see Heavenly Judgment). These teachings provide a context for the image of Jesus resurrected as a confirmation to his disciples that the end times were near, if not upon them.

The Gospel of Mark concludes when the women who had hoped to prepare Jesus’ body for burial arrive at his tomb to find it open but the body gone. They are informed by a mysterious figure that Jesus has been raised and his disciples will find him in Galilee. In Matthew, it is also these women who first encounter the risen Jesus and who are charged with telling his other disciples. Likewise, in Luke it is the women who discover the empty tomb and first receive the news that Jesus has risen, delivering the message to the eleven remaining apostles, who initially do not believe them. The Gospel of John, the latest and most developed of the texts, shares much with the synoptic versions; however, John’s resurrected Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene and then directly to Jesus’ male disciples in Galilee. Jesus finds them hiding out for fear of persecution by “the Jews,” a term used throughout this Gospel to differentiate those who rejected Jesus from his followers, who are called “Israel.” Each of these narratives, among others, suggests that women were important among the earliest followers of Jesus.

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The question of bodily resurrection in the afterlife was a subject of disagreement during the Second Temple period (see Resurrection). Josephus explained that while the Sadducees rejected the notion, among the ideas that attracted so many to the Pharisaic movement were the belief in the rewards of the afterlife and the idea that the souls of the good pass into another body (see “Pharisees on Fate and the Afterlife”). Some writers also maintained that the dead awaited a final Day of Judgment (see Heavenly Judgment). These teachings provide a context for the image of Jesus resurrected as a confirmation to his disciples that the end times were near, if not upon them.

The Gospel of Mark concludes when the women who had hoped to prepare Jesus’ body for burial arrive at his tomb to find it open but the body gone. They are informed by a mysterious figure that Jesus has been raised and his disciples will find him in Galilee. In Matthew, it is also these women who first encounter the risen Jesus and who are charged with telling his other disciples. Likewise, in Luke it is the women who discover the empty tomb and first receive the news that Jesus has risen, delivering the message to the eleven remaining apostles, who initially do not believe them. The Gospel of John, the latest and most developed of the texts, shares much with the synoptic versions; however, John’s resurrected Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene and then directly to Jesus’ male disciples in Galilee. Jesus finds them hiding out for fear of persecution by “the Jews,” a term used throughout this Gospel to differentiate those who rejected Jesus from his followers, who are called “Israel.” Each of these narratives, among others, suggests that women were important among the earliest followers of Jesus.

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