A comparison of the three faiths of the Middle East at the death of their founders is significant. Before Moses died, he gathered the children of Israel together and led them from Egypt to the threshold of the Promised Land. At the time of Mohammed’s death, a powerful alliance of his followers dominated his homeland. By contrast, Jesus’ lonely death seemed to signal the end of His movement. His disciples were frightened, scattered, and disheartened.
But something suddenly transformed Jesus’ frightened disciples into fearless witnesses with a radical, new understanding of the things He had told them. Their own explanation for this change is that in many unmistakable ways they had encountered Jesus alive and well after His death. The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus’ resurrection was the foundation of the church (Acts 1:1-3 ; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 ; 1 John 1:1).
It is possible, of course, to believe in resurrection and a future day of judgment without believing in Jesus’ resurrection. The Pharisees already believed in resurrection and judgment before Christ’s coming. But much of the emphasis of the Jewish Bible and tradition focuses on this life rather than the next. The first five books of the Old Testament — the part of the Old Testament most honored by all Jews — contain little to encourage confidence in personal survival on the other side of death. In fact, most Old Testament writings offer only intimations of immortality, along with pessimistic statements that seem to exclude hope for personal survival or reward after death (Job 19:25-27 ; 2 Samuel 14:14 ; Job 10:21 ; Psalm 88:5 ; Ecclesiastes 3:19; 9:4-5) Only one of the last Old Testament writings (a book that orthodox Jews don’t consider inspired to the same degree as the five books of Moses) contains a clear reference to personal resurrection and judgment (Daniel 12:1-3).
Given the ambiguity of Old Testament Scripture, it isn’t surprising that Jews of Jesus’ day were divided between those who believed in personal resurrection (the Pharisees) and those who didn’t (the Sadducees.)1
For Jewish people (See the ATQ article, Does the Bible Really Call the Jews God’s Chosen People?) millennia of persecution have made it clearer that only justice beyond the grave can make history meaningful. But apart from the gospel story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, there is no new, significant evidence to confirm hope in life after death and final justice. Therefore, a faithful Jew has only three options: He can continue to hope for resurrection and justice without a clear biblical or historical basis; he can become like a Sadducee, focusing his hopes on this world with little expectation of reward or judgment in a life to come; or he can consider the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For Jewish believers in the early church, including the disciples who abandoned their Master before He encountered them on the other side of death, the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection was indispensable (1 Corinthians 15:15-20). Viewing the Old Testament from the perspective of their encounter with a risen, living Messiah, they saw that it contains more prophetic evidence for Jesus’ resurrection than it offers for resurrection itself! Jesus’ life and death fulfill Old Testament prophecy.2
