JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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in the Upper Room to bold, flaming evangelists who gladly risked their lives for their conviction
that Jesus had risen from the dead and was thus the Savior of the world. All but one of the eleven
disciples died a martyr's death, yet no one ever denied seeing Jesus alive after His death.
Only the resurrection of Jesus adequately explains the transformation of the disciples.
Pinchas Lapide put it well:
"When this scared, frightened band of the apostles which was just about to throw
away everything in order to flee in despair to Galilee; when these peasants,
shepherds, and fishermen, who betrayed and denied their master and then failed
him miserably, suddenly could be changed overnight into a confident mission
society, convinced of salvation and able to work with much more success after
Easter than before Easter, then no vision or hallucination is sufficient to explain
such a revolutionary transformation. For a sect or school or an order, perhaps a
single vision would have been sufficient—but not for a world religion which
was able to conquer the Occident thanks to the Easter faith."26
This disproves the fraud that the disciples stole the body because liars do not make
martyrs. People do not die for what they know is a lie.
The Transformation of James the Brother of Jesus
According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, James, the brother of Jesus, died
a martyr's death for his faith in his brother. This is significant especially since the Gospels
point out that James was an unbeliever who opposed Jesus, his brother, during Jesus' life (Jn
7:5). What could account for such a drastic transformation? Would impressive teachings by a
carpenter from Nazareth? Would an influential life? What would cause a Jew to believe that his
own brother was the very Son of God and to be willing to die for such a belief? According to
Paul, only the appearance of Jesus to his brother James can adequately explain such a
transformation (1 Co 15:7). The same is true of the other disciples.
The Transformation of Peter
Peter provides an interesting study in a person's transformation. Before the resurrection
Peter is in Jerusalem quietly and timidly tagging along behind the arresting party for fear of what
might happen to him if he is identified with the Nazarene. That very night he denies Jesus three
times. Later in Jerusalem we find him, with the other disciples, hiding behind closed doors for
fear of their lives.
Yet all is changed after the resurrection. Then we see Peter preaching with great boldness.
His first sermon, which took place on the day of Pentecost, is a case in point: