A Difference of Three Days
by Gene Breitenbach
He avoided the eyes of the travelers as he quickly shuffled down the hot, dry road. Sundown would not see him still in town. Dust settled on his face, but he did not wipe it away. Today it would be his mask. The day would be a triumph if he could pass unrecognized.
That was the attitude of at least eleven men the day after Jesus was executed for having the gall to equate himself with God. Theirs was an understandable reaction. For three years they had followed this man and his incredible claims. He had said that he was the promised savior and the unique Son of God, that he was going to usher in a new age of peace and justice. They had seen this Jesus perform miracles, even raise people from the dead, and had devoted their very lives to this man, a man they watched die on a cross. With him died their dreams.
What do you do when your dreams collapse? What do you do when you have opposed the authorities to follow a man who claims to be God and then see him squirm on a cross and die? Jesus' disciples did what any reasonable person would have done. They cut their losses and ran. Peter, Jesus' closest disciple, denied even knowing him on the night Jesus was arrested. After Jesus' crucifixion, the rest of the disciples began to leave town. Maybe they thought people would forget. Perhaps they could start over again and, if necessary, change their names and move into Asia where no one knew them.
The reaction of Jesus' disciples after the crucifixion is understandable. What is harder to understand is the change that took place three days later. Suddenly their depression is gone, and they are speaking publicly about Jesus again. Only now the claims are even wilder. They claim this Jesus that was crucified is alive again. What could drive men who had just experienced such a strong dose of reality back into such a fantasy?
Some have claimed that the disciples lied about Jesus' resurrection because they wanted to bring social reform to Israel. If this was their goal, they picked the wrong way to go about it. If they had only claimed that Jesus was a prophet, they could have received a hearing. Israel was familiar with rejecting prophets. Often the prophets they killed in their stubbornness were the ones most revered later. But the disciples' claim that Jesus was the Son of God and had risen from the dead made their message too difficult for most people to accept.
In addition, almost all of the disciples were put to death, not for their social teachings, but for their belief that Jesus had risen from the dead. Whatever had happen in those three days, they thought it important enough to die for.
Perhaps they were crazy. Stranger things have been known to happen. But if you read what these men wrote, it is hard to imagine their writing as the thoughts of mad men. Their words are clear and consistent, containing wisdom that has caught the attention of even those who refuse to believe all Jesus' claims.
Jesus faced what all of us must one day face, death. Yet God showed his power over death by raising him from the dead after three days. Jesus then appeared to the disciples in a body that was immortal. He walked through walls and moved across many miles in an instant, yet he ate with his disciples and could be touched. Over 500 people saw Jesus in this form before he physically left the earth.
The difference those three days made was that the disciples saw first hand that Jesus was everything he said he was. They received a concrete promise that when they died, they too would become as Jesus had become. They would live with him throughout eternity.
In a day when many wonder about the true value and meaning of life, when many wonder about life beyond the grave, maybe it's time again to listen to the one who conquered death and came back to tell us what awaits us. Jesus' disciples did, and what they heard and saw changed their lives.