1 Corinthians 15-16

Why is it important that Jesus was seen in public after his resurrection? Paul writes, "He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born" (1 Cor 15: 4-8). Put simply, Jesus' public appearances validate the reality of his resurrection.

Later in the letter, Paul describes the importance of the resurrection to Christianity as a whole (1 Cor 15: 12-34). Or as Yale theologian Jaroslav Pelikan more succinctly stated, "If Christ is risen, then nothing else matters. If Christ is not risen, then nothing else matters." If the resurrection is of such great importance--and it is arguably the single most important tenet of Christianity--then we begin to see why Paul highlights the number of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances (something other New Testament writers do also).

It is easy to dismiss Jesus' resurrection as a hoax cooked up by his disappointed followers if they are the only ones to see him after he allegedly rose from the dead. But appearing to more than five hundred people at once? That is much harder to explain away as a fabrication. What's more, many of these people were still alive at the time of Paul's writing. If anyone in Corinth disputed the veracity of Paul's claims, they could simply track down the witnesses and interview them for themselves. No one brags about having witnesses to something that didn't happen; Paul's emphasis on how many people saw Jesus after his resurrection, and how many times Jesus was seen, is compelling evidence that the resurrection is real.

(For further consideration of this topic, I highly recommend Charles Dunn's phenomenal article "The Reality of the Resurrection," available here.)