How Jesus is not like Elvis

I was watching a video on YouTube some years ago where a Christian was debating Matt Dillahunty about evidence for the Resurrection.  At one point, Dillahunty asked how eyewitness claims to the risen Savior are substantially different from witnesses claiming they’d supposedly seen Elvis Presley still alive.  I’m not sure if this was a question Dillahunty had planned to ask or he spoke it entirely off the cuff but it seemed to catch the Christian off guard.  

For my younger readers, let me give a little backstory about Elvis sightings.  Elvis Presley was an American Icon who became enormously popular in the 1950s. He is sometimes credited as the inventor of “rock and roll” and has been referred to as “The King.”  He died unexpectedly in 1977 at the young age of only 42, apparently from a life of excess and drug abuse.  

After his death, conspiracy theories began to spread that he’d only faked his death and that he was still alive.  Then people started coming forward, claiming they had seen Elvis in places like a mall or an airport.  Tabloid magazines would even publish “photos” they alleged to be of Elvis.  It was quite the spectacle.

Elvis would be 90 years old now.  In the years since his death was made public, he never came forward to announce it was a hoax.  None of his friends or family ever came forward and admitted it was a hoax.  And the fact that some people have never even heard of some of the things I’m explaining now, demonstrates that the Elvis-faked-his-death conspiracy never really amounted to anything.

I guess Dillahunty brought up the Elvis sightings to make this point: what if, 200 years from now, people began to claim Elvis was still alive after he was pronounced dead?  What if they produced the doctored photos and sketchy testimonies made in the 70s and 80s?  His question was, how is the testimony of the witnesses to the Resurrection substantially different than that?  Well, I’m going to explain how they’re different!

What is being claimed?

The first and most obvious difference between the two scenarios is what is being claimed.  Jesus rose from the dead!  He was dead.  People saw Him die.  Later, some of these same people saw Him alive again.  It was a resurrection.  

On the other hand, nobody has ever claimed Elvis rose from the dead.  The entire conspiracy was that he had faked his death - that is he didn’t really die.  I’ve heard of cases where people try to get insurance money or try to hide from justice by trying to convince others they had died.  So what?  Faking your own death lies within the realm of the plausible and even if someone does come forward with convincing evidence that Elvis didn’t die in 1977, it still has no bearing on whether or not Jesus rose from the dead!

A very public death

One of the things that made Elvis’ faked-death conspiracy plausible is that so few people had seen him dead.  Toward the end of his life, Elvis was not only older, but he had gained a lot of weight.  He was no longer the handsome icon people remembered from the 50s and 60s.  Some people were shocked when they saw him in his last public concert before his death.  

He was found dead in his own home by close friends and staff, so there wasn’t a large hospital staff treating him for some lingering death.  After he died, his family decided to have a closed casket funeral, apparently not wanting his appearance to diminish his legacy.  To my knowledge, no photos of Elvis dead were ever published.  Thus, it was easy for people to claim he wasn’t dead.

Now, compare that to the death of Jesus.  His death was intentionally made a spectacle.  It was the practice of Rome to publicly punish criminals as a way to deter others who might have similar intentions.  Jesus’ death was seen by His friends, His family, mobs of strangers, Roman authorities, and religious leaders.  He was dead and everyone knew it.

To say Elvis was still alive after the news of his death is something that could still be possible.  To say Jesus was alive after His very public execution would have required a miracle!

Who are the witnesses?

Elvis was a celebrity.  He was adored by millions and was probably one of the most recognized people on earth at the time.  But of all those millions of fans, how many of them really knew Elvis?  Think about it.  One sacrifice made for fame is privacy.  The more popular someone becomes, the more he must hide himself lest he be mobbed by his own fans.  

So how many fans ever talked with Elvis face to face?  How many ever shared a meal with him?  How many ever had him in their homes?  Like any celebrity, Elvis probably had a very close circle of friends that really knew him.  Everyone else had to admire him from a distance.  

Remember too that Elvis was past his prime.  He had not been in the spotlight for years.  Many people who once admired him, only remembered the younger, thinner version of him from a decade or two earlier.  They might not have recognized him at all if they bumped into him in his most recent visage.  

In the case of Elvis sightings, none of his closest friends ever claimed he was still alive.  What we have is a man claimed to be seen by people who really didn’t know him personally and certainly didn’t know him intimately.  They might have known what he looked like from photos or TV appearances years earlier.  Now they claimed to catch a fleeting glimpse of someone who they thought looked like him!  That hardly sounds credible.  For all I know, they may have spotted an Elvis-impersonator on his way to a performance!

Jesus, on the other hand, was seen alive by people who knew Him intimately.  They had talked with Him, eaten with Him, and even had Him in their homes.  They had seen Him die.  Later, they saw Him alive again.  Theirs weren’t glimpses of someone in a crowd that may have looked like Jesus.  After His resurrection, they talked with Him, ate with Him, and had Him in their homes.  There’s no chance they were mistaken about who He was.

Conclusion

In summary, I hopefully have made clear the qualitative difference between these two claims.  It shouldn’t be hard to understand that the testimony given by someone who claimed to see a person he only knew from television in support of a conspiracy that theoretically was possible might make interesting conversation but it’s nothing more than that.

On the other hand, the zealous testimony of witnesses who knew Jesus when He was alive, who had also seen Him die, then later claimed they’d seen Him alive again is evidence of a miracle!  

So there you go, Mr. Dillahunty.  That’s how Jesus is not like Elvis!

The Passion Week: Resurrection Sunday!!

This Easter season, I’ve made a series of posts addressing skeptics’ criticism surrounding the Resurrection.  As we close in on Easter, I wanted to do a day-by-day detail discussing the events happening during the Passion Week. 

Today is the day!  He is risen - He is risen indeed!!

Resurrection Sunday

Luke 24:1-6, Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen:

When the women found the tomb empty, Luke tells us they were “perplexed.”  Their first thought wasn’t that He rose from the dead but that maybe someone had moved the body.  It wasn’t until the angel reminded them of Jesus’ words that they remembered His promise that He would rise from the dead.

When they went to tell the disciples, verses 10-11 tell us that neither did the disciples believe.  It says, “their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” Even after going to the tomb, finding it empty, and seeing the grave clothes cast aside, verse 12 says that Peter left, still wondering what had happened.

Later that same day, the disciples were gathered together - still in hiding and still unsure of what had happened - when Jesus appeared to them (John 20:19)!  John 20:20 says, “And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”  

Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them.  When they told Thomas that they had seen the Lord, Thomas refused to believe.  He insisted, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).  He sounded pretty firm in his unbelief.

Are you starting to see a pattern here?  Everyone knew that Jesus was dead because they watched Him die.  None of them would believe unless they saw Him alive again.  It’s as though they could believe only the things they witnessed themselves.  So the words that He had spoken to them and the promises that He made meant nothing compared to what they could judge with their own eyes!  How sad.  

This same attitude exists even today. Skeptics sometimes ask, “If God is real, why doesn’t He just show Himself?”  When answering this question, we must first remember that God is under no obligation to appear to us. He has already given us His revelation in the form of the Bible. There is nothing else we need in order to know how to be saved. The Bible itself attests that the Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). If someone wishes to ignore the written word of God and insist that God appear to him personally, then that is his loss.

However, even though God has no obligation to appear to us, He already has! John 1:14 says, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  While on earth, Jesus gave us many signs and miracles as evidence of who He was, He told us He was the only way to the Father, He promised eternal life to everyone who believed in Him, and we have the written record of His words, miracles, and His Resurrection. There is nothing more we need!

It is not possible to overstate the importance of the Resurrection. It is the lynchpin of Christianity. Without the Resurrection, there is no Christian faith. The Apostle Paul said, And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (1 Corinthians 15:14).  The Resurrection secures our hope for eternal life. Christ promised that those who believe in Him will never perish (John 3:16). Yet what good is His promise if Jesus Himself is dead in the ground? If Jesus died and did not rise, then His promise for our eternal life died with Him.  But the real significance of the Resurrection goes far beyond our hope in the afterlife. Everything that Jesus said and did is validated by His Resurrection: Every promise He made, every commandment He gave, and every doctrine that He taught us were all proven true on that first Easter Sunday.

Read again of Thomas’s encounter with the Risen Savior:

John 20:26-29, And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

I’m sometimes jealous of the disciples who saw Jesus face to face.  It’s hard to imagine the wonder and amazement that Thomas felt, seeing Jesus alive again.  In his joy, he declared Jesus to be his Lord and God!  Yet I rejoice even more in Jesus’ response: Thomas believed because he saw Jesus alive again; yet we are even more blessed than Thomas because we believe without having seen!

Jesus said to Thomas, “Be not faithless, but believing.”  The words of Jesus to Thomas are my prayer now.  Consider the Risen Savior. Do not wait, hoping somehow you’ll see for yourself; you have heard the good news already.  Know that everything He said was proven true by His Resurrection and be not faithless, but believing!

The Passion Week: Saturday, the Sabbath

This Easter season, I’ve made a series of posts addressing skeptics’ criticism surrounding the Resurrection.  As we close in on Easter, I want to do a day-by-day detail discussing the events happening during the Passion Week. 

Please keep checking back!

Saturday

Being the Jewish Sabbath, not much would have been done on this day.  The disciples, shocked and demoralized, were probably hiding for fear that they too would find themselves facing religious and political persecution.  The only record in the gospels of what happened on this day is found in Matthew 27:

Matthew 27:62-66, Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, [s]aying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

For His entire public ministry, Jesus found Himself at odds with religious leaders.  His sincere and correct way of teaching the Law upset the hyper-literal and fruitless interpretation taught by the Pharisees.  Because He spoke as someone with authority, they wanted to see a sign from God, a miracle, to prove He had the authority to speak for God.  Jesus promised them one:

Matthew 12:38-40, Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The Pharisees seemed to understand His words because, in their conversation with Pilate, they said, “[W]e remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.”  I think it’s interesting that they understood His words even better than the disciples did!  

Anyway, even when Jesus hung on the cross, they mocked Him, saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him” (Matthew 27:42).  That’s curious.  Still today, I have heard unbelievers say that if God came down and appeared to them, then they would believe.  I know comments like this are never sincere but I’m not sure of the point of them.  Do people say things like this in order to be condescending?  Or are they trying to convince other people that they are being open minded, saying they would believe if they had enough evidence?  I don’t know.

What they said to Pilate next strikes at the heart of the issue: “Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.”

The Pharisees understood the power of the Resurrection.  They remembered that Jesus had promised the sign of Jonah to prove His authority.  If Jesus rose from the dead, then everything He said, did, and taught would be validated!  The Pharisees didn’t want that.  If Jesus remained dead in the tomb, then all of His promises would be there too, dead with Him.

Today, we have the full revelation of Scripture.  We have the written testimony of people who were eyewitnesses to His preaching, His miracles, and His Resurrection.  They are people who saw Him alive, saw Him die, and saw Him alive again!  If you believe in your heart He rose from the dead and accept Him as your Lord, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10)!

But if people do not believe the Bible, if they do not believe the words written by the prophets and apostles as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, then no amount of “evidence” will convince them.  I’m reminded of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.  In the parable, Jesus tells us of a conversation between Abraham and the rich man.  From Hell, the rich man pleaded with Abraham:

Luke 16:27-31, Then [the rich man] said, I pray thee therefore, father [Abraham], that thou wouldest send [Lazarus] to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

The Pharisees claimed to believe in Moses but they didn’t.  They claimed to be the sons of Abraham but they weren’t.  Had they believed in Moses and Abraham, then they would have believed in Jesus, but they didn’t - even though He rose from the dead!!

The Passion Week: Good Friday

This Easter season, I’ve made a series of posts addressing skeptics’ criticism surrounding the Resurrection.  As we close in on Easter, I want to do a day-by-day detail discussing the events happening during the Passion Week. 

Please keep checking back!

Good Friday

So many things happen on this day that it’s impossible to fit a thorough discussion of them into a single post.  The most important event - by far, of course - is the Crucifixion.  Yet, what do I do about the other events?  Though they may be overshadowed by the Cross, should I omit them when there is still so much to learn from them?  Of all the days of the Passion Week I’ve covered before now, I knew this day would be the most difficult to address adequately.  I just pray in advance that God will guide my thoughts and forgive my clumsy words.

In my western way of thinking, it’s hard to draw a defining line between the events of Thursday and the events on Friday.  The Jewish day begins at sundown, while in the west, the next day starts at midnight.  So in this case, Friday technically began on what some (including me) would call Thursday.  Since I ended my last post with the arrest of Jesus, I will consider the events that followed His arrest to be happening on Friday.  I know it’s complicated, but realize that the events are historical regardless of the day to which we assign them.

The flight of the disciples and Peter’s denial

Jesus had warned His disciples earlier that they would soon fall away, citing Zechariah 13:7.  I will remind you of that conversation:

Matthew 26:31-33, Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

I’m amused at the pride of Peter who seemed more upset that his loyalty would be questioned rather than amazed at Jesus saying He would rise again!  It’s as though Peter was so offended, that he completely missed the remark.  Of course, Jesus was correct and, just as He had also prophesied, Peter would later deny even knowing Him.

I think we sometimes judge people of the Bible too harshly.  We have the entire revelation of Scripture so, in a sense, we know more than they.  They were living in the times the Bible was being written and probably struggled to understand what was happening.  

In my life of comfort, it’s easy for me to look down on Peter and boast that I would have never denied knowing Him.  I like to think that I would stand fast if I had to face real threats of harm on account of my faith.  But I know that I’ll probably never be in that situation.  In the meanwhile, I know there are some Christians who wouldn’t take their Bibles to work because they’re afraid of what their coworkers might say.  Knowing what I know now, if I were to ever deny knowing Jesus, that would make me 100 times more a coward than Peter!

The trials of Jesus

The Bible tells us that Jesus was taken in front of multiple authorities to face the accusations being made against Him: Annas (John 18:13), Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-68), Pilate (Luke 23:2-5), and Herod (Luke 23:6-12).  

When Jesus stood before the Jewish authorities, He spoke nothing in His own defense just as was prophesied in Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

The accusation against Him was made by 2 false witnesses who said He had said He would tear down the Temple and rebuild it in 3 days (Matthew 26:59-61).  Yet even when faced with the lies spoken against Him, Jesus remained silent until the Chief Priest asked, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63).  In response, Jesus made His only confession, (v. 64) “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

I see in this scene a picture of Christ as the Lamb of God.  He was examined by the Jewish priests and shown to be without blemish - worthy of being a sacrifice that would atone for sin.  In this case, it was the sin of the whole world! Praise Him!!

John 19 tells us about Jesus before Pilate.  V. 13 says, “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.”  The word translated as “judgment seat” here is the Greek word Bema (béma, βῆμα, Strong’s word 968).  It’s the same word used in 2 Corinthians 5:10 where the works of Christians are judged by fire.  

I thought it was interesting that Jesus Himself was once judged before the Bema seat. We know the outcome, of course; He was ultimately sentenced to be crucified. However, note carefully what Pilate said about Him. He said that Jesus was a “just person” who had done no evil. It's significant that Jesus was found to be without guilt. The Bible says the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). If Jesus had been guilty of any sin, He would have been deserving of death. If He had been deserving of death, He could not have given His life as the payment for our sins since He would have had to die for His own sins. But He was innocent.  Before we stand before the Judgment Seat, it was necessary for Him to stand before the judgment seat. It is by His obedience that we are made righteous (Romans 5:19).

Jesus or Barabbas?

While Pilate was trying to find a way to release an innocent man without raising the ire of religious leaders, he resorted to the Roman custom of freeing a condemned man on the Passover (John 18:39-40).  He offered the people a choice: Jesus, the King of the Jews or Barabbas (a murderer).  To his surprise, the people chose Barabbas.

There’s something very interesting about the name, “Barabbas.”  Bar (bar, בַּר, Strong’s word 1247) is an Aramaic word that means “son of.”  It’s used in a few other places in the Bible such as Matthew 16:17 where Jesus refers to Simon as “Simon Barjona” (Simon, son of Jonah). Many people already know that abba (ab, אָב, Strong’s word 1) means “father.”  Barabba, then, means “Son of Abba” or “Son of a father.”  

Wow.  I happen to be the son of a father.  When you think about it, everyone is the child of a father, so Barabbas could have been anyone.  That could have been my name written there!  This paints a wonderful picture of the substitutionary death of Jesus. Each one of us is a Barabbas: all guilty of many sins and all sentenced to die. But we don’t have to die. Jesus – the innocent man who knew no sin – has died in our place. He went to the cross and we were set free.

Jesus on the Cross

There is more that could be said about Good Friday: the scourging, the mocking, the purple robe of Herod, the crown of thorns, the road to Golgatha, the two thieves, the accusation posted over His head, His clothes being divided, and so much else.  However, time and space does not allow them all to be examined.  

Concerning Jesus on the cross, let us examine this passage given in John’s gospel:

John 19:30-35, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

The last words of Jesus recorded by John were, “It is finished.”  The ultimate goal of Jesus’ incarnation had been accomplished.  The penalty for sin had been paid.  The wrath of the Father had been satisfied.  Our debt has been settled and there is no more need for a sacrifice.  God and sinners are reconciled.  

John tells us that he saw the event with his own eyes and wrote it down for our benefit.  In his own words,  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.  

Let John’s desire be our desire: that we tell others about Jesus so they, too, might believe!