Evidence for the Resurrection: The Radical Change of James

Our goal over the course of the past few weeks and now is to compile evidence that a vast majority of historians say happened. The facts thus far, including tonight’s session is uncontested. Eventually we will put all of the evidence together and see what the logical conclusion is. If I may put it bluntly, by the time we get to the end we see that the most logical and really only logical conclusion is that Jesus rose from the dead.

So far our evidence is as follows:

• Jesus died on the cross in history.
• The Disciples truly believed that Jesus rose from the dead.
• The radical change of Saul.

Now we will be looking at the change of life for Jesus’s brother James.

Who was James? What do we know about him?

James was one of Jesus’s four brothers found in Scripture. The Gospels report that Jesus’s brothers, this includes James, were unbelievers during Jesus’s ministry (Mark 3:21; 31; 6:3-4; John 7:5). But, like Paul there was a big change in his life. He went from skeptical of his brother being the Messiah to being the leader of the church in Jerusalem. We see this documented for us quite evidently in Acts 15.

So, the question that we ask ourselves is simple. Why the change James?

One of the earliest people that Jesus appeared to post-resurrection was James.

“[3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.The ancient creedal material in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 that we discussed last week lists an earlier appearance of the risen Jesus to James.” – 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 ESV

So, before the Resurrection of Christ: Skeptic. After the Resurrection of Christ: believer and leader of the Church.

James’s Strong Convictions

We don’t read a lot about James, but we can read one thing that he wrote: the Book of James. What we know from Church history is that not only did he convert to Christianity, but his beliefs in Jesus and the Resurrection were strong. This was no small thing for him. He was willing to die as a martyr for his belief in Christ. James’s martyrdom is attested by Josephus, Hegesippus, and Clement of Alexandria.

Why This Matters?

What would have changed James’s mind? We simply do not know. It doesn’t make sense. If he died on a cross with James thinking he was a fool for saying the things that He was saying then James would have likely been sad but no thought Jesus the Messiah. But he eventually did believe that Jesus was the Messiah and was willing to die for that belief.

I believe what the Scriptures attest. Namely, that Christ died according to the Scriptures and rose from the dead three days later. I believe that the Risen Christ appeared to James just as the Scriptures say that He did and that James had an intense change of mind. Not everyone believes this, but the evidence does seem to be stacking up in favor of this view.

R. Dwain Minor