Dr Paul Allen

The 12 tribes of Israel began with the 12 sons of Abraham’s grandson Jacob, and Jesus chose 12 Jewish men as his “apostles,” signaling a new start for God’s people (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30). Mark describes the apostles like this: “He appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mark 3:14–15). From this point on, when Mark uses the word “disciples,” he tends to mean these 12 apostles. Jesus’s Female Disciples But Luke explains that the 12 were a subset of Jesus’s disciples. After a night of prayer, Jesus “called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles” (Luke 6:13). So, what about the larger group of disciples who traveled with Jesus? Luke makes it clear that this larger group included many women. After telling a story of Jesus forgiving a notoriously sinful woman and commending her over a self-consciously religious man, Luke writes: Soon afterward [Jesus...

Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The appearances Christ made after He rose from the dead provide the most convincing proof of the resurrection. Scripture records at least ten distinct appearances of Christ between the resurrection and the ascension: to Mary Magdalene ( John 20:11 –18), to other women who had been at the tomb (Matt. 28:8–10), to two disciples on the road to Emmaus ( Luke 24:13–32), to Peter (Luke 24:34), to ten of the eleven remaining apostles, Thomas being absent (Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19 –25), to all eleven apostles , with Thomas present (John 20:26–31), to seven of the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1–25), to more than five hundred disciples, probably on a mountain in Galilee (1 Cor. 15:7), to James (1 Cor. 15:7), and to the apostles when He ascended to heaven ( Acts 1:3–11). In addition, the risen Christ later appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascu...

Three Marys at the Tomb. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 28:1 says that at the resurrection, Mary Magdalene and another Mary are at the tomb when it begins to dawn. And Mark tells us in chapter 16, that Mary Magdalene, the mother of Jesus, and Salome was there. And John, not to be outdone, says Mary Magdalene was there. He doesn't say only Mary Magdalene was there, but he does say Mary Magdalene was there but doesn't mention anyone else. But then says that when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb it was still dark. Contradictions—age-old, tiresome, weary contradictions. If Mary Magdalene, and another Mary, and Salome were there, Mary Magdalene was there. So what John is saying isn't contradicting anything. If they left their home when it was still dark and arrived at the tomb when the sun was coming up, there's no contradiction here. Or, 2 Samuel 24 says God provoked David to number the people. But Chronicles says Satan did it. Ok, Chronicles was written prob...

Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Philippians 3:10 The doctrine of a risen Savior is exceedingly precious. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the entire building of Christianity . It is the keystone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . But to know that he has risen, and to have fellowship with him as such—communing with the risen Savior by possessing a risen life—seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious. The doctrine is the basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Savior more lovely t...

Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” ( Proverbs 18:10 ) When one realizes that he is lost and that only Christ can save him, he should not delay a moment but come immediately to Christ. There are, in fact, several men in the New Testament who actually ran to Him. There was the man possessed with a whole legion of demons. “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him” ( Mark 5:6 ), and Jesus set him free. Then there was a young man who wanted to learn of Christ. When he found that Jesus was going away, he came “running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” ( Mark 10:17 ). Unfortunately, his sincerity failed when he realized the cost. Zeal without sacrifice is dead, as is faith without works. There was another wealthy man who was willing to pay the pri...

Three Marys at the Tomb. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A cursory reading of the resurrection in Matthew , Mark, Luke and John reveals a few differences in the recorded facts. While these supposed discrepancies sometimes alarm modern readers, they tend not to concern historians because any differences are merely relegated to secondary details. In each Gospel account the core story is the same: Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Jesus and puts it in a tomb, one or more of Jesus’ female followers visit the tomb early on theSunday morning following his crucifixion, and they find that the tomb is empty. They see a vision of either one or two angels who say that Jesus is risen. Despite the differences concerning the women’s number and names, the exact time of the morning and the number of angels, we can have great confidence in the shared core story that would be agreed upon by the majority of New Testament scholars today. Even the usually skeptical historian Michael Grant, a fellow ...

Jesus represented as telling Mary not to touch him, by Hans Holbein the Younger. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25) The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the most important event of human history. If it didn’t happen, the most influential world religion is a sham. If it did happen, “all things are possible” ( Matthew 19:26 ). The resurrection is a fantastic claim. Jesus’ own disciples didn’t believe it at first. And Thomas struggled more than anyone with his skeptic side. And in his experience1 in particular there is hope for all of us stumbling doubters. Jesus knows how and when to reach us. Jesus’s death had been difficult and confusing for everyone. Having been welcomed into Jerusalem like a king, he was dead before the week was over. And when the shepherd was struck the sheep scattered (Mark 14:27). But they re-ga...

English: Burial of Christ, Nicodemus depicted on the left, Joseph of Arimathea depicted on the right (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 27:57–61 “Joseph took the body…and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away” ( vv. 59–60 ). Mary Magdalene and the other women are not the only ones who show faithfulness to Jesus in His death ( Matt. 27:55–56 ). Today’s passage tells us about Joseph, “a disciple of Jesus,” who is responsible for His burial ( vv. 57–60 ). Joseph is from Arimathea , known in the Old Testament as Ramathaim-zophim , a town twenty-two miles northwest of Jerusalem where the prophet Samuel was born ( 1 Sam. 1:1–20 ). This Arimathean has secretly followed Christ ( John 19:38 ), probably because Joseph’s seat on the Sanhedrin ( Mark 15:43 ) would be in jeopardy if the other council members found him out. Since Joseph sits on the Sanhedrin, we know that not all the religious leaders...

Sensationalism masquerading as scholarship The whole world changed on Tuesday. At least, that is what many would have us to believe. Smithsonian  magazine, published by the Smithsonian Institution , declares that the news released Tuesday was “apt to send jolts through the world of biblical scholarship — and beyond.” Really? What was this news? Professor Karen King of the Harvard Divinity School announced at a conference in Rome that she had identified an ancient papyrus fragment that includes the phrase, “ Jesus said to them, ‘My wife.’” Within hours, headlines around the world advertised the announcement with headlines like “Ancient Papyrus Could Be Evidence that Jesus Had a Wife” ( The Telegraph ). The   Smithsonian   article states that “the announcement at an academic conference in Rome is sure to send shock waves through the Christian world.” The magazine’s breathless enthusiasm for the news about the papyrus probably has more to do with advertising i...

Here we go again! A newly revealed piece of papyrus offers evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus was married, according to a Harvard Divinity School professor. A fourth-century codex in Coptic quotes Jesus referring to "my wife," Karen King , a scholar of early Christianity, said on Tuesday. It is the only extant text in which Jesus is explicitly portrayed as betrothed, according to King. King is calling the receipt-sized slip of papyrus " The Gospel of Jesus' Wife ." She believes it was originally written in Greek, and later translated into Coptic, an Egyptian language . The fragment says, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...,'" according to King. The rest of the sentence is cut off. Another segment says, "As for me, I dwell with her in order to..." The speaker is not named. The fragment contains just 33 words spread across 14 incomplete lines—less a full-fledged gospel than an ancient crossword puzzle. ...