The event of the resurrection indelibly marked the lives of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. From the theological perspective, it identifies the high point of the ministry of the young Galilean rabbi; and from the historical angle, it became the experience that transformed the lives and convictions of the Lord's disciples.
For that initial community of believers, the news of the resurrection became the theological foundation for their followers to decide to obey the missionary mandate of Jesus to preach the gospel to humanity, to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And according to Luke, as this news was very certain (Lk 1.1), it was necessary to investigate and evaluate the available information in order to transmit it to the next generations through history.
This important information concerning the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth began to be transmitted in the community by word of mouth. The first public testimonies about the Lord were of an oral nature. After the news of the disappearance of the body of the crucified one, and concerning later claims that Jesus had been seen alive again in various places, accounts of Christ's resurrection began to spread in Jerusalem and Galilee. These statements began among his closest and most intimate collaborators, such as the women who went to anoint the body of Jesus, and then continued among his disciples and followers, until they reached the rest of the community.
The basic desire and fundamental intention of those first Christian communities and of those initial believers was to affirm that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, that he had the power and authority over life and death, and that he was indeed the spokesman of a new divine word of hope and restoration for the people.
These groups of believers were not interested in articulating a weak vision of Jesus, full of nostalgic memories and insanity, nor in proposing an affirmation of his message with resentment, bitterness and pain. The firm and definite purpose of these primitive communities of faith was to clearly emphasize that God had manifested himself to humanity through the figure of the Galilean preacher.
Dr. Samuel Pagán
Academic Dean
Hispanic Programs
Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies
Jerusalem and Lakeland