Evidently

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, February 9th, 2025:
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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1 Corinthians
15.3-8, 11 (shorter)

​(For the longer version, see the print edition of Living with Christ.)

I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
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Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I come from a family of professional investigators – not private investigators – but fact finders, people who have devoted their careers to searching for evidence. Many of my family members work in “the healing professions.” In searching for what is going on in the human body, they ask a lot of questions, and they look for evidence.

I trained as a lawyer and so, like many in my family, I too am a fact finder, a gatherer of evidence – not only in my professional life but in my faith life as well. And when I look at the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, I am satisfied beyond any doubt that it is true.

Let’s look at some of that evidence.

First of all, Jesus’ death and resurrection was foretold in the Old Testament (see, for example, Isaiah 53:11).

Second, Jesus Himself said He would die and rise from the dead (Mark 9:31).

Third, people saw Jesus in His resurrected body – which brings us to the second reading for this Sunday. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul says that Jesus appeared to Peter, to James, to the Twelve, to the larger groups of Apostles and, amazingly, to “more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time.” Elsewhere, Scripture also says that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene and later to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Finally, the disciples were completely transformed after Jesus appeared to them in the Upper Room. This group of people, who had been hiding, fearful and disillusioned, embraced with zeal Jesus’ commission to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). And there’s no mistaking the fact that fulfilling this call demanded unshakable faith on the part of the disciples. Many died horrific deaths as a result of their belief in the resurrected Jesus and their determination to spread the Good News. They were crucified, they were beheaded, they were tortured. They could have escaped these death sentences just by saying: “No, actually it’s not true. We didn’t really see him.” But they didn’t.

Now, why would the disciples die for something they knew was not true? They did this because they knew it was true, because they’d seen the risen Jesus. And their accounts of what they had seen had what lawyers call “credibility,” the ring of truth and authenticity. The fact that their words have resonated down through nearly 20 centuries is evidence all by itself.

When I consider Jesus’ teaching, His fulfillment of prophecy, the many witnesses to whom He appeared after His crucifixion, and His disciples’ unwavering commitment to spreading His Gospel, it seems to me the strongest possible evidence that He really did rise from the dead and He really is the Son of God.




​Donna Davis

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