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HHHHMMMHHM!
Yes, the title of this Interruption reads, “P45 Confirms the Resurrection!” This weekend we celebrate Easter. We will probably hear, “He is risen!” to which we will respond, “He is risen indeed.”
The resurrection is crucial to the Christian faith. As the Apostle Paul writes…
If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:14, NIV).
Our faith is based upon the historical event of Jesus’ resurrection. It’s a literal event, one in which the doubting Apostle Thomas, upon realizing Jesus died, was buried, and rose on the third day, said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)
Is there this type of evidence today that compels the confession of Jesus as our Lord and Savior?
Let me introduce P45.
“P” indicates “Papyrus,” or thick writing paper made from the Egyptian papyrus plant. P45 is the number of an early Greek manuscript. In this (written very early in history) P45 manuscript, we note the passage…
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:6, NIV).
Contained in P45, we find credible and early historical evidence of a Biblical passage that testifies to the resurrection of Jesus.
The question is, how early? Have you noticed that I’m repeating “early”? With good reason.
P45 was written as early as 175 A.D. or about 140 years after the resurrection. That seems a long time after the empty tomb. Can we trust P45? Is this reliable evidence for the resurrection of Jesus?
Those who study ancient manuscripts tend to believe that P45, written about 175 A.D., was a copy of an earlier manuscript. Manuscript copying and collection was a slow process in the ancient world, indicating that the manuscript from which the P45 manuscript was copied could go back to 75 A.D.
Did you catch this? P45 (175 A.D.) was copied from another manuscript, perhaps going back to 75 A.D.
With P45, we have a chain of manuscript evidence that goes back in history to within 40 years of the actual resurrection. And at that time, some of those 500 witnesses in which 1 Corinthians 15:6 claims saw the resurrected Jesus…
…were still living!
Very early and reliable evidence of the resurrection. We should shout, “He is risen indeed!”
A final note: There were several hundred thousand papyrus manuscripts of the New Testament circulating around the Roman Empire in the first several hundred years after the resurrection of Jesus.
The historical fact of the resurrection was known and preached throughout the Roman world. And there is no early manuscript—either Christian or pagan—that denies that Jesus is risen.
None. P45 confirms the resurrection. Jesus is risen!
And how do we respond?