1 Corinthians 15:4-8 - He appeared

15:4

Jesus was buried, ie He definitely died, contrary to some futile attempts to explain away the resurrection. “He was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures”. He was raised is passive, consistent with the common New Testament way of saying that the Father raised Christ from the dead, it is also a completed action. “In accordance with the Scriptures” refers to His being raised, rather than “on the third day”. There is little to nothing in the Old Testament to indicate a raising on the third day. Being raised is predicted in Isaiah 53:10-12. “On the third day” does indicate a definite time of resurrection, this was a clear event that happened at a specific time, it was no “spiritual resurrection”.

15:5-7

Paul gives a list of some of the resurrection appearances. One notable omission is that of any of the appearances to women, whereas the gospel accounts give great prominence to the fact that women were the first witnesses. This may be because the testimony of women was not considered legally valid. Jesus also appeared to over five hundred men, most of whom were still alive. The point of all this is that the resurrection was real, it was witnessed by many and various people, and they could be questioned. The resurrection was at the heart of the gospel preaching, and this started in Jerusalem, exactly where the resurrection had taken place. So if it was a fabrication it would have been easy to debunk the gospel. But no one could refute it.

15:8

Paul then refers to his own encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus road. This was different than the others in that it happened after the ascension. The Greek phrase translated “one untimely born”, or “one abnormally born” could be used as a term of abuse, so Paul could be countering some opponents in Corinth. 2 Corinthians will involve us in much more of Paul’s responding to opponents in Corinth.