The Resurrection of Jesus Explained by Me.

[Dawn Flood]

'Ti's the Season!

I posted this earlier this year, but I have thought about it some more
and wanted to share an updated version.

I am convinced that Christianity began as the product of the interaction
of two cosmologies, that of the East with that of the West.  It was an
interaction which no one living at the time could have foreseen, but
which could have easily been prevented, in spite of a large Roman ego.
That ego was, of course, that of Pontius Pilate, who Josephus alludes to
as (at least on some occasions) as being a gaslighting asshole. 
Contrary to the fiction portrayed of him in the Gospels (which no
classical scholar takes seriously), Pontius Pilate was unquestionably
Roman, and the fact that he remained in power for as long as he did
attests to this fact.  As a Roman official, Pilate's loyalty to the
Empire was enforced not only from above but from below.

As a Roman official, Pilate was both literate and educated, and he had a
direct knowledge of Greek and Egyptian science, which the Romans had
absorbed into the Empire through their many conquests.  This Western
perspective of Pilate was in sharp conquest to the Eastern cosmology of
the Jews of Palestinian, who borrowed their view of the Cosmos from
Sumerian civilization.  The "Wise Men," after all, had come from the East.

That Sumerian cosmology is, from Genesis to Revelation, that of a
flat-Earth.  (Bob Schadewald, in his book "The Plane Truth", proves such
beyond any doubt.)  As such, Jesus and his followers believed that they
lived on a flat Earth, and Jesus, having been born and later beginning
his ministry in northern Galilee, taught & preached that the Son of Man
(a Jewish concept that predates his birth), an angelic being,
would descend from Heaven (perhaps, on a divine "ladder") and vanquish
the Roman Empire, liberating the Jews.

Eventually, Jesus went to Jerusalem, and after a short time after his
arrival, a confrontation in the Temple occurred between Jesus and some
other Jews.  This confrontation probably lasted only a few minutes, as
the Roman soldiers quickly came and arrested Jesus.  He was likely
tossed  into the Roman tank while awaiting interrogation. When they
examined him, it soon became clear to the Roman authorities that Jesus
was not well, mentally.  Pontius Pilate, being trained in Roman law and
especially immersed in Roman tradition and custom, did not want to deal
with Jesus.  As a Roman federalist, he and his officials no doubt
desired that the local Jewish authorities deal with Jesus themselves.

In what the Roman Jewish historian Josephus has documented as having
been an acrimonious relationship, the Jewish authorities saw an
opportunity to "poke (back) at Pilate."  They "forced" Pilate's hand
("Deal with Jesus or else..."), and in doing so, they disturbed the
Roman conscience of Pilate and those who he commanded. The phrase that
appears in the Gospel of Mark, "My God, my God", is almost certainly
historical.  (It is, after all, the longest Aramaic phrase in the entire
New Testament.) It was, however, probably uttered dozens of times by
Jesus, as he was pitilessly led away to be crucified.

No doubt Pilate had given the order, if only verbally, to "take care of
business quickly."  As Jesus was not a criminal, only a religious
trouble-maker, the Romans likely saw no benefit to the Empire in any
protracted display of public suffering, and Jesus met his end quickly. 
In addition, his mental sufferings were probably even too much for his
Roman executioners to bear, more motivation for them to relieve their
own discomforts over executing Jesus.

When the women who had followed Jesus to his place of execution had left
(the Romans, of course, were fully aware of their presence), the Roman
soldiers, following the orders of Pilate, removed Jesus' lifeless body
from his cross, and buried it a short distance away out of sight.  The
two other criminals who were executed with Jesus, unknowingly witnessing
one of the greatest events of human history, would meet their fates
later that day.  To make it crystal clear to the Jewish leaders that the
"tail would not be wagging the Roman dog" in the future, Pilate ordered
that the now empty cross on which Jesus had died be placed back in its
vertical position.  For Pilate, this was the "Roman finger."

Little doubt exists that the Jewish authorities had requested that all
three bodies be removed from their crosses, and little doubt exists as
to the fact that Pontius Pilate did not even respond to their requests. 
They had "poked him", and he "poked them back," at the same time making
it clear that they were not going to gain any further satisfaction from
the execution of Jesus.  The Jewish leaders were no doubt irritated by
this "sacrilege" on the part of Pilate, and he, of course, was gleefully
aware of their dissatisfaction.  The bodies of the two criminals would
remain were they were to be seen by whomever had passed by, whereas the
body of a Jewish fanatic, who was never a threat to the Empire, would be
silently buried.

Friday ended without any fanfare, as did Saturday, the Day of Passover. 
At sunrise on Sunday morning, the women who had followed Jesus to his
place of execution came again; they wanted to see Jesus' body one last
time.  They knew that the city would be relatively quiet, and that
Pilate's men would still in their barracks, waiting for their Roman
breakfast.  When the women arrived at the place of crucifixion, Jesus'
remains were, of course, no longer visible to anyone, but the grizzly
corpses of the other two hung where they had died, alongside the lone
empty cross on which Jesus had died.

It was at this moment that the belief that God had raised Jesus from the
dead saw its first expression.  In conclusion, it was Pontius Pilate,
Prefect of Judaea, who planted the seeds of the Christian religion.

The rest, as is often said, is history.

Dawn

[Edward McGuire]

it was Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judaea, who planted the seeds of the
Christian religion.

According to the earliest Gospel, the one attributed to Mark:

Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council that condemned Jesus, was a secret
Jesus follower. On the day of the crucifixion, Joseph asked Pilate for the body
of Jesus. As death by crucifixion generally took a few days, Pilate was
skeptical that Jesus was already dead. So Pilate verified the information with
the centurion in charge. This centurion, who was _also_ a secret Jesus follower,
affirmed Joseph's story. Satisfied, Pilate authorized Joseph to take the body.

A few days later, the women visited the tomb where Jesus was supposed to be
lying dead. Finding it empty, they were told Jesus revived and went to Galilee.
They were shocked, and fled the tomb. And that is the end of the Gospel of
Mark.*

The author of Mark is telling us, as plainly as he was able, that Jesus was
rescued and spirited away by members of his movement. And it is right there in
the canonical text.

* There were a few verses added later, in a very different style, claiming Jesus
appeared briefly to his followers and then was taken up to heaven. This is
widely believed by scholars to be a pious forgery. It was likely written to
"complete the story" the way the later gospels tell it.

[David Dalton]

As I have said before, ootws (which I previously called avatar
types) share some abilities, including special abilities determination,
but each has a unique primary siddhi, and while mine is
matchmaking, Jesus’s was healing, including self-healing.

So I propose that he was just in a coma when he was removed
from the cross and then his self-healing ability kicked in and
revived him.