Jesus rises from the dead
Matthew 28:1–15; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–18; 1 Corinthians 15:3–8
Early on the first day of the week, women coming to anoint the body found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Angels told them Jesus had risen, and the risen Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene.
He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.
Matthew 28:6 (World English Bible)
Peter and John ran to the tomb and found the grave clothes lying there. Mary Magdalene, weeping outside, thought Jesus was the gardener until he spoke her name. The guards reported to the chief priests, who paid them to say the disciples had stolen the body (Matthew 28:11–15).
Paul, writing about twenty years later, lists appearances to Peter, to the Twelve, to more than five hundred at once, most of them still living, to James, and to all the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:3–8). The resurrection is the center of the Christian faith: if Christ has not been raised, Paul says, our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14–17).
Dating notes
Ussher: Sunday, 5 April AD 33, the third day counting inclusively from Friday. Ussher's dates put the crucifixion on Friday, 3 April AD 33; many scholars prefer Friday, 7 April AD 30, which would move all of Holy Week three years earlier.