Q: In Matthew 16:13-14, when Jesus asked the disciples Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?, they answered that, among other things, some people thought that Jesus was John the Baptist. Since this implies that a lot of people could believe in a resurrection (Johns) that never occurred, doesnt this cast doubt on the reports of the resurrection of Jesus?
A: No; I think that the John-is-risen rumor sprang from a popular hope/suspicion, arising when John the Baptist was evangelizing, that John the Baptist was the Messiah. Jesus was thought of -- not by Johns disciples or Jesus disciples, but by some people vaguely familiar with both -- as John Redivivus simply because of this previously existing thought that John was the Messiah, and the Messiah cant be defeated, so John must live again somehow, and the most John-like leader around was Jesus. So, in a convoluted way, the Jesus=John-risen rumor was a form of the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, it was just attached to the earlier (mistaken) belief that John was the Messiah. It requires for its origin a /distant/ familiarity with John and Jesus; the idea did not, and could not, arise among those who knew John and Jesus. (The re-appearance of Jeremiah also seems to be rooted in Messianic expectations, but that's another matter.)
Meanwhile, the claims about Jesus resurrection originated with His closest followers.
See also the comments on Matthew 14:1-2, The Non-Resurrection of John.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: No; I think that the John-is-risen rumor sprang from a popular hope/suspicion, arising when John the Baptist was evangelizing, that John the Baptist was the Messiah. Jesus was thought of -- not by Johns disciples or Jesus disciples, but by some people vaguely familiar with both -- as John Redivivus simply because of this previously existing thought that John was the Messiah, and the Messiah cant be defeated, so John must live again somehow, and the most John-like leader around was Jesus. So, in a convoluted way, the Jesus=John-risen rumor was a form of the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, it was just attached to the earlier (mistaken) belief that John was the Messiah. It requires for its origin a /distant/ familiarity with John and Jesus; the idea did not, and could not, arise among those who knew John and Jesus. (The re-appearance of Jeremiah also seems to be rooted in Messianic expectations, but that's another matter.)
Meanwhile, the claims about Jesus resurrection originated with His closest followers.
See also the comments on Matthew 14:1-2, The Non-Resurrection of John.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
