The Resurrection of Jesus Christ 99 selves and would not have been ready to die for what they knew to be a fraud. 2. Another known fact is the change in the day of rest. The early church came from among the Jews. From time immemorial the Jews had celebrated the seventh day of the week as their day of rest and worship, but we find the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles, and also in early Chris- tian writings, assembling on the first day of the week. Noth- ing is more difficult of accomplishment than the change in a holy day that has been celebrated for centuries and is one of the most cherished customs of the people. What is espe- cially significant about the change is that it was changed by no express decree but by general consent. Something tre- mendous must have occurred that led to this change. The Apostles asserted that what had occurred on that day was the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and that is the most rational explanation. In fact it is the only reasonable ex- planation of the change. 3. But the most significant fact of all is the change in the disciples themselves, the moral transformation. At the time of the crucifixion of Christ, we find the whole apostolic company filled with blank and utter despair. We see Peter, the leader of the apostolic company, denying his Lord three times with oaths and cursings, but a few days later we see this same man, filled with a courage that nothing could shake. We see him standing before the council that had condemned Jesus to death and saying to them, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand be- fore you whole” (Acts 4:10). A little further on when com- manded by the council not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus, we hear Peter and John answering, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the
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