Mrs. Clark’s 7th Grade Bible Class Discusses:
Playing Dead
The Swoon Myth
We as Christians know that Jesus was a real person and did have a real body because He rose from the dead and He let Thomas, His disciple, touch the wounds on His hand and the wound from the spear on His side.
Many people witnessed His death — we know that there were at least 4! Joseph of Arimathea, the Roman centurion, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph.
The Pharisees were even sure that He was dead because He was in the tomb.
[The Pharisees] kind of believed He would rise in three days so they put Roman guards in front of the tomb.
But then He rose from the dead and Thomas touched Him. So we definitely know He had a real body and a real care and love for each and every one of us.
Jake, age 12
The Swoon Myth states that Jesus merely faked His death, and therefore didn’t die. The theory states that all Jesus did was faint from exhaustion and loss of blood. In other words He “swooned.”
He is thought to have recovered from His injuries magically in 3 days.
Other people believe He planned His arrest, trial, and crucifixion.
They think He passed out and couldn’t even carry His own cross Himself. To imagine that anyone could’ve possibly survived the suffering of the crucifixion is unreasonable.
The centurion that said He was dead could not have mistaken Him to be dead when He wasn’t actually. If the Roman had mistaken, his job and possibly his life could be at stake. When the centurion stabbed Jesus after he was confirmed dead, it pierced His heart. At that time blood and water came out of the wound which has been proved these days to be a sure sign of death.
Besides, how would Jesus have possibly recovered from the injuries in 3 days and at that, how did He roll away the stone? Therefore there is no possible way Jesus could’ve faked His death.
Adam, age 13
The Swoon Myth says that Jesus didn’t really die; that He just faked His death and then woke up three days later.
That is false! There are many reasons why this is fake.
If Jesus didn’t really die then we would all be horribly sinful (we still are) but we could not be saved! We would not be able to spend eternity with Jesus and we would spend it in hell! I would definitely prefer spending it with Jesus.
Jesus went through so much suffering that He did not have to go through but He did just to save us and He paid the price that we should have paid.
There were several people who witnessed His death and resurrection but some people still believe it was all fake.
The Swoon Myth is very fake because Jesus did die a real death.
Lexi, age 13
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-6
Know what you believe…and why you believe it.
- Does it really matter what you believe, as long as you have faith?
- Are there errors in the Bible?
- Was Jesus just a good teacher?
- Can anyone prove His resurrection?
- What does that have to do with me?
