“I Have Seen the Lord”, words and music by Paul Hayden
1 CORINTHIANS 15.3-7: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, (4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (6) Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (7) Then he appeared to James, then to all of the apostles. (8) Last of all, as of one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (ESV)
All of the Gospels give testimony of Jesus being raised from the dead on the third day. The synoptic Gospels give witness from their similar vantage points, but the Gospel of John testifies from John’s perspective, even though he is shy about identifying himself by name.
The verses above are written by the Apostle Paul. He recounts the sequence of Jesus appearing to the apostles, and even to five hundred (Christian) brothers at one time. This is quite an expansive group of people who actually saw the risen Christ with their own eyes, and the widespread nature of their witness surely had an impact in Jerusalem in the days and months after Pentecost.
The opponents of the apostles in the first few chapters of the Book of Acts did not assert to Peter and John that it was all a lie. Nor did they assert that the miracles recorded in Acts chapters 2 through 5 were a sort of fraudulent hocus-pocus. The widespread word that Jesus was raised from the dead, as attested to by the apostolic miracles, was unchallenged.
And as recorded in Acts chapter 9, Jesus also appeared to Saul of Tarsus, who became known as Paul the apostle. Paul gave up and threw away all of the earthly advantages of leadership and fame and authority he had achieved. When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he forever gave up his existing station in life and became a servant of Christ. The book of Acts give us accounts of the abuse Paul suffered in his missionary travels.
Why would he so willingly suffer for the sake of the testimony of the risen Christ? — He absolutely knew for certain that Jesus had been raised from the dead.