Resurrection of Jesus Christ (by Bartholomew)


The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not to be confused with the book called Questions of Bartholomew, although either text may be the missing Gospel of Bartholomew, a lost work from the New Testament apocrypha.

Contents

The text starts with a description of Jesus' own rather gory comprehension of his own fate, i.e. the crucifixion. It is followed by a tale in which someone attempts to stand in for Jesus, but the priests are initially unable to kill him, even though they try stoning and putting him in an oven.
Subsequently, the text describes Jesus descending into hell, finding Judas Iscariot there, and preaching to him. Jesus then rescues everyone from hell, except for Judas, Cain, and Herod the Great. This is followed by a flashback described by a gardener to the night when angels, fiery chariots, and God, descended to earth, and resurrected Jesus.
Bartholomew is present at the scene, and is shown the highest level of heaven so that he can see the liturgy going on there to celebrate the resurrection. Bartholomew then has a flashback about a divine visitation at the Mount of Olives.
Meanwhile, Thomas is busy resurrecting Siophanes, his son. On returning to life, Siophanes describes what the afterlife was like, while Thomas proceeds to baptise all of the amazed townsfolk, who number some 12,000.
Finally, in order to witness the ascension of Jesus, Thomas is brought to the others via a cloud. At this point Thomas is surprised to see Jesus resurrected, and celebrates the eucharist with the other apostles. Then they disperse to evangelise.