Did Jesus really rise from the dead or is it a legend that has been passed down from generation to generation? There are many different avenues in which to discuss this question but in this article I will touch on one: the change in the disciples.
Pre-Resurrection Disciples
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane it states, after Peter tried to fight, the disciples all abandoned Jesus.
"Then all his disciples deserted him and fled" (Matthew 26:56).
Later on Peter, trying to see what was happening with Jesus during his trial, denied even knowing Jesus when other questioned him. While Jesus hung on the cross, suffering and dying, the only disciple mentioned being there was John (John 19:25-27).
After Jesus dies on the cross it is Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who ask for the body of Jesus to bury (John 19:38-40), not the disciples. Finally, when Jesus appears to his disciples after he had risen from the dead how do we find them? John 20:19-20 tells us,
"On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and same 'Peace be with you.'"
So how do we find the disciples before the resurrection of Jesus? They abandon Jesus when he needed them the most, Peter denied even knowing Jesus, and they locked themselves in a room and hid out of fear of the Jewish leaders.
Post-Resurrection Disciples
Change is not an easy thing and people do not change unless there is a reason. These disciples went from being cowards who denied Jesus to preaching that Jesus rose again and many being martyred for this (which is attested through Church history). Why would they do that? What would change Peter from denying from even knowing Jesus to standing up at Pentecost in Acts 2 and preaching the resurrection of Jesus and the people's need to repent? Peter in his speech at Pentecost states that "you crucified and killed" Jesus. That is a very bold statement, especially coming from a man who denied knowing him not that long beforehand. Why such a dramatic change? Because the disciples had seen the resurrected Jesus. 1 John 1:1 states:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life"
What is being stated? The disciples had "heard" "seen" and "touched" the risen Jesus. The only thing that would change the disciples would be the physically resurrected Jesus appearing to them, which he did. That is why they went from cowards to martyrs. The disciple did not die for what someone had told them but rather for what they had seen and heard. They were willing to die for what they knew was true. Sean McDowell concludes:
They were willing to die because they had seen the risen Jesus and knew death was not the end. Yet, others have died for secondhand faith, but the apostles died for what they saw firsthand [1]
People might be willing to die for what they think is true but the disciples were willing to die for what they knew was true. If Jesus was still dead there is no way the disciples would have changed and be willing to die for what they knew was false. The change in the disciples is evidence that the resurrection of Jesus actually took place.
If you are interested in knowing more about the Martyrdom of the Disciples I highly recommend reading Sean McDowell's book The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martydom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus.
[1] Sean McDowell, The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus (New York, Routledge, 2008), 261.