re: #155 Standard, Yet Pretty
Another possible explanation is that he died, but was thought to be resurrected in spirit, and the whole physical resurrection/empty tomb story was just a later evolution.
Works too!
I often wonder, you know how some people have stated (usually a Mom or a very closed love one) that they “saw” or “talked to” a loved one in a dream and that person said “goodbye”. The next day they find out that person as died in the night?
Stranger things have happened, but it could also be a starting point for a religion if the deceased was Jesus the Jewish Carpenter.