WHY DID NOBODY MAKE UP A STORY THAT JESUS WAS SEEN RISING?

If Jesus was made up then why did nobody say that his resurrection was seen just as it happened?

A possible answer is that they saw no need. They probably thought that seeing Jesus after the resurrection is as good as seeing him rise.  

Another possible answer is that the early story did not teach that there was an empty tomb. When the body was in the tomb it was only a matter of Jesus appearing to prove his resurrection.

If there had been a resurrection there would have been some people who said they saw it happen if not by being actually there then by some kind of vision in which they were able to indulge in a bit of remote viewing. Alleged events like that attract loads of crackpots. But it seems such people did not exist.

Those who believe that there was an empty tomb might say the gospellers dared not say that anybody seen the resurrection happening for that would mean somebody was present at the tomb that could have taken the body. Why were they there to see him rise anyway?  Were they grave robbing?  They were not interested in proving the body was not stolen but they were interested in proving that Jesus appeared.

Another answer is that Jesus was believed to have risen centuries before.

There are many problems with the story that cannot be fixed by saying, "But nobody pretended to have seen him rise so it must be true."

TABLE SHOWING THAT KEY GOSPEL EVIDENCE IS UNSATISFACTORY

Matthew by the way gives the first gospel resurrection account not Mark which either lost the ending or just stopped where it stopped.  We don't know anything about the ending of Mark that we have except that it is old and nothing changes the fact that it cannot have the same importance as the rest of the gospel for we don't know if somebody made it up.  Matthew is problematic for scholars see evidence of exaggeration and legends clearly getting in.  An example is how it says Jesus' resurrection was one of many at that time.  But the fact remains that we have to class Matthew as giving the first standard account.  That is how you work with such texts.

* ONLY THE APPEARANCE TO MAGDALENE