Resurrection Day

Quick Quiz 

1. Jesus kept a tidy bedroom - True / False
   A: True - and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself.  John 20:7 
2. Where was the tomb located ? - Arimathea / Calvary / Garden of Gethsemane / Mount of Olives
   A: Calvary - Now at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. John 19:41 
3. Who rolled the stone in front of the tomb on Friday ?
   A: Joseph of Aramithea - Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away Matthew 27:59-60 
4. Who rolled aside the stone on Sunday ?                                                                                     A: The Angel of the Lord - And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. Matthew 28:2 (KJV emphasis on "The Angel" rather "an Angel")
5. Who was the first of Jesus’ followers to see him on Sunday morning ?
   Mary Magdalene - Mary Magdalene came and informed the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.. John 20:18 (read from v10)

12 years ago it was nearly Easter and I was preparing for my first ever sermon. I had broken my leg playing football only 5 months before and I was just about up and walking properly again. My plans to start a Soccer Academy had come to fruition just one week before I broke my leg during Labour weekend 2008, it felt like such a disaster at the time ! But with help from others, the Soccer Academy continued through to Summer with me on crutches and by Autumn, the opportunity to preach came up for Easter. Funnily enough, I can also pinpoint the start of our journey to France to that very week in April 2009. My old life died when I broke my leg and a new life was born ! 

It seemed fitting today to revisit that message I gave back then on Resurrection Sunday 2009. At the same time, we have been doing a 12 part series on the Apostles Creed and the resurrection of Jesus nearly 2000 years ago and of the Dead in the future is an essential part of the Christian faith. It is our great hope enough to sustain us for whatever life may throw at us. How the World needs this Good News right now ! 

Apostles Creed 

1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. 
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 
3. who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. 
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. 
5. He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. 
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. 
7. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. 
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, 
10. the forgiveness of sins, 
11. the resurrection of the body, 
12. and life everlasting. 

Amen 

Yes, I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and of the Dead, do you ? 

We can examine the Easter story from a Prophetic point of view and see how all the prophecies written hundreds of years beforehand concerning the coming of the Messiah and his death and resurrection were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We won’t go into those today but I’m happy to go over them with you later if you are interested. 

 

Most people should be able to apply the KISS principle in order to believe in life after death just by looking at nature. How Spring follows Winter when seed springs to life, how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Some will be convinced by the testimonies of people who have had a Near Death Experience (NDE). 

Again we won’t go into some examples today even though they are proof enough. The Bible says; 

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed —perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 

1 Corinthians 15:35-38 

Today I am going to use information gathered from the books written by;

1. former sceptics such as the lawyer Frank Morison (Who Moved the Stone ?) 
2. former agnostics like the student Josh McDowell (Evidence that Demands a Verdict)
3. former atheists like the journalist Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) 
4. and the cold case detective J Warner Wallace (Cold Case Christianity) 

who came to believe because of the facts. I highly recommend you read any one or all of these books ! This morning we’re only going to look at the facts of the Resurrection as presented in the gospels. It has been said that there is far more evidence for the truth of the resurrection than any event of that time. This is the most important event in history. If it is true and we fully believe it, then what devoted happy lives we should be living ! Amazingly, it can be measured. The time is known, the place is known and the story is laid out clearly. But don’t expect to get too much help from the scientific world. It doesn’t seem interested in looking. Thankfully God has placed a desire to know the truth in each one of us and we can think it through for ourselves. 

I do want to add that science isn’t everything despite what you see on programs like CSI. We all know of cases where someone who was obviously guilty got off on some technicality or someone not guilty was convicted based on poor assessment of the facts or corrupted evidence. Science can sometimes get hung up on small details just like we can. I think it is so important to read these accounts with the big picture in mind and to put questions on small details to one side to be answered later. 

The big facts are; 

1. The Number of Witnesses Here in the gospels we have the eye witness accounts of 4 followers of Christ which tell us that 11 disciples, several women and family members and more than 500 other witnesses actually saw Jesus Christ alive and well after he had been crucified, died and been buried. The Bible says that you only need 2 witnesses to establish a fact, but here we have several hundred.
2. The empty tomb. No one at that time could deny that Jesus’ body was missing. 
3. The Disciples were Martyred The disciples never backed down from their claim and most died for that. They had no choice – they had seen and touched him. In fact Jesus told Thomas 

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed.” 

John 20:29 

So just as important as those big 3 facts are your belief and experience of Jesus at work in your life, the things that he has done for you. These eye witness accounts and personal testimony are just as valid as scientific evidence, and incidentally in all this time science has not even come close to proving the Resurrection story is false. 

Nevertheless it is worth today to look at how the world has tried to explain away the Resurrection. When you hear the arguments that have been put forward by the sceptics and balance that against your own knowledge of the truth and personal experience, I am confident you will cast any doubts aside and believe just as the writers intended. 

Let’s have a look at these false explanations of the Resurrection. As the Cold Case Detective would say, we want to eliminate the wrong suspects from our enquiries and having eliminated all the other suspects, be left with the truth. First of all then; 

1. Swoon Theory: That Jesus didn’t actually die but somehow revived in the tomb, rolled the stone away, walked out and recovered. To do this Jesus would have had to survive the beating and lashing he received that ripped open his flesh, the nails in his hands and feet, more than 6 hours nailed to the cross, and a spear thrust into his side and up into his heart. Then after 2 nights in the cold tomb and in critical condition with severe loss of blood, roll the very heavy stone away (up to 2 tonne), walk out past the Roman Guard, and within a few hours appear to the women and disciples fit and well. We can very safely assume the executioners had done their job and that Jesus had died. When Jesus was speared, doctors say that the blood and water coming out was proof of death. John who was at the crucifixion testified; 

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately. And the person who saw it has testified (and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth), so that you also may believe. 

John 19:33-35 

2. Hallucination – The people that claim they saw Christ after he died were only hallucinating. Well that sure was a lot of people hallucinating! This theory is very poor for a number of reasons; 

• The number of witnesses – 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 tells us For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 
• The number of sightings – at the tomb, on the road to Emmaus, the upper room on 2 occasions, at the lake and on the Mount of Olives. 
• They were physical encounters not just sightings. Jesus encouraged the disciples to touch him and told Thomas to put his hand in the holes in his hands and side. 
• They all testified the same type of story that they had heard him speak, seen him, touched him and eaten with him. With a hallucination you would find that one person’s was quite different from another’s. Hallucinations are very individualistic in that respect. 

3. Impersonation – The person they met wasn’t the real Jesus. It’s true that quite often in their encounters, people didn’t recognise him or naturally doubted at first. In one of the funniest passages in the bible in Matthew 28:16-17 we’re told So the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain Jesus had designated. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 

However the fact they didn’t recognise him was more to do with; 

• They weren’t expecting to see a dead man alive again
• His body was resurrected and was somewhat different. 

However their lack of recognition was always temporary and after hearing him speak or eating with him, the Bible tells us suddenly they would recognise him. It is not possible that an impostor could have fooled his family not to mention the disciples who’d been living and travelling with him those last 3 years. Also could anyone other than the Son of God have ascended into Heaven right before their eyes? 

4. Spiritual Resurrection – This theory was sadly put forward by modern scholars. They say that the story is only an illustration of the truth of new life after death. So what they’re really saying is that Christ’s body remained in the tomb. They’re missing one crucial fact – the empty tomb! But also the encounters were definitely physical not spiritual. Jesus told the disciples specifically that he was definitely not a ghost. In Luke 24:39 “Look at my hands and my feet; it’s me! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones like you see I have.” 

In fact Jesus resurrected body should give us great hope of a physical resurrection; 

• He could appear in different forms so they didn’t recognise him (Mark 16:12) 
• He could eat 
• He could appear and disappear 
• He could pass through solid objects like the door not because he was a ghost but as Winkie Pratney said, because he was more solid than the door! 

5. The Wrong Tomb – The suggestion here is that the women and the disciples went to the wrong tomb. This is not credible for several reasons; 

• The tomb was right there at Calvary where the crucifixion had taken place 
• The women and John who were at the crucifixion could see the body being buried a short distance away. One may have been mistaken but not all of them. 

Now at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus’ body there. 

John 19:41-42 

• There was a Roman seal on the tomb with guards standing over it and it was easily identifiable 

The next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “Take a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the soldiers of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone. 

Matthew 27:62-66 

• Most importantly, Jesus’ enemies the Jewish Leaders and the Romans could not produce the body or show the correct tomb. The body was definitely missing and the tomb was definitely empty 

6. Theft – All of the previous theories are ruled out leaving the only one the Jewish Leaders could offer at the time. That the disciples had stolen the body. Actually they knew it wasn’t true but they wanted to try and squash the story there and then. This is found in Matthew 28:12-15 

After they had assembled with the elders and formed a plan, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole his body while we were asleep.’ If this matter is heard before the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story is told among the Jews to this day. 

Apart from what is written in Matthew about the bribes, what else points to the claim that the disciples stole the body being false? 

• The evidence of the linen cloth and swath being left behind neatly folded. People hurrying to steal a body wouldn’t bother to undress it and leave the clothes folded neatly behind. That clearly points to Jesus himself.  This detail is quite humorous to me, personally I think Jesus knew his Mum was coming down to the tomb later and he knew he’d better leave a tidy bed ! 
• The disciples were not willing or able to take on a Roman guard of well disciplined battle ready soldiers; 
• Their hopes and dreams of Jesus being the Messiah had been crushed 
• They were grief stricken over the loss of their friend 
• They had all run away less than 2 days before and were hiding in the upper room. Only the women were brave enough to venture out first thing on Sunday morning. 
• The only fighting man among them was Simon the Zealot 
• There was no reason to move him. Jesus had been buried honourably in the best tomb paid for by a rich man 
• It didn’t do them any favours to tell people that Jesus was alive – they were persecuted and eventually killed because of their testimony. If they had stolen the body, then all but one of them died for a lie. 

So there you have them. Six suspects ruled out because they don’t stack up under cross examination. Still you have to explain the empty tomb. 

 So who do you believe? The eye witness accounts or the critics writing 2000 years later? 

All of which leaves us with the only true explanation, that Jesus really did rise from the dead. This is what the gospel writers wanted us to know about God. That in his kindness, all he wants from us so we can be saved is our belief. Believing in the Resurrection is the key to our salvation. God promises in Romans 10:9 

“For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. 

Since Jesus is alive today, we don’t have to travel back in time to meet him, we can go to him now. The old time preacher DL Moody once preached a very simple message “Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross and was raised from the dead. Then why don’t you thank him for it?” Thousands were saved because of it. 

That week and a half back in April 2009 as I prepared for my first sermon on April 12th, I sat down and read the accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and tried to put myself in the story. I’d encourage you to do the same. The more I read and challenged them with my own questions, the more sense they made to me. They seem so full of real responses, of accurate pictures of ordinary life being invaded by the extraordinary and in no way do they attempt to gloss over the weaknesses of the characters in the story. They don’t paint the disciples as heroic souls who battled against the Romans and fought for Jesus. They are very honest accounts of doubt, of fear and surprise and joy found in a new reality with real hope. 

That really is the challenge for me. That having been convinced about the Resurrection and receiving the new life, of then letting it motivate and change me on a daily basis. Then telling others what I’ve discovered. Yes we need to believe for our salvation but we owe God more than just belief. What does this mean to you? How do you answer Jesus’ question; 

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 

John 11:25-26