Today is without doubt the most important day in the Christian Calendar. The Gospel is only Good News if the Resurrection is true. We can use the legal tests to prove it beyond reasonable doubt.
The Bible says;
“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.
Deuteronomy 19:15
Note that testimony is God’s way of establishing the facts, Science is man’s way.
God’s way places trust in our fellow man
Man’s way shows doubt in our fellow man
Deuteronomy doesn’t say the witnesses have to be men, women or even children. It just says there needs to be 2 witnesses.
When we were young we just believed what Mum and Dad said, they were the only 2 witnesses we needed. As we get older we learn not to trust, we move away from relying on 2 witnesses and more and more we want proof before we will act.
In this generation especially we will only listen to what the Science says. We rely less on testimony and more on scientific facts. We have become suspicious of everything.
There comes a point when reliance on science over witness accounts becomes unhelpful, out of balance. I think we saw that with COVID.
Now we know from the other witness accounts in Matthew and Luke that women were the first to believe in the resurrection. Mhairi is going to read the account in Luke;
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
Luke 24:1-12
The women believed the witness of the 2 angels but the men did not believe the witness of the women ! Why ?
Science got in the way. Even though they’d seen Lazarus rise from the dead a week earlier, still they didn’t believe. Only Peter and John wanted to check the women’s testimony so they ran to the tomb.
Knowing Scientific facts isn’t an advantage if you won’t believe a trustworthy testimony. Faith is missing and the bridge to belief gets blocked.
It is not that hard to believe that Jesus died on the Cross. That’s easy, it’s an historical fact. But to believe that his death is in your place and that his shed blood can cleanse and forgive your sins, relies on testimony and that takes faith.
Thomas took part in the first communion. He was one of the disciples but he didn’t truly believe not until he had proof.
Thomas was just like a modern man. He relied only on scientific facts instead of the testimony of trustworthy men and women, he had a block to faith.
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:26-31
It’s a funny thing that someone presents you the facts and you don’t believe it. Perhaps that’s because living in this world we get so used to lies, betrayal and disappointment.
This morning it is my job to remind you of the facts. 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 believe that, 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.
The evidence for the resurrection is a mixture of testimony and fact;
1. TESTIMONY: 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. FACT: The empty tomb. No one at that time could deny that Jesus’ body was missing.
3. FACT: 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, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:29
The alternative explanations of the empty tomb are weak.
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 passed 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 said
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 immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you 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 delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
>The number of sightings – at the tomb, 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 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
Matthew 28:16-17
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 one 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
Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as 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 cross had been;
Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
John 19:41-42
>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.
>There was a Roman seal on the tomb with guards standing over it and it was easily identifiable
>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
“When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until 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.
>The disciples were not willing or able to take on a Roman guard of well disciplined battle ready soldiers;
i. Their hopes and dreams of Jesus being the Messiah had been crushed
ii. They were grief stricken over the loss of their friend
iii. 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.
iv. 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 to their graves because of it. If they had stolen the body, then nearly all 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 putting forward their scientific theories 2000 years later?
All of which we know 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.
As Romans 10:9 says
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
But I don’t think a lack of facts or contradictory evidence is the real problem as to why people don’t believe.
Firstly people don’t want to repent of their sin, they’re enjoying it too much and it’s too hard to face the truth and change.
Our generation is one that has completely rejected Bible truth so we are in great danger of deception;
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
Jesus put it this way;
Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
John 8:43-47
If your father is still the devil, it means you won’t be able to believe the truth. We must be born again. Have you been born again ?
Today is Resurrection Sunday, why not just believe the testimony of those trustworthy men and women and today be born again and in doing so, you also will be resurrected to eternal life.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:40
