As we celebrate this Resurrection Day 2004 there seems to be much confusion regarding this event. Before we look at the proof of the resurrection of Jesus, let me give you a beautiful example of a child and his understanding of the resurrection of Jesus. We are told:
. . . Philip was born with Downs Syndrome. He was a pleasant child – happy, it seemed – but increasingly aware of the difference between himself and other children. Philip went to Sunday school at the Methodist church. His teacher, also a friend of mine, taught the third-grade class with Philip and nine other eight-year-old boys and girls.
You know eight-year-olds. And Philip, because of his differences, was not readily accepted. But my teacher friend was creative, and he helped the group of eight-year-olds. They learned, they laughed, they played together. And they really cared about one another, even though eight-year-olds don’t say they care about each other out loud. My teacher friend could see it. He knew it. He also knew that Philip was not really a part of that group. Philip did not choose nor did he want to be different. He just was. And that was just the way things were.
My friend had a marvelous idea for his class the Sunday after Easter last year. You know those things that pantyhose come in – the containers that look like great big eggs – my friend had collected ten of them. The children loved it when he brought them into the room. Each child was to get one. It was a beautiful spring day, and the assignment was for each child to go outside, find a symbol for new life, put it into the egg, and bring it back to the classroom. They would then open and share their new life symbols and surprises one by one.
It was glorious. It was confusing. It was wild. They ran all around the church grounds, gathering their symbols, and returned to the classroom. They put all the eggs on a table, and then the teacher began to open them. All the children stood around the table.
He opened one, and there was a flower, and they oohed and aahed. He opened another, and there was a little butterfly. “Beautiful,” the girls said, since it is hard for eight-year-old boys to say “beautiful.” He opened another, and there was a rock. And as third graders will, some laughed, and some said, “That’s crazy! How’s a rock supposed to be like new life?” But the smart little boy who’d found it spoke up: “That’s mine. And I knew all of you would get flowers and buds and leaves and butterflies and stuff like that. So I got a rock because I wanted to be different. And for me, that’s new life.” They all laughed.
My teacher friend said something to himself about the profundity [insight] of eight-year-olds and opened the next one. There was nothing there. The other children, as eight-year-olds will, said, “That’s not fair - That’s stupid! – Somebody didn’t do it right.”
Then my teacher friend felt a tug on his shirt, and he looked down. Philip was standing beside him “It’s mine,” Philip said. “It’s mine.”
And the children said, “You don’t ever do things right, Philip. There’s nothing there!”
“I did so do it,” Philip said. “I did do it. It’s empty. The tomb is empty!”
There was silence, a very full silence. And for you people who don’t believe in miracles, I want to tell you that one happened that day last spring. From that time on, it was different. Philip suddenly became a part of that group of eight-year-old children. They took him in. He was set free from the tomb of his differentness.
Philip died last summer. His family had known since the time he was born that he wouldn’t live out a full life span. Many other things had been wrong with his tiny body. And so, late last July, with an infection that most normal children could have quickly shrugged off, Philip died. The mystery simply enveloped [surrounded] him.
At the funeral, nine eight-year-old children marched up to the altar, not with flowers to cover the stark reality of death. Nine eight-year-olds, with their Sunday school teacher, marched right up to that altar, and laid on it an empty egg – an empty, old, discarded pantyhose egg.
- Harry Pritchett, Jr., Leadership magazine, Summer 1985
The faith of a child and the simplicity of the resurrection that a child can grasp it and yet, theologians, scholars, and the common person try to find ways to discredit the resurrection of Jesus, to try and tell us it never happened.
Some of the foolish theories or hypothesis are the Swoon theory or hypothesis. This one is like an urban legend that seems to have a life of its own! In this hypothesis, and there are many variations to it, is that Jesus never died, He only passed out, and in the cool of the cave, the tomb, He woke up, rolled a one ton stone away from the door, sneaked past the Roman guard and escaped claiming He rose from the dead! How ridiculous! If you believe this garbage, this urban legend, let me do a little experiment with you. Let me beat you up, pull out your beard if you have one, place a crown of thorns on your head, scourge you, crucify you, put a spear into your side, place you in a tomb with 100 pounds of grave clothes wrapped around your body and a one ton stone at the door. Then, if you get up, roll the stone away, then I will believe this hypothesis, but I’m sure I won’t get any volunteers and in the end, you would see that you are DEAD wrong!
Then there is the Theft theory or hypothesis, which states that someone stole the body of Jesus, probably His disciples. Think about that for a minute, these guys who ran for their lives in the Garden when Jesus was arrested, now came and stole the body of Jesus, sneaking by the Roman guards, breaking the Roman seal on the tomb that was punishable by death if it was broken and then concocted this resurrection story! The disciples stealing the body of Jesus is just not a reasonable explanation for the empty tomb and as you study the life of those guys, they were anything but brave prior to the Holy Spirit empowering them some 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus!
Also, think about this. People will die for a cause they believe in but not if it is a lie and they know it is a lie. If the disciples stole the body of Jesus, why would they be willing to be put to death for something they knew was not true? It didn’t benefit them at all. All the Apostles were martyred for their faith except for John, and many of the disciples of Jesus were also put to death for their faith. They died for the truth, not for a lie, they knew that they did not steal the body of Jesus for they saw the risen Lord!
The next theory or hypothesis is that the women went to the wrong tomb and subsequently so did everyone else! Now, if it was a man, maybe they would have gone to the wrong tomb, but the women arrived first, they knew where it was located. And if you really think about this, even if everyone went to the wrong tomb, including the women, Joseph of Arimathea, the one who owned the tomb, would have known where to go and if there was any confusion he would have cleared things up very quickly! So once again this theory or hypothesis of the women going to the wrong tomb is just foolish and it doesn’t have scriptural support.
There are other ideas out there but I think you get the point, the tomb is empty, and Jesus did rise from the dead. With that said, please turn with me to Mark chapter 16 and we are going to begin reading in verse 1 as we take a look at the resurrection story and let’s see what the Lord has for us this morning.
Look at the details that are given to us as well as in the other Gospels regarding the events of resurrection morning. You see, the resurrection of Jesus is so important, as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:16-19, “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” If He is still in the tomb, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, we are still lost in our sins, and we are foolish for believing this story and living to serve Him! But the glorious truth is that Christ is risen from the dead and we will be raised with Him one day!
Again, with all the confusion today about the resurrection of Jesus, I thought it would be helpful to look at the evidence, the proof from the Scriptures to show us that Jesus is risen. With the remainder of our time this morning I would like to look at several points to show why we believe Jesus rose from the dead, to encourage us and strengthen our faith.
1. OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY’S
The death and resurrection of the Messiah was not a New Testament idea thought up because Jesus got to big for His britches and was killed, it was spoken of in the Old Testament. Isaiah 26:19 we are told, “Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.” And in Psalm 16:10 we are told, “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
Some of you may be wondering how I know that this is speaking of Jesus? Well, Peter tells us on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:25-32, “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”
Also, while Paul was in Antioch in Pisidia he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day, and after they read from the Law and the Prophets, Paul stood up to exhort the people and said beginning in Acts 13:30-39, “God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
As you can clearly see, the Old Testament clearly spoke of the death and resurrection of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ!
2. JESUS PREDICTED IT
Jesus was born to die and He knew what was going to take place, this was no surprise to Him. In fact, Jesus told His men on several occasions what would take place but they just didn’t hear Him. In Matthew 16:21 we are told, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” In Mark 9:9-10 we are told, “Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.” In Matthew 17:22-23 we are told “Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful.” And in Matthew 20:17-19 we are told, “Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.’”
I think you get the point, Jesus was a man on a mission, He knew what was before Him, this was not a surprise to Him, He knew He would be crucified and on the third day rise from the dead for He spoke openly about it!
3. THE EMPTY TOMB
How could an empty tomb prove that Jesus rose from the dead? Anyone could have stolen the body? We discussed this to some extent already, but if the body was missing all they had to do is find it and it would put to silence this idea of Jesus rising from the dead!
In John 20:3-9 we are told, “Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” Notice, the grave clothes were just an empty shell, as if Jesus came right out of them!
The tomb is empty and that is a problem for skeptics, those that reject the resurrection of Jesus. But you can go to Israel today and see the tomb and in this tomb there is no body, no skeleton, because He is risen!
4. PEOPLE SAW THE LORD IN HIS RESURRECTION BODY
The evidence is overwhelming on the numbers of people that saw the risen Lord. In I Corinthians 15:3-8 we are told, “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.” Paul’s challenge to the people of his day was to go and speak to those who have seen the risen Lord if you don’t believe for many where still alive when Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians! They not only saw Jesus, but they heard Him speak, the touched Him, He was not a ghost, they ate with Him, He was alive!
Too many people were eyewitnesses to this event to discount it. In fact, in a court of law you need 2 witnesses to establish something, here we have over 500 witnesses who saw the risen Lord!
5. DISCIPLES LIVES WERE CHANGED
Before the death and resurrection of Jesus the disciples were not what you would call brave. They were fearful, they denied the Lord, and they ran for their lives, only John was there when Jesus was crucified, they locked themselves in a room because of fear. But after the death and resurrection of Jesus, after they were empowered by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they feared no one and they went forth proclaiming the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus Christ!
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Peter and John are arrested, taken before the Jewish religious council, the Sanhedrin, for their preaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in Acts 4:18-31 we are told, “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’ So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: “Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.”. . .
. . . For truly against Your
holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined
before to be done. Now,
Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with
all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your
hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the
name of Your holy Servant Jesus.’
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled
together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
It is hard to stop people who have been touched by God and empowered by the Spirit of God. The changed lives of His disciples are evidence of His resurrection!
6. THE RESURRECTION WAS THE MESSAGE OF THE EARLY CHURCH
Again, the resurrection was important to believers, for without it we are still lost in our sins. Thus, it was the central message of the early church. In Acts 4:33 we are told, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”
The church was built upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone, and the message was the Good News of Jesus Christ, that He came to forgive the sins of man by paying in full the penalty for our sins by His death and giving to us life by His resurrection! How sad it is today that so many deny what the church was all about, what it was built upon – He is risen!
7. LIVES TOUCHED TODAY
Folks, if we only spoke of past events, then this truth would have very little impact upon our lives. The glorious truth is that Christ, those who have received Him as their Lord and Savior, has touched us all and thus, we know that Jesus is alive today because of the work He is doing and has done in our lives! We are a living testimony or as Paul put it, a living epistle or letter to the world of what God is doing here and now!
Paul, in II Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” We are the evidence of the power of the risen Christ in our lives; let people see the work so they too may come and see that the tomb is empty and that they might receive the risen Lord!
As we look at the evidence of the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is overwhelming, as Josh McDowell tells us:
The noted scholar, Edwin Gordon Selwyn, says: “The fact that Christ rose from the dead on the third day in full continuity of body and soul – that fact seems secure as historical evidence can make it.”
Thomas Arnold, cited by Wilbur Smith, was for fourteen years the famous headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous three-volume History of Rome, appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, and certainly a man well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This great scholar said:
The evidence for our Lord’s life and death and resurrection may be, and often has been, shown to be satisfactory; it is good according to the common rules for distinguishing good evidence from bad. Thousands and tens of thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece, as carefully as every judge summing up on a most important cause. I have myself done it many times over, not to persuade others but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.
- Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, pp. 216-217
You see, as William Lane Craig said, it all comes down to this:
Without the belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, his crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of his being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of his career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead.
- William Lane Craig
I think the evidence is overwhelming; Christ is risen from the dead and has given to us eternal life if we would receive Him into our lives as Lord and Savior. You can reject the resurrection, but it does not change the fact, the tomb is empty! You see, the Old Testament prophets testified of His death and resurrection hundreds of years before the event occurred. Jesus predicted that He was going to die and on the third day rise from the dead. The tomb is empty; you can go and see for yourself! Many people saw the risen Lord, over 500! The lives of the disciples were changed after the death and resurrection of Jesus; they were bold in their faith as they were empowered by God to spread the Gospel message! The resurrection of Jesus was the central teaching of the early church. And folks, our lives have been touched by the risen Lord!
Think about it like this:
CONFUCIUS’S TOMB: OCCUPIED
MOHAMMED’S TOMB: OCCUPIED
JESUS’S TOMB: EMPTY
The evidence is clear in fact it is overwhelming. The verdict is in. Now it is up to you to make a decision for Jesus, for we have seen: CHRIST IS RISEN!