Open Tomb, Closed Case Series

Open Tomb, Closed Case

Text: John 20:1-29

So we just celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And like I said last Sunday, it’s the most amazing event in all of human history. So even though we’re going to be back in John’s Gospel this morning, we’re right at the point where we’re still looking at the Resurrection of Jesus and the aftermath of that.

Now before we get to our text in John, I’m going to zero in on the resurrection a little more, because I think it will really help us, as believers, get a good grasp of why it’s so important, and why the things that happen next happen the way they do.

So let me read to you Romans 1:1-4, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness BY HIS RESURRECTION, from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Now that’s kind of where I finished off last Sunday – the Resurrection proves everything. Jesus being raised from the dead, proves that He is the Son of God, that He really did do everything that was needed for our salvation. Right?!?!

Ok, 1 Peter 1:3… “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope THROUGH THE RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And what Peter was saying there is that the resurrection shows us that our sins have been paid for, atonement has been made, redemption has been accomplished.

So it’s by the resurrection that we can be assured of all this. When we sing, “Jesus paid it all, we can sing it knowing that He really did pay it all.” But for the person who rejects Christ… the resurrection is a scary thing…

Let me read to you Acts 17:30-31, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.” In other words, the resurrection of Jesus is also the assurance that God is going to bring judgment. Jesus is going to return – and judge the world. And the resurrection is the assurance and proof of that as well.

One more… 1 Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.” In other words, IF Jesus wasn’t raised, then He didn’t pay for our sins… and we are still at enmity with God… BUT HE WAS RAISED! Amen!

Now the reason I wanted you to look at those passages with me, is to give us all a good sense of the importance of the resurrection to us who are Christians. All of those things hinge upon it. And if Jesus wasn’t raised, then our faith is in vain. We’re still in our sins. We’re doomed!

So, the question we’re going to ask today is – HOW DO WE KNOW IT’S TRUE?

What evidence is there that the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually took place?

Well… the biggest thing is the eyewitness testimony of the disciples.

So put your thinking caps on, and we’re going to work this case like a detective.

#1. None of the disciples at first believed that Jesus would be raised from the dead. And that’s important. There’s a whole study on this, and it’s called, “anticipation in simultaneous interpretation.” Let me give you an example. I’m going to say something, and I want you to complete the sentence ok….

So let’s say you’ve been under the weather with the flu, and I call you up and I say, “How are you…” What’s the next word? “FEELING”? Right!

Or let’s say you were on vacation in Hawaii and I called you and I asked, “Man, they say Hawaii is beautiful this time of year. So how’s the….?” What’s the next thing I’m going to say? “WEATHER”.

Now if you’re able to complete my sentence, does that make you a prophet, or does that just mean you’re anticipating what I’m going to say?

Now what about this – let’s say, that I got up to preach, and instead of coming up here and standing behind the pulpit, I ran to the restroom and hid in the stall. That would be weird right? That would be totally unexpected. You wouldn’t have anticipated that, and so… if I had done that, none of you would have interpreted that as normal behavior.