The Reality of the Resurrection
We need to come to a conclusion today that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a fairy tale, more than a legend, and more than some religious symbol. It is a historical fact that is indisputable. In fact, Billy Graham said that, “There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three.”
Jesus was fatally wounded.
Dr. Norman Geisler writes, “For the Resurrection to have any significance, Jesus had to be dead first.” (When Skeptics Ask. p. 120).
Some have concluded that Jesus just passed out and revived later in His tomb. But that’s absurd! Christ suffered horribly. Let me explain how horribly He suffered and eventually died.
He began his suffering at the Garden of Gethsemane
Luke 22:44;63-65;
And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
63Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, 64and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” 65And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.
John 19:1-3;16-18;25;28-30;31-35;
1Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; 3and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face.
16So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.
17They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.
25Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
28After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said*, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
31Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 33but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
Mark 15:44-45
44Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
Luke 23:50-56
50And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man 51(he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; 52this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. 54It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. 56Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.
Empty Tomb
Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; 5and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” 8And they remembered His words, 9and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. 11But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. 12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.
Earlier we read the account that said the women had seen where they had laid Jesus’ body – they were at the right tomb but Jesus was not there.
BTW –
Matthew 28:11-15
Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14“And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” 15And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.
Of course, many of them would later give their lives for – which when you think about it you have to ask why would these people die for something that they fabricated?
Which brings up the next point. They saw the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes.
Appearances
One of the greatest proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was His many post-resurrection appearances.
While there were many appearances, for the sake of time, I want to look at just one of these appearances.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
More than 500 people! There were surely many people that could testify to the trustworthiness of this statement. Several hundred. Paul’s statement had plenty of eyewitness testimony to back it up or to disprove it if it had been false.
The Relevance of the Resurrection
The Resurrection proves Jesus is God.
Christ’s resurrection proves He was God, and not an imposter.
In John 2 Jesus chased out the money changers in the Temple because they’d turned God’s Temple into a marketing venture. The Jews asked Him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” This is what Jesus told them:
“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19 NIV)
They thought he was referring to the Temple building they were in. But verse 21 John tells us He was referring to His body. He delivered on His miraculous sign, thus proving who He was.
Paul opened the letter to the Romans like this:
Romans 1:1-4
1Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
The Resurrection proves Jesus to be the Son of God and brings us face to face with the fact that He is who He claimed to be, God. The founder of every other religion died and stayed dead. Jesus rose again. This is important to you because it forces you to make a decision in your life. Since Christ is who He claimed to be, how will you respond to Him?
The Resurrection means your salvation possible
Romans 4:25
He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
1 Corinthians 15:14,17-19
14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
17and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
If there had been no resurrection, then Christ proved Himself nothing more than a self-deceived prophet or crazy man and all of us are fools for trusting Him. BUT, as we’ve already seen, thankfully, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact. Faith in Christ is not in vain. This is important to you this morning because Jesus’ being alive means the way to God has been ‘paved’ by Christ and you can be made right with Him and have relationship with Him this morning.
The Resurrection means Jesus Will Be Found By All Who Seek Him
Romans 10:13
for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
1 Chronicles 29:13-14
‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD,
