The Easter service at a church in Mississippi was interrupted a few years ago by an unexpected guest. In the middle of the service a man entered the church with a gun in one hand and the leash attached to a German Shepherd dog in the other hand. He ran to the front of the auditorium, shot his dog, and then took his own life, all in view of the astonished worshippers and the television audience.
What a pity for life to be so empty, so void of meaning, that a man would choose death over life! We need to understand that no one is going to push us in life.
No one is going to hold our feet to the fire to make the right choices.
An eccentric millionaire was looking for a new executive assistant. He gathered all his junior executives to his mansion where he showed them a shark in his swimming pool. He said, "The first man to jump in and swim across the pool will become my executive assistant, plus, I will give him a bonus." After a few seconds the millionaire’s butler hit the water, swam across, and barely made it out the other side. In amazement the millionaire said, "I’ll go inside and write out your bonus check." The butler responded, "If it’s all the same to you, sir, first of all I’d like to get the man who pushed me in."
Well, no one is going to force us to choose life. Why would anyone choose to end their life? I am convinced that the reason people opt out of life, is because they are not convinced of the evidence that life could ever be worth living. They look at their circumstances and they cannot envision that their circumstances will ever change. The evidence seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of ending their life.
If only they would understand that life is worth living when you have someone to live for. The Old Testament expression of this truth is in our text: "...loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him."
The New Testament equivalent is found in the words of Jesus: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; and whoever believes in Him have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). Life is found in Christ. Therefore, you choose life, when you choose to follow Him.
But so often, people do not choose Christ. Instead they reject Christ. Why would anyone not want life eternal? I am convinced that many people simply don’t know or believe the evidence that Jesus has the power of resurrection.
Our Bible tells us, "On the third day, Jesus Christ rose from the dead."
The problem most people have is that they don’t believe that to be true. Indeed, that statement has caused controversy and given rise to speculation since its first utterance. A myriad of questions surround the possibility of man being brought back to life after death. And the controversy continues even up to today.
Modern man believes the resurrection is absurd ... not because the evidence for it is weak, as a matter of fact the evidence is rarely examined or discussed. But man believes the resurrection is absurd because it does not fit into his world view. The study of philosophy tells us everyone possesses a world view either consciously or subconsciously. A world view (by definition) is a set of presuppositions which we hold about the basic make-up of our world. Each world view considers:
• the nature and character of God
• the nature of man
• the question of what happens to man at death
• the basis of ethics
• the meaning of history.
We may not believe that we have an opinion already formed on each of these subjects, but if questioned we would discover we truly have preconceived notions concerning the universe in which we live. The problem arises when our world view does not include any room for the supernatural or the miraculous, which is where we would categorize the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, the real problem of the resurrection is a philosophical problem.
But what of the evidence? How is the empty tomb to be explained?
There are three basic theories today about what happened to Jesus body.
The Swoon Theory
The first theory is the Swoon Theory. This suggests that Jesus did not actually die but merely swooned or passed out. In the coolness of the tomb He revived.
Somehow He came forth without being seen, presented Himself to His disciples, and they, somehow believed He had been raised from the dead.
This is absurd. How could He have escaped after He revived? How could the Roman soldiers, who were expert at killing people, let this man get away?
How could He convince His disciples? He had been on the cross for six hours.
Spikes had been driven through His hands and feet. The first three hours were spent in the blistering sun. His side was pierced by a soldiers sword. The soldiers were so absolutely convinced He was dead they did not break His legs (and remember they were experts at killing and making sure their enemies were dead). This man is able to survive, go past the elite troop of guards totally unnoticed and convince His disciples He had been resurrected, but even more incredibly lie about a faked death.
Wrong Tomb Theory
The next theory is called the Wrong Tomb Theory. When Jesus was buried late in the evening, at dusk, no one was able to mark the tomb with certainty and therefore, when they came to the tomb on Sunday morning to visit the tomb, they went to the wrong tomb.
This is even more absurd in that if the tomb were empty they would have searched until they found the right one. Others have discussed the fact that maybe wild animals dragged the body away. This hardly bears comment. If 2-3 women were worried about removing the stone how would wild animals accomplish that? I know, let’s say they had "Big Foot" with them and he rolled the stone away.
Some suggest that His enemies stole the body. This also lacks credibility because this is the very thing they were trying to prevent. You can see this in Matt. 27. If they could have produced the body they could have killed Christianity in one day.
The Stolen Body Theory
The last theory is the stolen body theory. This is the idea His friends stole the body. This theory is usually given by people who do not believe in the resurrection. This was the explanation given by the Jews as recorded in Matt. 28:13 and is still the most popular view given.
This, however, is extremely unlikely because His friends were in no position to steal the body with the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. They had no great desire to steal the body anyway. They were scattered and scared and the last thing they would have tried was to pull off some gigantic hoax at the risk of their own lives.
The only alternative which really makes sense and which really has the evidence to support it is: Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This is the most logical, the most reasonable of explanations.
Occasionally, you hear, "He only appeared to His own disciples. If He had just appeared to someone else ... some impartial, unbiased outsider." But this is also absurd when you think about it. Could Jesus appear personally and bodily to a person, and that person remain unchanged?
You see, there was just such a man who did not believe in Jesus ... who did not believe His claims. His name was Saul of Tarsus. But after he met the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus, he became a disciple or follower of Jesus. And it is inconceivable that anyone would not become His follower if confronted by Christ, resurrected.
Evidence for the Resurrection
Let’s turn our attention now to the evidence for the resurrection. There are seven principles lines of evidence for the resurrection and even though the Cowboys are not playing at noon today, I’m not going to discuss them at great length.
But you may want to jot some notes and study them further at your leisure.
1. There were eye witnesses.
There were at least 10 occasions when Jesus appeared to people after His resurrection.
He appeared to Mary Magdalene on Sunday Morning. John 20:11-18
He appeared to other women that same morning. Matthew 28:9-10
He appeared to 2 men on the road to Emmaus on Sunday afternoon. Mark 16:12ff, Luke 24:13ff
He appeared to Peter on Sunday evening Luke 24:33ff
He appeared to 10 disciples on Sunday evening (Thomas is absent) Luke 24:35, John 20:19 when He appeared through closed doors, ate fish with His disciples, they handled Him and found He was flesh and bone and not a ghost.
One week later, He appeared to all 11 disciples including Thomas. John 20:26 Upon seeing the nail prints Thomas falls down and worships Him saying "My Lord and my God." John 21
He appears to 7 disciples as they are fishing and catch a boatload of fish. Peter and Jesus have great discourse and Jesus tells Peter to "feed my sheep."
Matt. 28:16, Mark 16:15,
1 Cor. 15:6 He appears to 500 people at once on an appointed mountain in Galilee. They are given the Great Commission.
In 1 Cor. 15:6 Paul said that most of the 500 were still alive. No one ever questioned the resurrection on the fact that the eye witnesses would not confirm it.
1 Cor. 15:7 He appeared to James, His half brother.
Acts 1:9 - He appeared to the Apostles when He predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Beyond this He appeared to Stephen in Acts 7, Paul in Acts 9 in Arabia, in the Temple and in prison. And He appeared to John on the Island of Patmos from the Book of the Revelation.
2. The Christian Church exists.
If Jesus is not alive, why does the Christian church exist? Was their not one man who was able to dispute the hoax?
3. Sunday is celebrated as the Lord’s Day.
Why would the early church deviate from the observance of the Sabbath? Instead they celebrate the Resurrection on Sunday.
4. The willingness of the disciples to become martyrs.
Nearly every one of the original Apostles went to their deaths proclaiming Jesus was alive. If it were a hoax that would not have happened. It is psychologically impossible. We have no record of a man in his right mind willing to go to his death knowing it was all for a hoax. Even the most hardened criminal will tell the truth when faced with death.
5. The New Testament exists.
6. The Old Testament witness has been fulfilled. Prophecy has been fulfilled in great detail.
7. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a logical, integral part of Christianity.
Jesus Christ is said to be "the first fruits of the dead," indicating those who believe will follow Him in a bodily resurrection.
Simon Greenleaf, a Harvard law professor, has written a book entitled, Testimony of Four Evangelists in which he studied the four gospels and came to the conclusion that the account of the Resurrection would have to be accepted as evidence under modern day rules of evidence. There is no evidence to discount this testimony .... only philosophical presuppositions. Later, the Dean of the University of London Law School confirmed Mr. Greenleaf’s findings.
What of the theological significance of the Resurrection? It authenticated the claim of Christ. Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God and proved this by His miraculous resurrection.
It ratifies the effect of the atonement. That means God expected the death of Christ to atone (compensate, settle the score, make amends) for the sins of the world just as He did with the first sinner Adam. He killed an innocent animal to try to cover the sin of Adam and Eve. Jesus now sits at the right hand of God continually interceding according to Rom. 4:25: 8:34, and no one can condemn believers in Jesus Christ.
It assures the believer in Christ of needed power. Eph. 1:19-22 The same power God used in raising Christ is available to the believing Christian.
It assures the believer of his own resurrection. 1 Cor. 16:17-33
It assures the world of the certainty of judgment. Acts 17:31 says, "Because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom He has appointed having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
We have discussed the philosophical aspects. We have looked at the evidence, the cold hard facts. We have delved into the theological significance of these facts. And yet even after all this proof their would be some who would scoff at the evidence.
I want to tell you a little story about a boy named Jeremy. This is a true story.
Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. When he was twelve years old he was still in the second grade unable to learn. He went to a Christian school. His teacher stayed aggravated with him. When he was in class he would squirm, drool and make grunting noises. At other times he spoke clearly and distinctly as if a beam of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. But, most of the time his actions irritated his teacher.
One day she asked to have a conference with his parents. As his parents sat quietly in the empty classroom Jeremy’s teacher explained: “Jeremy needs to go to a special school. It isn’t fair to him to be in school with children five years younger who don’t have learning problems."
As Jeremy’s mother cried softly into a handkerchief, his father explained: "There was no school close by that specialized in Jeremy’s problems. If he were to leave, it would be a great shock to him. And besides he really likes it here."
After Jeremy’s parents left, his teacher sat for a long time contemplating the conversation. It seemed as if a cold dark cloud settled over her soul. She felt sorry for Jeremy and his parents. Because his father had also told her that Jeremy was their only child and he had a terminal illness. But what of the other children? It wasn’t fair. Besides he would never learn to read and write. Pretty soon guilt sat in and she prayed, "Oh, God. Here I am complaining about my problems and they are nothing compared to that poor family.
Please help me to be more patient with Jeremy."
From that point on she tried hard to tolerate his behavior. One day he came up to her desk, dragging his bad leg. He said, "I love you." She was embarrassed.
All of the children snickered.
"Take your seat."
Spring came. The children began to talk excitedly about Easter. The teacher told them the story of Jesus. Then to emphasize the idea of new life, she gave each of them a large plastic egg. She told them to take the egg home and bring it back with something inside that shows new life. She asked, "Do you understand?" They shouted, "Oh yes!" All except Jeremy. He just listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises.
Had he understood the story about Jesus death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents. That afternoon, everything in the world went wrong and she soon forgot about phoning Jeremy’s parents.
The next morning 19 children came to school laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the wicker basket on the teacher’s desk. Finally, it was time to open the eggs.
1. Flower. Plants peek through the ground and we know spring is here. In the first row a little girl said, "That’s mine!"
2. Plastic butterfly. "Caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Another little girl said, "That’s mine!"
3. Moss on a rock. Moss shows new life, also. A little boy said, "My dad helped me."
4. Empty. Oh, she thought, this must be Jeremy’s. He didn’t understand.
She didn’t want to embarrass him so she put it to one side. "Aren’t you going to talk about my egg!?" "But your egg is empty." Softly he said, "But Jesus tomb was empty, too." Time stopped. When she could speak again she asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?" "Oh, yes, Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up."
The bell rang for recess. While the children ran out in the school yard,
the teacher sat down and cried her heart out.
Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the funeral home were surprised to see 19 plastic eggs on top of the casket .... all of them empty.
In Mark 10:15 Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all."
This morning we have talked about all kinds of evidence and implications.
But I want to tell you that if we stacked it all up it would still come down to the fact that you simply have to take it.
