Can You Handle the Proof?
Text: Matthew 28:11-15; 1st Corinthians 15:17
By: Ken McKinley
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This text is of course part of the Easter Message, and of course this is the time of year when we start thinking about Easter and all that goes with it; Palm Sunday, the betrayal and trial of Jesus, the crucifixion, and most importantly – the resurrection And as I was praying and considering what to preach on this particular Sunday I decided that I would try to do a little equipping. Being that we’ve issued a call for everyone to invite someone to our Easter services in a couple of weeks. So my sermon this morning is more of an apologetic than what you might normally hear me preach, dealing specifically with the proof of the resurrection. The reason I want to look at that, is because, the entire Christian faith rests on the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus I hope that when you do invite someone to church on Easter, if they happen to ask you why they should come, and why they should even believe in the resurrection account, you will be adequately equipped to give them a reason for what you believe.
In the early 1900’s a group of lawyers met in England to discuss the Biblical accounts of Jesus resurrection given to us in the Gospels. They wanted to see if enough information was available to make a case that would hold up in a court of law. They concluded that Christ’s resurrection was one of the most well established facts of history. There is a book that came out in 1970 called, “Countdown: A Time to Choose” and it was written by a Canadian scientist named G.B. Hardy. In that book Hardy writes about determining ones religion. He says, “I have only two questions to ask. One, has anyone ever defeated death? Two, did he make a way for me to do it also?” And he found the answer to those two questions was found in Jesus Christ alone.
But over the 2000 years since the resurrection of Jesus Christ there have been a lot of people who have tried to deny the resurrection, and they’ve come up with quite a few theories and ideas to try and disprove it. After all, if there is no resurrection, then there is no Christianity, and if there is no Christianity, then there is no God, at least not the God of the Bible, and if there is no God, then there is no judgment, and that’s what people want to get rid of. They want to live their lives however they see fit. And this goes for unreligious folks and for some of the religious folks as well. Think about it for a minute. The Pharisees were very religious, but they denied that Jesus was raised from the dead, the Sadducees were very religious, but they denied the resurrection. Muslims are very religious but they reject the resurrection. And there are many other religious groups out there that reject and deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And like I said, they’ve come up with all sorts of theories to try and debunk this doctrine.
There’s the “Swoon Theory.” The swoon theorist says that Jesus never died on the cross, He just passed out from shock and was put in the tomb, but then the aroma of the spices and the coolness of the tomb revived Him. It’s not a very well thought out theory… I mean think about it for a minute. Here’s a guy who had been beaten beyond recognition, and lost a lot of blood in the process. The Roman soldiers were experts when it came to crucifixion, and I’m pretty sure they knew when someone was dead. In-fact, that’s why they stabbed Jesus with the spear rather than broke His legs. And again, the spear stab was a fatal wound. It was near the heart, that’s why both blood and water poured out. But if Jesus did survive a severe beating, crucifixion, and a spear thrust into His side, He would’ve then had to have survived 3 days without food or water, been awakened without any medical assistance, rolled the stone away, overcome the Roman guards placed outside the tomb, and then walked 7 miles to Emmaus on feet that had been pierced with nails. Sounds pretty ridiculous to me, but you’re free to make your own minds up if the Swoon theory is credible or not.
Others say that the body of Jesus wasn’t actually buried in the tomb, that the Jews took it and threw it into a pit along with the criminals. But if that’s the case then why bother sealing the tomb, and posting guards at it? And… if that’s what they did, the Jews could’ve easily went to the trash pit and pulled out the body of Jesus, when the disciples began speaking of the resurrection. The Jewish leaders could’ve said, “Oh no, He’s not alive, here’s the body.” But they didn’t.
There are still others who say that everyone who saw Jesus after the crucifixion, was just hallucinating. They wanted to see Jesus so bad, that they projected their imaginations upon everyone. But how could over 500 people have seen the same hallucination at the same time? Many of those 500 didn’t even believe that there would be a resurrection, they thought it was all over with when Jesus died. And again, like the theory I just mentioned, if it was a hallucination, the Jews could’ve easily produced the body, and said, “See you’re all delusional.”
There are many other theories out there and all of them are just as ridiculous. In-fact I would say that there are only two half-way credible theories. One is the one offered by Islam. The Muslims say that it wasn’t even Jesus who was nailed to the cross, but someone else. They say that the man was beaten so bad, and that it wasn’t even Jesus, and that’s why he couldn’t be recognized. But the problem with this theory is that when Jesus appeared to His disciples in the upper room, He had the scars of crucifixion and the spear in wound. And Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet, and that He was without sin, but to tell His disciples that He was indeed crucified and risen, when He wasn’t would make Him a liar, soooo… Jesus had the scars of crucifixion, He did miracles after the resurrection, and again we have to ask, where was the body?
Now I said there were two; so what’s the other one? Well it’s the one offered by the Jews in our text from Matthew – “Some one came and stole the body!” They said.
Remember what’s happened here? The women – the Mary’s had come to the tomb, and they found that the tomb was empty and the angel of the Lord told them to go tell the disciples, and then Jesus Himself told them to tell the disciples. So off the women went. Verse 11 says that while they were going, some of the Roman guards were also going to tell the chief priests what had happened. So these Roman soldiers go and tell the priests and look what they do… the priests say, “Tell everyone that His disciples came and stole the body, and don’t worry about Pilate, we’ll tell him that you did a good job and we’ll cover for you so you don’t get into trouble.” See; the thing was, that if a Roman soldier fell asleep while on guard duty he was to be put to death. And don’t forget that prior to this, in chapter 27:62-66 the priests had told Pilate that they were afraid that the disciples would try to steal the body, and that’s why the Roman soldiers were placed under the priests, so that they could prevent this from happening. But then Sunday came, and an angel of the Lord appeared and rolled the stone away. So the soldiers went back to the chief priests and Matthew 28:11 says, “They told them all that had happened.”
Now you would think that the priests would say, “Woah! The resurrection is real. Jesus really is who He said He was.” But instead verse 12 says they called a meeting. That’s referring to an assembling of the Sanhedrin.
So the Sanhedrin are assembled and instead of repenting in faith, they resist and seal their fate. That’s what Matthew’s gospel is telling us here. That the apostasy of Israel was full and final. They had rejected God for too long. God sent His prophets and they were killed. Luke 11:47 says, “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.” And Acts 7:51-52 says, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murders.” God sent John the Baptist and he was killed, and then God sent His only begotten Son. They tried to discredit Him, they tried to trip Him up, and eventually they tried Him in a kangaroo court and they killed Him. And then, when they were faced with the reality of the resurrection, they denied it, and rejected it, and lied.
In verse 15 Matthew writes that the Jews were still using that excuse when he wrote this gospel, some 30 years after the resurrection had taken place. And you know what? There are some people who believe that lie today.
But here’s the amazing thing. This lie actually proves the resurrection. Think this through with me for a minute. The disciples came and stole the body of Jesus away while the Roman soldiers slept. Is that the same disciples that weren’t even expecting a resurrection? Is that the same disciples that were so afraid they all abandoned Jesus when Judas betrayed Him? Are these the same disciples whose boldest member, Peter was afraid of a little girl when she asked him if he had been with Jesus? And how exactly did these disciples roll the stone away, take the time to fold up the burial cloth and carry the body of Jesus away while Roman soldiers, who had been told to be especially alert on the 3rd day slept? Especially when sleeping on guard duty was an offense punishable by death? And even if they were asleep, how exactly did they know it was the disciples? I mean if you’re sleeping so hard that you can’t hear a large stone being rolled around and a body being carted away, how are you going to say it was a particular group of people? And why exactly did the soldiers have to be bribed? You don’t bribe someone to tell the truth, you bribe them to lie. And why exactly weren’t the disciples ever charged with this crime of stealing the body of Jesus? For breaking a sealed tomb? I’ll tell you why, because then the truth would’ve come out, and that’s exactly what the Pharisees didn’t want to happen.
Throughout history, men far more brilliant than I could ever be, have studied the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and they have overwhelmingly come to the same conclusion. The resurrection is a fact. Turn with me quickly to Romans chapter 10:9 (Read). Jesus is Lord and He is risen from the dead. Do you believe that this morning? You see; salvation belongs to those who believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. And the reason for that is because the resurrection validates all the claims made by Jesus. Jesus said He was the Son of God. Jesus said He and the Father were One. If He was not who He said He was, God wouldn’t have raised Him from the dead. The resurrection shows that we are redeemed, forgiven, and made righteous before a holy and just God. The resurrection shows that the price that Jesus paid on the cross was more than enough to satisfy God’s justice and appease God’s wrath against sinful man. That’s the message of the Bible. That’s the good news. Jesus died to pay for your sins, and He was raised up because He did.
Do you believe that this morning?
Let’s Pray
