The Reality of the Resurrection
The Resurrection is Evidenced by Facts
The Empty Tomb
The Tomb was Secured
The Disciples were Scared
The Effects on the Lives of the Disciples
The Resurrection is Essential to Living Life Eternal
The Resurrection is Essential to Living Life Now
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How are you today?
We are in the midst of a series called the Creed and we are talking about beliefs that are essential to Christianity that others have tried to refute or teach against through the years.
We have talked about the Trinity and the certainty of our eternal life for those who have truly received Jesus and today we are going to talk about the Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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This is something that others have tried to refute and discredit because if you can somehow show the resurrection did not happen, Christianity would be completely discredited and it would crumble.
And if you have ever taken time to consider the reality of the Resurrection, it can, on its face, seem pretty unbelievable. I mean, when is the last time you saw a resurrection?
Never.
You may have seen a resuscitation, but you have never seen a resurrection where someone has died and come back forever!
So given that we have never seen a resurrection
how do we know it is real and
even if it is, what does it really matter to me?
Those are the questions that we are going to look into today to help us find out about the reality of the resurrection.
But how in the world can we determine if this is a reality, considering it happened so long ago?
Are there really any facts we can look at or consider?
Well, the reality is, is that
The Resurrection is Evidenced by Facts
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Today, we are going to look at some of the facts that support the resurrection.
If you would turn with me this morning to Luke 24:1-8
We are going to read what was recorded by Luke, who was a doctor and historian.
Is Luke Reliable?
If you question us looking into the Bible for facts about Jesus and the resurrection, I want to assure you that the Bible is the best recorded history of these events and Luke was quite an accomplished historian.
That is not just my assessment, but the assessment of one of the most widely recognized archeologists and historians of the modern era of Archeology.
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Sir William Mitchell Ramsay was an Oxford educated professor who doubted the reliability of the New Testament and was known “for his expertise in the historic geography and topography of Asia Minor.
When he first went to Asia Minor, many of the cities mentioned in Acts had no known location and almost nothing was known of their history or politics. The Acts of the Apostles was the only record and Ramsay, skeptical, fully expected his own research to prove the author of Acts hopelessly inaccurate since no man could possibly know the details of Asia Minor more than a hundred years after the event—this is, when some thought that Acts was then supposed to have been written. He therefore set out to put the writer of Acts on trial. He devoted his life to unearthing the ancient cities and documents of Asia Minor. After a lifetime of study, however, he concluded:
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'Further study . . . showed that the book (of Acts) could bear the most minute scrutiny as an authority for the facts of the Aegean world, and that it was written with such judgment, skill, art and perception of truth as to be a model of historical statement' (The Bearing of Recent Discovery, p. 85).
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He went on to say 'I set out to look for truth on the borderland where Greece and Asia meet, and found it there [in Acts]. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian's and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment...'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mitchell_Ramsay
Because of the truth he found recorded in Luke’s record, Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, though he started out as an unbeliever, came to trust in Christ as his Savior because of the accuracy and truth he found in Luke’s recorded history of the time.
So, let’s consider what Luke has to say and see what details of his account
we can consider
Luke 24:1-8
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24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" 8 Then they remembered his words.
Pray
The first Fact we find is
The Empty Tomb
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Luke 24:2-3
They went to the tomb where Jesus was laid, but “they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus”
“Big deal. So the tomb was empty. That doesn’t prove anything. Perhaps the body was moved or stolen”
Well, the fact that the tomb was empty actually is a big deal when we stop and consider
the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ death and
the precautions taken to make sure that the tomb would not be empty.
We see in the passage we just read that Jesus had told people that he would rise again.
Now not everyone, including the apostles, understood what Jesus meant, but the Jewish Leaders did not want to take any chances concerning this, so listen to what it tells us in
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Matthew 27:62-66
The day “after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
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65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
So to prevent there from being an empty tomb
The Tomb was Secured
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The Jewish leaders wanted to take no chance that anything would happen to Jesus’ body, so they had Pilate’s authority to take a guard unit and make the tomb as secure as they knew how.
A guard = How many
When it talks about a guard, we sometimes think of a person or 2. While it doesn’t say how many, we see from Scripture and know from history that a guard is more of a unit, and more than just a couple. Usually in a watch of 3 hours, there were four who were awake during that time. If they took turns over 4 watches, there would be 16 guards that would be assigned who took turns being a wake and standing watch.
Since they were there to make sure the grave would not be empty, they would have certainly made sure the grave was not empty before they sealed it with a Roman seal.
Having this tomb secured is such a way makes it impossible that this tomb would have been empty. But it was empty. How can that be explained?
Disciples stole the body
Well. there are some that try to argue that the Disciples came and stole the body and that is why the tomb was empty.
In fact, this is the story that the Jewish leaders spread because the fact is that the tomb was empty. Here is how Matthew records the actual event along with what the Jewish leaders said.
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Matthew 28:2-4, 11-15
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men…
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After these events, it records for us in verse 11 that “…some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”
Why couldn’t that have been how things happened?
Why couldn’t the disciples have come and stolen the body?
Well, here is the problem with this story in explaining the empty tomb, because not only was the Tomb Secured, but
The Disciples were Scared
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We have to remember that just a few days earlier Jesus’ disciples were running scared when Jesus was arrested. Mark tells us when speaking of the disciples that “everyone deserted him and fled” (Mark 14:50) because they were so scared.
To make the argument that a couple of days later,
in the midst of their grief,
in the midst of their faithlessness and fear,
that these disciples, gathered courage to go to the tomb ready to take on an armed Roman Guard unit, but thankfully found them asleep so they could sneak up to the tomb and break a Roman Seal, which was punishable by death, steal the body, and escape unnoticed by the Roman Guard, stretches the bounds of belief.
Christians made up the story of the guard?
Well maybe the whole story about the guard and the seal are made up by the Christians to support their story of the resurrection.
If that were the case we would expect to find the Jews refuting the claim of a resurrection not with a story of a Roman Guard falling asleep, but with the truth that there was never a guard posted.
But that is not what we find. We find stories of grave robbers and guards sleeping.
These stores just do not support the facts of the situation.
If the tomb were really empty by some reason other than the resurrection, the truth would be the best argument against it.
But the fact that precautions were taken to seal the tomb and
the fact that the disciples were so scared at Jesus’ arrest just a few days before
and the fact that Jesus himself said He would rise from the dead
shows that the fact of the empty tomb lends support to some supernatural event that is not easily explained with human wisdom and understanding.
But that is not all.
Not only is the Resurrection supported by the facts of the empty tomb, but it is supported by
The Effects on the Lives of the Disciples
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Now we just talked about how these Disciples were running scared on the night that Jesus was arrested. Peter denied even knowing Jesus that night.
But these disciples go from being fearful followers of Jesus, running scared on the night He was arrested, to being fearless leaders proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus as eyewitnesses even in the face of torture and persecution.
What can account for this transformation in the lives of the Disciples?
What accounts for that change is that they saw the resurrected Christ!
Believing by faith vs. sight
I want you to think about this for a moment, because this is important.
We see people today who endure torture and death for things they believe.
Pastor Saeed, the Iranian American pastor who is being jailed in Iran for converting to Christianity and proclaiming Jesus death and resurrection. He is enduring great suffering in jail and separation from his family for His beliefs.
We even see non Christian people who are willing to die for their beliefs.
But the difference between people who believe today and the disciples, is this.
The Disciples knew for sure what they were saying was either 100% true or false.
It was not just a belief for them, but something they knew for sure.
Listen to what the Apostle John tells us about seeing the Christ
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1 John 1:1-3a
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard
People are not willing to face torture and persecution for what they know to be a lie.
In fact, we know that people will lie to avoid being tortured or killed.
These disciples knew what they were saying to be true and they knew the eternal life that Jesus offered was real. They no longer had to fear physical death, because they knew there was a greater life for eternity for those who trusted in Jesus Christ.
These apostles lived out in a new way the truth of Psalm 118:6
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Psalm 118:6 - The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
These disciples were changed and the only explanation is that they saw what they claimed to see, the resurrected Christ, and that the Holy Spirit filled them and made them bold proclaimers of Jesus Christ, the risen Savior.
The evidence supports the reality of the resurrection
There is much evidence to support the reality of the resurrection from the empty tomb, that was sealed and guarded to the effects on the lives of the disciples going from fearful followers to faithful leaders willing to suffer and die for what they knew to be true and which gave them the hope and assurance of eternal life.
The best explanation for those things is that Jesus did what He said He was going to do and resurrected from the dead. Even the fact that Christianity still exists when based on such a belief is evidence for it really happening.
There has been so much time and effort placed into debunking Christianity that it certainly could have been done if it wasn’t true.
So the resurrection really happened.
Transition
Does it really matter for me today?
Well, it most certainly does.
You see, without the resurrection we have no eternal hope.
The Resurrection is Essential to Living Life Eternal
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Listen to how Paul says it in
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
If there is no resurrection, there is no eternal life for anyone.
There is no hope.
But if the resurrection is real, as the evidence indicates, then there is an eternal life after we die physically. And there is hope that we can live that eternity in complete, restored relationship with God.
Paul says that if there is no resurrection,
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“let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15:32)
The resurrection proves that Jesus is who He says He is, God in the flesh, and that there is an eternal life that we have after this life.
This matters for you that are here today, because each of us has only this life to either believe and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and experience eternal life or reject Him and face an eternity separated from Him in Hell.
The Bible tells us that it is destined for man once to die and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Once we die, we have no opportunity.
It is only in this life that we have opportunity to trust in Jesus, so we can experience the resurrection to eternal glory.
The resurrection is essential to living life eternal.
But not only is the resurrection essential to living life eternal, but
The Resurrection is Essential to Living Life Now
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1 Peter 1:3 - In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
We are spiritually reborn in that moment we believe and receive Christ as our Savior.
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2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
We become a new creation with the opportunity for a new life now.
Every one of us that is here desires to truly find life. Well that real and true and full life is found in putting our trust and receiving the Jesus Christ, the One who died and rose again, as our Savior.
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Jesus said “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
The elusive Full Life
I am sure there are many here who would acknowledge that the full life can be pretty elusive. We look for it in the places the advertisers tell us we will find it.
In the new clothes or new car
In the beautiful wife or handsome husband
In winning the lotto or making a lot of money
In the big house or on vacation
In physical pleasure or in giving our addictions free reign
But every one of us know that no matter how much we have pursued any of those things, they always leave us a little bit short and pursuing after a little more, thinking if we just had a little more, THEN life would be good, then I would have the full life.
But even as we get that little more, we find it is not quite enough.
That is because we are pursuing something that can never really fulfill us.
We are trying to fill a God sized hole with a man sized solution. We will always come up short.
But God, offers us the full and eternal life as we put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ, believing in his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins.
Our only hope for salvation in life, both eternally and presently, is putting our hope in and receiving the resurrected Messiah, Jesus Christ, the One who really did die for our sins, and the One who really did resurrect from the dead to eternal life.
Conclusion
If you are here today and you don’t ever remember making a conscious decision to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can do that today and have the assurance of eternal life and begin to life the full life.
The Bible tells us
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“That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9)
Jesus resurrected and wants to give you life eternal and life now.
If you believe he died for you and resurrected from the dead, turn and confess your true belief and begin really living life.
Let’s pray.
