Easter Service – Covenant College – South Africa – 14 April 2022
Can we really know that Jesus rose from the dead?
Luke 24:1-12 – Read
The funny story about the Taxi Driver
One Easter a priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them. 'Come with me,' said St. Peter to the taxi driver.
The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool. 'Oh my word, thank you,' said the taxi driver.
Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set.
'Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,' said the priest. 'Shouldn't I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God's word.'
'Yes, that's true.' St Peter rejoined, 'But during your Easter sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.'
Introduction:
As we begin to celebrate Easter starting tomorrow with Good Friday and ending on Sunday with Easter Sunday, I would like to address one question…
Why should anyone believe in Jesus?
1 Peter 3:15 says we should “always be ready to give …a reason for the hope that is in [us]…”
If you · Listen to the radio · Watch TV · Or just surf the internet
You might have noticed that the world does NOT hold Christianity in the highest regard. In fact, Christians are commonly the object of ridicule by skeptics in politics, TV, and legal circles. I’m so tired of how Hollywood depicts Christians. Christians are often misrepresented as naive, sweet idiots, judgmental hypocrites, or dangerous fanatics. Have you noticed this when you watch Netflix or DSTV? You know what is worse, we are slowly but surely starting to just accept it and laugh it of.
How many of you have heard of James Cameron- He is the guy who brought us the motion pictures - Titanic, Avatar.
Back in 2007 he produced a documentary where he claimed that he found the tomb in which Jesus was buried and he claimed he had discovered the bones and remains of Jesus, based on various scientific methods of discovery. Influential people will do anything to deny the resurrection.
To deny the resurrection, there are many false arguments that are doing the rounds, and you can go on the internet and find these theories:
1. Jesus Fainted Theory
2. People Looked for Jesus in the wrong tomb Theory
3. The Disciples stole the body Theory
4. Unknown body thieves stole the body
5. Wild Dogs ate Jesus’ Body Theory
The question is: ARE THEY RIGHT???
My goal with today’s message is to give you a few good sound reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus is true. Let me begin by reading to you seven words from the bible. Words that capture the central reason why anyone should believe.
They were spoken by an angel…to a small group of broken-hearted women. These women had just returned to a tomb where a few days earlier, their master, their cherished friend – Jesus – had been buried.
But now his body was missing. And these women didn’t know where it was or who had taken it.
And in the midst of their grief and confusion, an angel appeared. And in the heart of his message were seven of the most powerful words that the world has ever heard.
Matthew 28:6 -- "He is not here; he has risen."
Words with profound implications, telling of the first and only person in all of history who had conquered death. Jesus broke the grave.
These words conveyed an idea totally contrary to mankind’s belief in the absolute permanence and finality of death.
Yet the angel proclaimed that what was impossible for man had been accomplished by God.
Because of Easter we never have to fear death.
So for 20 centuries, the world has wrestled over the truth of these seven powerful words:
The greatest attacks on Christianity have been against the resurrection. Believers and Non-believers alike understand that the resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity. If Jesus rose from the dead, then Christianity is true. If he did not, then it is false. It is that simple.
So, the question of whether we can or should believe in Jesus is dependent upon whether the resurrection actually happened.
Are the seven words of the angel true? Did Jesus really die and come back to life?
Is there evidence to support our belief? The implications are huge!
If the resurrection did NOT happen…Then the implications are summed up by the apostle Paul in:
Corinthians 15:14… “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION
Now, we do not have a “blind faith”. God does NOT ask us to believe things for which there is no evidence. But instead, He has graciously given us an abundance of evidence.
Let’s examine the just some of the evidence. There isn’t enough time today to go through the expansive amount of evidence. I want to look at one medical fact and 4 behaviour changes in the disciples.
1. Jesus really did die
John 19:32- 34 – The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
In order for the Resurrection to be true, Jesus had to die. Firstly, if you do a bit of research you will discover that if the heart cavity is punched while you are alive, only blood will flow. But if you were already dead and the cavity is punched then, blood and water will flow, because the blood and water separate after death.
Secondly, “The Roman soldiers”, these men were killing machines… Skilled at inflicting death. I mentioned that one of them put a spear into Jesus’ side to make sure he was dead… There’s a reason for that.
In ancient Rome: if a roman soldier took a criminal off the cross before he was dead, the Roman soldier had to take his place on the cross.
I wish I had more time to teach you about the roman punishment. That is something for another day.
Therefore, is it unlikely or unbelievable that the Roman guards would have taken Jesus off the cross before he was Dead? knowing that they would have to take his place? No way.
2. The change in the Disciples’ attitudes after the resurrection.
Before the resurrection, they were cowards. Hiding in shadows…afraid of being discovered as followers of Jesus. AFRAID OF BEING KILLED. After the resurrection, they were fully committed. Boldly claiming Jesus’ resurrection in the presence of enemies. (See Acts Chpt 2)
QUESTION: What caused such a radical change in their attitudes? Was it the empty tomb? The testimony of people who talked to angels.
John 20:19-20 “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”
THEY SAW HIM WITH THEIR OWN EYES!!!!
No other explanation can account for such a complete turnaround in their behavior.
QUESTION: Is their change in attitude good evidence that they in fact saw him alive? ABSOLUTELY
3.Disciple’s willingness to suffer.
Nothing shows others the sincerity of your beliefs …more than your willingness to suffer and sacrifice for it. And the disciples suffered for their testimony that Jesus had risen from the dead.
· whippings ; · stoning's ; · hunger ; · shipwreck; · beatings · poverty , · imprisonment
They could have easily avoided all of this BUT they REFUSED to stop telling people that Jesus rose from the dead AND that they personally saw Him. Not that they HEARD Jesus was alive, but that they SAW him themselves.
Acts 5:40 – The Council accepted his advice, called in the apostles, had them beaten, and then told them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and finally let the go. They left the council chamber rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. And every day, in the temple and in their home Bible classes, they continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Messiah.
When I was growing up, I was the youngest of 3 brothers. My older brothers had a theory that I got away with things because I was the baby. The theory was that I didn’t receive the same punishment as them. So, one day, they broke a window. The plan was for me to take the blame as I wouldn’t get severally punished. When out parents arrived home, I confessed, but the moment my father pronounced the punishment, I sung like and bird and told who was responsible.
The moral of this story is I wasn’t prepared to suffer for something that wasn’t true.
4. Disciples Willingness to die.
As if a willingness to suffer years of persecution were not enough evidence of the apostle’s conviction to the risen Christ, the Bible and church history give us the confirmation of their willingness to gladly die rather than deny the resurrection.
History tells us how the disciples died:
• Paul was beheaded
• Peter was crucified upside down
• Andrew was crucified
• Thomas – killed by spears from soldiers
• Philip – Suffered a cruel death. No other details.
• Matthew – stabbed to death
• James – Jewish historian Josephus reported that he was stoned and clubbed to death.
• Matthias – burnt to death
Some people might suffer and die for what they believe to be true, but no one in religious history was ever willing to gladly suffer and die for what they knew to be a lie.
Let me just tell you, if anyone ever recants a false story, it is when they are faced with certain death. The apostles could have denied the resurrection and saved themselves. But they knew it was true and therefore considered this life of little value compared to their commitment to Jesus.
If the disciples knew the resurrection was a lie, would they have died for it? Of course not. They saw him with their own eyes. Touched him with their own hands. They KNEW he was alive and had conquered death.
And THAT accounted for their change in attitude, their willingness to suffer and their willingness to die as martyrs to prove to the world that the resurrection actually happened.
But THE Apostle’s faith in the resurrection is OUR evidence of something we were not there to see… namely the truth that Jesus conquered death.
5. Conversion of Paul.
I love this piece of evidence… Primarily because of its irony.
Acts 8: 3 (MSG) – and Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house, dragging men and women off to jail
The greatest hater of Christianity turns into its greatest friend and defender. Suffering for many years and giving his life for his testimony that he too saw the risen Jesus. Paul went on and wrote two thirds of the New Testament.
6. Example of Lee Strobel:
I’m not sure if you have ever heard of Lee Strobel. He is an Atheist-turned-Christian. He was the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune.
If you listen to or read Lee’s life story, you will see that he lived a life that was immoral, centered on self-pleasure and destruction with little regard for others.
Although he was an award-winning editor no-one, but his wife and daughter saw the angry drunk with no regard for a higher being. His 5 year old daughter would rush off to her room and close the door if she heard her father arriving at home.
Lee’s wife Leslie was not a Christian but one day in 1979 she came home and gave Lee the shocking news that she had given her life to Christ.
The first thing that came to Lee’s mind was divorce. No way was he going to be married to someone who was in a cult.
As a journalist with a legal background, he decided he was going to win his wife back, so they could get back to their old lives. He decided that if he could disprove the resurrection of Jesus, he could destroy his wife’s Christianity. He embarked on a 2-year investigative process, where he even travelled to Jerusalem and the Vatican.
He researched all other historical writings.
After all the research, it all came down to one Sunday afternoon – where he realized that he needed more faith to be an atheist than to be believe in the risen Christ.
That day as he Read John 1: 12 - Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, he gave his life to Jesus.
Lee went on to write his award-winning book – A case for Christ, which is an all time best seller. He went on and wrote 40 other books and now travels around the world preaching the Gospel of his Risen Lord.
The best part of Lee’s story is the way the Lord changed his life. He tells of the greatest part. 5 months after he gave his life to Christ, his daughter who only knew an absent, angry and drunk father, she went to her mother and said, she wanted what happen to her dad to happen to her.
7. Conclusion:
For me Easter is the best part of the year. Even more than Christmas. It’s a time to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of my Lord and Savior. I believe in Jesus because the evidence shows that he rose from the dead. And because he conquered death, I can trust that his claims about the way to eternal life are true.
If a lack of evidence has stopped you from trusting Jesus with your soul and your future, I hope my words today have helped you see that there is overwhelming evidence proving that Jesus rose from the dead. Please go and watch the YouTube videos of Lee Strobel where he shares his life message.
I have learnt over the years that if a desire to hold on to a sinful life is what is stopping you from giving your life to Christ, then no amount of evidence will change your heart.
Accept the fact that Jesus loves you and that he died to pay the penalty for your sins, and that he rose from the dead as proof that he will save those who believe in Him -- And that includes you… but only if you put your faith in Him. Believe me when I tell you, there is nothing that you could do that would make God love you more or less. He loves you because His son died for you.
Prayer of Salvation
"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9) .
For all the students who have come forward to receive the free gift of Grace this Easter, please prayer after me.
Dear Lord,
• I admit that I am a sinner.
• I have done many things that don’t please you.
• I am sorry, and I repent.
• I ask you to forgive me.
• I believe that you died on the cross for me.
• You did what I could not do for myself.
• I come to you now and ask
• That you to take control of my life;
• I give it to you.
• From this day forward,
• help me to live every day for you
• in a way that pleases you.
• I love you, Lord,
• and I thank you
• that I will spend all eternity with you. Amen
