Today Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Three days after Jesus died, He rose again. This event never happened to anybody else. The Bible recorded some people who lived again after someone prayed for them, like the son of a widow in Zarephath (1 Kings 17), Eutychus (Acts 20:9), and Lazarus (John 11). But their resurrections are different from what happened to Jesus because later, all of them died again, while Jesus lives forever. When they came back to life, their spirits came back to their same bodies, but when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, His spirit came back to a different body. Jesus' resurrected body was a new one that could not be weak, get sick or die again. His resurrected body also was not limited by time and space. That is why after His resurrection, Jesus could suddenly appear in a locked room and at a beach to meet His disciples. That is why the resurrection of Jesus is called "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor.15:20) and "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy" (Colossians 1:18)
Unfortunately, some people today still doubt whether Jesus really rose from His death. They think that is impossible and that it doesn't make sense! Therefore, they try to build theories to deny the resurrection of Jesus.
The first theory is called the Lying Theory, which states that Jesus' disciples secretly stole the body of Jesus, but they claimed that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. In other words, the disciples spread the lie about the resurrection of Christ. Let's evaluate this theory. First, the Lying Theory is based on a lie that the chief priests created. Let's read Matthew 28:11-15: 11 While the women were on their way, 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. So, who lied here, the priests or Jesus' disciples?
Other arguments that I would ask are: how could Jesus' disciples steal the body of Jesus? Remember, Roman soldiers guarded Jesus' tomb. Not only that, but a big stone also sealed Jesus' tomb. Why in the world would Jesus' disciples steal His body and then spread the news that Jesus was resurrected from the dead? What for? Remember, the disciples were so afraid after Jesus was captured. Everybody left Jesus except Peter, who quietly saw Jesus from a distance. And after Jesus died, where were His disciples gathering? They were in a secret locked room because they were so afraid that they would also be captured and killed. So, it doesn't make sense for the disciples to steal Jesus' body.
The second theory is Fainting Theory, which states that Jesus was not dead yet, but they thought he did. Therefore, they put Jesus' body in a tomb, and three days later, Jesus gained His consciousness. Let's respond to this theory: first, the night before, Jesus didn't sleep at all, and then in the morning, he was beaten cruelly 39 times, and then He had to walk to Golgotha carrying His cross, but because He was so exhausted he fell. Therefore, the soldier forced Simon to take Jesus' cross. And then Jesus was nailed (not tied with ropes!) on the cross. He was hung for six hours. To make sure that Jesus really died, what did the soldier do? John 19:33-34 recorded:" 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." And then what happened? Verses 38-40 explain: "Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was following Jewish burial customs." If Jesus merely fainted, how could he have freed Himself from the shroud and then got out from the tomb, which was sealed by at least a two-ton stone? And when His disciples met Him, why didn't they recognize Him anymore since He looked so healthy and radiant?
One lady wrote into a question-and-answer forum. "Dear Sirs, Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think?
Sincerely, Bewildered.
Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for six hours; run a spear thru his side … put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens. Sincerely, Charles. Contributed by: A. Todd Coget
The third theory that I would like to respond to is Vision Theory, which states that the disciples were so desperate to see Jesus resurrected from His death. Therefore, they claimed that they saw Jesus was alive but what really happened was they were having a hallucination or a delusion. Let's evaluate this theory: Is it true that the disciples expected Jesus to be raised from the dead? If they did, they would not have wrapped Jesus' body with the spices in strips of linen. If they did expect Jesus to rise from the dead, they would have gathered at the tomb every day to wait and see Jesus raised, but they ran away and hid in a locked room. If it was a hallucination, how could this have happened not when they were praying and meditating but when they were working or doing something. And how could a hallucination happen to 500 people at the same place and time? That is impossible! Hallucinations are not group events. And the truth is that having 500 different people experience the same hallucination simultaneously would be a greater miracle than the resurrection itself!
The last theory is the Replacement Theory, which states that the One who was nailed on the cross was not Jesus, but Judas or someone that God made resembles Jesus. Moslems make this theory. For example, based on Quran 4:156-159, some people hold that Jesus did not die the usual human death but still lives in the body in heaven, which is the generally accepted Muslim view. Another holds that he did die but not when he was supposed to be crucified. Being "raised up" unto Allah means that instead of being disgraced as a malefactor, as the Jews intended, he was, on the contrary, honored by Allah Almighty as His Messenger. The questions are: why did God replace Jesus with Judas? And why did God deceive people by creating someone who looked like Jesus so that they thought that they crucified Jesus? This theory is baseless. Based on some facts discussed this morning at the Sunrise Service, we know that Jesus was dead, and three days later, He rose from the dead. Jesus is alive! Therefore, the early Christians greeted one another not by saying 'ola' or 'hi' or 'Apa khabar?' but "Jesus is alive," and the other person replied, "He is alive indeed!"
If He is alive, He can save us from eternal death. If Jesus is alive, He can be with us all the time to accompany us, help us, protect us, and listen to our prayers. If Jesus is alive, we have strong hope in Him, and our ministry is not in vain. And since He is alive, unlike other religious founders and leaders, He can claim, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." In Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell says, "In 1900 B.C. Judaism's Father Abraham died. In 483 B.C. Buddhist writings say Buddha died "with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind." June 6, 632 A.D., Mohammed died. In 33 A.D., Jesus died but came back to life, appearing to 500 people over 40 days. "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith." (I Corinthians 15:14).
I want to close this message by showing you a short video clip that shows us how Jesus, who rose from the dead, is the only One who can save humans from sin and its consequences and give us eternal life. And more than that, since our sins are forgiven, we don't need to live carrying guilty feelings and fear but have peace and joy in Him. After knowing all of the facts about Jesus' resurrection, that Jesus is alive, what is your response?
