A common objection I hear to the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that people just do not rise from the dead. It’s not documented that people rise from the dead. This is the objection. It’s impossible. Medically, scientifically, biologically, within the scope of human experience, it is impossible to rise from the dead.
I’m not a scholar, nor am I brilliant.. in anything, any category. I relate more to pastor Tommy Nelson that refers to himself as Forest Gump. He says, “it doesn’t take Forest Gump here too long to figure this out.” I’m not an academic. No one in the academic world knows my name.
Still, I think about the scholars that do debate these atheist authorities. I think about how they actually have to respond to this objection. Because, as I’ve said, it doesn’t take Forest Gump here too long to figure this out, and I wonder what they feel in their body as they actually verbalize a response to this objection. I wonder if they are actually thinking, “I can’t believe I actually have to explain this.” I wonder if their brain, in disbelief, causes a reaction to their stomach, and it is magnified as they begin to audibly respond to this objection.
In my mind, Forest Gump here, I’m like, duh… If people were rising up all the time, well, Jesus’s resurrection wouldn’t mean much now would it. My thinking is like, “really? This is your objection? That people don’t rise from the dead?” That’s the point! We are basing an entire religion, world view, faith, philosophy on this, it hinges on Jesus Christ rising from the dead and this event being SPECIAL, a long list of works on theology, philosophy, ethics, even governments hinges on our belief that Jesus rose from the dead, that GOD raised Him from the dead. Would GOD have to raise Him from the dead if dead people were rising all the time? This is Forest Gump speaking.
And then I hear these renowned scholars actually respond to this objection in public debates. And I can only imagine what they feel as they are actually acknowledging this objection and verbalizing a response. As they are uttering the words that I, Forest Gump, have just shared.
Did you know that scientists have been attempting to create life in a test-tube for almost 70 years now? Did you know how many cells have emerged from our multiple primordial soups. We shoot it with lighting, we freez it, we thaw it out, we heat it, we mix it, we mix it with other stuff we’ve frozen and thawed out, we make bubbles for it. Do you know how many cells we’ve made? Zero. Zilch. Nada. None.
But people, ..not scientist or experts in any field, just lay people that claim to be atheists and naturalists believe that life popped out of nothing, randomly, and self-organized into replicating cells; but they adamantly refuse to believe in the resurrection.
You see, everyone has faith in something, the choice is more due to their heart than their brains. It’s true. It has to do more with the will than with scientific discovery. We have 70 years that tell us that life cannot self-organize, and yet, in hope beyond hope, in belief beyond belief, they cling to this faith, that life self-organized from non-life.
I’m reminded of this story:
A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind."
"Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged."
"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"
Hope against hope. EVEN atheists have it.
How much more should we! Our hope is based on the historical event of the rising of Jesus Christ! How much more should we have faith and hope for our lives and our faith!
Hope
Hope does incredible things to the human psychi. It helps us endure pain and loss, as long as we have hope.
This is a horrible illustration but, not having found a better one: Rats were used for an experiment. They were placed in a tub of water. They swam for a while, but the first group perished quickly. The second group was also placed in a tub of water, but they were lifted out of the water periodically. Those rats swam for over 24 hours because they believed they might make it. They had hope.
Hope does something to us.
God has revealed Himself as the creator of the universe. As the only God. As a faithful protector and provider. As a help in a time of need. As the emblem of hope for the hopeless. God, from the beginning, has revealed Himself this way. He told Abraham, “is anything too difficult for God?” And He gave Abraham His son Issaac. Such was Abraham changed, that when God tested Him, Abraham got up early and obeyed God, believing that God would raise Isaac from the dead if necessary. God is the God of Hope. And in the story of Christ He has given us ultimate Hope! He has told us that God has not forgotten us. He has told us that God is on our side, “God with us.” He has told us that God LOVES us. He has told us that God LOVES THE SINNER!
But in His resurrection, In Christ’s resurrection, He has told us that ALL of these things are TRUE. As true as you see the person next to you. As true as the person you most recently held in your arms. Jesus rose, and appeared, and was touched by his disciples! I’ve always stressed that He let us touch him as God, The God that lets us touch Him, that let Mary carry Him in her womb, that Let her play with his feet and legs.
But now, as a risen man, a risen body, He let us touch him as well, even hug him, so that we can know that He IS RISEN! And that all that we have learned is as real as He is, as certain as someone we can touch. He has given us ultimate hope!
1 Peter 1:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
This is as real as the people we touch. That’s what the resurrection means.
A little over 20 years ago, the world trade center was attacked. Will Gimeno and John McLaughlin, Two officers from the Port Authority Police department were trapped in the rubble. They were the last two people rescued in that tragedy. Gas and fire created balls of flame that almost consumed them. The heat from some of these set off their weapons that had bullets firing and ricocheting where they were confined. One of them was losing hope, he was sure they were going to die. Just then, he saw a figure, wearing a white robe, coming through the rubble. He couldn’t see His face, but he knew it was Jesus! He cried out to his partner and assured, It’s going to be ok, we are going to get out of this hell hole alive! This, naturally, changed his life.
This is what the resurrection did for the disciples! It changed their lives! They knew beyond any doubt that Jesus was who He said He was. That He was able to fulfill His promises!
There are over 300 references regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christs. Paul goes to great lengths to attest to it, providing eye witnesses, of which he himself is one, the only reasonable explanation for his own conversion. Recently I heard a pastor say, “if you want to become a Christian, go out and try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Then he went on to name several, most of which I did not recognize, skeptics that were converted to Christianity when they took it upon themselves to try to disprove the resurrection. I know about Lee Strobel and one other author, but he didn’t mention them.
That is how real our hope is. Our hope of new life, our hope that God loves us, our hope that He has forgiven us, our hope of heaven, our hope of new bodies. I want mine now. I’m not even 50 yet, and I already want to trade this one in. Our hope is as real as our bodies are, the ones we can touch, that hurt when we injure them. That’s how real our hope is.
From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.
Keep the faith! God can pay for your resurrection! That’s one reason He rose Jesus and allowed him to visit with his followers for several weeks after. He wanted them to know how real this was. And He wants us to know that, if He raised Jesus from the dead, HE WILL RAISE YOU, HE WILL RAISE ME.
Keep the faith!
