Do You Believe In the Resurrection?
We often elevate Christmas, the birth of Jesus, as the best Christian holiday! Hey, ya get presents, right! On Easter, all ya get are some chocolate bunnies and hard boiled eggs!
You know when you color them some of the eggs crack and get color inside and my mom would still make us eat them even tho they looked so gross! But, except for that, IMO passion week around Easter is the pinnacle of the which is the death, burial, and resurrection that happened Christian faith! Like if Christ was born, and decided to let the cup of God’s wrath pass from him, and just said, “peace out”, we would have no hope! But Christ went all the way for us! So yeah, we need both Christmas and the Resurrection Sunday and to me that’s the more important one!
Of course, what He did for us is pretty epic! He died for our sins! But again, if that’s all He did, we would have no hope! He would have been deemed a false god! But, no, He rose from the dead as He said He would and proved His divinity and saving power! Some religions say Jesus was just a man and that’s all He was but His resurrection was seen by many and there is an empty tomb for us to prove to this day that He is God! Many will say, a man can’t come back from the dead. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection and (obligatory) they were sad you see! But instead, three days later, Jesus proved He is more than just a man! He is God!
You’ve heard of Luke 2 which is the popular Christmas story of all the gospels. Today we will read John 20 this morning which is one of the Resurrection stories in the gospels!
John 20:1 The empty tomb
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
The Gospel of Luke 24 tells us that it wasn’t just Mary Magdalene, but also Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others.
They had gone to the tomb to put spices on Jesus’ body and they were even wondering how they would remove the stone (about 2 tons) but when they got there they were perplexed that the stone was already rolled away! And Jesus was not in there.
Would you have believed in Jesus’ resurrection even if someone told you it was going to happen beforehand?
The Gospel of Luke 24 also tells us that when the ladies reported what they saw, they didn’t believe it either! Their curiosity was peaked, tho! Wouldn’t you want to go see for yourself too?
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
The other disciple is John, the writer of this Epistle. They got to the tomb and confirmed that Jesus was not there. They saw the linens and the stone rolled away. So they ran back to tell the others! Why didn’t the others also go to the tomb?
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary was there at the tomb and thought Jesus was the gardner. Maybe she couldn’t see him though her tears? But he just had to say her name and she immediately recognized the voice and was thrilled!
Can you imagine how she must have felt to see the risen Lord?
Interestingly, Jesus said do not hold on to me for I have not yet ascended! I’ve always wondered If she held on tightly, would she be carried up with Him and maybe that’s why He told her not to hold tightly? I don’t know but the thought of that always tickled me in a weird way!
So He told her to go back and tell the others and she did!
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus also asked to have food to show them that He was real flesh and blood and could eat and was not just a spirit apparition. Why is that important? Because this was a real resurrection not some weird fake one that some people try to say it was!
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thomas said, My Lord and my God!” He recognized that Jesus was God! Notice that Jesus didn’t rebuke him for saying it either! Jesus is more than just a man, but God also!
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Some won’t believe.
As I mentioned there are some who just won’t believe in the resurrection no matter what! The Sadducees but remember Doubting Thomas also wouldn’t believe! Even some of the disciples had a hard time with it! Paul writes a compelling argument about it in 1st Corinthians 15…
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 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 of all people most to be pitied.
So basically, if you don’t believe in the resurrection, how can you be saved? Basically, you really can’t believe in Jesus if you don’t also believe He has the power to resurrect Himself!
Jesus is the first fruits in the resurrection! The resurrection is a promise that if we are saved that we too will be resurrected just as He was!
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 Christ is the first fruits
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
So… what will you do with the resurrection of Jesus?
Even the disciples at first didn’t believe that Jesus had been resurrected even though Jesus told them ahead of time!
But, if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, won’t you put your faith in the one who rose from the dead?
John 6:40 Look and Live!
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Right before raising Lazarus, Jesus told Martha:
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Now that you know Jesus was resurrected, what does that mean? Oh, don’t just take that info and walk away! What are you going to do with that info? Do you believe it? Do you ignore it? How can you ignore it?
It’s a historical fact that Jesus resurrected. It’s not just in the Bible, but other works of literature from that time! His resurrection proves that He is God!!! You’ve heard people say that Jesus never said He was God. That’s not true, of course. He said before Abraham was, I am. He said if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father! But His biggest statement of His own divinity is probably the resurrection! Do you then believe His statements and the resurrection that He is God?
Being God, we will face Him one day! What about you with your sinful self? What will you say when you meet God one day? The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God! Sinners don’t go to heaven, it just takes one sin to make you a sinner. Will you admit to being a sinner? You’ll have to, He already knows! Will you have the remedy? The remedy is to have accepted Jesus for your redemption from sin! Jesus was the sacrifice to pay for your sin if you’ll just accept Him. It’s a free gift and He wishes that none should perish!
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Once you are saved, just as Christ was resurrected, we will be resurrected to newness of life!
Romans 6:3-10
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
And once you’re saved, you’ll want to know more about Christ and His resurrection!
Philippians 3:7-11
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Jesus’ resurrection is tied to saved people’s resurrection. If Jesus wasn’t resurrected then we have no hope of resurrection. But praise be to God that He was resurrected and so we also have the Godly Hope knowing that we too will one day be resurrected to newness of life.
Sadly, there are many that don’t know Jesus and instead they will not be resurrected to newness of life but are appointed to eternal punishment. You do not want to be a part of that team, that’s the losing team!
Trust in Jesus, He loves you and He wants a relationship with you and He wants to give you that abundant life! It’s all win and no lose, you never get a deal that good except with the risen Lord!
