INTRODUCTION
Today, I’m going to have a go at answering the question, ‘Did God really raise Jesus?' Next week, we’ll think about what Jesus’ resurrection means for us.
But before trying to answer the question, I’d like to think about WHY this is such an important question.
When I was at school, I heard a talk in which the preacher said that facts, faith and feelings are like three parts of a train. That illustration stuck in my mind. I don’t remember exactly what the preacher said, but I’m sure that in his illustration the order was facts, faith and feelings.
I believe it was the organization Campus Crusade which first suggested this illustration. As they presented it, facts were the train’s locomotive. Facts must go first. We have to grasp the facts – or we might say, truth – and align our lives to that truth. Faith follows. It’s a response to those facts. The third car is feelings. It’s a long time ago since I heard this talk and I don’t remember what the speaker said about feelings. I suspect that Campus Crusade was a bit dismissive of feelings. It’s true that feelings can be fickle. We can feel one thing one day and something quite different the next. So, we might think we should be very mistrustful of feelings. But in fact, feelings are surprisingly important and can be a very useful guide.
However, our focus today is on one particular fact. Did God really raise Jesus? It’s a yes or no question. Either God did or he didn’t. Is it an important fact? Yes, it is. It’s THE MOST IMPORTANT FACT IN THE WORLD.
Someone called Sir Norman Anderson wrote a short booklet titled ‘The Evidence for the Resurrection.’ Anderson’s opening sentence was this: ‘Easter is not primarily a comfort, but a challenge. Its message is either THE SUPREME FACT IN HISTORY or else a gigantic hoax.’
In the movie ‘The Case for Christ’ we meet Lee Strobel. He’s an atheist and a journalist. But he’s got a problem. His wife, Leslie, has become a Christian! Strobel isn’t at all happy. He wants to prove Christianity is false. He asks a Christian colleague who works for the same newspaper where to start. His colleague tells him that Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So that’s what Strobel starts to investigate.
The apostle Paul says the same thing. He wrote, ‘And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith’ [1 Corinthians 15:14].
If Christ was not raised the Christian faith disappears in a puff of smoke. But if God really did raise Jesus from the dead, then it proves that Jesus really is the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings. If God really did raise Jesus from the dead, it means that we too can look forward to a resurrection! It means that eternal life isn’t just a vain hope!
In short, if God really did raise Jesus from the dead, it’s the most important fact in the world. If it’s true, we need to align our lives to it. But first, we need to know if it’s true.
THE OFFER IS TOO BIG!
However, there’s an obstacle. Sometimes, we don’t believe something because it sounds too good to be true.
Last week, there was a Global Fraud Summit in Vienna. I watched part of a report about it on the news. The report talked about just how much fraud takes place in the world. It was a VERY big number. In the UK, fraud is costing about £14 billion a year. Wow! Fraud is A Very Bad Thing. So, the government warns us to be on the lookout for fraud. They tell us, ‘Be Scam Aware!’ And ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!’
The Christian faith definitely comes in the category of things which sound too good to be true. Our sins can be forgiven! We can address God as ‘Abba’, ‘Father’! We can have a personal relationship with Jesus, the Son of God! We can look forward to eternal life! And all completely free!
The Christian message sounds too good to be true.
In 1796 it was announced that a vaccine had been developed for smallpox. It held out the prospect that smallpox could be eradicated. Too good to be true? Many people at the time were suspicious of the whole idea of vaccines and objected strongly. But the smallpox vaccine really did lead to the eradication of smallpox, saving millions of lives. And it laid the foundation for modern immunology.
Here are two more examples. See what you think about them. Too good to be true? Or actually true?
Imagine you’re Priya, a bright young Indian woman. Someone tells you that there’s an opportunity to study at Oxford University for two years. The organization will pay for everything: tuition, flights, and living. Would you say, ‘I’m interested’? Or would you push it away, thinking, ‘That sounds too good to be true’?
Here’s the second example. Imagine you’re approaching retirement and thinking about living somewhere a bit warmer than the UK. Someone tells you that you can buy a house in Italy for 86p. Would you say, ‘I’m interested’? Or would you push it away, thinking, ‘That sounds too good to be true’?
Both examples are true. Rhodes scholarships make it possible for students to study at Oxford for two years completely free. And you really can buy a house in Italy for 86p.
We SHOULD be suspicious when we hear about something amazingly good. But sometimes amazingly good offers really are true.
The word ‘gospel’ means ‘Good News.’ The Christian message isn’t just good news, it’s amazingly good. The question is, is it true? We need to find the answer to that.
If we believe the Christian message is true when actually it’s false, then we – along with about 2.6 billion other people who have put their faith in Jesus – are victims of the biggest fraud in history.
But if we believe the Christian message is false when actually it’s true, then we – along with about 5.7 billion other people who HAVEN’T put their faith in Jesus – are missing out on the greatest offer in the history of the world.
So, it’s vital that we decide if the Christian message is true.
IS JESUS’ OFFER TRUE?
Let me go back to where I started. I mentioned three people: Sir Norman Anderson, Lee Strobel, and the apostle Paul. All of them say that Jesus’ resurrection is the linchpin of our faith. It is what our faith stands or falls on.
Why should we believe that Jesus’ resurrection really happened?
People who present a rational defence of the Christian faith are called apologists. When it comes to demonstrating that God really did raise Jesus from the dead, apologists often take a ‘minimal facts’ approach. What that means is that they aim to work from a small number of facts for which there is good evidence and which are widely accepted by scholars. There is some variation on what those ‘minimal facts’ should be. One set goes with the mnemonic ‘F-E-A-T’.
‘F’ is for Fatal Torment. Jesus really was dead. We can’t account for his ‘resurrection’ by saying that he never actually died.
‘E’ is for Empty Tomb. This is a good clear fact. Even Jesus’ opponents admitted that the tomb was empty. They claimed that his disciples had stolen his body.
‘A’ is for Appearances. Shaun read for us a whole set of accounts of Jesus’ appearances.
‘T’ is for Transformation. Jesus’ disciples suddenly changed! They went out and preached boldly and turned the ancient world upside down. Personally, I find the transformation in Jesus’ disciples the most persuasive fact. Jesus’ disciples were not gullible people. They weren’t going to be easily persuaded. But it is traditionally believed that most of Jesus' remaining eleven disciples – after Judas Iscariot took his own life – were martyred for their faith. Who will die for what they believe to be untrue? No one.
So … Jesus was dead. His tomb was empty. He appeared to a large number of his disciples. His disciples were transformed. Put those four facts together and there really is no other explanation than that Jesus had risen from the dead.
As I said a moment ago, that fact is the linchpin of our faith.
At the beginning of Romans, Paul wrote that Jesus ‘was declared to be the Son of God … by his resurrection from the dead’ [Romans 1:4]. Paul is saying that Jesus’ resurrection declares that Jesus is the Son of God.
How does that work? Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God. He had made promises about eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and his unique relationship with the Father. By raising Jesus from the dead, God validated his claims. Therefore, Jesus’ resurrection confirms to us that he is the Son of God. And if Jesus IS the Son of God, then all that he said is true.
Where does that leave us? If the resurrection is true, then the Christian faith is true. Christ’s offer of forgiveness, a restored relationship with God, and eternal life, are all true. It’s the greatest offer in history. But IF WE WANT IT, WE NEED TO ACCEPT IT.
Let’s go back to our train of facts, faith and feelings.
FACTS give us our foundation. Facts inform us of truth. In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, we may not have all the facts. But the facts we do have present a very strong case that God really did raise Jesus from the dead.
The next car in our train is usually FAITH. But I’d like to move FEELINGS into second place. We’re suspicious of feelings. Feelings are unstable, fickle. We shouldn’t base decisions on feelings. That’s what we suppose. But God gives us feelings. To take an example, before Paul came to Christ, he felt Jesus giving him a poke. Jesus called it a goad – a kind of sharp stick a farmer uses to get a cow to move. I imagine that Paul had a deep feeling of unease, that he was on the wrong track. He didn’t like it; he was kicking against it.
Feelings often lead to action. The Prodigal Son wasn’t feeling very happy about his situation. He set off home. Paul was distressed when he saw that Athens was full of idols. He preached. Mary felt an incredible joy when she really grasped that she was bearing the Messiah. She sang a song of praise.
Coming to God isn’t just about working things out in a calm logical way. We’re going to have feelings! I don’t believe we should ignore our feelings. Certainly, feelings can be fickle. But they can also guide us.
And now, we come to FAITH. FACTS and FEELINGS are speaking to us. But now, we need to demonstrate FAITH. We need to press the green button. We need to say yes to Jesus and accept him as our Saviour and King.
When we’re ready to do that, we can go to Jesus and say a prayer, something like this: ‘Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose again. I turn from my sins and invite you into my heart and life to be my Saviour and King.’
I said a prayer like that and invited Jesus into my life when I was about ten years old. I’ve never regretted it. Having a relationship with Jesus is the best thing imaginable.
TALK GIVEN AT ROSEBERY PARK BAPTIST CHURCH, BOURNEMOUTH, UK, SUNDAY 22ND MARCH 2026, 10.30 A.M. SERVICE
