I. The Resurrection Provokes:
II. The Resurrection Proves:
A. Jesus was Raised to Prove Pophecy, “promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures.”
B. Jesus was Raised to Prove His Personality,
C. Jesus was Raised to Prove the Price was Paid (Pardon)
III. The Resurrection Provides:
A. Jesus was Raised to Provide Possibility of Purity
B. Jesus was Raised to Provide Power for Purity
C. Jesus Was Raised to Provide Power to Produce
D. Raised to Provide Pardon
MAX LUCADO, in his book, Six Hours One Friday, tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily.
A hospital was not too terribly far away—across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed it was inhabited by evil spirits. To enter the water would mean certain death. The missionary explained how he had crossed the river and was unharmed. They were not impressed. He then took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist and splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river. Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He punched a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water and escaped. It was then that the Indians broke out into a cheer and followed him across.
That’s exactly what Jesus did! He told the people of His day that they need not fear the river of death, but they wouldn’t believe. He touched a dead boy and called him back to life. They still didn’t believe. He whispered life into the body of a dead girl and got the same result. He let a dead man spend 4 days in a tomb and then called him out and the people still didn’t believe Him. Finally, He entered the river of death and came out on the other side. No wonder we celebrate the Resurrection!
The Resurrection provokes, proves and provides.
I. The Resurrection Provokes:
The resurrection provoked the Pharisees and Sadducees to set a watch. Provoked Paul to Persecute.
II. The Resurrection Proves:
A. Jesus was Raised to Prove Prophecy, “promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures.”
Romans 1:1 ¶ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
(Psalm 16:10; compare Acts 2:25-31; 13:33-37).
Over and over again Jesus appealed to the prophecies of the Old Testament to substantiate His claims as the Messiah.
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
Jesus said to them, “. . . These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44).
He said, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). He also said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day” (John 8:56).
B. Jesus was Raised to Prove His Personality,
“declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (4).
Prophecy proves that Jesus is the promised Messiah:
“And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures. Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ” (Acts 17:2, 3).
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4).
In the Old Testament there are sixty major messianic prophecies and approximately 270 ramifications that were fulfilled in one person, Jesus Christ.
God wrote an address in history to single out His Son, the Messiah, the Savior of mankind, from anyone who has ever lived in history—past, present, or future. The specifics of this address can be found in the Old Testament, a document written over a period of a thousand years, which contains more than three hundred references to His coming. Using the science of probability, we find the chances of just forty-eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one person to be right at one in 10157.
Certainly God was writing an address in history that only the Messiah could fulfill. Approximately forty major claims to be the Jewish Messiah have been made by men. Only one —Jesus Christ —appealed to fulfill prophecy to substantiate His claims, and only His credentials back up those claims.
Isaiah 7:14 adds that this man will be born of a virgin—a natural birth of unnatural conception, a criterion beyond human planning and control.
Several prophecies recorded in Isaiah and the psalms describe the social climate and response that God’s man will encounter:
His own people, the Jews, will reject Him and the Gentiles will believe in Him Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; 49:6;50:6; 52:53; 60:3; Psalms 22:7, 8; 118:22).
There will be a forerunner for Him (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1), a voice in the wilderness, one preparing the way before the Lord, a John the Baptist.
The prophet Micah, a contemporary of Jeremiah, writing some 700 years before Christ’s birth, identified the small town where He would be born. God eliminated all the cities of the world and selected Bethlehem, with a population of less than a thousand, as the Messiah’s birthplace.
His Final Week
An astounding number of detailed prophecies were fulfilled in the final week to Jesus’ life. One had to do with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Writing hundreds of years before Christ was born, the prophet Zechariah made this prediction:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).
Both Matthew and Luke tell us that on the Sabbath preceding His crucifixion, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a previously unbroken colt, amid the excited shouts of the multitudes (see Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:29-38).
Could this be The Son of God?
Thirty Pieces of Silver
Notice, too, the seven ramifications of a prophecy (Zechariah 11:11-13: cf. Psalm 41, Jeremiah 32:6-15, and Matthew 27:3-10) that narrows the drama down even further.
“And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD” (Zechariah 11:12,13).
“And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver” (Matthew 26:15).
“And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day” (Matthew 27:5-8).
Here God indicates the Messiah will be (1) betrayed, (2) by a friend, (3) for thirty pieces, (4) of silver, that will be (5) cast onto the floor, (6) of the Temple, and (7) used to buy a potter’s field. Every facet of this prophecy—the kind of money (silver), the amount of money (30 pieces), and what was done with its (used by priest’s to purchase a Potter’s field)—came to pass exactly as the prophet has said.
Could this be The Son of God?
A prophecy dating 1012 B.C. (Psalm 22:6-18); cf. Zechariah 12:10 and Galatians 3:13) also predicts that this man’s hands and feet will be pierced (i.e., He will be crucified). This description was written eight hundred years before crucifixion began to be practiced by the Romans.
Could this be The Son of God?
The Climactic Proof is that He rose from the Dead!
During the time of the French Revolution, a certain M. Lepeau complained to Tallyrand that a new religion of his, one he considered a great improvement over Christianity, had failed to catch on with people. He asked Tallyrand for some suggestions. Tallyrand dryly said, “M. Lepeau, to insure the success for your new religion, all you need do is have yourself crucified and then rise from the dead on the third day!”
“declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
It Is! It Is the Son of God!
C. Jesus was Raised to Prove the Price was Paid (Pardon)
Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Curtis Hutson story:
He went to Mexico and couldn’t communicate when he wanted to buy some pottery. So he began to lay down money and when the merchant was satisfied he simply reached down and picked up the money.
When God was satisfied that the price for all sins was satisfied he simply reached down and resurrected His Son!
III. The Resurrection Provides:
A. Jesus was Raised to Provide Possibility of Purity
Ro 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Ro 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
A. J. Gordon, one of the founders of Gordon Conwell Divinity School, told of being out walking and looking across a field at a house. There beside the house was what looked like a man pumping furiously at on of those hand pumps. As Gordon watched, the man continued to pump at a tremendous rate; he seemed absolutely tireless, pumping on and on, up and down, without ever slowing in the slightest, much less stopping.
Truly it was a remarkable sight, so Gordon started to walk toward it. As he got closer, he could see it was not a man at the pump, but a wooden figure painted to look like a man. The arm that was pumping so rapidly was hinged at the elbow and the hand was wired to the pump handle The water was pouring forth, but not because the figure was pumping it. You see, it was an artesian well, and the water was pumping the man!
When you see a man who is at work for God and producing results, recognize that it is the Holy Spirit working through him, not the man’s efforts that are giving results. All he has to do—and all you have to doSis keep your hand on the handle.
B. Jesus was Raised to Provide Power for Purity
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
The same Holy Spirit uses that same POWER to help us be holy!
The use of the name “Jesus” is of interest here, the only other place in the epistle where this single title is used being 3:26. The name “Jesus,” of course, was Christ’s human name. Paul want to call attention to the fact that Jesus was once in the place of weakness, but God raised Him from the dead by the Spirit. The same Spirit who thus raised Jesus is dwelling in us! While these verses primarily refer to the coming resurrection, they imply also that the Holy Spirit can give us victory over the law of our members even now.
Later in the epistle, Paul demands that the believer hand over his body to God as a living sacrifice (12:1). This act of surrender is one of the most important steps to a life of victory.
A. J. Gordon was visiting with an English friend traveling to Niagara Falls. The Englishman remarked how sad to see such great power going to waste as the millions of gallons of water rushed over the falls in its deafening roar. He said, “This is the greatest waste of power in the world.” Gordon answered, “No, my friend, the greatest unused and wasted power in the world is the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people of God!”
C. Jesus Was Raised to Provide Power to Produce
Ro 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
A close friend of mine was asked back to his forty-year high school reunion. For months he saved to take his wife back to the place and the people he’d left four decades before. The closer the time came for the reunion, the more excited he became, thinking of all the wonderful stories he would hear about the changes and the accomplishments these old friends would tell him.
One night before he left he even pulled out his old yearbooks, read the silly statements and the good wishes for the future that students write to each other. He wondered what ol’ Number 86 from his football team had done. He wondered if any others had encountered this Christ who had changed him so profoundly. He even tried to guess what some of his friends would look like, and what kind of jobs and families some of these special friends had.
The day came to leave and I drove them to the airport. Their energy was almost contagious. “I’ll pick you up on Sunday evening, and you can tell me all about it,” I said. “Have a great time.”
Sunday evening arrived. As I watched them get off the plane, my friend seemed almost despondent. I almost didn’t want to ask, but finally I said, “Well, how was the reunion?” “Tim,” the man said, “it was one of the saddest experiences of my life.” “Good grief,” I said, more than a little surprised. “What happened?” “It wasn’t what happened but what didn’t happen. It has been forty years, forty years—and they haven’t changed. They had simply gained weight, changed clothes, gotten jobs…but they hadn’t really changed. And what I experienced was maybe one of the most tragic things I could ever imagine about life. For reasons I can’t fully understand, it seems as though some people choose not to change.”
There was a long silence as we walked back to the car. On the drive home, he turned to me and said, “I never, never want that to be said of me, Tim. Life is too precious, too sacred, too important. If you ever see me go stagnant like that, I hope you give me a quick, swift kick where I need it—for Christ’s sake. I hope you’ll love me enough to challenge me to keep growing.”
—Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 54-55
D. Raised to Provide Pardon
Ro 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
1 Corinthians 15:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
An item in the May 2, 1985, Kansas City Times reminds us of a story you may be able to use in an evangelistic message. The item had to do with the attempt by some fans of O. Henry, the short-story writer, to get a pardon for their hero, who was convicted in 1898 of embezzling $784.08 from the bank where he was employed.
But you cannot give a pardon to a dead man. A pardon can only be given to someone who can accept it. Now, for the story.
Back in 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the United States Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. “A pardon is a slip of paper,” wrote Marshall, “the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.”
For some, the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted.
