The Resurrection

Introduction

Last week we looked at the cross. This week we turn our attention to the resurrection. The cross is the means by which God broke down the wall of hostility between all people. The cross is the place where reconciliation can take place. The cross is the place of forgiveness and it is the place where we learn the essence of love. And like our Savior, we are free to love others. It is at the cross that politics, interests, race, ethnicity, and language have no place. At the cross we are all the same — sinners needing God’s grace.

The beauty of the cross loses its fullness of meaning without the resurrection. In other words, if Jesus had not been raised from the dead then there was no reason to follow Jesus. Billions follow other religious leaders. Only Jesus was brought back to life after death as a sign of power over death and that all of his promises are true. Without the resurrection, then Satan had the final word. Without the resurrection, there is no reason for our faith. The cross dealt with our sin but it is the resurrection that assures us of our future.

Our approach for this lesson is to deal with the objections to the resurrection. There are a number of people throughout history who have denied the resurrection and based their denial on certain arguments. We are going to look at many of those arguments and deal with each one. Then we will turn our attention to what the resurrection means for us each day. Let’s celebrate our risen Savior.

Objections

Since the 1st century, there have been several arguments made against the truthfulness of the resurrection. These arguments are not in any particular order.

First, hallucinations. Some have conjectured that all who claim to have seen Jesus after his death actually were having hallucinations. According to our text that means over 500 people had to have the same hallucination. But the hallucination was not at the same time. Jesus’ appearances were over a series of days; in a variety of settings, and with hundreds of different people. There were times he was seen; times he was touched; times he ate and he always spoke. The hallucination was not merely then auditory (as most hallucinations are) but tactile and visual. First, the likelihood of this many people in this many settings having the same hallucination is difficult to accept. Mass hallucinations have happened but those events involved people all at the same time not multiple people in multiple places. The other reason why this argument isn’t valid is all Rome or Jewish leaders had to do was bring out the body of Jesus and the evidence of death would have been overwhelming.

Second, from the 1st century, the explanation was given that the disciples stole the body. Jesus’ disciples came to the tomb, overpowered seasoned soldiers, and then took the body to start a revolution. There are several issues with this view.

First, the Bible tells us (Matthew 28) that this story was contrived to cover up that the soldiers couldn’t explain what had happened. They were well paid to create this story and they were promised that Pilate would be paid well to keep the soldiers alive.

Second, if this were true then the soldiers look foolish. The story line would not have been that the body of Jesus was stolen so that a bunch of rag tag people from Galilee could start a revolution. The story line would have been the disciples started a political revolution.

Third, Roman soldiers would have been severely punished for failure. Pilate would have worried that such a story would have added to Messianic furor rather than settling people down.

Fourth, how do we explain the Roman writer Phlegon writing the early part of the 2nd century describing the resurrection and even telling that people were allowed to touch the resurrected body. Somehow the story didn’t get passed on very well.

Fifth, if the disciples stole the body and the resurrection is not real then why did the disciples allow themselves to be martyred for a lie. We might let one or two deaths go but then what about the hundreds who died including all the disciples except John. How do you explain that the disciples allowed themselves to be tortured and killed for a lie?

Sixth, why would this lie be concocted unless the tomb was empty? Logically there is no reason to start this explanation unless the tomb was empty. A child doesn’t seek an explanation to breaking the vase unless the vase has been broken. No reason to explain an empty tomb if the tomb is occupied.

Third, the eyewitnesses went to the wrong tomb. If this were true, then how easy it would have been for the Jews to say “over here.” The tomb belonged to one of the Sanhedrin. Do you think he would know where he own tomb was? But this explanation doesn’t explain all the sightings.

Fourth, Jesus didn’t die. He lost consciousness on the cross and when he got into the cool tomb he revived. There was no resurrection because there was no death. Now we are asked to believe that Roman soldiers who were trained to kill made a mistake to declare that Jesus is dead. We are to assume that the spear thrust in his side didn’t kill him. Even modern medicine agrees that such a wound demonstrates that he was already dead (the appearance of water and blood; thus the sac around the heart was pierced and probably the heart itself). We are to assume that Joseph and Nicodemus embalmed him with 75 pounds of spices and couldn’t tell he was dead. We are to believe that beaten and crucified he would have survived rather than bled to death inside the tomb. We are asked to believe that in his present state he could move a stone that weighed hundreds of pounds (that had been sealed) and then overcome Roman soldiers to escape. We are asked to believe that the disciples thought he was very much alive rather than a beaten to a pulp man who needed a doctor. And we are asked to believe that pagan and Jewish writers who wrote about Jesus’ death were all wrong (Josephus, Tacitus, Thallus, and the Jewish Talmud). It would be easier to believe the resurrection than believe all that would have be true to explain the resurrection away.

Fifth, some believe that a substitute took Jesus’ place on the cross. This is the view of the Muslim world. This idea arose 600 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. In order for this to be true, then all the 1st century eyewitnesses have to be wrong. There is no evidence for this argument.

Implications of the Resurrection

Paul says in Ephesians 1 that we have resurrection power available to us as God’s people. This power is always at work. Because the resurrection is real then our faith is vibrant. What does that mean? It means we live life with the resurrection in mind. Discouraged — the resurrection reminds us that life is ours. Uncertain — the resurrection power means that certainty of God’s work is assured. Treated unfairly — resurrection power means that injustice will one day be dealt with. Feel unappreciated — resurrection power means that our real battle isn’t against flesh and blood but against the powers of the unseen world which Jesus overcame.

Second, the resurrection assures us of eternal life. The resurrections assures us that death does not have the final word. The resurrection means that we will get anew body. The frailties of this physical mortal body will make way for the eternal immortal body. To live with God forever is assured because of the resurrection.

Third, our baptism has significance. In our baptism, the immersion in water, we symbolically engage the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. This raising up out of the water allows us to live a new life. This new life that is filled with resurrection power. But our baptism is not merely symbolic. There is a reality in our baptism that sins are forgiven. Paul is told in Acts 22 to be baptized so that his sins are washed away. Peter says in Acts as he closes out his sermon about Jesus is who he claims to be because of the empty tomb that along with repentance one is baptized in order to receive forgiveness of sins. No mere symbolism, our baptism is the means by which sins are forgiven and power is given. Without baptism there is no power. Without baptism the resurrection is merely something to discuss rather than something to trust. Invitation.

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