The resurrection of Jesus is one of the most investigated events in history. It is also the greatest thing that has happened in the history of the world. That is, if it is true.
The Christian church has existed for 2,000 years on the belief that Jesus is alive, accessible and present with every true Christian. To the Christian he is guide, counsellor, leader, Saviour and friend and God in human form. You may have noticed something unusual about Jesus He’s invisible. Yet the invisibility of Jesus shouldn’t take away the reality of his existence and power. We can’t see God the Father but we can certainly see what he has done and is doing.
We live at a time when the miracles of the Bible are questioned - where is the truth?
Can I be a Christian and not believe Jesus came back to life. Does it really matter?
Some people say the resurrection symbolises the hope for everyone to rise up and enjoy life if they want to. Is this what resurrection is: a symbol for achieving an enjoyable life?
The apostle Paul said these words: "If Christ has not been raised, our faith is useless; we are still in our sins." (1 Corinthians 15:17) If Jesus isn’t alive our faith is nothing more than a wish and a fantasy. And nothing spiritual has been achieved, we are still separated from God - this is what ‘still in our sins’ means.
Let’s consider five things about the resurrection of Jesus. Before we do we need to establish the context: ‘The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.’ (Matthew 27: 62-66) Remember as we go through this that significant work was done to ensure Jesus stayed in the tomb.
Consider the words of Jesus
Jesus' told his enemies that if they killed him (destroyed this temple) He would come back to life three days after his death. (Jn 2: 19, Mk 14:58, Mt 26:61) He spoke also of the "sign of Jonah" - Jonah spent three days inside the fish then appeared and Jesus will spend three days in the heart of the earth then appear. (Mt 12: 39, 16:4) Jesus places his credibility on coming back to life 3 days after his death.
The tomb was empty. Let’s consider four possibilities.
1. His enemies stole the body. Why would they?
If they stole the body why didn’t they produce it to stop the spread of Christianity?
2. His friends stole the body. Why would they risk their lives by proclaiming something they knew wasn’t true? How did they get past the soldiers? It was normal for soldiers to face the death penalty for allowing prisoners to escape.
3. Jesus wasn't dead. He was just unconscious when they laid him in the tomb.
He eventually woke up, pushed the stone aside, overcame the soldiers and convinced them not to tell anyone he had escaped. Not a bad effort for a man who had been severely flogged, spent six hours nailed to a cross and was speared through his heart.
4. God raised Jesus from the dead. This is what Jesus said would happen and it's what the disciples and at least 500 other people said happened. (1 Cor 15)
Is it really a problem for the creator of the universe to bring someone back to life?
The disciples were changed. After Jesus died the disciples were lost and frightened - ‘On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” . (John 20:19
From that moment they changed from people who were afraid to people who were brave and confident witnesses to the resurrection before the very people they were afraid of.
Then there was this man: After persecuting the Christians for 2 years, he was travelling along the dusty road to Damascus to arrest Christians, Saul of Tarsus met Jesus and was changed. He became Paul the apostle, the most successful proclaimer of the resurrection of Jesus to the non-Jewish world.
The explanation for the changed attitude of all these people was that they had seen Jesus alive. Most of these men eventually lost their lives telling people about Jesus.
Paul’s words, ‘For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1Corinthians. 15:3-8)
The first century church .
A month after Jesus appeared the disciples are waiting in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit - as directed by Jesus - Something powerful happens to them. Then they fearlessly tell people to repent & believe in Jesus. 3,000 people put there faith in Jesus in one day and are unashamedly publicly baptised.
The growing Christian communities throughout Asia in the first century also support the fact of the resurrection. How long would people put up with persecution to follow a dead man? Not only a dead man but one they knew had deceived them while he was alive?
The message of the church was that Jesus died to bring people to God. And God brought him back to life making him both Lord and Saviour of all who receive him.
(Acts 17:31) ‘God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
The NT witnesses don’t appear to be deceivers or weirdo’s
How do Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul measure up? They don't write like gullible, easily deceived or deceiving men. They were level-headed sceptics before and after the resurrection. Their personal commitment to what they believe is sensible and carefully stated. Their teachings are clear and don't look like the invention of unstable or dishonest men. The moral and spiritual standard of their work is high. And their lives come through in their writings as totally devoted to truth and the honour of God.
Paul once hated Christians so much he wanted them all in jail. Something, or was it someone changed their thinking about Jesus.
The resurrection of Jesus is well established as a fact of history. It 's also a fact that Jesus is alive and active in our world now. He didn’t come back from death and then vanish into the other world. He is with us now in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Why is he still here? Jesus is still here to be accessible to every true Christian as guide, counsellor, leader, saviour, friend and God.
Let’s consider again the question we asked at the start of this discussion: Can I be a Christian and not believe Jesus came back to life. No I can’t!
If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. As the Scripture says “every one who believes in him will never be put to shame (Romans 8: 10)
To be a Christian is to receive Jesus as Lord and to believe he was crucified for you and that God brought him back to life, and he is alive today within every true believer.
What does the resurrection of Jesus mean for us today?
The New Testament speaks often about resurrection power. This is something coming from God to equip and empower every Christian to live new life in relationship with God.
‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.’ (Romans 8:11)
Because Jesus lives we too, who have received him as a Lord will live also. Now and forever more.
Because Jesus lives we too, who have received him as a Lord will live also. Now and forever more.
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