The Glory of the Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Dr. Bird writes in his Defending Your Faith study on apologetics that “The resurrection of Jesus is either the greatest hoax of all time or the most glorious marvel of all time. Christianity either stands or falls on the answer to the question: “Did the historical Jesus physically rise from the dead?”
1 Corinthians 15 is a fascinating study of the resurrection. It is written in a unique format in the Bible - Paul takes the view of an unbeliever or objector. We would say he plays the devils advocate. We see this especially in 1 Cor 15:13-19 where we find seven results of what would happen if Jesus did not rise from the dead.
They stand like dominoes bumping up against one another utterly destroying the very reasons for existence and all our hope.
The first one I want to address this morning with our passage - “1 Cor 15:13-14 If there is no resurrection of the dead- than Christ could not have been raised - Jesus died and stayed dead - Its all a hoax.
To believe that you have to ignore all of the evidence
The rolled away stone
The grave wrappings
The over 500 appearances (some say it was just hallucination - 500 hallucinations? That takes more faith to believe than a resurrection.
If you produce a body according to Arnold Tonynbee - then Christianity crumbles - its all a hoax.
No cadaver has ever been found, no body was located, or shown.
This is just a short listing of the evidence -
According to Paul - if Christ did not rise from the dead - our faith is in vain and we are a miserable people - there is no hope.
Charles Swindoll stated, “No hope, no hope. Are there any two more desolate words to hear on this earth than those two words?”
The world for over two thousand years have said - “its a hoax”
But in the passage I read a few moments ago we are given three imperatives.
The first of imperatives given in this passage “fear not” (Matthew 28: 5)
Some one has calculated there are 365 fear nots in the Bible - one for every day of the year.
The second - we want to talk about this morning “Come see the place” (Matthew 28:5)
and the last is found in verse 10 - we might talk about that tonight - “go tell”
Would you come with me to the tomb - along with the women and hear the angel say, “Come see where he laid”
As we peek into that tomb and look we will see at least four things
The Humility of Christ
Here is the place where Jesus - thought to be the promised Messiah - the one who claimed to be equal with God - who cast out demons, opened blinded eyes, healed all manner of diseases, encouraged, comforted, transformed lives, allowed people to worship Him - claimed over and over that He was the Son of God - Here on this stone slab is where his body laid
A real physical body - that encountered emotions - suffered intense pain - even succumbed to death.
The Horror of our sins - Jesus endured all of this not because of anything He did - but because of what we’ve done
When we see our sin as it really is - we feel like calling out “hopeless”
Sin is a frightful and scary thing
But If it all ended at the cross - where “my sin not in part but the whole, was nailed to the cross” we couldn’t sing the next line if it was all a hoax -
But I thank God it didn’t end at the cross - “And I bear it no more - praise the Lord , praise the Lord oh my soul.”
Like old pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress we are cumbered by a great burden - try everything we might but it still burdens us
Its like a huge backpack tied to us that contains lies, deceit, death, lust, gossip, hatred, strife, anger, wrath, malice, adultery, murder, or the wish to murder, covetousness, jealousy, selfishness, addictions,
Paul likens it to a body of death that is tied to us - and he cries out Romans 7:24 “24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
If we ever have our spiritual eyes opened and see the horror of our sins as Jesus actually bore them - carried them - we see why he had to go through so much for us
But we don’t have to ask “who shall deliver me...” we can know - it is Jesus
The Helplessness of our own mortality - We are under the power of death - Even Christ for a time
The Hopelessness of any other options
No one else has the answers - they might offer answers or say alot of things - but how many of them died for you? How many rose again for you? ONLY ONE - JESUS CHRIST
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand - all other ground is sinking sand
Matthew 28:6 “6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
Come see the place where the temple priests yelled “HOAX”
Come see the place where the Roman Guards fainted because of the glory of God but were bribed to say “HOAX”
Come see the place where the seal of Pilate was broken
We don’t talk about the seal to much but Matthew 27:62-65 “62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.”
This seal was most likely several ropes that were drawn across the stone and then affixed to the tomb walls with a soft clay imprinted with some symbol of authority. It was also likely that the ropes were also sealed at their juncture in front of the stone. In this way, no one could move the stone or the ropes without breaking the dried clay and destroying the “seal” affixed upon the clay.
The seal was there to “put on notice” that no one was to mess with the tomb. Rome could deal quite nastily with those who did so.
I think of it like the seal stickers on gas tanks - Quick Trip uses them and I’ve seen them at others - as soon as the affixed sticker begins to come loose or if someone tampers with it pulling at it it begins to read “VOID” and you can tell it’s been messed with.
It represented authority, authenticity, and finality. No one messed with a seal.
The seal, whether it was a Roman seal or the High Priest’s seal, represented a fixed closure that no one was allowed to breach. When it was set upon the tomb, there was a finality, a stamp of ultimate authority, that said, “this tomb is closed”.
The seal screamed loud and clear “HOAX”
But if you come with me to the tomb a little closer you will hear the echo of over 500 people from a span of forty days that don’t cry “HOAX” they shout “HALLELUJAH”
Down through the history of Christianity you find generation after generation coming to this tomb -
that is empty
that the stone is rolled away
that the seal - the broken seal - that man said “this tomb is closed” found out that God’s power is greater than any mere mortal’s seal -
THat sees the place where he laid -
they SHout out through the corridors of time not HOAX but “HALLELUJAH”
The Word of Life: Systematic Theology, Volume Two A Temporal Event Revealing the Hidden Meaning of Universal History
Christians understand the resurrection together with the cross to be history’s most important event. The despair of all past history is reversed by it. The hope of all future history is enabled by it. It is of all events the most illuminating disclosure of God’s plan of salvation (C. F. D. Moule, The Significance of the Message of the Resurrection for Faith in Jesus Christ)
Today I don’t waste my time even thinking about the hoax - there are so many infallible proofs - that I cry out with the multitude of those gone before “HALLELUJAH”
HE IS NOT HERE BUT HE IS RISEN - that is worth a HALLELUJAH!!!