Introduction:

I.                   The Importance of the Resurrection

II.                The Meaning of the Resurrection

III.             The Strategy of the Resurrection

IV.              Refutation of the Swoon Theory: Nine Arguments

V.                 Refutation of the Conspiracy Theory: seven arguments

VI.              Refutation of the Hallucination Theory: fourteen arguments

VII.           Refutation of the Myth Theory: six arguments

VIII.        Conclusions: five more objections answered

I.                   The Importance of the Resurrection

A.      The Gospel of Good News Means Essentially the News of Christ’s Resurrection

–        The message that flashed across the ancient world that turned the world upside down was not “love your neighbor.”

–        The news was that a man who claimed to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world had risen from the dead

B.      A Reasonable Challenge to the Skeptic is this:

–        If it can be proven that Jesus really rose from the dead, will you believe in Him?

1.       This would validate His claim to be divine and not merely human

2.       His divinity validates the truth of everything else he said, for God cannot lie

–        1 Corinthians 15:14-19—Paul said that “if Christ has not been raised, then

1.       our proclamation has been in vain

2.       and your faith has been in vain

3.       we are found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ—whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised…

4.       If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile

5.       And you are still in your sins.

6.       Then those also who have died in Christ have perished

7.       If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

–        If Christ did not raise from the dead then, or course:

1.       He would not be alive to do all His post-resurrection ministries.  His ministry would have ended at His death

2.       We would not have a High Priest, Intercessor, Advocate, or Head of the Church.

3.       There would be no living Person to dwell and empower us – Romans 6:1-10; Galatians 2:20

–        Who is more likely to know what Christianity is?

1.       The Apostle or the skeptic?

2.       One of the religions first century founders or one of its twentieth-century subvert?

3.       A Jew who knew Christ or a German scholar who knew books?

C.      The Resurrection Completes Our Salvation

1.       Jesus came to save us from sin and its consequences—death Romans 6:23

–        1 Corinthians 15:17-18

a.       and  you are still in your sins

b.       Then those also who have died in Christ have perished

D.      The Resurrection Also Distinguishes Jesus From All Other Religions

1.       The bones of Abraham and Muhammad and Buddha and Confucius and Lao-tzu and Zoroaster are still here on earth

2.       Jesus’ tomb is empty!

E.       The Greatest Importance of the Resurrection

1.       Is not the past—“Christ rose”

2.       But in the present—“Christ is risen”

–        Luke 24:5—the angel at the tomb asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

II.                The Meaning of the Resurrection

What does it mean to believe that Jesus “rose from the dead”?

–         Those who follow Him will do the same – 1 Corinthians 15:12-23

What do the words mean?

–         Jesus “rose from the dead” (that is, “from the corpses,” the dead bodies).

–         anastasis sarkos and anastasis nekron mean “the standing up [or getting up] of the flesh” and “the standing up of the corpses”

–         Both expresses are as concrete as possible

Ten Confusions

1.       The resurrected Christ is not a ghost.

a.       This is what the apostles first thought – Luke 24:36-43

b.       Christ refuted this by showing them his scared hands & feet and by eating fish

1)       A ghost is spirit without a body

2)       The resurrected Jesus has a real body

3)       Therefore, the resurrected Jesus is not a ghost

2.       The resurrection is also not just a resuscitation [to return of bring back to consciousness or life – to revive], like the resuscitation of Lazarus.

a.       The same body that came out of the tomb is the same one that went in the tomb.

1)       He had the grave clothes on – John 11:44

2)       Jesus’ grave clothes were neatly laid aside & folded in his tomb – John 20:6-7

b.       Lazarus had to die again

1)       Lazarus’s resurrection was temporary

c.        Jesus did not have to die again – Romans 6:9

2)       Jesus’ resurrection is permanent.

3.       The resurrection is also not reincarnation

a.       Reincarnation (supposedly) only gives you another mortal body.

b.       Christ’ resurrection body was immortal.

1)       It was more old in that it was recognizable by his friends

2)       It was more new in that it was immortal

4.       The resurrection is more than the freeing of the soul from its bodily prison.

5.       The resurrection is also distinct from Enlightenment, or Nirvana, or satori, or moksha.

a.       Hindu or Buddhist would hope for this after death:

b.       A loss of personal individuality and a reabsorption into the One, the All (or, more accurately, a realization that one always was the One & not an individual at all). 

c.        The risen Jesus is a very distinct individual, even an embodied one.

6.       The resurrection is also distinct from translation or assumption into heaven.

a.       This happened to Enoch & Elijah, and perhaps to Moses.

b.       The RCC believe it also happened to Mary

7.       The resurrection is also distinct from a vision.

a.       A vision remains purely spiritual and subjective: it is in your psyche

b.       Jesus’ resurrection body was seen in public by many at the same time-He was touched-He ate.

8.       The resurrection is also distinct from legend.

a.       Legends, however wise, are only fictions devised by mortal minds, not by God or by nature.

9.       The resurrection is not a myth.

10.    The resurrection must clearly be distinguished from: a “resurrection of Easter faith” in the hearts and lives of the disciples.