Rejoice in the Reality of the Resurrection

Introduction / The Reality of Jesus’ Death

Dead. Deceased. Gone. The Rabbi from Nazareth, the Messiah! His bloody and bruised lifeless body drooped from the splintered timbers held up by three rusty spikes of iron. A Roman guard thrust a spear through His side and blood and water drained from its cavity after the heart inside His chest ruptured. Was this the end of the story on this dark Friday spring afternoon? All but one of His closest followers stood near the wooden cross. One had betrayed Him, one had denied Him, and the rest had gone into hiding. Now two disciples, who were not part of the main group of twelve, Joseph and Nicodemus took down the battered and abused corpse of the One who only hours earlier had been washing feet in an upper room, breaking bread, and celebrating the Passover. He truly was the Passover Lamb. The Lamb of God that came to take away the sin of the world. A few yards from the place of execution, hew from the limestone facade, a new tomb sat empty. It would soon receive the respectively and gingerly handled cadaver of the Man, whom there was no fault was found in Him. The One whom had been greeted by shouts of Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!, less than a week earlier as palm branches were strewn across his path. Only hour earlier the cries from the crowds were not that of rejoicing, but rather cries of Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Now, the lifeless shell of the One who had healed the sick, the lame, the blind, and had raised Lazarus was wrapped in linen clothes. He was drenched with one hundred pounds of costly spices and perfume to embalm the His body before He would be put into the tomb. A large stone rolled at its opening to the hand dug cave. Wax applied and sealed with a Roman seal, guarded by the Marines of the Roman army. Once again, was this the end of Jesus, the Christ? Or was it just the end of the beginning? Today, we celebrate the fact that it was not the end, but merely the end of the beginning! Today, we celebrate an event that changed everything for all time! The greatest victory this universe has ever seen or experienced happened over the course of three days!

Resurrection Morning

We are here together this morning in this church building worshiping and praising the name of Jesus Christ through songs and prayers, because of the Resurrection. An event that took place on a Sunday morning. We read it in all four Gospel accounts. This morning I want us to start in a familiar passage of the resurrection in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 28.

Matthew 28:1–8 NKJV

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

Matthew 28:9–10 NKJV

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

This is why we are we are here today and ever week. We are here to serve a Risen Jesus! The Risen Savior! God in the flesh who came to earth and lived a perfect sinless life. Who would willing be taken to a cross that was described in the introduction where He died to pay for your sins and mine, but He did not stay dead! No, He rose again! DO NOT BE AFRAID, FOR I KNOW THAT YOU SEEK JESUS WHO WAS CRUCIFIED! HE IS NOT HERE! FOR HE IS RISEN, JUST AS HE SAID!

Yes, He said it many times to His disciples over the course of His 3 years of ministry.

He Predicted His Death and Resurrection

Yes, Jesus Himself often told of his death and resurrection to His disciples. Here are just a few of the times.

Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Matthew 17:22–23 “Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.”

Matthew 20:18–19 ““Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.””

Mark 9:31 “For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.””

Mark 10:33–34 ““Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.””

Luke 9:22 “saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.””

Luke 18:31–34 “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.”

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

John 11:25–26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?””

Even the Old Testament Predicted it

Isaiah 53:3–12 NKJV

He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 26:19 “Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.”

Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.”

Revelation 20:14 “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.””

The Reality of the Resurrection

Why I Believe: Straight Answers to Honest Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity 1. Why I Believe in the Resurrection

there’s one thing that very good atheists and very good Christians have in common. The central issue for these diametrically opposed groups is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s where we must begin. Either Jesus rose from the dead, or He’s just another religious teacher and you should go to the salad bar of religion and pick the one you like. But if He really rose from the dead, if He’s actually alive right now, and if we worship a living Savior and His resurrection power actually lives inside our mortal bodies . . . then that is a whole different story.

The Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth lays out the Gospel message in chapter 15 of his first letter. The resurrection is critical to the Christian faith. It is so central to our identity with Christ. There is no way to be divided from it. We read these words:

1 Corinthians 15:1–7 NKJV

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

We have the Gospel in a nutshell.

He says this is the Gospel that was preached to them.

This is the Gospel that they received.

This is the Gospel which they stand on.

This is the Gospel message in which they were saved by.

Then he goes into the Gospel message for them once again and to us.

This is the Gospel message which was given to them that was given to Paul by Jesus Christ, Himself.

Christ died for our sins (according to the Scriptures) it was predicted in the Old Testament.

Christ was buried

Christ rose again the third day (all according to the Scriptures)

Christ was seen risen by Cephas (Simon Peter)

Christ was seen by the “twelve” a generic term for all the Apostles (Judas is not there anymore so there is not 12)

The Risen Christ was seen by over 500 disciples at once. Jesus was on earth for 40 days between His resurrection and ascension back into Heaven. Acts 1:3 “to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” At some point during that time this group of disciples saw Him alive.

Paul says that most of these people are still alive to this day, but some have died (fallen asleep). This letter was written only around 20-25 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Most of these 500+ people were still alive. If you had doubts about the resurrection, go visit one of these people. Eye witnesses.

Luke 24:44–49 NKJV

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

9. Seen by James (half-brother of Jesus). At least two out of his four half-brothers trusted in Him after the resurrection. Before hand they were skeptics.

10. All the apostles. Might be the 72 that were sent out earlier in Luke’s Gospel. These were the Sent Ones.

If There was No Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15)

Maybe you are here this morning or listening online or the radio and you are thinking: I do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul paints a very bleak picture of a world without the resurrection. If you think that Christianity and the Christian faith can be separated from the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul 100% disagrees. The church in Corinth in the first century had false teachers that had come in saying that there was no resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees also did not believe in a resurrection of the dead, so it is possible that some of their false teaching had gone into the church in Corinth. We pick up in verse 12 of chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15:12–18 NKJV

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

“Now if the rising of Christ from the dead is the very heart of our message, how can some of you deny that there is any resurrection? For if there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Christ was never raised. And if Christ was not raised then neither our preaching nor your faith has any meaning at all. Further it would mean that we are lying in our witness for God, for we have given our solemn testimony that he did raise up Christ—and that is utterly false if it should be true that the dead do not, in fact, rise again! For if the dead do not rise neither did Christ rise, and if Christ did not rise your faith is futile and your sins have never been forgiven. Moreover those who have died believing in Christ are utterly dead and gone. Truly, if our hope in Christ were limited to this life only we should, of all mankind be the most to be pitied!” (J.B. Phillips)

No resurrection = Christ has not risen! He is still dead!

Christ not risen = pointless preaching (no meaning to our preaching)

Christ not risen = your faith is pointless (no meaning to your faith)

Christ not risen = we as pastors and teachers (just as the Apostle Paul) are liars and false witnesses

No Resurrection = Christ not risen (re-emphasizes this fact)

Christ not risen = your faith is futile / empty / pointless (re-emphasizes this fact)

Christ not risen = those who died in Christ are perished (fallen asleep in Christ)

Hope in Christ that has not risen = pitiable life. Most to be pitied!

Without the resurrection, there is no reason to suppose that Jesus’ crucifixion dealt with sins, or with sin. But, with the resurrection, the divine victory over sin(s), and hence over death, is assured.

N. T. Wright

Why I Believe: Straight Answers to Honest Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity 2. Did Jesus Really Die?

In today’s world, people are disowned by their family, thrown in prison, tortured, shot, beheaded, and even crucified for following Jesus. Yet His people still choose to believe the resurrected Jesus is God’s Son and follow Him.

A couple of weeks ago we watched a Voice of the Martyrs video where we heard testimonies from brothers and sisters who are still being persecuted and killed for following Jesus Christ. They believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ! This impact in the early church spread like wild fire. Chip continues in his book:

Why I Believe: Straight Answers to Honest Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity 2. Did Jesus Really Die?

Sociologist Rodney Stark, in two seminal books—one called The Rise of Christianity and the other called The Triumph of Christianity—observes that there were three major plagues in the first eighty to one hundred years of the church, and tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands and even entire cities were wiped out. The only people who stayed in the cities to nurse people back to health were Christians, and they were viewed as martyrs. Massive numbers of Christians died, giving their lives to save people during these plagues. What possesses a group of people to give their lives for the lives of others? It is the power of the resurrected Christ living inside of them. As a result, by AD 313, during the reign of Constantine, it is estimated that of the 60 million people in the Roman Empire, 33 million were followers of Christ.

Where do you go from here?

The question now becomes: Where do you go from here? I do not know where you are today in your mind and more importantly in your heart. God knows your heart, your mind, your motives. He knows if you have trusted your life and your all to Him and the work of Jesus Christ.

The Skeptic/Doubter/Unbeliever

Child of God/Believer

The Gospel according to John 2. The Promise of a Place Where Jesus Is Going (14:1–4)

I am going there to prepare a place for you: the words presuppose that the ‘place’ exists before Jesus gets there. It is not that he arrives on the scene and then begins to prepare the place; rather, in the context of Johannine theology, it is the going itself, via the cross and resurrection, that prepares the place for Jesus’ disciples. And if he takes such trouble, all to prepare a place for his own, it is inconceivable that the rest should not follow: I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Romans 8:10–11 NKJV

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Philippians 3:10–11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

We have the best news in the world! If you knew how to cure every form of cancer in the world, wouldn’t you share it? In every one of our bodies there is something that is worse than any form of physical cancer. It is sin and it has and it will kill every man, woman, and child that there has ever been and will ever be until Jesus returns! We have sin and the wages (payment) of sin is death, but the free gift from God is eternal life! Let us share that good news! That wonderful life changing news!

Conclusion / Call to Action

Sixty-three years ago on Wednesday, March 1, 1961 my great-grandfather, the Rev. Eugene Cecil Olcott wrote these words for the Syracuse newspaper for the Lenten season:

Another year gone, and by its frustrations and conflicts, the most important question of man’s life has been crowded into the background. However, Lent shakes us awaken and brings to our attention the question we have left unanswered: “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” Many will answer as in all generations:--“Bah! Crucify Him!” Yet, some will have caught this vision—The Saviour, crucified yet rising from the grave, becoming the first-fruits of them that slept.

St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as other which no hope…For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”

May this Lenten season stimulate in your heart this belief.

That question that he asked over half a century ago is the same question I ask you this morning. What will you and I do with Jesus, who is called Christ? Will you ignore Him or turn to Him? If you are not sure where you will spend eternity if today was the last day you were on earth. If you want to get right with God, my friend, let today be the day. Pastor Chris, Pastor Pat, myself, the deacons and many others would love to share with you from God’s Word how you can know for sure that you are going to Heaven. Don’t let today pass by without knowing for certain where you will spend eternity.