Resurrection Sunday

He IS Risen!

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Pray with me.

Now if you are able - please stand with me for the reading of God’s Word. Hear the word of the Lord from Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1–10 CSB

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men. The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.” So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news. Just then Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

This is the Word of the Lord, please be seated.

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I am so glad you are all here, that you’ve chosen to worship and gather with our family here this day. The Seed Church is a special place, over the last two years, I have witnessed God’s faithfulness, seen answered prayers, seen lives transformed, walked through grief with you all, cried, together. I am deeply and truly blessed to serve as a shepherd and pastor here. IT’s a special place, with special people, serving a mighty God. And we are just getting started with all that God is calling us to.

Friends - Resurrection Sunday is the day that changed all things forever. It is why we are gathered here on Sunday after Sunday. The reality of the physical resurrection has changed everything. It has announced that death itself has an ruler and an end date. It shows the supremacy of Jesus Christ.

And we, as Christians, believe that when we have faith - trust in Christ in is life, death, and resurrection, we will have salvation - life, abundant life, for ever and ever.

However, For a lot of people in our current world, and current culture, a post enlightenment and scientific revolution world - what we celebrate as a great triumph - Jesus, being raised from the dead - can only be seen as a myth, or a spiritual reality, but it can’t be a physical truth - because people don’t get resurrected. That’s not possible in the natural world. so when Christians ask for faith - faith in christ, faith in the resurrection - it can become a stumbling block, because they feel like they're being asked to affirm a scientific impossibility. Or they need to “just believe” or practice blind faith. We can assume that we know better than those pre-modern people two-thousand years ago who lived in israel.

But friends I think it’s important to remember this truth

Jesus calls us to faith - not blind faith.

The resurrection was as absurd to the original audience as it was to us - so lets practice some generational humility. And yet, the original audience, the disciples and those they spoke to were so convinced about the resurrection, that they were willing to die to the point of death and humiliation.

Jesus calls us to faith - not blind faith.

Jesus wants us to have confidence in the faith, in his claims, and their rooted not just in scripture, but in the historical record. By witness testimony.

But let’s be honest - the resurrection on it’s face, when divorced from faith and evidence is ludicrus. And the earliest disciples found that to be the case too. I think of Thomas who can’t bring himself to believe even though his other disciples told him what they saw.

Or even more compelling - at the great commission. This is after the resurrection - right after he told them to go to galiliee, look at this - Matthew 28:16-17

Matthew 28:16–17 CSB

The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted.

Think about that - these men already have heard and seen the risen Lord - then they go to the mountain where He said to go - and there he is. Glorified, physical, and present. And of course - they worship.

But some doubted.

Can we get real honest in here, even on a big Sunday where we are wearing out best clothes, and happy, with dinner cooking. Easter is the biggest Christian holiday of the year. And we can show up, sing the big songs, celebrate and smile. But can we be honest? Doubt is real.

I don’t know if you’ve ever really felt doubt sink down into your bones. I have.

And I don’t know if you’ve ever thought and prayed for some miracle or that Jesus would just show up in the flesh - and I’ve thought at times “Jesus if you could just show up here I would know for sure and trust you so much!”

But the disciples saw him, and some still doubted.

Friends, Doubt is real - but that doesn’t mean we don’t still have faith. I appreciate this quote by JD Greear,

Faith is not the absence of doubt; it is continuing to follow Jesus in the midst of doubt. J.D. Greear

What’s fascinating to me is when we look at the apostles strategy in spreading the gospel through the first century, and how they talked about the gospel and the resurrection - they did it from a testimony basis.

That’s what we see in Paul’s retelling of the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, look at this with me, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 CSB

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: 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 Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

Notice - Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. he was buries, and that he was raised.

And then he brings out all these witnesses! He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve apostles, then over 500 people ALL AT THE SAME TIME! and Paul says most of these are still alive, meaning - the corinthians can ask them their story. Then he appeared to James, who was the half brother of Jesus, and the apostles, then to Paul.

To Paul, and to the whole Christian faith - the historical Physical resurrection is the key stone that the whole faith is built around. Paul knowing this - doesn’t just tell the corinthians - “Hey just have faith Jesus rose from the dead.” he says - There are hundreds of people who saw the risen Jesus - ASK THEM! That way we can have CONFIDENCE in the resurrection.

Because lets be honest - if Jesus rose from the dead - that validates his message, and his identity. It also is the promise made real of how death will be defeated.

And so this morning, I want to show, if I can, the historic reliability of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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One of the things that has gotten me through times of doubt and trouble, has been the ministry of the Holy Spirit - and by that i mean discerning the Love of God on me even when I struggle to have the right thoughts or words - and being able to have confidence in the resurrection. Because if the resurrection is real - then Jesus is MORE than worth following.

So This morning, I want to take you through some arguments that support the historical resurrection. A book that was instrumental for me in my study of the Resurrection and this sermon is by Gary Habermas, On the Resurrection. Habermas is a leading scholar on the resurrection and has devoted his life to the study of the evidences thereof, and my main argumentation this morning is indebted to him - but there are lots of good resources on it, from William Lane Craig, to LEe Strobel - I want to offer some evidences for the resurrection, using hopefully facts that even non-believers would accept or find compelling. All in hopes to strengthen our faith and confidence in the resurrection to allow us to live all for Christ.

So let’s begin,

Twelve Known Facts on the Resurrection

These are facts that there is good consensus among scholars and historians. Some are more basic then others, but when you put them all together, it makes a very compelling case. We will move through these rather briskly to cover all twelve - know that these are just the tip of the iceberg.

So first, First fact that virtually all scholars, secular or otherwise accept, is

1. Jesus lived. And then died due to the effects of Roman crucifixion.

It may sound strange to start here - but in order to be resurrected, one needs to be alive and die first! When you look at the preponderance of scholarly evidence, his life and death by crucifixion are almost uniformly accepted. We have biblical evidence, which is exceptionally strong historically speaking, but also evidence from Josephus, and roman sources.

Beyond just the scholarly world - Jesus existence is seemingly universally attested - even other religions respect him, muslims say hes a prophet, hindus call him a god, buddists call him one of the reincarnations of the buddah - Jesus’ existence and life is hard to ignore - it’s like you HAVE to do something with him, and mislabeling him is a common strategy.

And Biblical and roman sources, and other extra-biblical sources all point to his death specifically by roman crucifixion.

Which leads us to number two.

2. Jesus’s body was buried in a private tomb.

In Jesus’s time it was more common for people to be buried in a common tomb - a place where multiple people would be buried together. Virtually all scholars agree that Jesus was buried, it seems the highest likelihood and most attested to by the evidence that he was buried in a private tomb.

The likelihood of the disciples writing the Gospels using the name of someone like Joseph of Arimathea lends so much credence to this fact.

This fact is important because it shows that the body would have been known to be in a certain location, and couldn’t have been confused for someone else.

Number three

3. The disciples believed that Jesus was dead. After the death of Jesus they were discouraged, despondent, and their original hopes were challenged.

It is evident from within the Gospels’ narratives, the disciples messianic expectations were in line with JEwish thought at the time, where they wanted a triumphant military king messiah. When JEsus enters holy week and is arrested, beaten and scourged, and then crucified - it’s not just them seeing their friend and teacher tortured, but their messianic hopes seemingly crushed.

The disciples scattered, and were doubters - both is internal biblical testimony, some external testimony, and logical reasons. They thought that Jesus was dead. They didn’t think it was a trick - they were convinced of JEsus’ death.

Number four

4. The tomb where Jesus was buried was discovered empty shortly after he was interred.

Habermas admits that this fact is the one that gets the most skepticism from secular scholars - but even with that granted, it is still accepted by a significant majority of contemporary scholars.

The grave was found empty, and it is significant that according to the Gospels that it is some of the women followers of JEsus that go and find the empty tomb. This is significant, because, according to multiple scholars, women weren’t allowed to testify in court, and weren’t taken as seriously in that time. So if the disciples were trying to invent an air-tight story, it wouldn’t be beneficial to have the primary witnesses, the first witnesses, to be women! But they do - this strongly indicates that this is the truth. Why invent a story without fixing the results to be as airtight as possible, right?

Let’s keep moving, number five

5. The disciples testified to experiences that they believed and thought were literal appearances of the risen Jesus.

The disciples, the eleven, and the others who followed Jesus - all seemed to report actually seeing JEsus risen again - and we don’t just see this in the gospels, but perhaps the most compelling place is in 1 Corinthians 15, which we read earlier, when Paul writes about all the witnesses, 1 Corinthians 15:5-6

1 Corinthians 15:5–6 CSB

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

They were having experiences - and while anecdotal evidence isolated can’t be conclusive - if you have hundreds of people all experience something - with their senses - when they are culturally pre-disposed to anti-singular-resurrection beliefs, it can add to the compelling narrative.

And this goes right into number six

6. The preaching and proclamation of the resurrection and appearances of the risen Jesus took place very early, and closely following the experiences.

Very very soon after these events of the resurrection took place - they disciples were telling everyone about it. There weren’t years to hatch a scheme together and get the stories all straight - they directly started telling others about the resurrection and their experiences.

Again - this is a message that they were not pre-disposed to embrace - they had no category for a singular resurrection - only the resurrection of all at the end of the age - this message of a suffering Messiah who is resurrected was something they they were not ready for!

We know the disciples preached boldly in different languages at pentecost - and that is less than two months after the resurrection! They were already dedicated to their story.

And that dedication came with consequences, number 7

7. The disciples lives changed after their experiences around the resurrection. They were transformed to the point of being willing to suffer and die for their belief.

As far as we know from the evidence and tradition and history - none of the apostles “benefited” from a earthly perspective from this story. On the contrary - they were taunted, ostracized, some tortured, arrested, exiled, and martyred.

Being willing to suffer and die for a belief system in which there seems to be no temporal benefit adds significant credence that the apostles lives were radically changed, that they truly believed what they were saying.

And it’s not like they tried to start these stories in a new place ,

but number 8

8. The disciples’ first ministry, testimony, and preaching of the resurrection and their experiences took place in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and buried shortly before.

Think about this - it would be a terrible idea to try and hatch a crazy idea about a popular teacher rising from the dead in the same town where he was publicly killed - unless it was true - because people all know the details around it. Jesus was a popular figure. Many would have been able to sus out that JEsus was born in Joseph of aramatheas tomb, and could see for themselves!

But the church had its genesis in Jerusalem, and it served as the nexus point for the apostles and the elders for a long time. The disciples weren’t trying to hide anything.

Number 9

9. As the Christian faith grew and began to meet regularly, the congregations met on the first day of the week for study, prayer, worship, and to partake of the Lord’s Supper, traditionally commemorating the same day on which Jesus rose from the dead.

This changed happened very early on, and the switch for this originally jewish group to switch their primary worship from Saturday, the seventh day, to Sunday is compelling.

And they called it “The Lord’s Day” - they were reorienting their whole calendar and worship, and thus lives, around the belief that Jesus rose again on a Sunday. Why would they make this switch, if there were not legitimate reason for them to do so? As this further removed themselves from the jewish faith that they claimed to be following the fulfillment of!

Number 10

10. The gospel message centers on the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection isn’t some side doctrine. It’s not a take it or leave it of the Christian faith. It is the whole substance, the proof, the undoing of the fall and the consequences of sin - made real and physical and glorious in the body of Jesus Christ!

It is essential. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15:13-19

1 Corinthians 15:13–19 CSB

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

The apostles and the christians from the very beginning were adamant that if the resurrection wasn’t real - that the whole faith was pointless. That’s a bold claim and stand to take if you are making it up, right? The physical bodily resurrection is the keystone to our faith - and it has been since the beginning of it.

Last two - the two most compelling testimonies for even secular researchers.

number 11

11. James, the half-brother of Jesus was a skeptic before this time, but was then converted after he claimed to have seen the risen Jesus.

While the disciples lives changing can be compelling - it is true that they were followers for Jesus before the resurrection - so one could argue they’re biased.

That is not true for James, who is one of the younger half brothers of Jesus (same mom, different dad - obviously). We know that he was a skeptic, and he shows up in the gospel stories with the family of Jesus and they were actually critics of his ministry!

However according to 1 Corinthians 15, James converted after seeing Jesus risen from the dead. And then he became not just a believer - but became an elder, one of the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem.

His conversion, which seems to hinge on an encounter with the resurrected Christ is compelling, as he was biased AGAINST believing Jesus as messiah and as one who would be resurrected.

And last, one of the most infamous converts to Christianity number 12:

12. After only a few years, Saul of Tarsus became a Christian after an experience he concluded was an appearance of the Risen Jesus.

Saul was a pharisee, and an enemy of the Christians. He persecuted them, and was climbing the ranks of the jewish temple hierarchy. He had a great pedigree, and had everything going for him.

He oversaw Stephen’s martyrdom, and was on his way to damascus to persecute the church when he has an experience that he believed to be of the Risen Jesus Christ - and his life completely changed.

From opponent of the faith, to apostle to the gentiles. He went on to write many epistles, plant many churches, and ultimately die in Rome under Nero.

And for Paul - the Resurrection, the appearance of Jesus, was the reason that he converted.

He was an unbiased convert - in fact, his conversion had serious consequences for him in the short term and long term. And yet he became the most adamant defender of the faith.

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Those are twelve compelling facts, to me, that suggest the historic physical resurrection is reasonable to believe.

The more I look into the resurrection, the more confident I become in its historicity, and the more confident I grow in my faith.

Remember -

Jesus calls us to faith - not blind faith.

Friends, we gather today, Easter, Resurrection Sunday, because we believe - with good reason, and with informed faith, That Jesus Christ is God. That he came and was born by the virgin MAry, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death on the cross, was dead and buried, and then three days later he rose to glorious life again.

We believe that he has ascended to heaven, next to the father. We believe that he is coming back again to make all things new.

And if that is all true - and we believe it is - Let’s ask our question:

So What?

Friends if that’s true,

That means that death will not win the day - and that means for those who are in Christ - death is just a walk through the valley of the shadow of Death - and there is eternal life to come.

IF that’s true, that means taht we can be forgiven from sins, and reconciled to God.

If that’s true, that means that the fallen and broken world will be restored and new heaven and new earth is coming.

If that’s true it means eternal life starts now

If Jesus is alive - friend then we have the greatest hope ever imagined. We can have life, abundant life, and eternal life.

And if that’s true - that JEsus is God, that he lived perfectly, and he rose from the dead, Then we should follow him. He is the most compelling person of all eternity. And it’s worth following him, doing what he says to do, and we can then have confidence that if he rose from the dead, we can to. And if THAT’s true - that death has been defeated, my friends we ought to tell EVERYONE! W e no longer have to fear death - we can have life forever - so follow Jesus! Believe in JEsus. He has proven himself worthy, and powerful.

So I invite you, my friend - to believe in Jesus. To follow JEsus. And to ask him for that eternal life.

What a glorious day. Jesus is alive - and so am I. And so are you.

Can we celebrate? can we sing? Can we worship?

Eternal life starts now.