Is He Worthy?

Text: Matthew 13:44-46; I Corinthians 15:14-19; Matthew 28:1-15

Call to Worship: Mt 28:1-15

Introduction:

Over the past few months, we’ve been walking through the Gospel of Matthew together, and we’ve made it up to about chapter 13.

Now, here on Easter Sunday, we’ve come to a passage that doesn’t at first glance seem to have anything to do with Easter or the Resurrection. In Matthew 13:44-46, Jesus says...

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

But, I actually think this passage has EVERYTHING to do with Easter, because the truth of this passage hinges upon the truth of Easter. See, Jesus here is making a pretty audacious claim. He’s saying that he and his Kingdom are so infinitely valuable that he is worth you giving up everything you own for him. He’s saying he’s the Poker hand that’s worth going “all-in” on.

And, if you’ve been paying attention, this isn’t the first time Jesus has made such an outlandish claim. I’m going to fly through these quickly, but they’re summarized in your handout:

He claimed that you’re better off suffering poverty, mistreatment, abuse, and the lack of any worldly pleasures than to be without him. (Mt 5:2-12; 6:19-34)

Matthew 5:11–12 ESV

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

He claimed superiority to other religious teachers, prophets, and wise men and that his teachings were so important that to ignore them was foolishness. (Mt 7:26; 12:40-42)

Matthew 7:26 ESV

26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

He claimed supernatural authority to heal the sick. (Mt 8:3)

He claimed authority over who would go to heaven or hell. (Mt 8:11-12; 10:15; 11:25-27)

He claimed authority and power to command nature itself. (Mt 8:23-27)

He claimed authority and power over demonic spirits (and that such beings exist!). (Mt 8:32)

He made himself equal with God and claimed authority to forgive sins. (Mt 9:6)

He claimed authority over death itself. (Mt 9:24-25)

He demanded more love and devotion than we have for our spouses, siblings, parents, children, and even our own lives. (Mt 8:18-22; 10:24-25; 34-39)

Matthew 10:37 ESV

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

He knowingly sent his disciples out to suffer persecution, rejection, imprisonment, torture, and death and claimed that he was worth the sacrifices they would make. (Mt 10:16-39)

Matthew 10:21–22 ESV

21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

His kingdom is worth giving your entire life to. (Mt 13:44-46)

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

So, the question we need to answer this Easter is simple—is Jesus really worth all that? All that suffering and sacrifice and self-denial? Can’t we just acknowledge him as a good teacher and move on with our lives? Well, no. That isn’t really a valid option. C.S. Lewis put it well:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So, is he worthy of us bowing at his feet and calling him Lord and God? Is he worth going “all-in” for?

Well, it all boils down to Easter. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then he was not who he claimed to be and the biblical authors were either lying or mistaken. In either case, there’s no sense in going “all-in” on some dead wanna-be Jewish Messiah.

But, if after making such claims he did rise from the dead, then he’s the only one worth going “all-in” on.

Prayer

Transition: Our main question this morning is, “Is he worthy?” But, to answer that question, we first need to answer another question: “Did he really rise from the dead?” So, this morning, I want to first present to you the Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection, and then we will come back around to address our original question: Is he worthy?

Some of you might object, “How can you talk about ‘evidence’ for the resurrection? Obviously, we don’t have any crime scene photos or DNA evidence. But, despite what shows like CSI and Law and Order would have you believe, it is possible to analyze the truth of a story through other means.

Evidence for the Resurrection

Some have objected that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross. We don’t have forensic evidence, of course. But, we do have firsthand eye-witness accounts. The question is, can we trust the gospel accounts which say that Jesus died and rose again?

Before we can talk about Jesus’ resurrection, we first need to establish the veracity of Jesus’ life and ministry.

Evidence for the Resurrection #1: Jesus’s life, ministry, and death as recorded in the Gospels can be verified by external sources.

FACT: Jesus of Nazareth lived, taught in and around Galilee, made outlandish claims of divinity, and was well-known as a miracle-worker in Israel, and was crucified by the Romans under Pontius Pilate.

We actually have Jewish documents—the Talmud and others—that reference Jesus of Nazareth and call him a “sorcerer”

‘He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed, and led Israel astray. Anyone who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover (and the eve of Shabbat).

—Sanhedrin 43a

“led Israel astray” gives support for the biblical claim that Jesus was a well-known and popular teacher who was opposed by the religious leaders.

Now, you might be thinking, “wait, that says that he practiced sorcery and was hanged.” Well, “hanging” was the common way to refer to crucifixion in the Jewish world. As far as the charge of sorcery, think about what this means. Sorcery is performing supernatural works by the power of Satan or dark magic. Does that charge sound familiar? It should, because the gospel writers themselves record this charge by the Pharisees against Jesus:

Matthew 12:22–24 ESV

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

Think about it, if they could have produced even a shred of evidence that Jesus’ miracles were false, they would not have used the charge of sorcery. They would have accused him merely of misleading the people. The fact that they use the charge of sorcery gives evidence that—just as it is recorded in Scripture—Jesus performed miracles that could only be described as supernatural. The only difference in the accounts is which supernatural being gave him the power to do the miracles.

Other documents make reference to his self-appointed titles of “Son of God” and “Son of Man,” and that he made himself out to be God.

The details given in the gospel accounts are consistent with what we know from extrabiblical accounts of Roman crucifixion.

Mark 15:25–26 ESV

25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”

Practice of nailing a titulus above the crucified detailing his crimes, method of scourging, details of the power structure, carrying one’s cross, etc. are all well-attested in other historical documents.

Josephus, a non-Christian, Jewish historian, verifies that Jesus was crucified, as do Roman writers like Tacitus.

So, these claims of Scripture about Jesus’ life and ministry can be verified by non-biblical documents—Jesus of Nazareth lived, was a well-known teacher and miracle worker who was opposed by the Jewish religious authorities because he made claims to be God, performed miracles that could only be described as supernatural, and was crucified by the Romans around Passover.

So, when people say that the Gospels are just stories that Christians invented after the fact, that is a BOLD FACED LIE. Ironically, just as those who set out to stop the spread of Christianity actually helped it along, so too those who set out to prove Jesus false actually end up being some of our best witnesses in the Case for Christianity.

We can also establish with confidence that Jesus did, in fact, die from this crucifixion. The reason that we have to establish this is because there are some—not many—who have posed theories like the “Swoon Theory,” that Jesus only appeared to be dead and then later recovered.

Evidence for the Resurrection #2: Jesus’s death on the cross is beyond reasonable doubt.

FACT: Crucifixion was inevitably fatal.

Among the tens of thousands of Roman crucifixions recorded in history, we have only one recorded instance in historical documents of anyone ever surviving a crucifixion, and that only when Roman authorities intervened early and administered medical aid immediately. Even then, two of the three people still died.

The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition The Life of Flavius Josephus

when I was sent by Titus Caesar with Cerealius, and a thousand horsemen, to a certain village called Thecoa, in order to know whether it were a place fit for a camp, as I came back, I saw many captives crucified; and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance.

I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and told him of them; (421) so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician’s hands, while the third recovered.

The only recorded historical example of someone surviving crucifixion occurred when Caesar himself commanded for their execution to be stopped and the best physicians at Caesar’s disposal were put to the task of saving their life. Even then, 2/3 still died.

Jesus got no such special treatment. Before ever even getting to the cross, Jesus suffered a scourging that was well known to kill a healthy man by itself. All those in power at the time wanted him dead and stood by to make sure that he was. A Roman soldier even stabbed him in the side to be sure.

Crucifixion was an exceptionally reliable way to kill people, and the Romans were experts in their craft. No one they intended to kill survived.

Those who were closest to Jesus had absolutely no doubt that he died and they were without hope when his body was placed in that tomb.

Serious historians have never really questioned the veracity of Jesus’ death.

A couple of medical doctors have written a paper analyzing the crucifixion of Christ from a coroner’s perspective, carefully documenting the various types of trauma his body underwent, and this was their conclusion:

Coroner's Report : An Examination of the Medical Evidence for the Physical Death of Christ CONCLUSION

It is with both medical and biblical certainty that we know Christ died upon the cross at Calvary.

That Christ died on the cross at the hands of the Romans is a medical and historical fact that is certain beyond any reasonable doubt.

But what about the resurrection? Obviously, appeals to medical science cannot help us here because we are asserting something supernatural.

There would be no “forensic” evidence for this—it is beyond the realm of what science can explain. But, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, it just means that we need to look to a different methodology for evidence, similar to what an investigative reporter or a court of law might use—eyewitness testimonies.

Evidence for the Resurrection #3: The Gospel accounts of the resurrection bear the marks of truth.

When lawyers evaluate eye-witness testimonies, there are some things they look for to determine the reliability of the witness’ story.

Multiple Attestation—the same story told by multiple sources and eyewitnesses

Matthew

Mark (Peter)

Luke (Paul)

John

Numerous recorded testimonies from other eyewitnesses recorded in these gospel accounts.

They each have a different perspective and include or omit different details, but the overall picture is the same.

Verifiable/Falsifiable—the gospels include details and accounts which can be verified or disproven.

They were written and circulated within a relatively short period of time after the events they describe. Eyewitnesses would have still been alive to verify or deny the accounts described.

1 Corinthians 15:3–7 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

If they were false, we would expect the movement to quickly die off as people saw the falsehoods.

Examples:

Nero Redivivus myth

Nero died in AD 68

“Nero did not really die but fled to Parthia, where he would amass a large army and would return to Rome to destroy it.”

“At least three Nero impostors emerged leading rebellions. The first...whose face was similar to that of the dead emperor, appeared in 69 during the reign of Vitellius.[5] During the reign of Titus (c 79–81) there was another impostor, who appeared in Asia ...and looked like Nero but he, too, was exposed.[6] Twenty years after Nero's death, during the reign of Domitian, there was a third pretender. Supported by the Parthians, who hardly could be persuaded to give him up,[7] the matter almost came to war.” --Nero Redivivus legend - Wikipedia

There was always someone around who could verify that the guy claiming to be Nero wasn’t really him, and the movement would fizzle out (which is why you’ve never heard of it!).

So, if not even the famous Nero—who had man people who desperately wanted him to be resurrected—could pull off an enduring resurrection hoax, how could some nobody Jewish carpenter pull it off? (especially when no one was expecting or even hoping for it?)

The gospels, especially Luke, contain a plethora of verifiable details. If they were making up stories or being historically inaccurate, we would expect that the movement would have died off just like the Nero myth. But it didn’t. We would also expect to find tons of historical inaccuracies, but we don’t.

Josephus confirms a great many historical details recorded in the gospels (names and chronologies of important rulers, locations, etc.). He also confirms some of the stories in the NT, like the execution of James, brother of Jesus, by Herod and Herod’s subsequent death when he accepted worship (recorded in Acts 12)

Criterion of Embarrassment: Inclusion of unflattering details about the author(s).

Women are the first eye-witnesses in a male-dominated culture

Matthew 28:1 ESV

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

And not just any women, one of them was someone who had been demon possessed! Mary Magdalene probably had quite a reputation!

Luke 8:2 ESV

2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

Now both Graeco-Roman and Jewish sources from around the Mediterranean at this time indicated that a woman’s testimony was mostly considered unreliable at law. Much as it sounds sexist to modern ears, with the prejudice of those days, women were seen as gullible.

So if you were embellishing a ‘Jesus story’ later on, you wouldn’t compound the difficulty by inventing women as key witnesses! So the obvious reason for naming women is that the embarrassing fact was true. This is the criterion of embarrassment. 

Ironically, the reason for the report’s lack of credibility in the 1st century is the reason for its credibility in the 21st century!

—Sandy Grant, “Crucifixion Historicity” http://thebriefing.com.au/

The gospel authors also repeatedly share very unflattering details about their own failings and those of their fellow disciples (abandoning their teacher, refusal to believe, failure to comprehend Jesus’ teachings, betrayal, cowardice, impulsivity, etc.)

Motive—Jesus’ followers had no discernable, rational reason for maintaining such a deception.

Money?

Jesus was homeless and poor, as were the overwhelming majority of his followers.

None of his followers achieved a life of luxury like you see cult leaders doing.

Sex?

Many cults have arisen with leaders who are sexual predators in disguise.

Jesus and Paul, the two main leaders in Christianity, were both celibate.

Christianity teaches a radical form of chastity when compared to Roman/Greek religion.

Political power/Prestige?

Other “Messiahs” had arisen before. Every one of them had political ambitions and attempted to overthrow the Romans or some other group in charge.

Jesus kept his distance from politics and explicitly rejected political ambitions.

Matthew 10:17–18 ESV

17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Jewish converts to Christianity were cast out of synagogues and their own families and support networks.

Greek and Roman converts to Christianity were excluded from trade guilds, denied political and social advancement, and frequently forced to choose between being a respected Roman (a pagan) and being a dedicated Christian.

Christianity would not gain political support for almost 300 years after Christ’s resurrection.

There simply is NO LOGICAL MOTIVE for crafting such a deception.

You might say, “Many people have died for false beliefs.” That is absolutely true. But how many would willingly die for a false testimony?

The disciples were eyewitnesses of everything that happened. They claimed to have actually seen the risen Christ. Faced with torture and death, not to mention all the other costs of following Jesus that Christians underwent, there is no logical motive to maintain such deception.

Besides that, as we’ve already seen, extrabiblical documents actually kind of confirm their accounts!

The intensity of their subsequent actions are consistent with true belief—they weren’t intentionally deceiving people.

All of his remaining ten disciples, save one (John), suffered martyrdom

Paul, a later eye-witness with absolutely NO motive for conversion, also suffered martyrdom

1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV

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

1 Corinthians 15:32 ESV

32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Many others who were eye-witnesses suffered martyrdom.

The facts:

Jesus of Nazareth lived, taught in and around Galilee, made outlandish claims of divinity, was well-known as a miracle-worker in Israel, and was crucified by the Romans under Pontius Pilate.

He died by crucifixion.

Documents from eye-witnesses who claimed to have seen him risen from the dead bear the marks of truthful accounts. There are multiple accounts confirming the same story, they have verifiable historical details, they share unflattering details that one would not include in a fabricated story, and they had no discernable motive for maintaining such a fabricated story.

Christianity grew exponentially despite fierce opposition and brutal oppression and now exists in every country around the world.

Conclusion: There is one, and only one, logical conclusion—Christ is risen!

Is faith blind?

A lot of people picture faith as the “Leap of Faith” from Indiana Jones—blindly jumping out with absolutely no certainty at all that someone or something will catch you.

But God doesn’t demand foolhardiness. God doesn’t ask us to believe that some mystical, impersonal force will catch us when we step off a cliff.

Our faith is based in a person, in a relationship. It’s trust.

Faith is putting your trust in a trustworthy God. Yes, there is a step that has to be taken from the evidence that we’ve talked about to full belief in the resurrection. Evidence alone won’t get you there. But if you look objectively at Scripture, it’s not a very big jump.

And if that is true—that Christ really did die for our sins and rise again—then there are some radical implications for our lives today. We don’t have time to go through all of them. You could easily just title everything in the New Testament following the Gospels as “Implications of the Resurrection!” But here are a couple that jump out from the passage we read today.

Implications of the Resurrection

Everything he said is true!

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He claimed to have sole access to God the Father, so if God the Father raised him from the dead, then God has given approval to Christ and his teachings.

And if it’s true...

Christ is the way to eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:22–26 ESV

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

If Christ is risen, then he died on that cross for you. He died because your sin separated you from God. And since God is just and righteous, the penalty for your sin had to be paid.

But God loved you so much that he paid the penalty of sin himself in Christ.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Some of you are still in that tomb, but Jesus rose from the dead so that you don’t have to live in a tomb! He has paid the penalty for your sins. He sits at the right hand of the Father, and even though your sins have separated you from the Father and messed up your life and enslaved you he will reconcile you to the Father and give you new life!

He is worthy!

He deserves all of our worship and praise.

Nothing else in this world is worthy of devotion, allegiance, admiration, or praise to any level even close to that of Christ.

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

What captivates your heart? What consumes your time, energy, and money? What is your reason for living? Anything other than Christ is a cheap substitute.

Our lives are like a glove. We are created in the image of God, for the purpose of being filled up by God and used by God. But without God, we’re just an empty, lifeless, purposeless glove. Useful for nothing. Purposeless. Dead.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

C. S. Lewis

So, is he worthy? If he is Risen, then he is Worthy.

Sources for more study:

www.reasonablefaith.org

Medical views on the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ - PMC Habermas, G., Kopel, J., & Shaw, B. C. F. (2021). Medical views on the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center), 34(6), 748–752. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8545147/

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis