Unbelievable/Believable

Last Breath

In 2012, Chris Lemons was a working on a oil rig 300 feet below the surface of the North Sea in Europe. His air supply was cut off when the ship and diving bell that he was connected to suffered catastrophic loss of their positioning system. The seas were rough that say and something caused the system to malfunction.

Chris’ umbilical line was caught on the rig and snapped leaving him stranded at the underwater oil rig. He had about 7 minutes of emergency air and after that, he spent 29 minutes attached to the oil rig with no air.

The unbelievable part is after they finally got the ship back to him and rescued him, he was resuscitated with no brain deficits whatsoever. There were all kinds of theories as the why he survived. Water pressure at 300 ft, the cold temperatures of the water around him…but it is one of those stories that is hard to believe.

There all kinds of stories that are hard to believe. To be honest, the resurrection of Jesus, just as a story would be hard to believe. But this morning we’re not just placing our faith in a story. There are so many aspects of this story that give us enough evidence to come to the conclusion that we can believe beyond reasonable doubt that Jesus did rise from the dead.

Matthew 28:1–15 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. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Denying the Resurrection

From the get go, you see people trying to deny the resurrection. Over the years various theories have sprung up trying to deny the resurrection.

The Disciples Stole the Body — Guards would’ve been able to stop them. And if they were asleep, the stone would’ve made so much noise while they were rolling it away that they would have woke up.

The authorities hid the body — Why didn’t they bring him out and show off the dead man that everyone claimed was alive?

Jesus was just passed out — in the cold tomb Jesus woke up and then moved the stone and left… Beat to death, hung for hours on a cross, stabbed through the heart…and the Romans were very good at killing people.

Hallucinations — Way too many people saw Jesus alive. Also hallucinations are sometimes caused when people expect to see something and their mind gives them what they want. The women were going to prepare the body. They did not expect a living Jesus. The disciples doubted, Thomas wouldn’t believe the other disciples…Nobody expected a resurrection.

Wrong Tomb — how this is an actual theory is beyond me. The women got it wrong, the disciples got it wrong, the guards got it wrong, the religious leaders got it wrong, the angel got it wrong…

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, you can believe that somebody would’ve found his body and put it on display for the whole world to see.

Proving the Resurrection

Various reasons exist to prove that Jesus more than likely rose from the dead.

The Women — if you were going to make up a story, you would not have women as your first and primary witness. You wouldn’t even mention them. Their word was not considered credible and the Gospel writes record that they didn’t believe them.

The Empty Tomb — The religious authorities wouldn’t have paid off the guards to tell this tale of a stolen body unless they had an empty tomb. Jesus died. He was placed in the tomb. On the third day, Jesus’s body was gone.

The Grave Clothes — John 20:6–7 “6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.” The text and translation seems to literally indicate that the grave clothes had simply caved in. They weren’t broken up or torn as if someone broke loose.

The Eyewitnesses — 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 “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. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

With all the eyewitness that are claimed to have seen Jesus, somebody would’ve come forward and said that they didn’t really see Him—especially when people started getting killed for it.

There is no way that all of the disciples and Paul someone who used to persecute them all willing go to their grave suffering for claiming a lie.

It may be hard to believe, but the historical evidence, and Scripture all indicate that Jesus did die and that He rose again. The evidence shows that the Unbelievable is Believable.

Why does this matter? Why do we need to believe it?

Romans 6:4–7 ESV

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.

There is so much in this passage, but time will not allow me to get to all of it. So in this clip I just want you to see one thing.

The resurrection is God’s receipt for the purchase of your salvation.

Jesus raised from the dead proves that sin has been paid for. If he took on all of our sin, the punishment for sin is death — eternal. You die and stay dead. Jesus didn’t. He paid it all. There is nothing left to be paid.

Jesus’s resurrection is a foretaste of what will happen to us one day. One day we will be saved from this body of decay, but until then, we can place our faith and hope in the fact that we have been saved from sin.

Sin’s promise of death is gone for the believer. Sin’s slavery keeping us stuck in sin chasing things that will never satisfy—that’s gone too. We just have to believe it and accept it and live in it.

Romans 6:8–11 ESV

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

In Christ, you are freed from sin so that you can follow Him.

You’re dead to sin. It’s dead. It only has whatever power and permission that you give it.

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave is the same power that lives in you to give you victory over sin. We just have to remember that in the moments of temptation.

Your sin is what sent Jesus to the cross. Bear that in mind. He died to free you from that. That’s how bad it is. So be dead to it and live for Him.

Your next step…

Believe the resurrection and surrender yourself to follow Christ.

Remember your freedom in Christ.

Take heart in the undeniable proof of the resurrection.

Tell others what Jesus has done.