The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
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I love to study history. My family hates it, but one of my favorite channels is the History channel and I love to watch shows about WWII, the Civil War, American History, etc. It’s kind of hard when the popular show at my house is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. But…one of the things I’ve often thought about - maybe I’m just weird - but, how would our world be different if certain historical events never took place? I mean, what if the Civil War never occured, and, do you think the men who fought and died realized the magnitude of what they were wrapped up in? What about going even further back? What about the Gothic war of the 6th century? I mean, come on! Who DOESN’T know about the war between the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy? Who doesn’t wake up every morning and say, “Man, I’m glad the Byzantines won that war!”? Huh? NOBODY!!!
This morning, we’re gathered - just like we do every year - to celebrate an event that took place 2,000 years ago. We believe that 2,000 years ago, a man named Jesus who, by the way, wasn’t just a man but was God, too, was raised from the dead. That’s cool, right? That’s something to celebrate. For many people - and, let’s be honest - some of us in this room this morning, the resurrection of Jesus is something really cool that God did a long time ago and we come to church specifically at Easter to celebrate it…but we have no idea what impact that has on us. OR, maybe we do know there’s an impact but it has something to do with us going to heaven one day.
Set up - we’re going to look briefly, this morning, at the three appearances of the resurrected Jesus on the first Easter...
The resurrection of Jesus is a past event with a present impact.
The resurrection of Jesus is a past event with a present impact.
BEFORE READING, EXPLAIN THERE WERE 3 WOMEN...
Set up - we’re going to look briefly, this morning, at the three appearances of the resurrected Jesus on the first Easter...
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
The Resurrection of Jesus Gives:
The Resurrection of Jesus Gives:
LIFE TO THE SEEKING HEART
CLARITY TO THE SEEKING HEART
These women had been with Jesus for three years. They had heard all that he had said & taught. They heard his own statements of how he would fulfill the Old Testament prophecies and would die and rise again three days later. This was their leader. This is a man that had revolutionized and begun to change the world. In fact, he gave these women meaning and significance that no one else in their culture would give them. Mary Magdalene - 7 demons!!!
Can you imagine their shock when they arrived at the tomb that morning? I mean, just 72 hours before, they had watched Jesus’s lifeless body be taken off the cross, they had helped Joseph of Arimathea bury the body, and watched as the Romans rolled the stone across the entrance of the tomb and seal it! And now, ALL of that is undone! And, the most unexplainable thing - there’s no body! Can you imagine how confusing life had to be? NONE of this made sense!
I LOVE the words of the angel...”Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
The problem of the human heart is that we look for life in dead places.
The problem of the human heart is that we look for life in dead places.
The problem of the human heart is that we look for life in dead places.
The problem of the human heart is that we look for life in dead places.
The problem of the human heart is that we look for life in dead places.
The problem of the human heart is that we look for life in dead places.
Augustine - our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.
You keep filling your life with relationships - one right after the other - maybe even one hookup after the next…You keep filling your life with addiction - whether that be substance abuse, drinking too much, maybe it’s food, maybe it’s spending…You keep trying to climb the ladder of success and money and social importance…Students - finding your identity and purpose in a good education - a rat race of grades and achievements...WHY?
You keep filling your life with relationships - one right after the other - maybe even one hookup after the next…You keep filling your life with addiction - whether that be substance abuse, drinking too much, maybe it’s food, maybe it’s spending…You keep trying to climb the ladder of success and money and social importance…Students - finding your identity and purpose in a good education - a rat race of grades and achievements...WHY?
Maybe you’re seeking life in religion…dead religion.
In John chapter 4, we read about Jesus’s encounter with a woman at a well. This woman, we find out, is full of shame. Why? She had been married five times and was currently living with a new boyfriend. In other words, the teller of this story, John, is insinuating that she was a seeker. She was seeking love, happiness and was looking for it in sex…men. Jesus - never one to really hem-haw around or beat around the bush - speaks right to her heart.
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13-
Explain briefly - the temporariness of happiness.
Only the resurrecting King of Life can give us unending love and joy and peace and forgiveness and LIFE!
The Resurrection of Jesus Gives:
The Resurrection of Jesus Gives:
HOPE TO THE HURTING HEART
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,
And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
Luke 24:13-
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:24-
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
We don’t know know much about these two disciples. We don’t know if they were two of the 12 or if they were part of the larger group of “devoted followers” or “disciples.” That’s not the point. What I want you to see is how these two men were reacting to the death of Jesus. Verse 17 says that “they stood still, looking sad.” And, verse 21 - “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” For these disciples, hope had died on Friday. They had put all of their hope, all of their dreams, all of their life expectations into this man from Nazareth - as they say, “a man who was a prophet might in deed and word before God and all the people.” And now, all of those dreams and hopes were - as far as they knew - sealed behind a stone guarded by a Roman soldier. It was all over. End of story. They were hurting. Crushed hopes. Crushed Dreams. Crushed Expectations.
The wages of sin is DEATH…we are under the curse of death…10 out of every 10 people die. By dying and rising again, Jesus has defeated death. Jesus has ended death. He he crushed sin on the cross and defeated death on Easter morning. Death is not powerful over him and he sets those who are in him free from the curse of death.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-
And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
There was a man whose wife died and as he was driving his children home from the funeral, one of them said, “Daddy, I don’t understand, where did Mommy go? I don’t understand what it means that she died.” The man was trying to figure out how to explain death to his kids when, just then, a truck passed by and cast a shadow over the car. He looked back at the kids and said, “Kids, would you have rather been hit by the truck or hit by the shadow?” Well, of course, they would have rather been hit by the shadow because the shadow doesn’t hurt things. It just darkens things for a moment. Then, in his own wisdom, the man said these words, “Kids, when you die without Christ, you are hit by the truck. When you die with Christ, you are only hit by the shadow. The shadow is all you get.”
The hope that Jesus’s resurrection offers us is the fulfillment of the words of - death is just a valley of shadows. Death is not the end for the believer. In fact, the entire hope of the early church was that - “You can kill us but we will rise again.”
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51-
You know, too, our God specializes in resurrections…maybe you - crushed…hopeless - marriage, etc. He raises the dead.
The Resurrection of Jesus Gives
The Resurrection of Jesus Gives
ASSURANCE TO THE DOUBTING HEART
Resurrection - History’s greatest hoax??? You might be here as a doubter - doubting if this is all real. Doubting if God can love you. Doubting if God can work in your life/situation.
Jesus’ Resurrection was a Physical Resurrection
Jesus’ Resurrection was a Physical Resurrection
And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
There are some skeptics/unbelievers who say that if Jesus did rise from the dead it was purely a spiritual resurrection. There’s no way a man can die and then come back from the dead like that. Well, look at what Luke tells us, here. Also, remember, this is account is written by a doctor - Luke.
They saw his physical attributes - “see” my hands and my feet.
They touched his physical body. “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
He ate. They saw him eat a piece of fish.
Jesus’ Resurrection was the Fulfillment of Prophecy
Jesus’ Resurrection was the Fulfillment of Prophecy
Jesus’ Resurrection was the Fulfillment of Prophecy
Jesus’ Resurrection was the Fulfillment of Prophecy
Luke 24
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Beginning as early as the book of Genesis, prophecies fill the OT concerning the Messiah - where he would be born, the Jewish family line he would be born into, what he would teach, where he would teach, and - more specifically - where he would die and that he would rise from the dead.
Mathematically speaking, the odds of anyone fulfilling this amount of prophecy are staggering. Mathematicians put it this way:
1 person fulfilling 8 prophecies: 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 1 person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power 1 person fulfilling 300+ prophecies: Only Jesus!
He called his own shot! Listen to Jesus…WAAAY before his arrest, crucifixion and resurrection:
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
John 10:
He is who he says he is and can do what he says he can do!
Jesus’ Resurrection is Corroborated by Eyewitness Testimony
Jesus’ Resurrection is Corroborated by Eyewitness Testimony
You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1 Corinthians 15:3-11
In a court of law, the most convincing evidence is eyewitness testimony. Here in , we see Jesus intentionally revealing himself to those who would go and bear witness that he was, in fact, ALIVE. Not just this but listen to Paul in :
1 Corinthians 15:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Paul is writing about 22-23 years after the resurrection. As he wrote this, most of the eyewitnesses would still have been alive. Paul is challenging his readers to corroborate his story with the multitude of witnesses still alive. Why would Paul make a bold claim about the resurrection if there were over 500 people who would deny it?
Think about, too, the change that occured in the lives of those who claimed to witness the resurrected Jesus. Eleven out of the twelve disciples were martyred. Why would each of them die for a lie? One would have broken, right? Think about the massive movement of Jews turning away from the religious system of Judaism, no longer conforming to the Jewish religious laws, and turning to faith in Christ if the resurrection was a scam.
Chuck Colson once served as President Richard Nixon’s “hatchet man” and was found guilty in the Watergate scandal. Colson gave his life to Christ in 1973 and began “Prison Fellowship International.” Whenever Colson was challenged about the truth of Christ’s resurrection, he would respond, “My answer is always that the disciples and 500 others gave eyewitness accounts of seeing Jesus risen from the tomb. But then I’m asked, ‘How do you know they were telling the truth? Maybe they were perpetuating a hoax.” Colson says, “My answer to that comes from an unlikely source: Watergate.” He continues, “Watergate involved a conspiracy perpetuated by the closest aides to the president of the United States - the most powerful men in America, who were intensely loyal to their president. But one of them, John Dean, turned state’s evidence, that is, testified against Nixon, as he put it, ‘to save his own skin’ - and he did so only two weeks after informing the president about what was really going on! The cover-up, the lie, could only be held together for two weeks, and then everybody else jumped ship to save themselves. Now, the fact is that all that those around the president were facing was embarrassment, maybe prison. Nobody’s life was at stake. But what about the disciples? Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings, stoning, execution. Every one of the disciples insisted, to their dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead. Don’t you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did. Men will give their lives for something they believe to be true; they will never give their lives for something they know to be false. The Watergate cover-up reveals the true nature of humanity. Even political zealots at the pinnacle of power will, in the crunch, save their own necks, even at the expense of the ones they profess to serve so loyally. But the apostles could not deny Jesus, because they had seen him face to face, and they knew he had risen from the dead. No, you can take it from an expert in cover-ups - I’ve lived through Watergate - that nothing less than a resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is Lord. Two thousand years later, nothing less than the power of the risen Christ could inspire Christians around the world to remain faithful - despite prison, torture, and death. Jesus is Lord: That’s the thrilling message of Easter. It’s a historic fact, one convincingly established by the evidence - and one you can bet your life upon.”
LAND THE PLANE - IF YOU’RE SEEKING THIS MORNING, ONLY JESUS CAN GIVE YOU LIFE. IF YOU’RE HURTING THIS MORNING, LET JESUS GIVE YOU HOPE. IF YOU’RE DOUBTING THIS MORNING, LET THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST BE ASSURANCE TO YOU THAT HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS AND CAN DO WHAT HE SAYS HE CAN DO!
