Anything: Even Death

Intro

In the past I have told you about one of my mentors from Bible school. His name was Bill. Now Bill had been the Residence Director for one of the dorms at Briercrest for years. He had been in charge for so long that some of the stories that would be told about Bill started to take on some legendary status. You know what I’m talking about, stories that had been told and retold so many times you don’t know how much was true and how much had been stretched a bit.

I’ll give you an example. There was a story about how he had an exceptionally difficult student on one of his dorms. Bill had tried everything to get this young man corrected. They had tried work demerits, they tried confining him to his room, taking away his vehicle keys. Bill was starting to run out of ideas, and if he didn’t turn things around soon, this young man was going to be asked to leave the school and not return.

So Bill went to prayer, and asked the age old question, “What would Jesus do?” And that gave Bill an idea! He called the young man into his office, sat him down, and laid it all out for him. If he didn’t turn things around, he was going to get kicked out, and Bill didn’t want to see this happen, but he was running out of ideas. The young man responded as though he could care less.

But Bill did care. So he reach behind him and pull out of his drawer a hammer, much like this one. Of course, this puts the young man on edge. Bill flips the hammer around, gives it to the young man and says, “Punishing you doesn’t seem to help, so what if I got punished for you?” Bill proceeded to put his thumb on desk and invited the young man to hit his thumb with the hammer, asking how many times does he have to be hit before the young man will clean up his act. Of course, the student won’t do it.

So Bill, committed to proving his point, said, “OK,” took the hammer back and crushed his own thumb with the hammer. The student instantly told Bill to stop, and left the office, so moved that he cleaned up his act and proceeded to become quite a positive influence in his dorm and the greater student body.

Now this is the part where I tell you that I was the student, but I wasn’t. I was the freshman hearing this story for the first time in complete awe of what I was hearing.

Question #1: Is it a true story, or does sound like a tall tale to you?

Share in the comment section what you think. True story, or have the details been stretched a bit. As we think about how legit that story may have been, we have all heard those stories right? My fish was this big. I benched this much at my last workout. I saw Bigfoot. Whatever the story may be, there are a few factors that play into the believability of a story.

Which brings us to the Easter story. On Friday, we went through the crucifxion of Christ and all the events that surrounded it. When we talk about the death of Christ, no one questions it. Very few people question whether or not Jesus lived, and if he lived, he probably died. I was reading a doctor, who marvelled at the details the gospel writers recorded. It was details that, as a doctor, made the story more believable from a medical perspective.

But when it comes to the resurrection of Christ, this becomes a stumbling block for many. How can a man that has been dead for three days come back to life?

We’ll be continuing the story according to the gospel of Matthew, but we will also reference a few stories from the other gospels as well.

A little preamble. At the end of Matthew 27, the chief priests remember that Jesus claimed he would rise after 3 days. So they place a stone in front of the entrance. They seal the stone, and they place Roman guards in front of the tomb. They want to be sure the disciples don’t steal the body and claim he is resurrected.

Scripture:

Matthew 28:1–15 ESV

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

So the seal is broken, the stone rolled away, and the body is gone. All that’s left is an angel declaring that Jesus is no longer here, and that the women need to go tell the disciples.

Question #2: Have you ever questioned the resurrection story?

If you have, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re not the first person to question it and you won’t be the last. In fact, I’m a big advocate for people asking the hard questions about our faith. Questions aren’t a sign of weakness, they lead to strength of conviction, and if you’ve ever been told otherwise, I’m sorry. In fact, I encourage you to come and ask me questions. I may not have all the answers, but I will try to find them for you.

So let’s keep a running total of people who have seen Jesus up to this point. So far we’ve got 2 women. The gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus appears to two more disciples as they are walking away from Jerusalem. So now we’re up to 4. Then Jesus appears to the disciples as they are hiding in a locked room, but Thomas is missing, so we’ll bump that number up to 14.

Which brings us to the story of Thomas, and this is a fairly signficant story when it comes to Jesus’s resurrection.

John 20:26–29 ESV

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Now when it comes to faking a resurrection, there are a few things the disciples could have done to pull it off, but the holes in the hands and the hole in the side are hard things to fake. This is signficant as most people would have known he had been crucified, and the hole where the spear punctured his side is a signficant mark of authenticity.

So Thomas brings our numbers up to 15, give or take. Now the problem with the 15 is that 11 of them were the disciples that had spent the last 3 years with, so did they really see him, or are they just trying to honor his prophecy? Two of them are women, which in those days would not have held much weight in regards to a testimony. So now we’re done to 2 guys, and they didn’t even know it was him until they sat down to share a meal late at night. I don’t question the authenticity of the disciples testimony, and I’ll tell you why later, but this is where people start to wonder.

Which brings us to the Apostle Paul. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 ESV

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.

Question the 11 disciples and their testimony all you want. Jesus appeared to 500 other people, and then James, and then Paul, who started his ministry imprisoning and persecuting Christ followers. The testimony of the many is overwhleming; you would have a hard time discrediting the testimony of 500 people, all eye witnesses of Jesus being alive and well.

But even when it comes to testimony of the 11, there is one hard fact that we can’t overlook. Of the 11 disciples who saw the resurrected Christ, only 1 died of old age, and even he died in exile, left on an island to die of old age or starvation, whichever came first. The rest were burned alive, crucified, stoned, speared. They died horrific deaths. If it was all a lie, why would they endure such awful ends. Why wouldn’t they come clean and save themselves the agony? The only logical conclusion is that it wasn’t a lie; it was a truth worth dying for.

Bridge the Gap:

All of that was set up for this one important point. Given the facts and the details, and there are lots more that I wasn’t able to get to, it is undeniable that Jesus came back from the dead. Which means that not only was Jesus willing to do anything to remove the sin from your life and redeem you to a right relationship with God. It means Jesus will overcome any obstacle, even death itself, to ensure you can spend eternity with the God who loves you. The truth is that life doesn’t end when we die; there is an afterlife, and without Jesus death and resurrection, we all would’ve ended up spending eternity separated from God. But because Jesus died and took away our sins, and because Jesus came back to life, the hope and joy of every believer is that one we too will be resurrected into the glory of God. Reunited with our heavenly for eternity in heaven, free from sickness, death, and corruption.

Jesus will overcome any obstacle for you. No addiction is too strong, no relationship is too unhealthy, and no past is too stained that Jesus can not wash it away and make you you new. If Jesus conquered death and came back to life for you, what could blemish on your life could possibly be greater then death? Last I checked, he is the only person in all of history who has successfully pulled off his own resurrection. Where do you need God to breathe new life into? What sin or habit has plagued you for too long and only Jesus can make it right?

Before we go to communion, I want to wrap up something I started. Is the story of Bill true? Did he really smash his thumb for a student? Honestly, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But I know Bill, I know how much he loved his students, and I wouldn’t put anything past him. The fact that there was always a hammer in the drawer of his desk helps too. I also know as crazy as Bill’s love for his dorm was, Jesus love for you is inexpressibly greater.

Communion

We’re going to move into Communion now. Don’t worry Carlyle Campus, we shared the cups with Redvers Campus, no fishy crackers for them this time. But I want you to pause, and allow the Holy Spirit of God, the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead, to illuminate in your heart the areas he wants to make new. Where do you need to healing touch of a loving God? Take a few moments, and we’l take part in communion together.

Why do communion on Easter Sunday? Yes communion is cause us to reflect on Jesus death, but we will only celebrate communion until Christ returns. Well, Jesus can’t return if he didn’t come back to life. Communion is representation of Jesus death, but it naturally points us to his resurrection in practice.

Let’s Pray!