Witnesses and Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Sunday March 27, 2005
Special: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15:1.
As you all know, today is “Easter” but unknown to many Christians is that the term “Easter” is not found in the Bible but is in fact, pagan in origin.
The New Testament contains no reference to a yearly celebration of the resurrection of Christ, nor does the early church write of its mandatory observance.
The pagan festival Easter coincided with the Jewish Feast of Passover and is Chaldean in origin is derived from the worship of Astarte or Ishtar, the queen of heaven.
The early Church did not commemorate the resurrection of Christ by naming it Easter.
The Catholic Church incorporated the pagan festival of Easter into its doctrine, as it grew larger throughout the Roman Empire.
Nowhere does the Scriptures the observance of a day called Easter but even though this is the case, our Lord and Savior did rise from the dead.
Therefore, I will teach on the resurrection of our Lord and Savior this morning.
The Lord Jesus predicted several times that He would rise from the dead on the 3rd day in fulfillment of the Scriptures (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 26:32; 27:63f. 28:6f; Mark 14:28; Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 18:33; 24:7, 46).
The resurrection of Christ demonstrated to all that He was indeed who He claimed to be, namely, the incarnate Son of God (Rm. 1:1-4) and was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
Ps 16:10, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
Our Lord declared openly that He was the resurrection (John 14:6).
John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”
The resurrection of Christ is an historical fact of history that can be verified by eyewitnesses and evidence.
Witnesses to the resurrection of Christ: (1) Disciples of Christ (Lk. 24:9-11; Acts 1:1-3; 21-22; 2:23-24; 31-32) (2) Roman Guard Protecting the Tomb of Jesus (Mt. 27:62-66; 28:11-15) (3) Enemies of Christ (Mt. 28:11-15; Acts 2).
The first piece of evidence for the resurrection of Christ is that He appeared to many people after His death on the third day and for many days thereafter.
1 Corinthians 15:1, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand.”
1 Corinthians 15:2, “by which, also you are saved, if you hold fast the word, which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
1 Corinthians 15:4, “and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
1 Corinthians 15:5, “and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
1 Corinthians 15:6, “After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 15:7, “then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”
1 Corinthians 15:8, “and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
Another piece of evidence is the large boulder closing the tomb and the Roman seal affixed to it, which prevented the duplicity of the disciples of Jesus and the collusion of the Roman guard (Stone: Mt. 28:1-4; Mk. 16:1-4; Lk. 24:2); Roman Guard (Mt. 27:57-60; 28:11-15; Mk. 15:42-45; Lk. 23:50-52; Jn. 19:38).
The Roman seal affixed to the tomb was meant to prevent anyone trying to move the stone from the tomb’s entrance and if it were broken, those who did so would have incurred the wrath of Roman law.
The next piece of evidence that one must weigh when dealing with the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the grave clothes (John 20:3-9).
John 19:38, “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret {one} for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.”
John 19:39, “Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds {weight}.”
John 19:40, “So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”
John 19:41, “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.”
John 19:42, “Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
John 20:1, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.”
John 20:2, “So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’”
John 20:3, “So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.”
John 20:4, “The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first.”
John 20:5, “and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.”
John 20:6, “And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there.”
John 20:7, “and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.”
John 20:8, “So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.”
John 20:9, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.”
Why upon seeing the grave clothes did John believe that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead?
First of all, because the grave clothes not strewn about the tomb, as they would be if the Roman soldiers or thieves took the body.
Secondly, the grave clothes were in the exact position they were in when Jesus was in the grave clothes.
The Greek indicates that the linen burial clothes that were cemented upon the body of Jesus with the myrrh and aloes, the 100 pounds of spices, were not strewn about the tomb but where the body had been.
There was a gap where the neck of Jesus had lain and that the napkin which had been about His head was not with the linen clothes but apart and wrapped in its own place meaning that they were still done up.
The body had simply withdrawn itself from the grave clothes.
John needed no further information to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.
There is no way possible for any one to take the body of Jesus away in a manner where they simple withdraw His body from the grave clothes!
Disorder of the tomb and its contents would have been sure signs of Roman soldiers or thieves, yet in the tomb of Jesus there was no evidence of this.
John’s description of the position of the linen clothes and the napkin around the head is described in minute detail.
This is something he and Peter would never forget!
The description states that none of the grave clothes were hastily thrown aside as would be the case in a robbery.
The napkin, which had been twisted around the head of Jesus, remained on the elevated slab…this is why John said that the napkin was not lying with the linen wrappings.
This description tells us that the body simply was withdrawn from the grave clothes without disturbing them one iota!
John 20:10, “So the disciples went away again to their own homes.”
John 20:11, “But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb.”
John 20:12, “and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.”
John 20:13, “And they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’”
John 20:14, “When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.”
John 20:15, “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’”
John 20:16, “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means, Teacher).”
John 20:17, “Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
John 20:18, “Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her.’”
John 20:19, “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
John 20:20, “And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”
John 20:21, “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’”
John 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
John 20:24, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.”
John 20:25, “So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’”
John 20:26, “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”
John 20:27, “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’”
John 20:28, “Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
John 20:29, “Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’”
John 20:30, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.”
John 20:31, “but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
The burden of proof rests not upon those who proclaim the resurrection as a historical fact but rather the burden of proof rests upon those who either deny that the tomb was found empty or explain the absence of the Lord’s body by some other rationale.
The proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned.
Remember the enemies of Christ went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the fact that the body of Jesus would not leave the tomb on the 3rd day.
The fact that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb despite the extreme security measures by our Lord’s enemies was indisputable evidence that He had risen.
The last thing that enemies of Christ wanted was to have His body leave that tomb and yet it did!