Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

This week is often called “Holy Week” or “Passion Week” as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Have we become numb and apathetic to Jesus’ death and resurrection?

Jesus Died For Our Sins

Ultimately, God sent Jesus to this earth to save us from our sins because of his great love for us…so that we could be in a right relationship with him to worship and enjoy Him forever.

This is why we can call this Friday… GOOD… because through Jesus’ death, our sin was paid for… But, if Jesus just simply died for us and stayed dead… if he did not physically raise from the dead… then his death means NOTHING… and sin and death has won.

Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19

“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

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.”

So, if Jesus has not been raised, as Paul said, we are still in our sin, everything we believe in is a lie, the Bible is not true, there is no hope after death, this life is all that there is, there is no eternal justice.

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, He was a liar, a false prophet, a sham and we are wasting our lives following Him.

BUT…Jesus has in fact risen from the dead!

Paul says a few verses earlier in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

“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.”

I want to provide you with four E’s that give historical evidence that Jesus in fact rose again bodily from the grave.

Also, note that these are four historical facts that every credible historian (Christian and non-Christian) admit to be true.

These points are adapted from the work of Lee Strobel, who was a former atheist who after trying to disprove Christianity, actually came to faith in Jesus after seeing all of the evidence that history gives for Jesus’ resurrection.

How Do We Know Jesus Rose From The Dead?

1. Execution-Death by Crucifixion

There was plenty of time for Jesus to die on the cross.

He had not eaten or slept before his execution, weakened by loss of blood through the most brutal type of flogging, and was pierced in both His wrists and His feet.

He would easily gone into hypovolemic shock due to extreme blood loss.

Roman crucifixions could last 3-4 hours to 3-4 days…but the time period is normally based on how brutal the scourging was previous to the crucifixion.

What happens on the cross:

Apologist William Lane Craig explains that,

"As the victim hangs on the cross, his lung cavity collapses, so that he can no longer exhale.

In order to breathe, he must pull himself up on those nail pierced hands and push with his feet until he can catch a breath.

He cannot remain in this position for long.

So he has to let himself drop back down."

The Romans were master executioners and if the person crucified did not die, the soldiers themselves would be crucified.

The fact that blood and water came from his side when he was pierced confirms that he was physically dead.

2. Empty Tomb-Burial in a known tomb and the empty tomb

Jesus was clearly buried in the tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; John 19:38-42).

No other burial tradition exists as a competitor.

The fact that Joseph of Arimathea was part of the Jewish court that condemned Jesus makes the use of his tomb an unlikely Christian invention.

New Testament Scholar AT Robinson says...

"the burial of Jesus is one of the earliest and best attested facts about Jesus, being attested to in 1 Corinthians 15, in all four Gospels and in the preaching of Acts."

All four gospels report this truth.

Especially Mark, who is known to be the earliest account written in the early 60s AD.

It is also attested in 1 Corinthians 15.

All four gospels made women as the first witnesses…which would be extremely un-credible in that day for a story…this truth makes the resurrection accounts in the gospels so credible for who would create a story and use the most un-credible witnesses?

3 & 4. Early Accounts and Eyewitness Testimony-The Postmortem appearances of Jesus

The New Testament lists twelve separate appearances over a 40 day period.

These were visitations of an embodied person…not a spirit.

The people of that day had no concept of a resurrection without a body…they only knew resurrection to be a bodily resurrection.

The appearance to 500 disciples at one time, who were still alive when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15 in the mid 50's can easily be fact checked by his audience…he even tells them that these witnesses are still alive…so if you do not believe me, go and ask them for yourself, Paul says.

Also, the passage in 1 Corinthians 15 was a creed of the church that was "received and passed on," which means the testimony of the resurrection is very early…dating the original creed for the burial and resurrection of Jesus during the 30's…within a few years after Jesus' death and resurrection.

Just as women were witnesses to the empty tomb, they were also witnesses to Jesus' bodily resurrection.

The Transformation of the Disciples

The disciples were scared and afraid when Jesus was arrested....But then a few days later, they begin proclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead and had the boldness to proclaim this message even in the threat of death.

How could someone that was in their right mind die for something that they knew was a lie?

So, How do you explain these facts if Jesus did not rise physically from the grave?

Stolen Body by the Romans?

Jews?

Disciples?

Swoon Theory?

Hallucination Theory?

What about the discrepancies in the resurrection accounts?

Does this make them not true?

Minor differences in the telling of this story indicate authenticity, not error.

If each account perfectly mirrored the rest, this would likely be a sign of collaboration, not accurate history told from differing (but equally truthful) perspectives.

Ultimately, All four gospels attest to the same key facts that are necessary to say that Jesus rose from the dead.

So What?

I want to provide 4 implications of what Jesus’ death and resurrection mean for our lives that should change the way we think and live today.

Jesus’ death and resurrection proves that He is the Son of God and that everything He said is true.

Jesus’ death and resurrection can strengthen our faith in the midst of doubt.

Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us hope in the midst of persecution, suffering, and death.

The life, death, and resurrection of Christ gives us the power to have have victory over sin today and to be witnesses for Jesus and make disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit.