Just The Facts About the Resurrection

INTRO: Most religious faiths maintain some moral expectations; require certain rituals and practices.; and most believe in some supernatural realm. Christianity is the only faith that claims that God became flesh, dwelt among us, was crucified for our sins, was buried, resurrected and now lives in heaven as Savior to those who Trust in Him.

OPEN: Today within the short time we have we will take a look at what is known as the “Minimal Facts” approach. Used by authors like Josh McDowell Evidence Demands a Verdict; John Warwick Montgomery; Jesus’ Resurrection: What Historical Evidence; Lee Strobel The Case For Easter; J Warner Wallace and His ministry Cold Case Christianity and the leading scholar on the resurrection and who introduced the idea of the “Minimal Facts” approach Gary Habermas; The Case For The Resurrection of Jesus . These are facts about the Resurrection that skeptics, athiests and biblical scholars can agree on when it comes to the historical information and writings that they would consider trust worthy.

So lets just look at a few of these Minimal Facts and see if they don’t at least persuade us to say that the claims of Jesus and the writings of the gospels deserve further looking into? “JUST THE FACTS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION”.

Minimal Facts Approach

Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.

He was buried, most likely in a private tomb.

Soon afterward, the disciples were discouraged, bereaved, and despondent, having lost hope.

Jesus’ tomb was found empty very soon after his interment.

The disciples had experiences that they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus.

Due to these experiences, the disciples’ lives were thoroughly transformed, even being willing to die for this belief.

There are actually 12 that Gary Habermas has argued however of these 6 listed I just want to look at 2.

Where Will I get my info?

The Historian’s

Josephus Antiquities 18, Chapter 3 “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, (9) those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; (10) as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

Lucian of Samosata Greek Rhetorician and Pamphleteer who ridiculed superstition and religious practices. In a letter to Cronius said “It was now that he came across the priests and scribes of the 11Christians, in Palestine, and picked up their queer creed. I can tell you, he pretty soon convinced them of his superiority; prophet, elder, ruler of the Synagogue--he was everything at once; expounded their books, commented on them, wrote books himself. They took him for a God, accepted his laws, and declared him their president. The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day,--the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account.

Examples: Tacitus, Roman Historian Annals 15.44, John Dominic Crossan, “Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography” pg.145 says that Jesus was crucified

The Gospel’s

A. They are Reliable

1. They were written early

a. “There are several missing historical events in Acts, including the destruction of the Temple (c. 70AD), the siege of Jerusalem (c. 68-70AD) and the deaths of Paul (64-67AD), Peter (64-67AD) and James (61AD). The absence of these events is reasonable if the Book of Acts was written no later than 60AD” (J Warner Wallace)

b. Luke wrote Acts as well as the gospel Luke which means the Gospel of Luke had to have been written prior to 60 A.D.

c. “1 Timothy 5:18 (written in 63-64AD) he quoted Luke 10:6-7, and in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (written between 53-57AD) he quoted Luke 22:19-20. This means Paul would’ve had access to Luke’s Gospel as early as 53AD.” (J. Warner Wallace)

d. “Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you…” Luke 1:1

2. They are Corroborated

a. Eyewitness claims are corroborated by limited pieces of evidence that verify only portions of the larger scene.

b. Eyewitnesses will have difference in their story but the limited pieces help the investigator verify what is being said to give them a picture of the larger scene.

3. They were not changed over time

a. “The Gospel of John, for example, can be traced from John to his three personal students (Ignatius, Polycarp and Papias) to their personal student (Irenaeus) to his personal student (Hippolytus). These men in the chain of custody wrote their own letters and documents describing what they had been taught by their predecessors. These letters survive to this day and allow us to evaluate whether or not the New Testament narratives have been changed over the years.” (J. Warner Wallace)

b. We have approximately 24,000 fragments of manuscripts. Early fragments: John Ryland manuscript 130 A.D. in Egypt; Bodmer manuscript containing most of John's gospel 150-200 A.D.

4. They are not Biased

a. The New Testament books do not make any one person look better or worse than who they are. As a matter of fact mostly paints them in a less than desirable character.

b. Wallace describes that the 3 motives for any crime are: a.money and greed b. Sexual lust c. Power and none of the gospel writers got rich with their stories, received no power, and it would appear they did not have loads of girlfriends.

Did Jesus Die by Crucifixion?

1. Quran says that he only appeared to die. (Swoon theory) 609-632 AD

2. Some say that a double died in His place while He hid out until after

The Facts: Jesus Did Die (Reasonable)

1. Outside sources attest that He was crucified

2. The Gospels attest to His death by Crucifixion

a. John 19:34 describes that when the Roman soldier pierced His side to see if He was dead, “blood and water” poured out. This is exactly what medicine has shown in a person who has gone into shock or has died through this mean.

b. John 19:38-40 “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. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”

c. One last argument is that this conspiracy goes against everything we know about the character of the man named Jesus of Nazareth, not to mention Roman executioners were professional, and a weakened half dead Messiah is not going to be talking and leading anyone into a new radical movement.

Did The Disciples see Jesus after His Resurrection?

1. One of the most popular arguments is that the Disciples were Hallucinating

The Facts: Jesus Did really Physically Resurrect! (Reasonable)

1. All the Gospel accounts and Paul’s writing attest to a physical experience with Jesus.

John 20:16–17 NASB95

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 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 21:12–14 (NASB95)

12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

Luke 24:40–43 NASB95

40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it before them.

2. A Group hallucination is highly unlikely.

a. Luke 24:13-35 Two men on the Road to Emmaus.

b. 1 Corinthians 15: 4-6 “and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;”

Matthew 28:8–9 NASB95

8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.

CLOSE: If you are here today and you have never placed your trust in Jesus is what we talked about today enough to interest you into looking more into the facts that Christ did die and was resurrected. If this is true this is bigger than ancient aliens. This has eternal ramifications for all of us.

If God came and put on flesh and sacrificed His life, died in our place, took our penalty for sin so that by trusting in Him we can be set free from sin and live forever in relationship with Him then this is the most important endeavor that anyone could ever pursue!

This means that this life is not all there is, we were created for something greater. And if the evidence is true and Jesus is who He said He was and the Gospel writers are correct, then what we believe about Jesus and what we do with the rest of this life determines whether we life in the goodness and wholeness of Christ forever or separated from Him in the second death which the bible doe not describe as sleep but regret and suffering.

LINKS: https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/02/15/the-earliest-new-testament-manuscripts/