The Resurrection is Real
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[Luke 24]
Some view the resurrection only in a spiritual way. They don’t believe it really happened as the Bible describes. They don’t deny that his followers had some sort of experience and passed the legends on to each generation but they don’t believe Jesus was actually with his disciples in any real sense.
But I believe the resurrection of Jesus really happened. So let me share some reasons, some of these reasons you may have heard before, but that’s OK. We need to hear them again.
First of all, the text doesn’t give us the option to believe in anything less than a real resurrection.
When Jesus appeared to disciples in Jerusalem he said:
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
Jesus was no ghost. He didn’t just appear in people’s imaginations. They didn’t just feel his presence in their hearts or see him in their dreams. The scripture teaches that the resurrection really happened.
Secondly, it’s very significant that the initial witnesses to the resurrection are all women (1-12).
Luke 24:1–5 (CSB)
On the first day of the week...They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus…Suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground.
Why is this significant? Because in Jesus’ day women had very low status and virtually no credibility. If you wanted to prove your case in court you weren’t even allowed to call women to the witness stand; it wasn’t allowed by the Romans or by the Jews.
So, if you’re making up a story you’d never have women be the initial eye-witnesses. The only reason to have women in the story is if that’s the way it really happened.
Third, there’s the fact that the whole writing style of Luke and the other gospel writers sounds like the testimony of eyewitnesses. In other words they don’t write from the point of view of an all-knowing, omniscient narrator. They write as if they are collecting the facts from various eye-witnesses, which they are.
They include some names, but leave out others. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James are mentioned but not all the women. Some names and details are included and emphasized in some gospel accounts but not in all.
Why? Because these are eye-witness accounts and not a made-up story by a single individual.
Fourth, even more important is the fact that they worship Jesus.
After worshiping him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
This detail may not sound like such a big deal today, we worship Jesus every week, but back then it would have been utterly unthinkable.
See the disciples didn’t start to worship him slowly over time. They worshipped him that very first Sunday and for a Jew that would have been unthinkable.
Remember, Jesus is a man. He has hands and feet, flesh and bones. God’s name was so holy to them that Jews refused to even pronounce it and yet there they are worshipping a man.
So something must have happened for them to be willing to do this. The only explanation is that they saw him die and then three days later they saw him alive.
What does all this mean for us? It means that the resurrection of Jesus isn’t just some spiritual idea to be held alongside other spiritual ideas. It’s a historical fact. The resurrection really happened and that changes everything.
See, facts can be annoying but they can’t be dismissed once they are proven true. Jesus’ resurrection is an absolute, verifiable fact so what are we going to do about it? We have to either have to pretend it didn’t happen (and that’s very foolish) or we have to accept it.
For example, Paul was Jew who was completely repelled by Christianity. He persecuted and even had Christians murdered. His purpose was to wipe out everyone who believed that Jesus was alive. But then on the road to Damasus he saw the resurrected Jesus and was forced to accept the truth and bring his whole life inline with reality.
See we may not like certain parts of the Bible. We might feel it’s too harsh or too soft in places. Maybe we don’t like what it says about sex or money. But if the resurrection is true then we’re going to have to accept the fact that it’s all true.
So accept it or reject it, but don’t pretend to only believe in the parts you like. If the resurrection is true it changes everything. In fact,
The Resurrection is the key to understanding the whole Bible
Ok, so I’ve given you some solid evidence to believe that the resurrection really happened just the way the Bible says it did. Now, I want to explain why the resurrection is the key to understanding the whole Bible.
Again this idea starts with the women when the angels said:
Luke 24:6–8 (CSB)
“He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day?’” And they remembered his words.
By remembering Jesus words about the resurrection the women were able to start understanding everything else. The key to understanding the crucifixion and why the tomb is empty is the resurrection. Without the resurrection nothing makes sense.
And on the road to Emmaus Jesus said essentially the same thing to the disciples.
Actually what Jesus said I find ‘kinda funny; it’s like Jesus is teasing them a little. So Jesus is walking beside them but they don’t recognize him.
Luke 24:17–19 (CSB)
Then he asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged. The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked them.
That’s a funny thing for Jesus to say. I bet they had a good laugh over that for years to come.
Anyway, the disciples continue to explain the everything to Jesus, as if he didn’t know, how Jesus had been crucified and how they were hoping he would be the one to redeem Israel, and how there these women who said they saw him, and these angels, and...
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.
See, the resurrection when connected with the cross, makes understanding the whole Bible possible.
Now, imagine being a Jew who was looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. You’ve heard about Jesus and he seems to fit the Old Testament descriptions. You’ve seen him do miracles and you’ve heard him preach like no one else. But then you see him dying on a cross.
You’d be crushed and nothing would make sense to you. Forgiveness of sin? How’s that possible? He’s dead!
And not only that but crucifixion was the most dishonorable of all deaths. It was only used on the worst of the worst. Deuteronomy says “Cursed is he who is hung on a tree” and even Jesus asked aloud “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
So if you’re a Jew, then all of this is going to leave you very confused if you don’t have the context of the resurrection.
But with the resurrection the whole Bible starts to make sense. The passages about a suffering servant all start to make sense. You start to understand the sacrificial system, the promise made to Abraham, the temple, and all prophetic writings. You realize that they all point to Jesus!
So all of a sudden the disciples started to realize that the whole Bible is about a Messiah coming in weakness to save those who see their own weakness and need for a Savior.
And it’s an amazing revelation.
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Once we understand that the scriptures all point to Jesus we’ll never read the Bible the same way again. It’ll leave our hearts burning within us.
Nancy Guthrie (who some of you will remember from a Bible Study we did a couple years ago) says it’s like watching the move “The Sixth Sense.” The first time we see it we think we understand what’s going on until we get to the end and then we realize we missed so much and have to watch it again. Now, with the new information revealed at the end all the previous scenes take on a completely different meaning.
The Bible is like that. Now that we know the ending, that Jesus is alive, we can’t help but interpret the whole Bible in light of this amazing truth.
The last point I want to make from chapter 24 is that:
The Resurrection demands to be shared
If we know for a fact that Jesus is alive how can we keep it to ourselves? The women who saw the empty tomb and heard the good news from the angels couldn’t.
Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things.
The women had to share it and so does everyone who believes it’s true. The disciples on the way to Emmaus couldn’t keep it to themselves either.
That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together,
They didn’t waste anytime. That very hour the went to tell the others. See, when we know about the resurrection it must be shared. The resurrection is a message of hope for the future that the world needs to hear.
The message of the resurrection gives us hope that there really is an afterlife. When we die we don’t just turn into dust.
The message of the resurrection gives us hope in a tangible, personal, future because Jesus made a point of emphasizing that his resurrected body wasn’t just spiritual. He was touchable and personal, able to have loving relationships with others.
The message of resurrection gives us certainty. Jesus’s resurrection proves that the future of those who trust in him has been secured. Our debt has been paid in full and all that’s left for us to do is believe.
Just before Jesus died on the cross he said “It is finished” but the resurrection puts an exclamation point of certainty on the cross. Without the resurrection Jesus’ words are just words. But the resurrection verifies that all truly has truly been accomplished.
Now, there’s one last thing that the resurrection tells us, and that is our future is going to be unimaginably wonderful.
Every religion has some kind of promise of a better life after we die but none of them compare with what the resurrection teaches us.
The resurrection teaches us that everything good that we’ve ever missed out on is going to be restored.
Never had the body you always wanted? You’re going to get your body back but it will be better than you ever dreamed. Never had the kind of relationships you’ve always wished for? You’re going to have the best relationships imaginable starting with Jesus Christ.
The resurrection means that w’re not going to miss out on anything that’s good. Everything is going to be restored. Our bodies, the world we live in, our relationships, everything!
So for Christian believers, the future is going to unimaginably wonderful. All the other religions of the world offer some kind of state spiritual bliss but no real opportunity to recover all that has been missed out on or lost in this life.
So the message of the Bible is the greatest message of all, and it’s based upon the historical fact of the resurrection.