2022 Easter

Who would die for a lie?

We all place our faith in something.

Growing up in America if you would have asked me as in my youth do you believe in the resurrection I would have said yes. Why because that is what I thought Americans do. We went to church enough to know about the resurrection and I guess it was true. I was not passionate about this belief and had not really done a deep dive on it, but in a non passionate kind of way I would have told you yes I believe Jesus rose from the grave.

Then I go to college and I am presented with the claims of Christ in a fresh way. I am challenged with the thought that Christianity is not about a religion but about a relationship with a living God. As an 18 year old freshman my idea of Christianity got flipped upside down.

It was there that I understood the seriousness of my sin and how it kept me from God and that Jesus died on the cross for me. I could not earn a relationship with God I could only accept his his son because of his death on the cross. As a 18 year old I cried out to God and asked him for his gift in my dorm room. I placed my faith in Jesus.

What are you beliefs on the resurrection?

Has it changed your life?

Christianity does not exist without the resurrection.

I do not grow up in a family that acknowledges Christianity if there was no claim on the resurrection.

I do not have this encounter in college if there is no resurrection.

We are not all here celebrating today and about to go have a big lunch and that does not happen if there is no resurrection.

THE RESURRECTION WAS THE GAME CHANGER.

At the end of the day we all put our faith in something.

But their is a lot of evidence that points to Christianity.

We can have as a man from the past said, “Faith Seeking Understanding.”

Today I want to give us one more piece of evidence about the resurrection.

The fact that the men who were closest to Jesus ended up giving their lives for Jesus and dying in the same way their master did is a great evidence that the resurrection is true.

Let me read this then we will jump into the main portion of our talk:

I can trust the apostles’ testimonies because eleven of those men died martyrs’ deaths because they stood solid for two truths: Christ’s deity and his resurrection. These men were tortured and flogged, and most finally suffered death by some of the cruelest methods then known:1

McDowell, Josh D.; Sean McDowell. More Than a Carpenter . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Today I want us to see that these men did not die for a lie!

The resurrection affirms our faith because:

1. We have eyewitnesses.

How do we know that Napoleon was a real person?

There were witnesses who wrote history about it.

There were many witnesses when Jesus came to the earth.

I want you to picture these men on a stand. Picturing a Few Good Men.

Peter’s testimony: He is THE KING

There are a lot of kings who have lived, but only one who is supreme out of all of them.

2 Peter 1:16 NASB95

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

Jesus had 12 disciples on earth. Can you imagine being one out of 12 of his disciples. In this 12, three of them were in his inner circle, Peter, James and John.

And there was this story called the transfiguration: Explain-Moses [The Law], Elijah [The Prophets] and Jesus. They were there with all of them and Jesus was the one who stood out. They literally while they were on earth saw Jesus in all his glory-that’s why it says HIS MAJESTY.

As Peter tells us here, he was an eyewitness. What is amazing he wasn’t just an eyewitness for a couple of events, he was around Jesus for three years. He did life on life with this man.

Peter believes he defeated death and that he is coming back again.

John’s Testimony: The message is worth proclaiming!

1 John 1:3 NASB95

what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus was not some secret Messiah, all who lived around him

Seen-

Heard-

This wasn’t just some fun sports talk debate on who the greatest team or player was this was worth proclaiming. Magic was the greatest winner, he could play all five positions, as fun as these arguments are too make, they have no lasting value. They are very fun. But this news about what Jesus did is life shattering and it is worth proclaiming. John came to the conclusion that this is so true and so life changing that this is worth proclaiming to anyone and everyone. This message affects your life right here and right now and it affects your eternity if you will literally spend life in heaven or hell. Magic’s life is great, but it is not life changing, it is not life or death, the people in the war in Ukraine right now don’t need Magic they need to hear about the love of Jesus, and so do you and I.

Luke’s Testimony: The Facts support it. [Intellect]

Luke wrote most of the New testament. Only two books, The Gospel of Luke and Acts. He was a historian, but he was also a Doctor.

So picture writing a thorough history book!

Luke 1:1–3 NASB95

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;

Investigated! He tried to do the facts right and then he came up with a conclusion.

Acts is the continuation, it is how the church started it is 28 chapters long.

Acts 1:1–3 NASB95

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Here is there testimony!

After all the facts it is worth believing.

Airplane ride to India, we had to go through Europe. I was in a discussion with a lady and when she heard that I believed the Bible she started laughing. But what do you believe. Her source ended up being herself.

What do you think about these witnesses?

The Resurrection affirms our faith because:

2. These eyewitnesses had to be convinced.

Jesus followers were not blind radicals

They had to be convinced:

Mark 14:50 NASB95

And they all left Him and fled.

At Jesus greatest moment all his disciples fled except one: John and of Course his mother was there as well.

Then Jesus rose but remember his disciples were not there.

Notice the woman did not flee and they told the disciples he rose. Now just think about this, he rose from the dead. Could you picture being at someone’s funeral and they just got out of the grave.

I think we need to be careful to realize what a great claim this is, Jesus is claiming to have the power to defeat death once and for all.

Now here is what these key ladies told Jesus, Luke 24:10 “Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.”

Here is how they initially responded to the report of Jesus’ resurrection:

Luke 24:11 NASB95

But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.

There have been blind followers at time in history:

Until the September 11th attacks, the tragedy in Jonestown on November 18th, 1978 represented the largest number of American civilian casualties in a single non-natural event. It is unfathomable now, as it was then, that more than 900 Americans – members of a San Francisco-based religious group called the Peoples Temple – died after drinking poison at the urging of their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, in a secluded South American jungle settlement. Photographs taken after the carnage forever document the sheer enormity of the event: the bodies of hundreds of people, including children, lying face down in the grass. Nearly 40 years later, the infamous and horrific event continues to fascinate us through numerous books, articles and documentaries.

There have been cults were followers blindly died fora lie. These were not Jesus followers they had to be convinced. They were real people at time bold, had major flaws, fought with each other, they were you and they were me.

Exhibit #1: Doubting Thomas

How would you like to have your story in the Bible and you are known as doubting Thomas:

Maybe the greatest thing we can do according to the Bible is believe in God and you are

Thomas was actually called Doubting Thomas.

Doubting Thomas

John 20:24–29 NASB95

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 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.” 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.” 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.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Thomas was blessed for believing in Jesus, but it says if you or I believe in him we are blessed!

Exhibit #2-James: Convincing Family

Even if we have a sibling who is wildly successful we know everything about them.

Here is how Jesus brothers looked at him when he was younger.

There goes Jesus again, teaching in the temple.

There goes Jesus again never getting timeout.

Would it not be frustrating if Jesus was your brother.

Family knows us best and are at times are biggest skeptics. Could you picture James talking to Jesus growing up. Stop going to the temple Jesus with all those strange teaching of yours.

Stop telling people you are the way and the truth and the life. You make us look strange.

John 7:5 NASB95

For not even His brothers were believing in Him.

The one’s who knew him best disbelieved that he was who he said he was.

James would later become a key leader in the Jerusalem church, but at first he did not even believe in Jesus.

If anyone could have been a skeptic it would be James.

How in the world did James go from not believing his brother to saying

James actually wrote one of the books of the Bible, here is how it starts off:

James 1:1 NASB95

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

James literally went from saying I don’t believe in you to saying I am your slave.

Why did this happen.

1 Corinthians 15:7 NASB95

then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;

Jesus after he died literally appeared to him.

Something worth mentioning is that the Romans were experts on death, if they crucified you, they made sure you were dead.

JP Moreland tells us:

The gospels tell us Jesus’ family, including James, were embarrassed by what he was claiming to be. They didn’t believe in him; they confronted him. In ancient Judaism it was highly embarrassing for a rabbi’s family not to accept him. Therefore, the gospel writers would have no motive for fabricating this skepticism if it weren’t true. Later the historian Josephus tells us that James, the brother of Jesus, who was the leader of the Jerusalem church, was stoned to death because of his belief in his brother. Why did James’s life change? Paul tells us: the resurrected Jesus appeared to him. There’s no other explanation.

McDowell, Josh D.; Sean McDowell. More Than a Carpenter . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

The resurrection changes everything.

Has the resurrection changed your life?

The Resurrection affirms our faith because:

3. The eyewitnesses became courageous.

Remember from earlier all the disciples fled. They were scared and they did not believe.

Michael Green, a senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University, observes that the Resurrection was the belief that turned heartbroken followers of a crucified rabbi into the courageous witnesses and martyrs of the early church. This was the one belief that separated the followers of Jesus from the Jews and turned them into the community of the resurrection. You could imprison them, flog them, kill them, but you could not make them deny their conviction that “on the third day he rose again.”6

McDowell, Josh D.; Sean McDowell. More Than a Carpenter . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Peter-Went from fearful to fearless

Peter was the guy who talked a big game. Jesus I will never desert you. No Peter you will deny me three times.

Remember the story of Peter, I will never disown you. Jesus is like yes you will. He ended up denying him 3x’s.

1 Corinthians 15:7 NASB95

then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;

Look how Peter started living for God!

Acts 5:40–42 NASB95

They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Here is how Peter died-

They were going to crucify him and he said do it upside down because I am not worthy to die like my master.

his followers were discouraged and depressed. They no longer had confidence that Jesus had been sent by God, because they believed anyone crucified was accursed by God. They also had been taught that God would not let his Messiah suffer death. So they dispersed. The Jesus movement was all but stopped in its tracks. Then, after a short period of time, we see them abandoning their occupations, regathering, and committing committing themselves to spreading a very specific message—that Jesus Christ was the Messiah of God who died on the cross, returned to life, and was seen alive by them. And they were willing to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming this, without any payoff from a human point of view. It’s not as though there were a mansion awaiting them on the Mediterranean. They faced a life of hardship. They often went without food, slept exposed to the elements, were ridiculed, beaten, imprisoned. And finally, most of them were executed in torturous ways. For what? For good intentions? No, because they were convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had seen Jesus Christ alive from the dead. What you can’t explain is how this particular group of men came up with this particular belief without having had an experience of the resurrected Christ. There’s no other adequate explanation.8

McDowell, Josh D.; Sean McDowell. More Than a Carpenter . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Crucifixion was the worst way to go and many of his followers followed him in this.

1. Peter, originally called Simon, was crucified. 2. Andrew was crucified. 3. James, son of Zebedee, was killed by the sword. 4. John, son of Zebedee, died a natural death. 5. Philip was crucified. 6. Bartholomew was crucified. 7. Thomas was killed by a spear. 8. Matthew was killed by the sword. 9. James, son of Alphaeus, was crucified. 10. Thaddaeus was killed by arrows. 11. Simon, the zealot, was crucified.

McDowell, Josh D.; Sean McDowell. More Than a Carpenter . Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Conclusion

Today we celebrate the risen Jesus.

Whether you have already began a relationship with God or not I hope today you leave more in awe of a God who defeated death once and for all.

If you are here today and you have believed in Jesus before but never began a relationship with him, I would say this.

The good news of the gospel is really good news.

The Bible tells us that man is sinful and it does not matter if you are a big sinner or a small sinner, the Bible teaches that, Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

But even in our sin God loved us, John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Because of the resurrection the good news gets even better, it tells us that if we will ploce our faith in Jesus we can have our sins forgiven, have a relationship with God and live with him forever in Heaven.

Heads bowed and eyes closed.