A woman looked out her kitchen window and saw her German shepherd shaking the life out of the neighbor's pet rabbit. Her relationship with the neighbor was rocky, and she knew this certainly would make matters worse. She snatched a broom from the closet, ran outside, and beat on the dog until he dropped the rabbit. The little critter lay there motionless, covered with dog spit and extremely dead. After a quick glance to make sure no one was watching, she maneuvered the rabbit onto the end of her broom and brought it into the house. She dumped it in the bathtub, turned on the shower and rinsed the body until it was clean. She then got her hair dryer out and blew the rabbit dry. She dug out an old brush from the bottom of a drawer and combed the rabbit's fur until it looked pretty good. When the neighbor wasn't looking, the woman climbed over the fence and propped the rabbit up in its cage so she could never be blamed for its death.
About an hour later she heard terrifying screams coming from the neighbor's yard. She rushed outside, pretending she didn't know what had happened. The neighbor came running to the fence. All the color had drained from her face.
Acting innocent, the woman asked, "What’s wrong? Why are you screaming?"
The neighbor sobbed. Our rabbit died two days ago, "We buried him...and he's back!"
Here is the question we are looking at today. Did Jesus really rise again from the dead? Now this is a very important question because if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead then there is no reason for any of us to be here today. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead none of us have any hope of going to heaven when we die because if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead then he was not the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He was not who he claimed to be. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, he was nothing more than a liar and a lunatic.
1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ did not rise, your faith is futile and your sins have never been forgiven.”
But if Jesus did rise from the dead, if he was who he said he was, if he really was the Son of God, then He deserves our worship. We can trust him with our today and we can trust him with our tomorrow’s.
What evidence do we have that Jesus rose again from the dead?
Evidence 1: The Empty Tomb
History tells us that Jesus was laid to rest in a tomb belonging to a prominent member of the Jewish council named Joseph of Arimathea. The tomb was then sealed with a Roman seal and elite guards were placed around the entrance to the tomb. There was only one way in and one way out of the tomb. Yet on that first Easter morning,
Luke 24:3 says “A contention of His followers went into the tomb but the Lord Jesus’ body was gone.”
If you know the story very well you know that early Sunday morning women came to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body. On their way to the tomb there was an earthquake. When they reached the tomb, the soldiers had all run away. Why did the soldiers run away? The Bible tells us that there were angels who appeared at the tomb and the angels told the women that Jesus has risen again from the dead. In fact, they said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen just as he said.”
What’s really powerful about that account of the discovery of the empty tomb is a very subtle thing but it’s very significant in showing how accurate this account is. This account says that it was women who discovered that the tomb was empty. Why is that important?
Ladies you aren’t going to like this but in the first century a woman’s testimony was considered worthless. Women were not allowed to testify in a court of law. Their word was not considered to have any credibility.
So here’s the implication: If the writers of this account of the resurrection of Jesus were making it up then they would never have said that a woman had discovered the tomb empty. The people of the first century wouldn’t have believed it. They could have said it was one of the disciples that found the empty tomb but they didn’t do that. They simply wrote down what happened.
But the most powerful single fact about Jesus’ tomb is that everybody admitted that it was empty. And I mean everybody. No one said, “You’ve got the wrong tomb!” They said, “You’re right, the tomb is empty.”
The question is how did it get empty? Who took Jesus' body?
The Roman authorities weren’t about to steal the body. They wanted Jesus dead. They crucified Jesus and placed guards over his grave to prove he was dead.The Jewish leaders weren’t about to steal the body. They wanted Jesus to stay dead too. I mean come on they were the ones who told the Roman government to put the elite guard outside the tomb in the first place.
Both the Romans and the Jews could have destroyed Christianity in one afternoon. All they would have to do is put the body of Jesus on display in the marketplace. Just lay it there. It would have destroyed Christianity. Why didn’t they do it? Because there wasn’t a body.
You say well the disciples stole the body. How did they pull that off? How did they get past the elite roman guard and what motive would they have to steal Jesus' body? They had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Why would they lie about Jesus being resurrected and steal the body and then be willing to die for the cause of Christ. That doesn’t make any sense.
Evidence 2: Eyewitness Testimony
1 Corinthians 15:5-7 “Jesus appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. [in other words, they’re still around. Question them if you want.] Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me. [Paul]”
That’s just one report of the resurrected Jesus. In all Jesus appeared a dozen different times over forty days to more than 515 individuals.
He even invited Thomas – the skeptic, the doubter – to put his finger in the nail holes in His hands, put his hand in the spear wound in His side – to see and touch the evidence for himself. What was Thomas’s reaction? The evidence that Jesus had returned from the dead convinced Thomas. And what does history tell us about Thomas? He spent the rest of his life declaring Jesus did return from the dead, that He is the Son of God, even to the point of being put to death for his faith in southern India.
There were 515 eyewitnesses’ minimum of the resurrected Jesus.
I have never seen one trial that presented 515 eyewitnesses. That would be pretty powerful evidence. For instance, if we were to create a courtroom on this stage and use this chair as a witness stand and we would invite up each one of these eyewitnesses who personally encountered Jesus Christ and we would cross examine and question them for just fifteen minutes each without a break around the clock you know how long we’d be sitting here listening to this? We’d be here for 5 days straight.
The question I want to ask is, after sitting here listening to 128 straight hours of eyewitnesses who have personally encountered the resurrected Christ, how many people would be able to walk away saying, “I don’t believe it.”
Evidence 3: The Emergence of the church
Look at what happened to the disciples. After the crucifixion they are dejected, depressed and are in hiding. Our leader has been put to death. That’s it! It’s over! But then history clearly shows that after Jesus rose again from the dead these same people that were once hiding in the darkness are now boldly proclaiming that Jesus has risen again from the dead.
In Acts 2, just a few weeks after the resurrection, Peter stands up, raises his voice and addresses a huge crowd and says,
‘God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses to this fact.’” We saw it. We know it’s true.
Of all the people who’ve ever lived on this planet, the disciples were in a unique position to know for sure that Jesus had risen again from the dead. They’re the ones who talked to Him and touched Him and ate with Him. They knew it wasn’t a hallucination or a trick. They knew it was truth. And knowing it was true they were willing to die for their faith. They didn’t just believe it. They knew it.
And knowing it they went to their death proclaiming it as truth. If they’d been lying, do you think they would have allowed themselves to be tortured to death for a lie? No one knowingly and willingly dies for a lie. Can you think of anybody in history who knowingly and willingly allowed themselves to be tortured to death for something that they know for a fact isn’t true?
The point I want to make is this. Every other founder of every great religion is in their grave right now. Confucius is in his grave. Buddha is in his grave. Mohammed is in his grave. The only one in history who the evidence clearly demonstrates has the power to overcome the grave and the power to rescue you from the grave is Jesus Christ.
So the question I want to ask is basically, “Who are you putting your trust into to rescue you from the grave?”
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though He dies.” John 11:25
The last time I checked one out of every one person dies. Only those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can know for sure where they will go when they die. Jesus conquered sin and death and he tells us in the Bible that if we trust Him with all our life that He will do the same for us.
Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved."
Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with Him.”
Have you opened the door of your heart and asked Jesus to come inside? You can do that right now where you are sitting. Just by praying a simple prayer you can begin your relationship with Jesus. Let’s do this right now with every head bowed and every eye closed.
And if you’re in the room, and you’ve accepted Jesus, but today we’ve discussed something that has moved you to understand deeper who He is and gave you stronger faith, then it should be a good week to start telling your friends, to live unashamed of what we know to be true. Today, let’s share this news of Jesus with those around us.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
