The Resurrection

Does it make a difference whether we believe in the true, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ or not? Isn’t is possible that perhaps Jesus’ body wasn’t raised, but that He was raised in a spiritual sense? Wouldn’t that be just as meaningful?
Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at the evidence of what I’ve been rather playfully been calling “crime scenes.” We’ve examined the evidence for the claims in Dan Brown’s book (and new movie) The DaVinci Code and have seen that the church hasn’t been involved in a massive cover-up of the truth, but has faithfully proclaimed the real story of Jesus Christ for millennia. We’ve looked at the discovery of the Gospel of Judas and talked about why we’re not going to modify the Bible to include it. But neither of those was a true crime scene. Today it’s a bit different. Today we truly have a crime scene. There’s a murder, a burial . . . but what about the body? That’s the question we need to answer.
But why ask that question at all? There have been plenty of church leaders over the years, and especially in the past century or so, that have said that the physical resurrection wasn’t important. What was important, they say, is that Jesus conquered death in a spiritual sense. So back to my first question; Does it make a difference whether we believe in the true, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ . . . or not?
One of the great by-products of the last few weeks is that we could see—quite clearly—how important and reliable the Scriptures are. And there is no doubt that the Scriptures consider the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ to be of utmost importance. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:12-17: “12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 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. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
So is a physical—and not just spiritual—resurrection important? You bet your life it is. So let’s get right to the evidence.
For the sake of time and argument, let’s assume just one thing: let’s assume that Jesus did, in fact, die on the cross. Now if we wanted to make a big issue out of it, we could first determine that as a fact, but describing the entire procedure of the crucifixion and all the things that led up to it would take more time and it has the potential to get fairly graphic. So let’s just say that the Roman soldiers were very, very good at what they did, and we are 100% certain that Jesus did truly die on the cross. If that doesn’t seem like good investigative technique then I’d be happy to detail all that information at some later time. But for now we’re going to take His death as a given, okay?
Our first piece of evidence comes from an unlikely source: the Jewish leaders themselves. In all the world there’s nothing quite as satisfying as evidence that comes from a decidedly hostile source, from someone who has a vested interest in keeping your version of the story from coming out. In the Jewish leaders we have that kind of evidence.
Following the account of the resurrection, a few of the guards who had been guarding Jesus’ tomb went to the Jewish leaders and told them what had happened. And Matthew 28:11-15 tells us that the Jewish leaders assembled and conferred with one another, and in the end decided to give a large sum of money to the soldiers with instructions to say that they had fallen asleep and that the Disciples had come and stolen the body. Do you see the evidence they’ve just given us? They have just admitted that the body is missing!
Honestly, now, if the body wasn’t truly missing, why wouldn’t the Jewish leaders simply say, “You guys are insane! The body’s right here!” But by concocting this story of the guards falling asleep and the disciples stealing the body, they actually confirm a key piece of evidence for the resurrection: the fact that there is no body to be found anywhere. This piece of evidence from a hostile source provides us with a sort of back-handed confirmation for the very thing they were trying to disprove.
The second piece of evidence for the resurrection also comes from what seems like a strange place: the fact that the Gospels themselves do not agree on all the details of their accounts of the resurrection.
Dr. Michael Martin of Boston University has this to say about the Gospel accounts: “In Matthew, when Marty Magdalene and the other Mary arrived toward dawn at the tomb there is a rock in front of it, there is a violent earthquake, and an angel descends and rolls back the stone. In Mark, the women arrive at the tomb at sunrise and the stone had been rolled back. In Luke, when the women arrive at early dawn the find the stone had already been rolled back.
“In Matthew, an angel is sitting on the rock outside the tome and in Mark a youth is inside the tomb. In Luke, two men are inside.
“In Matthew the women present at the tomb are Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. In mark, the owmen present at the tomb are the two Marys and Salome. In Luke, Mary Magdalene, marth the mother of James, Joanna, and the other women are present at the tomb.
“In Matthew, the two Marys rush from the tomb in great fear and joy, run to tell the disciples, and meet Jesus on the way. In Mark, they run out of th tomb in fear and say nothing to anyone. In Luke, the women report the story to the disciples who do not believe them and there is no suggestion that they meet Jesus.”
Martin suggests that the apparent discrepancies show that the resurrection accounts are nothing more than made-up stories, that they are little more than legendary myths. But were a historian to study those same accounts he would, in fact, say otherwise.
Let me illustrate this point. What would happen if there were three suspects that a detective was interrogating, and each of these three suspects told the exact same story? The very fact that three different people told the exact same story would raise suspicion, and the detective would naturally conclude that all three of the suspects had gotten together beforehand and made sure they had their stories straight. That’s not reality. In the real world each witness has a slightly different point of view when telling their account of a single event.
The Gospels were told with distinct theological and literary emphasis, so it’s not surprising that they would each have slightly different details that would serve the greater purpose the writer had for his account, but they are remarkably cohesive on the core story, the story that lies underneath the details. Each of them tells the same core story—there was a death, a burial . . . and an empty tomb. For a historian or a detective, the fact that certain insignificant details are slightly different can be accounted for, but the fact that the core story is identical tells us that each Gospel writer is telling the truth. The differences in details are evidence for the resurrection, not against it!
The Gospel accounts of the resurrection point us to a third piece of evidence, and it too, is a strange one. Think of the Gospels, and then answer this question: Who witnessed the resurrection? Not Jesus later appearances . . . but the resurrection itself. The very moment when Jesus raised to life. Who witnessed that?
The answer is, of course, no one. The Gospels don’t mention a single person who saw the body of Jesus come to life, stand up, take of His wrappings, fold them, roll back the stone, amaze the guards, and leave. Now is that any way to tell a story? If the Gospel writers were making up stories to convince people of a resurrection, wouldn’t they have written in some witnesses?
The fact that the Gospels don’t is evidence that they are telling a true story. The Gospels give us an appallingly human account. The people act like normal, flawed human beings. If the stories were merely legends, they’d sound more like legends. The resurrection would occur in a public square with thousands of witnesses. The Apostles would have unwavering faith as they waited for Jesus to rise from the dead, and they would be the first people at the tomb, no doubt waiting eagerly with big “Welcome back!” signs.
But that’s not the way the Gospels read. There are no witnesses to the resurrection event itself; it’s all done before anyone gets there. A group of women—who’s testimony would have been regarded as unreliable and inadmissible in any court of the day—were the first ones to see the empty tomb and to tell others that Jesus had risen. Even the Disciples disbelieve the women’s report of Jesus’ triumphant resurrection . . . it seems to them nothing more than an idle tale as they hide away in a locked room. Anyone who’s had any experience with real people in real situations would say, “Yep . . . that’s exactly they way it really would have been.” The Gospels aren’t legends, they’re not stories like Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill, they have all the hallmarks of truth: real people acting like real people would.
This leads us to the final piece of evidence for today: the enduring testimony of the Disciples. What did they hold to, what did they preach and teach and confess as true for the rest of their lives?
The Disciples preached a crucified and risen Lord. Everywhere they went they proclaimed the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each of them went to their graves with this truth in their heart and on their lips.
Would a man be willing to die for a story he made up? Despite all the evidence we’ve seen so far, if somehow the resurrection was just a story the Disciples made up to carry on the name and teachings of Jesus Christ, would they be willing to suffer and die for the sake of something they knew to be just a product of their own imagination?
Yet the disciples each suffered martyrdom (excepting John). Wouldn’t it be much more likely that, as the crowd descended upon them and the sword pointed at their hearts, that they would say, “Hey now, fellas! Hold on a minute! This weren’t nothin’ . . . just a little joke! No harm, no foul, right, fellas? Buddy?”
Instead, each of them went to their deaths, not once recanting the story of the Resurrection. According to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: Andrew: crucified. Bartholomew: beaten then crucified. James son of Alphaeus—stoned. James son of Zebedee—beheaded. John—exiled to Patmos, died of old age. Judas (not Iscariot): stoned. Matthew: speared to death in Ethiopia. Peter: crucified upside down. Thomas: speared to death in India. Matthias: stoned. Philip: crucified. Simon: crucified.
They never recanted because the resurrection meant something to them; something more than life itself. They realized that this life is quickly passing . . . but eternity waits on the other side. And there is only One who can guarantee eternal life.
Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The evidence of the resurrection points to something more than just one man rising from the dead. Since that one man is Jesus Christ, His resurrection makes ours possible, as well! And not just ours, but for all those who have died in Jesus Christ! Your loved ones who have died in the faith . . . they have received an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. We who are yet alive . . . we are being kept, guarded by God Himself in Christ for the eternal salvation that awaits us.
Death is a reality in our world, but as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, “20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Christ has conquered death through His resurrection, and so in Him we will all be made alive. There is no need to fear death’s door . . . and there is no grieve as those who have no hope. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 “. . . “"Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”