The Resurrection and Why It Matters

8/6/2019 The Resurrection and Why It Matters

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The Evidence for the Resurrection

The Gospel Record; Pauls creed; Eyewitness Accounts (1 Cor. 15)- The first

piece of evidence for us to consider is the Gospel records. Modern scholarship

gives us a great deal of confidence to declare that the gospels we have today at

least started to be written within forty years of Jesus death; somewhere around

the time of A.D. 65-70. All of the gospels agree that Jesus rose from the dead. To

be certain, they emphasize different details, but essentially all of them agree on a

few things: 1. They all agree that Jesus was crucified. 2. They all agree that he

was laid in a tomb. 3. They all agree that when the disciples went to check on him

on the third day the tomb was empty. 4. They all report eyewitness sightings of

the resurrected Christ.

One of the reasons we can trust the gospels account of the gigantic claim of the

cosmic death and resurrection of Jesus is because they are so accurate on

everything else they talk about. Norman Geisler says this about the gospel of

Luke: In citing thirty two countries, fifty-four cities, nine islands, and several

rulers, Luke never made a mistake.1 If Luke is this meticulously accurate about

recounting unimportant details like the names of cities, than why wouldnt we

trust him to give us accurate information about important things such as, I dont

know, a man raising from death? After all, Luke did say at the beginning of his

gospel that his purpose in writing was to get eyewitness accounts of everything

that people claimed that Jesus did for them.2 Along with this we must mention

that far more than any writing from antiquity, we have somewhere around the

1 Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ronald M. When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences. Baker,

Grand Rapids, MI. 1990. pg. 1032 English Standard Version. Luke 1.


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number of 5,366 New Testament manuscripts to compare and contrast that were

written within a few hundred years of the events recorded; we even have some

copies that date to within seventy years of when the originals were written. To

give you an idea of what this means: When we compare this to any other ancient

writing from around the same time, we have about 10 times more manuscripts to

go on.3

However, there is, in my view, even stronger eyewitness evidence than this in the

New Testament: This being due to the fact that most of the letters in the New

Testament were actually written before the gospels. For example, we know that

Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthian church no later than twenty years after

Jesus death on the cross. In 1 Corinthians 15 we have a record of a creed from

the ancient Church that Paul writes down for us that gives even more evidence.

He writes,

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was

buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the

Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.Then

he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom

are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Most scholars today (secular and religious) agree that Paul was quoting from a

very early creedal expression within the Church. This is important because that

shows us that even before all the details were codified within the New Testament,

the early Church firmly believed in the resurrection tradition. The implications of

3 Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ronald, M. Pg. 159.


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this particular quote are staggering: Paul writes in a public document no later than

twenty years after Jesus has died that he appeared to over 500 people in his

resurrected body. And this was done at different locations and different times.

Some have tried to suppose, (including many serious scholars4), that Jesus

disciples hallucinated seeing him. However, the reality is we have no record of a

mass hallucination all at one time in the history of the world, let alone multiple

times where people hallucinated seeing Jesus risen from the dead. Paul is so

certain about what he is saying that he can point to over 500 different people and

say to the skeptic, Go ahead ask them, theyll tell you. If this is some elaborate

hoax or some sort of mass deception, most assuredly we would hear of defectors,

who once claimed to see the risen Jesus, now denying it for comforts sake. There

is no record of this happening. So faith in the resurrection is not based on some

kind of myth, but rather on multiple eyewitness accounts.

Woman eyewitnesses- Going along with this talk about eyewitnesses, the second

piece of evidence that we can point to that validates the claim of resurrection is

who the gospels say actually discovered the empty tomb of Jesus. The gospels tell

us that it was women who discovered the tomb empty on the third day. Some

people might try and say that the resurrection was just a conspiracy or a cover up

hatched by his disciples. This detail about women discovering the tomb stamps

that out. Philip Yancey writes,

According to all four Gospels, women were the first witnesses of the

resurrection, a fact that no conspirator in the first century would have

invented. Jewish courts did not even accept the testimony of female

4 Borg, Marcus.Debate between William Lane Craig and Marcus Borg.


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witnesses. A deliberate cover-up would have put Peter or John, or better

yet, Nicodemus in the spotlight, not built its case around reports from

women. Since the Gospels were written several decades after the events,

the authors had plenty of time to straighten out such an anomaly-unless, of

course, they were not concocting a legend but recording the plain facts.5

N.T. Wright argues that there must have been enormous pressure on the early

proclaimers of the Christian message to remove the women from the accounts.

They felt they could not do so- the records were too well known.6 Today it

would be no problem for us to believe the testimony of women, but back then it

was unthinkable that if someone was trying to sell a story about a man being

raised from the dead that they would use women to be the first eye-witnesses.

The Secular Historians Witness- The third piece of evidence we have comes

from secular historians of the time that actually record things about Jesus and his

followers. Josephus a first century historian mentions Jesus by name; Tacitus a

Roman historian mentions Jesus and the Christians; Pliny the Younger early in the

second century, mentions Christians and their practices; The Jewish Talmud does

mention that Jesus was crucified for what they considered blasphemy and sorcery.

Over and over again, non-Christian writings from the time mention Jesus, his

death and his resurrection.

The Originality of the Resurrection idea- The fourth piece of evidence for the

Resurrection is that the event itself was not something that anybody believed in at

the time. Tim Keller points out in his book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age

5 Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI. 1995. Pg. 2126 Keller, Tim. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Dutton. New York, New York. 2008.

pg. 205.


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of Skepticism, that contrary to what we might think (that people believed that

individuals raised from the dead all of the time), there was essentially no belief at

the time of a single person being risen from the dead. He points out that in the

Greek world the people believed that the body (or matter) was evil and that the

spirit was good. There was no way that spirit would come back to inhabit body in

a Greeks mind. While the Jewish belief was that there would be a resurrection of

the body, but that the resurrection would take place at the end of time and it

would be in mass. This surely wasnt the end of time, so it would have made no

sense for a Jew to make up a story about the resurrection of a single person unless

it were true.7This is why when Jesus proclaims to Martha in John 11 that her

brother Lazarus will rise from the dead, her first response is, I know that he will

rise again in the resurrection on the last day. She is thinking in the typical

categories of a Jewish person at the time: At the end of days, there will be a mass

resurrection of people. But of course we know Jesus said to her, I am the

resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

The birth and rapid expansion of the church- The fifth piece of evidence that

shows Jesus really rose from the dead is the birth of the Church. How in the world

can one account for the birth of the church apart from the resurrection of Christ?

From all accounts all we have is a group of scared people hanging out waiting for

the authorities to come get them. They dont seem to get much that their Rabbi,

Jesus has taught them while teaching during His earthly ministry. And then

literally seemingly out of nowhere this group of people, his disciples begin this

7 Ibid. pg. 210-212


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thing called the Church that they base on His resurrection. Within fifty years there

are churches all over the Roman Empire that worship Jesus (a man) as Lord

(something absolutely unthinkable to any Jewish mind previously), have changed

the Sabbath day to Sunday and no longer are practicing the old Jewish ceremonial

rites. Now they have new rites such as baptism and communion. How do we

account for that, especially in light of the fifth piece of evidence which is the

martyrdom of the Church.

The martyrdom of the Church- If the original twelve disciples knew that their

story about Jesus resurrection wasnt true, than why were they willing to die for

it? Heres what I mean: Many people have died for various causes, but they all

thought their cause was right and true. If the disciples knew that Jesus didnt raise

from the dead, than ask yourself how it is possible that all of them except for John

ended up going to their death in the most excruciating ways for their belief that

He raised from the dead. If it wasnt true than how did each one of them hold up

under intense pain and torture, unless of course it were really true that He did rise

from the dead. People will die for a cause they think is true but may not be, but

people dont die for a cause they know is false.

The experience of billions and billions of people throughout the world that have

experienced His resurrection- The final argument isnt an argument from history

as much as it is an argument from experience. I would never present this

argument alone or without the other pieces of the argument, but nonetheless I

believe it is still an evidence for the Resurrection (although not as persuasive).

What are we to do with all of the billions and billions of people throughout


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history that have claimed to meet the resurrected Christ? How do we explain the

change of life that can happen when someone believes in the risen Christ? People

like Saul of Tarsus who was a murderer that hated the church; people like you and

me?

So this is the evidence for the resurrection. But what is the effect of the

resurrection?

The Effect of the Resurrection

It shows us there is a God who cares- Jesus is victorious over death and

therefore God shows us that He cares for mankind. In the story of Lazarus Jesus

shows us his hatred of death as he resuscitates Lazarus back to life, but God

shows us He cares by raising His Son eternally. Romans 5:6-11 says,

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the

ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous personthough

perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die8but God shows

his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more

shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were

enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,

now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than

that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom

we have now received reconciliation. 8

Gives this life meaning: Morton Kelsey, a well known writer who struggled with

depression wrote this about the resurrection in an essay entitled The Business of

8 English Standard Version. Romans 5:6-11.


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Life: As William James pointed out, if we are indeed part and parcel of a

meaningless universe, the kind in which Jesus could be murdered on a cross with

no resurrection, then being depressed only makes good sense. Under these

conditions the sensitive and sensible person will be depressed. I have discovered

only one event in history that redeemed all this evil for me and gave me hope: the

resurrection of Jesus. Allowing the resurrected One to be constantly present, I can

deal with all the evil suffered by Jesus, by my friends, and by me. I can face all

the rape, pillage, war and hatred that I hear about daily, and still have hope. The

resurrection reveals the ultimate nature of the universe, and the risen Christ

continues to give victory over the power of evil. 9

Only if Christ has risen is there any semblance of meaning for mankind. We can

make up meaning and pretend, but if God doesnt rule this world, then everything

we do is in vain! The resurrection, the knowledge that there is an eternal

perspective gives this life meaning, because in the final analysis this place aint

home!

The opportunity for us to have eternal life- The resurrection shows us that it is

possible for us to have eternal life beyond the grave. As Vice President, George

Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She

stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the

soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and

hope: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest.

9 Kelsey, Morton. Quoted in The Book of Jesus. Edited by Calvin Miller. Simon & Schuster. New York,

New York. 1996. Pg. 458


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There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it

all hoped that her husband was wrong.10

It shows the world theyre held accountable to God- Finally, the most relevant

aspect of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for us and the world today is if He rose,

than by all means each one of us is held accountable to Him. It means His word is

validated; it means He deserves our obedience and submission; it means that we

are called to bow down and acknowledge Him as Lord of all. There is no sitting

on the fence if Jesus rose from the grave. There is no halfway Christian; one

either believes that He rose from the dead or they dont. But if one refuses to

accept the evidence presented to them for the truth of the resurrection, then they

must either debunk the evidences, or live with cognitive dissonance. It doesnt

matter what the perceived objections to Christianity are, if Jesus rose from the

dead, than the message has to be true and everyone must turn from their sin and

place their faith in Jesus Christ for their own eternal life!

10 Thomas, Gary. Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.

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The Resurrection and Why It Matters