00:00:02 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: For more resources to help you in your walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com. This morning, we're going to be looking at a variety of things. We're going to start off our morning by looking at John chapter twenty, and I'm going to be reading the first ten verses in particular John chapter twenty, starting with verse one. But I'll mention to you even as you're turning there this morning, what we're going to be talking about is the fact that the resurrection passes the tests of history. So in addition to looking at what we're going to look at with scripture, there's some additional things I'm going to share with us today, just from a historical standpoint, things from a research standpoint, even the demonstrate that the resurrection passes the test of history. But first let's start with John chapter twenty. And at John chapter twenty, we're going to look at the first ten verses. This is what we read. Says now on the first day the week, Mary Magdalene came and came to the tomb early while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter in the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together. But the other disciple out ran Peter and reached the tomb first, and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, in the face cloth which had been on jesus head not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, where as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. Let's pray, Lord, thank you so much for the privilege to be able to look at your word together today. We're grateful for the fact that here on this resurrection Sunday, that we have the opportunity to just think about the resurrection, what it means, why it's important, how it has value, how it's significant. And Lord, we're grateful that we get to read and account like this from John's Gospel, where you reveal what things were like for the first group of people to discover the resurrection, that it. 00:02:37 Speaker 1: Had actually taken place. 00:02:39 Speaker 2: And so Lord, we're grateful for the fact that now, as we meditate on these things, as we look at these things together today, that we have the privilege to think about them just as this first group of people did. 00:02:49 Speaker 1: We pray that you'd speak to our hearts. 00:02:51 Speaker 2: We pray that you'd speak to our minds, and that ultimately you would draw us close to you as we seek to be men and women after your own heart. We commit ourselves to you now, and we pray this all. 00:03:00 Speaker 1: In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:04 Speaker 2: So a few thoughts about John chapter twenty, even just as we begin this morning. So, John chapter twenty, these first ten verses that we just read together, it's a portion of scripture that I love, and it brings us to a moment that literally shifts human history. And when I say that it shifts human history, I'm saying I'm making the assertion that it shifts the entire course of human history, and I'm going to explain why in just a moment. But here, the events that we see taking place in this portion of scripture begin in the early hours of the. 00:03:32 Speaker 1: Morning, while it's still dark. 00:03:34 Speaker 2: So that's the setting that we're given, that's the picture that we're given. We're told that Mary Magdalen goes to the tomb, and at this point, she's still struggling with grief, she's still struggling with confusion, she's still struggling with a heavy heart. Just days earlier, so this has taking place on Sunday, on Friday, she had watched Jesus die, Jesus being the one she trusted, Jesus being the one that she looked at and she believed he would the messiah, Jesus being the one who was crucified. And now as she approaches the tomb, she notices something unexpected. The stone's been taken away. And these were massive stones. These weren't just small things. These weren't things that one person alone could move. The stone was taken away, and so her first instinct when she sees this, it wasn't what she expected. So her first instinct wasn't hope, it's actually concerned. She runs to Simon Peter and the other disciple. It just says the other disciple where it says this in verse two, it says, so she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple. By the way, that's John, that's the other disciple. He's the one writing this down. And oftentimes when he makes reference to himself, he just talks about himself in the third person. In this gospel, but she runs to these two guys, Peter and John, and she says, they've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've laid him, and she's concerned, and she expresses this to them. And I look at that, and I think, you know, at that reaction, fee that seems familiar in many respects, because I think when something in life is unexpected, when it doesn't initially make sense to us, I think we have a tendency to automatically assume the worst instead of assuming that the best thing possible had happened. Her assumption here initially is something bad must have happened. Why is this open? Why is it you know, what's going on here, So she's assuming the worst. We have the same tendency to do that same sort of thing. We sometimes interpret confusion through a lens of a loss instead of a lens of possibility, and that's. 00:05:34 Speaker 1: What she's very much doing here. 00:05:36 Speaker 2: But if she expresses this to Peter and John, we're told that they immediately run toward the tomb, and you could feel the urgency in their action when you look at what takes place, or you could see that this was something that they You get the impression that they jumped up and then they dart, and we're told here that John outruns Peter and he comes first. Now I want to point that out here. It says both of them were running, but the other disciple out ramps and reached the tomb first. 00:06:01 Speaker 1: When my sons, my two. 00:06:02 Speaker 2: Sons were growing up, this is probably the portion of scripture that they thought was the best. We have these two guys brothers in the Lord, not biologically brothers, but brothers in the Lord. Peter being kind of an outspoken guy, John being a very loving and kind of tender personality, and he's the one writing this gospel down And by the way, when he writes this gospel, down. He's writing it down as a man in his nineties. So when you're in your nineties and you're thinking about the days that you can run fast, that's a good day in your mind. And so he writes it down, and he's like, yeah, you know, Peter, the guy that's kind of the loud mouth among us, I outran him that day, and I want all history to know it. And so he writes it down. He writes it down, I outran Peter. He says it nicer, but we all know what's behind that statement. But they run toward the tomb. You could feel the urgency in this, and John outruns Peter. But he's also honest about what happens when he gets there, because even though he arrives first, what does he do. He hesitates to go in. He's the more timid of the two personalities. So he gets there first, but he doesn't go in. But then Peter quickly arrives right after him. And true to Peter's personality, he was the type of person that would barge right in. 00:07:13 Speaker 1: So he just goes right in. 00:07:16 Speaker 2: He wants to see what's taking place, and we're told that he sees the linen cloths and then the separate face cloth folded and set aside. It's folded and set aside. And so they're looking at this, and they're realizing, Okay, the body isn't there. The tomb is open, the body isn't there, and these cloths are basically there in an orderly way. Nothing suggests deph nothing suggests chaos. 00:07:45 Speaker 1: Something else has happened here. 00:07:48 Speaker 2: And as they're looking at this, and John enters, as he's seeing this now with his own eyes, the text tells us something very very powerful, and I love what it says. 00:07:56 Speaker 1: Look what it says. 00:07:56 Speaker 2: In verse eight, it says, then the other disciple who had reached the two first. 00:08:00 Speaker 1: Has to emphasize that a second time also went in. But then look at what it says, and he saw and what believed. 00:08:10 Speaker 2: And he saw, he saw and believed. At that moment, for John, something begins to click into place in his mind. 00:08:21 Speaker 1: Something clicks. 00:08:23 Speaker 2: He didn't have full understanding of everything he's seeing in this moment. He didn't have full understanding of everything he was witnessing. But John had seen enough to spark genuine belief. He's like, ah, he sees this and he believes. And then verse nine actually goes on to tell us and remind us that they really didn't yet understand the scripture. The scripture specifically that it revealed that the Messiah would rise from the dead. So their understanding is still developing here. But basically, what we have the privilege to do is we look at a portion of scripture like this, even on a day like today where we celebrate the resurrection, We're literally watching their faith grow in real time. You're seeing it develop a piece of a time. John tells this story, and I look at a passage like this, and I think that that's where it feels so highly relatable to me as I watched this account, because I think many of us live somewhere between seeing and fully understanding. And what I mean by that is this, we've encountered Jesus enough to know that he's not like anyone else. We've seen glimpses of his work in our lives. Maybe we've even sensed his presence, maybe he've even noticed aspects of his grace, aspects of his truth. But maybe we still have some questions, maybe we still have some gaps in our understanding. I imagine that it's possible that there are still moments where we're still. 00:09:37 Speaker 1: Trying to piece some of these details together. 00:09:39 Speaker 2: And that's sort of what you see as Peter and John are observing what's taking place. Keep in mind, they had just spent literally face to face three years with Jesus, walking with him, talking with him, serving with him, traveling with him, teaching with him, being given authority by him, hearing him instruct them, and all sorts of things, and yet they were still developing their understanding. Be patient with yourself if you find yourself in that same spot. They had literally just been walking with Jesus for three years. But the scripture here admits John admits in the scripture as the Holy Spirit inspires him to write this down, they didn't fully understand the scripture related to the resurrection. That was still they were blanking on that a little bit. So I look at that and I think, all right, this passage is a passage that gives us permission to be in that I'm still trying to figure this out phase for at least for a little while, although I hope we don't stay there forever. But you're allowed to be there for a little while. Just don't stay there for the rest of your life. But notice what John does. He doesn't have every answer, he doesn't yet grasp the full theological significance of the resurrection, but he does see what's right in front of him, and he believes he's seen enough to believe. His faith begins with what he can observe, even before he fully understands all the rest of the details and how it all fits together. 00:10:53 Speaker 1: He's seen enough to believe. And I look at that, and I think, you. 00:10:56 Speaker 2: Know what, there's value for us in that, especially as we prepare our hearts to begin thinking about the historical reality of the resurrection, And in just a moment, I'm gonna show you why it's a historically reliable fact. I also want to say this Christian faith isn't a blind leap in the dark. I think sometimes people treat it like it might be, but it's not. It's actually rooted in real events, real places, real people, real eyewitness testimony, very very real things. 00:11:25 Speaker 1: The empty tomb that's mentioned in. 00:11:27 Speaker 2: This passage in John chapter twenty, it's not a metaphor. It's not symbolic for something. It was a physical reality that actual people really encountered and actually saw with their own eyes. They saw it, they examined it. They even wrestled in that context with what on earth this meant because they were surprised by it. Peter walks in he sees those linen cloths. John also saw, and he believed. We're told that Mary saw the empty tunes. She goes searching for answers. You have all these people seeing it with their own eyes, and they're trying to piece it all together, and over time all of them would come to understand that Jesus had truly risen from the dead, just as he said he would. 00:12:06 Speaker 1: But when we look at this. 00:12:07 Speaker 2: Portion of scripture, we get to look at it and see the moment where they're first figuring this out. And in a moment we're going to move into some of the evidence and this is going to be fun to look at. But even before we do that, I think it's worth pausing right here, and let's just pause and ask a very personal question. And the personal question I want you to ask is this, what have. 00:12:27 Speaker 1: You seen now? What do I mean by that? What have you seen now? 00:12:32 Speaker 2: Not just intellectually, you know, we're going to talk about some intellectual things, but I just I'm just curious and wrestle with this in your own heart? What have you seen in a personal way, meaning, where have you seen God already at work in your life? Where can you tell that He's been talking to you? Where can you see that He's been orchestrating things in your life that have no earthly explanation other than the hand of God, orchestrating things where he's trying to get your attention. Where have you seen God's face faithfulness already, even if you don't feel like you fully understand it. Where have you already seen it? Where have you noticed his provision where he's meeting needs that you think in the back of your mind there's no other way this need would have been met apart from the divine intervention of God himself. Where have you seen God's grace in your life where He's showing you favor in ways you'd say, I know I don't deserve this. 00:13:21 Speaker 1: God must be being good to me. Well he is. 00:13:25 Speaker 2: Where have you sensed that God actually is real? Where have you sensed that God is present even if you couldn't fully explain it. 00:13:32 Speaker 1: What have you already seen? 00:13:34 Speaker 2: Because I think sometimes that kernel of faith, that initial seed of faith, I think it often begins right there where you start to see the fingerprints of God all throughout the course of your life. And it just kind of begins with maybe like a little bit of an honest observation, where it starts to become hard to deny that God's actually doing something in you and through you and around you. And then you start reflecting on that and you think, I don't really have any other way to explain what I'm starting to see. He must be doing something in my life. And then I think what ends up happening is that our understanding starts to deepen over time, it catches up over time. That's certainly what happened to these disciples, and it's something that I can testify in a personal way has taken place in my life, and it wouldn't surprise me if it's happened in your life as well. But there's something else worth noticing in John chapter twenty. The tomb is empty, but the story isn't chaotic. The tomb's empty, but the story isn't chaotic. Again, you have the linen cloths lying there, you have the face cloth folded. This isn't the scene of a rushed theft. This is something intentional and calm and purposeful, meaning Jesus didn't escape death in a panic. That's not what took place here. What Jesus did was he conquered death with authority. So think about what that means for us. It means death isn't the end. Do you see, death gets conquered here with authority. This isn't a panic, This isn't running from something. He's conquering it with intentionality. Death isn't the end. He shows us. Death isn't the end. He shows us that death isn't something he was afraid of. Also means sin doesn't have the final word. It also means that hope isn't wishful, thinking that when we have hope according to what Scripture describes as hope, that it's grounded in reality. 00:15:32 Speaker 1: It's not just a wish. 00:15:34 Speaker 2: It also means, according to what Scripture reveals to us, that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead isn't something distant, and it isn't something abstract. It's an active thing. It's present, it's available to us. That's something he makes available, his power available to us. Now, in just a moment, we're going to walk through the historical evidence for the resurrection. And I'm going to do my best to present it. I'm kind of excited about presenting it. Greg saw my slides ahead of time. He goes, you have a lot of slides for today. I was like, I know, and I'm going to go through them quickly. I think you don't have anything on the stove. Do you never mind? Junesque, I don't want to know. But here's the thing. As we look at this, we aren't just exploring an idea. What I want to show you is something that's the foundation of our faith. 00:16:32 Speaker 1: The whole faith is based on this. 00:16:34 Speaker 2: Meaning Christianity stands or falls on this moment. Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection. If the tomb is empty because Jesus actually rose from death, then everything he said is true, every promise holds, every claim he made, it's miraculously shown in that moment to be true. But before we analyze, before we build the case, we personally we start where John started. So what we're doing is we're looking, we're considering, and we're allowing what we see to move us toward belief. So do this as I present this information, and I do hope you find it interesting as you engage and as you think through this evidence, don't only approach it as a skeptic, even if you're skeptical, And don't only approach it as a student, even if you're a studious personality. Approach it as someone who is open to what God. 00:17:31 Speaker 1: May be revealing to you. 00:17:34 Speaker 2: Approach it as someone who recognizes that this must be something that God superintended for your ears to hear. Because the tomb being empty isn't just something to study. It's interesting to study, but it's not just something to study. It's something that actually invites a personal response. What does it say John saw and believed? John Sawn believed. So he saw the MP and he believed. And this is what I'm contending. I'm contending that that same invitation reaches us as well, that we can see and believe. Well, let me elaborate. I have a few things. So if the resurrection of Jesus truly happened, I want us to wrestle with what implications does that have for how we understand truth, how we understand hope, how we understand authority in our lives. If it actually happened, it has to have some implications. Now I want to show you a quote that I often use in one of my classes. This is a quote from an author's last name is hasting. Sometimes he says things in a really worthy way, but I actually think he's a theological genius. And he makes a statement when he's looking at Acts, Chapter seventeen, verse thirty one, he says this. He says, in Acts seventeen thirty one, you have the apostle Paul actually speaking of the resurrection. 00:18:48 Speaker 1: He's doing this. 00:18:49 Speaker 2: It's basically like a Ted Talk of the day where he's in front of a whole bunch of thinkers of the day, and he speaks of the resurrection, and he doesn't seek to prove that what he's saying is true, but he just weeks of it. 00:19:01 Speaker 1: You just talked about it. 00:19:02 Speaker 2: Next chapter seventeen, verse thirty one, and Hastings says this. 00:19:05 Speaker 1: You know what I see when I look at this. 00:19:06 Speaker 2: He says, this is important for how the church is to be a witness and how it can influence the culture. The church is a witness to resurrection, says, the church is a witness to resurrection. 00:19:17 Speaker 1: Even you and I living. 00:19:19 Speaker 2: Right now in this era of history where we did not with our own eyes see the empty tomb. We are the witness to resurrection. How so the transforming power that was demonstrated in that resurrection is present in your life if you're united to Christ by faith, and the same kind of testimony that the early Church had, where they had complete confidence that the Resurrection was absolutely historical fact is something that for you and for me is a confidence that we can. 00:19:45 Speaker 1: Possess as well. This is all I want to do. 00:19:50 Speaker 2: I want to use the same historical methods, the exact same historical methods that are used to verify other events in the ancient world, using the same metric, the same metad that we used to prove that Alexander the Great was a world leader and that he conquered lands, the same things that we used to say, all right, Genghis Khan was a real guy and did real things. I want to use the same historical methods that we used to verify other events in the ancient world and apply them to the resurrection to demonstrate that it actually happened. 00:20:19 Speaker 1: So let's start with this. 00:20:21 Speaker 2: I've got seven things I want to give to you, and the first one is this early written accounts. So the four Gospels we just read from the Gospel of John. But the early written accounts include Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are the primary sources for describing the resurrection. That's where we find the most details related to the resurrection. They were written between the year sixty and ninety five AD, but within the lifetime of the eyewitnesses. They were written when the people that are referenced in these passages were still walking around and you could just talk to them, and you could ask them like, did that actually happen? 00:20:55 Speaker 1: He references your name? Did you see that? Did you actually see? That? 00:21:00 Speaker 2: Contained multiple independent perspectives And notice this, and I'll mention this again in a minute, but it included details that in the culture at the time would have been considered embarrassing or counterproductive, including details of women being. 00:21:14 Speaker 1: The first witnesses. 00:21:15 Speaker 2: Now, ladies, I hope you take deep offense to that fact that during the ancient world they didn't respect women the way we do now. But if you live, be grateful you live now, because if you live back then, you weren't even allowed to be a witness in court. And you're like, why, well, because you're a woman. That feels great, doesn't it. But that's how women were treated in that era except by Jesus, except by the Church. The Church treated them differently. The Church showed them respect. Why because they're created in the image of God. And in fact, when you look at what the Book of Genesis says, creation was called good when God had created man and everything else, But it wasn't called very good until He had also created Eve. That's when it was called very good. And here the first witnesses were whom women. So if they were trying to make something up in that culture, you wouldn't say the first people to witness this were women, but the Church would say that, and the Gospel say it. Why does the Gospel say that, because that's what happened, so they include the detail. But that would be considered counterproductive if you're trying to make up a story in that ancient culture. So historians look at this, and by the way, this is an ancient excerp, handwritten, one of the oldest existing copies. Historians often see early multiple sources as strong as a strong indicator something significant happened, because you have multiple people talking about things that could be verified among people that were still living. And historians say, ay, if you've got eyewitness accounts like that that could have been verified by the people at the time. They say, that's a pretty strong indicator that something must have happened something else. When you go into One Corinthians fifteen, and by the way, I would say that in at least half the churches in the world today, that's the chapter that's being preached. It's one of the longest chapters in the New Testament, and it's primarily about the resurrection and the implications of the resurrection. 00:23:09 Speaker 1: So I want to highlight it. 00:23:10 Speaker 2: But there's an early creed in the early verses of First Corinthians fifteen. So one of the most important pieces of evidence comes from that book. And when you look at First Corinthians fifteen, verses three to seven, and I'm going to bring it up here for us in a second. You have Paul, who is an apostle. He quotes a creed and this is something that was being repeated among the early believers. They would repeat it in their worship services, they would repeat it in front of their children, they would commit it to memory. But it was a creed about Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. And most people believe that that creed, that Paul's quoting was formulated within three to five years of the crucifixion, that it just became standard practice for the church to repeat this creed. You know, you've probably been in a context where we say the apostles creed or something like that. Well, in the early Church they would say this. Within three to five years of it taking place. They said, you know this, like, let's just say it, so it's something we can repeat to one another. 00:24:03 Speaker 1: And teach to our children. 00:24:05 Speaker 2: And in that creed and I'll show it to you in a second, it includes claims that Jesus appeared to Peter the twelve and over five hundred people at once. This is an incredibly early thing by ancient historical standards. Look at what the creed says is from one Corinthians fifteen three through seven. So Paul says to them, he says, for so he's saying to the Corinthian church, I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received. And this is where the creed begins. He says, this is. 00:24:31 Speaker 1: What I delivered to you. 00:24:33 Speaker 2: The 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 Decephis. 00:24:41 Speaker 1: That's Peter. Then to the twelve. 00:24:44 Speaker 2: Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. So he's repeating this creed to them, a very early creed that was repeated and accepted among the Church and the people that he's referencing in that creed or that the church reference in that creed, people could talk to hundreds of people that could testify that they had seen these very things. Two phrases worth noticing, though, where he says I delivered to you what I also received, Again that language commonly used for passing along a fixed tradition. He wasn't trying to come up with something new. He's saying, I'm passing on to you what I received, a fixed tradition. In other words, Paul saying, I'm handing on something that was already thoroughly established even before I got it, and now I'm passing it on to you. So it could be something that you think about. So that it's something you could talk about, something you can share to your children, something else. The empty tomb itself provides historical evidence. How so well, all four gospels report that Jesus' tomb was found empty, but some points to consider the burial by Joseph of Aramathea very unlikely to be invented because he was a known member of the council that actually condemned Jesus. Now, the gospels tell us that Joseph did not agree with the idea of condemning Jesus, but he was part of the council that did condemn Jesus. He was a wealthy man, he was a man of influence. He was alive at the time that these things were taking place, obviously, or that they were being talked about after having taken place. And it's very unlikely to be an invented thing because it tells you exactly who took the body and buried the body and supplied the tomb. Joseph of Arimathea. You want to talk to the guy, You could talk to the guy, ask him if Jesus is still in the tomb that he gave him. Also, again, as we already mentioned, the earliest witnesses were women whose testimony carried less legal weight in that culture. 00:26:35 Speaker 1: But here's the other thing. 00:26:36 Speaker 2: Even critics, even the critics, didn't deny that the tomb was empty. They agreed, no, the tomb is absolutely empty. They just tried to explain it away other ways. They said, well, maybe people came and stole the body, or maybe something else happened. But it wasn't denied that the tomb was empty. They're like, oh, no, it's empty. The critics believed it was empty. The believers believed that it was empty, and the guy that owned the tomb was like, no, the tomb's empty. 00:27:00 Speaker 1: It's empty. 00:27:00 Speaker 2: So the empty tomb itself actually provides a valid form of historical evidence. But how about this. Then you have post resurrection appearances. Post resurrection appearances multiple sources report that people claim to see Jesus alive after his death. So you have individual appearances to people like Mary Magdalene and Peter that we just read from John twenty. You have group appearances where Jesus appears in the upper room to the disciples and then also on the shore to the disciples. 00:27:26 Speaker 1: He keeps appearing to them. 00:27:28 Speaker 2: But then you also have large groups of people five hundred people. If somebody told you I looked at the weather forecast today and it said, I guess sometime around lunch it's supposed to rain. So I don't know if by the time we leave here if it's going to be raining. But if one person from the church walks back in and says, hey, just so you know it's raining out there, you know, if you have an umbrella, use it, You'd be like, Okay, they might be right, but maybe I could risk it. 00:27:52 Speaker 1: Maybe it's not bad rain. 00:27:53 Speaker 2: And the next person comes in and they're like, hey, just so you know it's raining out there, if you have an umbrella, maybe you should use it, be like, all right, it's probably raining. You probably wouldn't need more than a second witness. But if a third person came in and said, hey, do you have an umbrella started to run out there, you'd be like, no, I already know, I already heard from a couple other people. Fourth person tells you. Fifth person, now we're at the seventy fifth person that's told you'd be like, I know, I know. It was kind of like that with the five hundred. It's not just one person. It's not just twelve people. You've got five hundred people that saw him all at one time testifying to the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. It becomes a very convincing aspect of historical proof, and even skeptical scholars this is fascinating when I read into this. Even skeptical scholars generally agree that the disciples absolutely believed that they had seen the risen Jesus. So the key question is what explains that belief. They absolutely believed it. Hundreds of people believed that they had seen him with their own eyes, and so the even skeptical scholars are saying, well, they absolutely believed it. Why did they absolutely believe it? Well, how about this? You also have transformation of the disciples, because before the resurrection, the disciples are fearful and scattered. What did they do. There's only one of them that's listed as being at the crucifixion of Jesus, John is listed as being there. The rest seem like they're fearful that they're going to get executed too. And then we know that they're hiding in a room with the door locked when Jesus appears to them because they're fearful that they're gonna get killed. But you know what happens when someone who's defeated death shows up, You start getting courage, especially when it's someone you know and you love and you realize, oh wait, so death really has no more power over me. Nope, the body that you're currently inhabiting that wears out. The older you get, the less you find yourself able to run John. The older you get, the more you feel every injury that you got since you were aged twenty five. By the way, if you're under twenty five, you're great. If you're older than twenty five, every injury you ever get, you're gonna feel for the rest of your life. I hope you enjoy it. It's like you're a walking history lesson of your life. Ask me about this hip shoulder. Sometimes I have a great skiing story for you all. Anyway, I'm okay with getting a brand new body. And you have the Disciples. What are they saying? They're basically saying, you know what, we're afraid of them. Why were we afraid of them taking this one? We now know the very author of life who's told us we're getting a brand new one, and we've seen him resurrected in his glorified body. I'm not afraid of death anymore. Can you imagine being the disciples looking at each other. 00:30:25 Speaker 1: Like, we literally have nothing to be afraid of. 00:30:28 Speaker 2: And so they go from being fearful and scattered to now boldly proclaiming the resurrection. But notice where they start boldly proclaiming the resurrection in Jerusalem, the very town where Jesus had been executed. What does that tell you about what took place inside these men? They were hiding from people in Jerusalem because they had just seen them kill their leader. 00:30:52 Speaker 1: But then he shows up. 00:30:53 Speaker 2: Again, very well, very alive, very fine, and they're like, you know what, this doesn't bother us anymore, And they start preaching in the same town, in the same city, right where Jesus had been executed. They start preaching, and many of them suffered persecution and death for that belief. The early believers certainly did. And I'll tell you what, people may die for what they think is true. But some people said, no, no, no, the Disciples stole the body. It was a hoax. They were all pretending. They all agreed. I'll tell you what if this was a hoax and they knew it was a hoax, Do you really think that they would have suffered and died like they did. They've gone to the ends of the earth to perpetuate a hoax. What do you know about human nature? Does that make any sense to you that they would all be willing to do that. Wouldn't you think the two or three would give up on the story or maybe like crack a little bit if it meant the loss of their life course, they would. But that's not what happened. They're like, no, it's absolutely true. What do you want us to say, Like, it absolutely happened. Why would they suffer for something they knew was false? The truth is they wouldn't. Then you also see the conversion of skeptics. And there's two key figures that oftentimes are worth honing in on. 00:32:07 Speaker 1: You have James. 00:32:08 Speaker 2: He's referenced in scripture as the half brother of Jesus, meaning Jesus being conceived through the Holy Spirit and Mary. Well after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had children, James being one of them, and the Gospels tell us that James, during the course of Christ's earthly ministry, didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah. He didn't believe that Jesus was God come in the flesh. In fact, he even kind of teased him a little bit about it at the feast of Tabernacles. He's like, why don't you go out and draw a crowd unto yourself, teach people, do some miracles, get some attention to yourself. Go out there and get known. If you want to be the man, go out there and get known. But then after the resurrection, what happens. James is like, he is who he says he is. Oh boy, hey, sorry about the other stuff I said. And he spends the rest of his life worshiping him, and he becomes a very influential leader known for great wisdom in Jerusalem. And because he would not deny Christ, he was thrown off the top of the temple by those who hated Christ, and he didn't die from that, so they beat him with clubs until he was dead because he wouldn't deny Christ. And then you have Paul, who initially hated the Church and hated Jesus, and he would persecute the church. 00:33:16 Speaker 1: And then Jesus appears to him. 00:33:18 Speaker 2: The resurrected Christ appears to Paul, and he goes from actively persecuting Christians, to then encountering the risen Jesus, to then becoming someone who wrote many of the books of our New Testament, and then planted churches all throughout the known. 00:33:32 Speaker 1: World of that era. 00:33:34 Speaker 2: Ye have both of these men changing dramatically, and they were both willing to suffer and be executed for their belief in Jesus Christ, and both of them indeed were executed. But then you also have some non Christian references. Some of these things that I just shared with you are some Christian references that are convincing enough, but there's also non Christian references you have, And I'm just giving you three here because they're three of the most prominent. You have three first century historians, three century writers outside the Bible who confirm some key facts. You have Tacitus, he confirms that Jesus was executed under ponscious pilot, writing this detail down historically. He wasn't a believer, he's just writing. He's like, yeah, it's a thing that happened. Jesus was crucified by poncious pilot. Then you have Josephus, he was a Jewish historian. He mentions Jesus. He also mentions the early Christian movement. He said, yeah, like they they follow Jesus and this is how they operate, and this is what they do. Then you also have Pliny the Younger, and he was an authority in Roman culture, Roman politics, roman history, and he describes Christians worshiping Jesus as God. So these Christians, they believe that Jesus is God. These are first century historians making these claims. Now, these sources don't prove the resurrection directly, but what they do is they confirm early belief in it. They're saying, no, people, there are people among us. There are many people among us who absolutely believe this happened. And these are non Christian sources who wrote about these sort of things. So let's pull it all together, and then I want to show you a couple implications. Most historians, including many who are not Christians, agree on a few key facts. First of all, they agree Jesus was indeed crucified. They also agreed that his tone was absolutely found empty. How it got empty, they debated, but they're like, no, that tone. 00:35:19 Speaker 1: Was absolutely empty. 00:35:21 Speaker 2: They also agreed that his followers absolutely believed that they saw him alive. And they also agree that the early Church exploded rapidly even though it was experiencing severe opposition. They're like, why is it exploding rapidly? 00:35:33 Speaker 1: Well, so many of. 00:35:34 Speaker 2: The people of that day had seen Jesus alive, and then they start sharing and more and more, and people were able to ask that first century group of people. 00:35:43 Speaker 1: Did this actually happen? Did you see this? 00:35:45 Speaker 2: And they confirm it's true, it actually happened. So the real debate isn't whether something happened, it's just what it best explains these facts, And the most logical answer, using the same methods we use to verify other historical events, is that Jesus actually. 00:36:03 Speaker 1: Rose from the grave? Did it actually happened? Now? 00:36:08 Speaker 2: Why does it even matter? Why does it matter that Jesus rose from the grave. Why do we as Christians treat this like the biggest Sunday on the church calendar. Why do we get excited? Why do we dress up and have meals and have all sorts of special events leading up to it. Why does it even matter that Jesus rose from the grave. By the way, the reason we meet on Sundays every week is because Jesus rose on a Sunday and the early church are calling it the Lord's Day. They're like, hey, that's the Lord's Day. It's a day he rose from the grave. So that's why we even meet on Sundays. So in effect, every time we're gathering together, we're celebrating the resurrection, not just on Resurrection Sunday. 00:36:45 Speaker 1: But why does it even matter? 00:36:47 Speaker 2: Is it historically and spiritually consequential? 00:36:51 Speaker 1: Is there any like, what's the issue with it? Why does it even matter? 00:36:53 Speaker 2: Well, I think this question gets to the heart of why the resurrection isn't just a detail of the Christian faith. It's the center of the Christian faith. If Jesus truly rose from the grave, it carries both spiritual and historical consequences that literally reshape everything. 00:37:08 Speaker 1: Let me give you a few examples. 00:37:09 Speaker 2: Spiritually, at the most basic level, the resurrection answers this question, did Jesus actually accomplish what he claimed to accomplish and it validates who Jesus is. So think about this from the perspective of what Jesus did on the cross and then what he confirmed with the resurrection. If Jesus stayed dead, he'd be remembered as a teacher, as a moral leader, as someone who was an influential person who did nice things. 00:37:36 Speaker 1: But he'd be dead. But if he rose, like he said he was going to, and like. 00:37:43 Speaker 2: The scriptures had prophesied for hundreds and thousands of years, that he would, it confirms that he is exactly who he claimed to be and who's that the son of God with authority over life and death. That's what he said before he was crucial. That's what he said before the resurrection, that he had authority to take up his life again, that he had authority over life and death, that all creation was spoken into existence by him, that it's all sustained by his powerful word, and that he has authority over life and death. And when he rose from the grave, he demonstrated that he actually does. He has authority over life and death. That's why Paul writes in Romans Won four he says that Jesus was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of Holiness by his resurrection from the dead, proving that he was who he said he was, proving that he actually does have authority over life and death. Something else that matters. The resurrection confirms that sin was actually paid for. How well the cross is where Jesus died for sin, but the resurrection is the proof that the payment was accepted. 00:38:52 Speaker 1: Look at what it tells us. 00:38:52 Speaker 2: In One Corinthians fifteen seventeen, Paul says, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you're still in your sins. Without the resurrection, forgiveness is not verified. But with the resurrection, forgiveness is secure. He shows that the payment was accepted when he had atoned for our sin on the cross. If he stayed dead, that must have meant that he had sin of his own that he had to atone for. But when he defeated death and rose from the grave, he's showing the payment was accepted. 00:39:20 Speaker 1: Your sin just got paid for. 00:39:23 Speaker 2: My sin just got paid for by the one who has authority over life and death. Something else that's spiritually significant is that the resurrection gives real hope, not just wishful thinking. The resurrection didn't just affect Jesus. It also confirms what will be experienced by those who trust in him. So because he rose, that means death isn't the end, Eternal life isn't something that's just theoretical, and future resurrection is promised. You know that There were religious groups that lived during that era that Jesus was doing his ministry, the two most prominent being the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And one of the big things that they would argue over was whether an eternal life was actually real and whether or not there was such a thing as a resurrection, and they would debate it, and they would argue it, they would go back and forth, and the Sadducees were like, none of that's real. They didn't believe in angels, they didn't believe in eternal life, they didn't believe in resurrection, like, we don't believe any of that stuff. And the Pharisees were like, no, we do believe in that stuff. And the Early Church was like, not only do we believe in that, but we've seen it confirmed through Jesus, the one that both of you groups rejected. We've seen that he is who he says he is, and that means for us, for you and me personally, think about things to be excited about today. 00:40:39 Speaker 1: I mean, don't get me. 00:40:40 Speaker 2: Wrong, I'm excited about delicious food, time with family, nice drive together, all of that, love that stuff, But think about things that outlast that moment. That means that you and I get to approach the rest of our lives, recognizing that death isn't the end, it's not the end. That means we get to approach the rest of our lives, knowing that eternal life isn't theoretical. Jesus himself rose from the grave, and he assures all that those all those who are united to him will rise from the grave as he did, that future resurrection is promised. What did he say in John eleven twenty five? Jesus said this, I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus didn't just come to make you a better person. He didn't just come to teach you morals where you lacked morals. He didn't just come to pass on wisdom and clever sayings. He came to take dead people like us and make us alive. He came to take people who are under the condemnation that we deserved because of our own sin, because of our own rebellion against our creator, and rescue us from that fate. For the joy that was set before him, he was willing to endure all of it. And he looks at you, and he looks at me, and he says you have real hope now. If you want it. You could go the rest of your life rejecting that. Many people in this world reject that. Many people even during that era rejected it. But it was hard to argue with it. And you lived in close proximity too, it was hard to argue with it. And it started. The Christian faith started spreading like wildfire because people recognized it's true. And I recognize that sometimes it's hard to look at certain things like that and say it's true because it just seems too good to be true. 00:42:16 Speaker 1: We get so. 00:42:17 Speaker 2: Stuck in this mindset that we think that if it's really really good, if it's a really wonderful thing, then it's got to be too good to be true. Eternal life, reunion with people that I loved and cared about, a brand new body that's not susceptible to disease, and it doesn't wear out, interaction face to face with my Creator in such a way where I'm welcomed into his presence daily delight, no. 00:42:41 Speaker 1: More sorrow, no more pain, no more. 00:42:45 Speaker 2: Conflict, and all the things that we deal with this side of heaven. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? But then what do you have Jesus doing on that day? He says, I know it sounds too good to be true because your mind is so stuck in what you see on a day to day basis. But I'm telling you, look up, it is true. But fine, maybe you don't believe it. Maybe you don't believe it, So then what does Jesus do. 00:43:07 Speaker 1: I'm gonna show you it's true. 00:43:09 Speaker 2: I'm gonna prove it, and you're gonna have to deny very obvious historical. 00:43:15 Speaker 1: Evidence to say it didn't happen. 00:43:18 Speaker 2: You're gonna have to look at things that you would take and you would say, yeah, that's a useful measure for everything else that we measure in history, other things I didn't see with my eyes. I can use that historical metric, and I can apply it to Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, even Abraham Lincoln. I can apply it all to them, and it works for them. But I can't apply it to Jesus. 00:43:35 Speaker 1: Why it's too good to be true that God would take. 00:43:38 Speaker 2: On flesh, walk among us, suffer for our sin, die on the cross, rise from the grave, ascend and say I'm gonna be with you this whole time. But I'm also coming back to rule and to reign, and you're gonna be with me, and I'm gonna forgive your sin. And if you trust me, Jesus says, you'll be united to me for all time. You'll be welcome not just into my club, not just in my kingdom, but into my family. And you'll be sitting at the table with me, and you'll enjoy meals with me, and you will be part of my family forever. That's the offer that Jesus makes to us. And on a day like today, when we celebrate all these things, when we think about this stuff, I think it's useful to think about this. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, and that's something he wants for you. What he did on the cross, what he did in resurrecting, he didn't do it for himself. 00:44:29 Speaker 1: He didn't have to prove to himself who he was. 00:44:31 Speaker 2: He didn't have to atone for his sin. There was nothing we offered him that he needed. He had everything that he needed. But he looks at you, and he looks at me, and he saw our need and he said, if I do this for you, this fixes everything for you. 00:44:44 Speaker 1: And so he did it. Why Because he loved you enough to do that. 00:44:49 Speaker 2: So again, we could go through the rest of our lives choosing to reject that. That's the option he gives us. He doesn't force himself on anybody. But he also looks at you, and he looks at me, and he says, this is what I'm offering you, and I know it sounds too good to be true, but he's also saying, trust me, it is true, and you can have it. It's yours if you want it. Your sin completely forgiven, doesn't matter if you're the worst person that walked the face of this earth. Your sin will be completely forgiven. The righteousness of Christ will be added to your account, and you will be brought into the eternal blessing of being in God's presence for all eternity, completely forgiven, eternal life that'll be you and reconciliation with the one who created you, where instead of living your life feeling like God's at a distance, or that somehow you're in conflict with your creator, you get to spend your eternity knowing that you're loved by him. 00:45:40 Speaker 1: You're his family. And not only that. 00:45:43 Speaker 2: Scripture even says you get to be called the Friend of God. That's a beautiful thing. These are things for us to think about today. I'm grateful that the early disciples saw what they saw when they went to the empty tomb. But you and I right now, even though we didn't see that tune with our own eyes, you have to deny a lot of logic to say it didn't happen. And that also means that you and I, living right here and now, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, can also live as witnesses to the power of the resurrection. Jesus invites you and me to have that kind of relationship with him. He simply asks you to trust in him, And if you trust in Him, that's a blessing that He gives to you, the blessing he secured. 00:46:29 Speaker 1: On your behalf. 00:46:30 Speaker 2: Let's pray together, Father, thank you so much for the privilege to be able to look at these things today. Lord, it's so wonderful to be able to look at this and to think about a variety of things. 00:46:43 Speaker 1: Lord, that we see here. 00:46:44 Speaker 2: We see what you did in and through the lives of the disciples. We see what you revealed to them. We see that even as we look at historical context, and some of the things that you've given us that are that are the same metrics that we would use to verify anything taking place in history. We apply those same metrics to to the empty tomb, and we discover it fits, it meets and exceeds those expectations. Father, I believe, and it's not even because of these things that I believe. But I will tell you, Lord that these are certainly helpful. But I actually believe that the only reason I believe is because you open my eyes to see what I wasn't seeing. And I actually believe that if any one of us gathered together here today, believe it's going to be for the same reason that you open our eyes to see what we weren't seeing. So, Father, we pray that you would help us to do that, help us to stop placing our faith in lesser things, whether it be ourselves or our good works, or our perfect lives or anything like that, because we know we fall short. 00:47:41 Speaker 1: We don't have a perfect life. 00:47:43 Speaker 2: Your son is the only one who had the perfect life, and he came to this earth one with you, came to this earth, lived life on our behalf, died on the cross, rose from the grave, demonstrating that the payment he made on our behalf was absolutely accepted. And now your word tells us that through faith and your son Jesus Christ, we are spiritually united to him. As we trust in him to forgive our sins, we are spiritually united to him. We're given new life, we're made a new creation. His righteousness is added to our account. And you look at us and you declare us justified. You declare us righteous, not because we're righteous in and of ourselves, but because the righteousness of your son just got added to our account. And you tell us that there is no condemnation for those. 00:48:31 Speaker 1: Who are united to Christ Jesus by faith. 00:48:34 Speaker 2: So, Father, we're grateful for these things, and we're grateful that on a daylight today, we could celebrate the fact that your son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. And as you tell us in your word, no one comes to you except through him. So we pray that today would be the day that we are reconciled to you, father, through your son Jesus Christ, That if we've been on the sidelines observing him from a distance, that today would be the day that we see him up close, that we trust in Him, and that we become witnesses of the resurrection in the midst of the generation in which you placed us. Thank you, Father for all of these things. We're truly grateful for it all, and we pray this all in Jesus' name. 00:49:15 Speaker 1: Amen.