Preached in Markham Baptist Church, April 16, 2006

We have discovered some amazing truths and examined some awesome miracles during these last few weeks as we have studied the miracles surrounding the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have thought of the three hours of darkness and the temple curtain being torn in two, the earth shaking and the tombs breaking open releasing their dead, the centurion confessing Jesus as the Son of God.  All of these miracles point us to great and affirming truths. 

But we would be wrong if we stopped there, for as awesome as all these miracles are, as wonderful as the truths they unveil are, they are but a prelude to the symphony, they are but foothills to the majestic mountains, they only prepare us for the greatest of all miracles – the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  Nothing is more spectacular, nothing is more awesome or wonderful than the miracle that we celebrate this morning – the miracle of Jesus risen from the dead!

It is the foundation of our faith - it is the cornerstone of our proclamation.  In 1 Corinthians (15:14) we read that if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith.  We can’t have a living faith if all we have is a dead Saviour. 

But the good news that we proclaim to the world is that Christ is risen, God has raised Him from the dead. Death is not able to hold Jesus Christ.  On the third day the grave was found empty, and Jesus is seen alive!

Michelangelo the great artist once turned to a group of his fellow painters and asked angrily, “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures of the one ever-reiterated theme of Christ in weakness, Christ hanging on the cross, Christ dying, most of all Christ hanging dead?  Why do you concentrate upon that passing episode as it that were the last word and the final scene, as if the curtain dropped upon that horror of disaster and defeat?  At worst all that lasted for a few hours.  But to the end of unending eternity Christ is alive, Christ rules and reigns and triumphs.”¹

And so the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the great and central belief of Christianity – and it is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that the Christian message has validity, the Christian message has value and the Christ must be considered seriously as Lord.  

So this morning let’s consider these, let’s consider first the validity of the resurrection. Consider the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as a historical fact.  Christianity is unashamedly a historical religion.  It is not some airy fairy myth outside the realm of time and space.  Christianity claims that God came to share our life in the person of Jesus Christ at a particular time and place, to die for our sin in a real and agonizing way, and on the third day rose again from an actual tomb and was seen by hundreds of people.  The resurrection is not a myth - it is a historical fact. 

There are many who would try to get you to believe that the resurrection is a myth, a grand hoax dreamed up by Jesus and His followers.  We are told in Matthew’s gospel that the chief priests and the Pharisees are afraid of that very thing.  So they go to Pilate and ask him to post guards and seal the tomb. “Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 27:64) In fact, we read in Matthew 28:11-15 that is the very lie the religious leaders circulate.

But anyone who looks at the facts would know that such an idea is impossible.  Imagine eleven civilian disciples overpowering a detail of Roman soldiers, being able to break a Roman seal (and which was a crime punishable by death, as if they would risk this for a dead martyr) move a one-ton stone and then hide the body of Jesus!

Perhaps one of the greatest historical affirmations of our Lord’s resurrection is the transformation of the disciples.  At the crucifixion they are a quivering band of cowards.  They flee for their lives (Mark 14:50) and seek to disassociate themselves from Jesus.  The disciple Peter fearfully denies his association with Jesus to a little girl (John 18:17). 

Seven weeks later we see these same disciples standing before the religious leaders testifying to the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus - how? With great power (Acts 4:33).  Gone are the inhibitions, gone is the cowardice.   Now, neither prison, or threat of prison, or persecution, or threat of death can keep them quiet.  In fact many of them do die for proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And we have to ask why? Why would people do such a thing – to continue a hoax? 

Look, if you were to hang me upside down by my toes and hurl rocks at me and try to get me to confess to something that I have made up – guess what I’ll say?  I’ll quickly confess, “I was just kidding!” But nothing like this comes from the mouths of the disciples.  Why?  Because the resurrection is a historical fact.

But still one after another stand up and try to discredit the truth of the resurrection of Christ.  Do you know the name Michael Baigent?  He’s been in the news recently because he has been suing Dan Brown, the author of the popular novel, The DaVinci Code, saying that Dan Brown stole his ideas.  Coincidently, after all this press that he has won for himself, Michael Baigent has a new book out entitled The Jesus Papers.  In that book Michael Baigent claims that Jesus was not crucified at all, but he and Pilate schemed together and faked the crucifixion.  Jesus fled to Egypt, and was indeed still alive in 45 A.D.  He has incontrovertible evidence to all of this – there is a painting in a French Catholic Cathedral; there are ancient papers - that he has not seen, but he knows exist - that prove all of this.               

Baigent’s theory is not new, it’s a retread.  The Muslims believe that it wasn’t really Jesus on the cross, that someone else took his place.  The Qur’an claims:“They killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therin are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not; Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.” ²

What evidence is there of this?  Do you mean to tell me that the Pharisees and Saducees would allow this to happen?  Do you mean to tell me that all those who witnessed Jesus death, the Roman guards, friends, relatives, the disciples were all mistaken about who was killed?   

There are so many theories – the swoon theory. A version of this was made popular in the middle of the 1960s in part because of a book entitled The Passover Plot by Hugh Schonfield, recently republished.  Schonfield suggests that Jesus planned to be crucified but with the help of Joseph of Arimathea, Lazarus, a Judian Priest, and an anonymous “young man”, he was going to be drugged so that it would appear that he died.  Later he would recover.  Unfortunately for Jesus he didn’t expect to be speared in the side and so actually died and his resurrection appearances were actually cases of mistaken identity.

This actual swoon theory states that Jesus didn’t die of his wounds on the cross – He had merely swooned, fainted. Was thought to be dead and was put in the tomb, and with the cool of the tomb was revived.  Then, after three days without food or water or medical attention He managed to free Himself from His grave clothes, roll the stone away, terrify the Roman guards, walk miles on pierced feet. 

What?  Did you see the movie the Passion?  Crucifixion was a gruesome, horrible death.  Mel Gibson was ridiculed for the excessive violence of the film, but I think it was accurate.  Jesus was whipped with lashes that had hooks in them so as to tear the flesh. He was then made to carry His own cross.  He then hung on the cross for six hours and then was speared in the side.  You don’t swoon from all that.  You die. 

So many theories… the hallucination theory, that everyone that saw Jesus was simply hallucinating.  Paul tells us (1 Corinthians 15:5,6) that Jesus appeared to “Peter, and then the twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time”.    So 500 hundred people had the same hallucination? 

I ask you, why didn’t Christ’s enemies produce a body?  Why instead of persecuting the Christians did they not prevent the conversion of thousands by producing the body, hanging it up in the town square and saying, “Here is your glorious messiah!  Take a whiff.”

Such an act would have caused a stink fatal to Christianity.  Its heart would have been ripped out. You would have never have heard of Christ.  But there was no body to produce, because the resurrection is a historical fact.  

So much of our faith can only be explained by the truth of the resurrection.  The fact that we now worship on Sunday rather than Saturday.  Saturday was set aside because it was the day God rested from His work of creation.  But the resurrection changed all this - Sunday was the day of God’s new creation and this is the day that the Jewish disciples would set aside.  And I can tell you that their Jewish sensibilities would not have allowed them to do it easily.  They wouldn’t have done it unless something miraculous happened like the resurrection.  

Or consider baptism, consider how it symbolizes our unity with Christ in His death as we go down into the water, and how we are raised up out of the water to show that we now share in the new life with the risen Christ (Romans 6:3-5).  Or the Lord’s supper – we are told in Acts 2:46 that the early disciples celebrated communion with glad and sincere hearts.  What were they glad about?  A dead martyr?  No, a risen Saviour. 

My friends do not let anyone deceive you with smooth talk and mysterious papers and wild theories.  Our Lord was raised from the dead by God’s mighty power.  And our Lord lives today. It is the great truth that we celebrate every Sunday and particularly on this Easter Sunday.  Our Lord Jesus Christ lives is particularly present with all who believe to enable us to meet life head on, to face the obstacles, to comfort us in our sorrow, to strengthen us to serve Him and to give us life to the full.   We serve a risen Saviour. He’s in this world today – it is historical fact!

Not only its validity, but consider the value of the resurrection.  The resurrection has value because it is a confirming truth. 

In Matthew’s gospel, when the angel appears to women in chapter 28 verse 5 he says to them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

The resurrection is a confirming truth.  It tells us that Jesus is who He said He was.

Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh.  He described himself as the great I Am.  Seven times, all through John’s gospel.  He said he was equal to God and that God would raise Him from the dead.  If He didn’t rise from the dead He would proven to be a deranged fool.  But He was raised from the dead and so we read in Romans 1:4 - Jesus is “declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.” 

This means that Jesus is God, we can know what God is like.  God is not distant, or remote - He loves you and came to give Himself for you so that you can be free from all sin.

Not only does the resurrection confirm the person of Jesus, it confirms the words of Jesus. Jesus’ words are true.  He can be trusted.  In Matthew 16:21 we read that “from that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and the third day be raised to life.”

Matthew 26:31-32 - “This very night you will all fall away on account of me …. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Sound familiar?  That’s why the angel appears and says at 28:10 – “Get going to Galilee!”

The point is Jesus said, “I will rise again”.  And He does.  He can be trusted, His words are true.  So when Jesus promises “I will with you to the very end of the age,” (Matthew 28:20) we can trust that it is true.  When He tells us not to worry for our Father in heaven cares for the flowers of the field and the birds of the air and we need not worry (Matthew 6:32), we can trust Him.  And when He tells us that whoever believes in Him will have life and whoever does not believe in Him will be condemned (John 3:18), we can trust Him.  When He says that He goes ahead of us to prepare a place for us beyond death we can trust Him. 

Do you see why the miracle of the resurrection has value? Because it validates all that Christ is and said - we can trust Him. 

Not only this but it shows us that forgiveness is real.  We have learned that when we believe in Jesus Christ, He takes all of our sin and it is put on Him on that cross.  He takes our sin and our sin is paid for by His death.  I know it sounds so simple, and it sounds awesome that someone could actually take our place in death and bear the consequence of sin. But it is the truth.

He died and bore our sin, but the question still remains - how do we know that God accepts the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?  How do we know that Christ’s sacrifice is any better than the sacrifice of bulls and lambs and rams?  Because He rose from the dead.  The resurrection shows that God accepted His sacrifice – sin has been paid for and we can know forgiveness.

So if Satan comes and whispers in your ear, “What about your sin?” you tell him that Jesus died for it and my sin is put away.  If he comes a second time and says to you, “What about your sin?” answer him, “Jesus lives and because of that fact I am assured that I am put right in the sight of God; for if Christ had not paid the debt He would still be under the power of death.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ also confirms that there is life after death.  Aristotle, that great ancient thinker, once said, “Death is a dreadful thing, for it is the end.” There are many people who think that way - that death is the end of self, of achievement, of growth, of love, of companionship. 

But the resurrection counters that belief with a firm no!  Death is not the end for believers of Jesus Christ.  Death has no hold on me, death has no power over me, or for anyone who has placed their lives in Christ’s hands.  How do we know?  Because of our Lord’s resurrection.

This time of year I get the gardening itch, I start spreading manure in my garden and start mapping out where I will plant my flowers and where I will plant my vegetables and I start picking out my seeds.  This year Janet has asked me to plant some beans, so I will try planting some. Have you ever read the seed packages?  It says that each plant will bear clusters of hardy yellow beans.  I’ll have a great harvest if I use these seeds. 

How do I know that will be true?  The answer is simple, if I take one of those small bean seeds and bury it in the ground and then watch.  And if that one seed rises out of its death and produces the fruit then I know that the promises on the package are true and have every reason to believe that the rest of the seeds will grow and bear fruit.³ 

This is precisely the assurance which the resurrection of Jesus gives us.  This one member of our humanity who has died and has risen gives substance to the promises of God about our destiny.  He rose: we shall rise.  And when we do, we shall be like him. (1 John 3:2). That’s what the Christian has to look forward to.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who stood against the Nazis in the World War II was held prisoner for a number of years before being executed on April 8, 1945.  He had the chance to conduct one more worship service for his fellow prisoners and this was his text, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his mercy gave us new birth into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (I Peter 1:3) And as the guards took him away he was able to send one last message to a bishop friend  which said, “This is the end, but for me it is the beginning of life.”⁴ 

This is the heart of the Christian faith about death.  It has been defeated by Jesus Christ and can face death, not with a stoic resignation but with a firm tread and an assurance that we will not die. 

So, there is the validity of the resurrection and the value of the resurrection – of the person of Jesus, the words of Jesus, of forgiveness through faith in Jesus, and the assurance of life after death. But all of this means I must take Jesus seriously and personally.  The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ means nothing to those who do not believe in Him.  Easter is no more than a rite of spring, a time for eggs and jelly beans. 

But the resurrection is not just a historical fact - it is a present reality.  Jesus is alive and He is here, present with us.  And it is a present reality that you are invited to participate in.    

In our text, the angel appears to the women and says to them and ultimately to us, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples.”

Do you hear it?  It is an invitation to a experience the resurrection now, “Come and see.”   Make the resurrection a personal experience.  Don’t allow it to simply be a historical, intellectual truth that you give a polite nod to on Easter Sunday.    No - see the wonder of the resurrection that through faith in Christ you can know forgiveness of sin, and you can be sure of a quality of life that is beyond anything that you have ever experienced now and is guaranteed for you in eternity.  

Indeed this is what it means to be a Christian.  We were dead in our sins, separated from God, without spiritual life, and unable to give life to ourselves. Then, by an act of commitment to Christ, we receive Him as Saviour and Lord and He gives His very life to us, dwelling in us by His Spirit.  The miracle of regeneration takes place and we are made new, raised up, supernaturally empowered. 

One of my favorite stories of the old Saints concerns St. Brendan who was given the privilege of preaching to King Brude.  The king listened to the sermon with interest as St. Brendan told of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and the king asked St. Brendan, “What shall I find if I accept your gospel and become Christ’s man?” To which the saint replied: “If you accept this gospel and become Christ’s man, you will stumble on wonder upon wonder, and every wonder true.”⁵ 

And every Christian can say amen!  We proclaim what we have discovered and experienced - the wonder of a risen Saviour who walks with us and talks with us every day, who tells us every day that we are loved by Him and will never let us go.  The wonder of a cleansed life free from sin through faith in His sacrifice.  The wonder of being able to face death with confidence that it is not the end but only the beginning. 

The wonder of the greatest of all miracles that Jesus is alive – make it a personal experience, by committing yourself to Him and you will discover wonder upon wonder, and every wonder true! 

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - April 2006

ENDNOTES:

2.  Quoted by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2004), 309.

4. Ibid, 84.

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