WHY I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION!
(Matthew 28:1-20)
Introduction: A pastor friend
of mine was recently in Romania. In his blog, he recounted a brief conversation
he had regarding Romanian Easter. “During the communist era, even though the
government sought to quash any Easter observances, still mothers and
grandmothers encouraged the coloring of eggs, the buying, and wearing of new
clothes, the baking of special bread and cookies, and the repeated refrain: “He
is risen indeed!”
Although
they tried, the governmental authority could not suppress the power of
tradition. Admittedly, the underlying significance of that tradition might have
been lost, and yet, like a parable, the tradition still invited questions: Why
do we color eggs? Why do we wear new clothes? Why do we eat special bread—does
anyone know?
He
further notes, “I was more keenly aware of the interconnection between Scripture,
experience, and tradition. That is, like a three-legged stool, if we remove one
or another of these from our faith, then that faith is greatly weakened or
“functionally impaired.”
I
love traditions. We know that Easter is more than Easter bunny and Easter eggs,
and it is about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. On this Easter
Sunday morning, we are gathered to celebrate an age-old rich Christian
tradition, and to recount, and reflect on one of the fundamental tenants of
Christian faith: The Resurrection of Christ!
On
Easter Sunday morning, for centuries Christians around the world, sang “Christ
is Risen! Alleluia” exuberantly to proclaim that our Lord has risen from the
tomb, but what evidence do we have? How do
we know without a shadow of a doubt that
the resurrection of Christ is the absolute truth? This morning we will be
focusing on the scriptural evidence. I
title this message, “Why I believe in the Resurrection.”
Once
there was a zealous Jew, a Pharisee of Pharisees who vehemently opposed to this
truth of Jesus’ resurrection, and tried his best to squash the existence of the
believers of this truth until he had an encounter with Jesus on the road of
Damascus. This is what Saul who became the Apostle Paul had to say about Jesu’s
resurrection. I Corinthians 15:14, “And If Christ has not been raised, then all
our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.”
Eyewitness testimony plays
a crucial role in the American criminal justice system as they help to clarify
what happened by telling the judge or jury everything they know about an event.
In order to support my claim why I believe in the Resurrection, I would like to
introduce to us, several key
witnesses. Some are first-hand witnesses, others are prime witnesses and, in
the end, I will close the argument by presenting a supreme witness. Let’s get started.
I THE WITNESS OF THE WOMEN (Vs 1-8)
The
women had played an important role during the ministry of Jesus. Here again,
the women were the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. From the four
gospels, we gather a group of women, Mary Magdalene out of whom Jesus had
driven seven demons, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and Joanna (Luke 24:10),
early on Sunday morning went out to visit the tomb. On the way, they wondered
who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?
Their job was made easy, an angel of
the Lord came down from heaven, rolled back the stone and sat on it. Listen to
the conversation between the angel and the women, Vs 5-6 “Don’t be afraid!” he
said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He
is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body
was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from
the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.
Remember what I have told you.”
The women were horrified yet
delighted with this encounter. As they were about to leave, Vs 9-10, “Jesus met
them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped
him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for
Galilee and they will see me there.” The women went and told the eleven
disciples everything they had witnessed, but their words did not make sense until they themselves went to the tomb.
II THE WITNESS OF THE GUARDS
The
day after the burial the chief priests and the Pharisees went up to Pilot and
requested that the Tomb be secured. They told him, “Sir, we remember what that
deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from
the dead.’ So, we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will
prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling
everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than
we were at first.” Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you
can.” (Matt 27: 62-65). The Roman
Guard was a 16-man security unit. Each man was trained to protect six square
feet of the ground. Each guard had four weapons on his body. If the Pharisees
didn’t believe that Jesus might be raised from the dead then why would they
take such trouble to secure the tomb? Would it be possible for eleven fearful
disciples to come secretly and steal the body of Jesus in the watch full eye of
the powerful Roman Guard? Yet that was what circulated.
On the resurrection day, some of the
guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. In
order to squash the truth of the Resurrection, the leaders gave a huge bribe to
the soldiers and asked them to spread a lie saying, “Jesus’ disciples came
during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.” Unfortunately,
that lie has been in circulation till today. But who can discount the stories
of whose lives were transformed forever by the personal visitation of the risen
Lord? I refer to them as the prime witnesses.
III THE PRIME WITNESSES.
During
his ministry, many people followed Jesus
for all kinds of reasons, but only the disciples who were also known as the
apostles stood with Jesus till the end. To them Jesus said, John 15:27, “And
you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning
of my ministry.” Simon Peter was the first one to follow Jesus. He is the only
one who denied Christ three times, but when repented and forgiven he became the
strongest witness.
This is how the apostle Peter under the power of the Holy
Spirit has to say about the resurrection of Christ. Acts 2:31-32, “David was
looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was
saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in
the grave. “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.”
Another prime witness, the apostle Paul mentions scores of
other witnesses. I Corinthians 15:3-8, “I passed on to you what was most
important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins,
just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on
the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then to
the twelve.
After that, he was seen by more than
500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some
have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of
all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.”
The Jewish Law of Moses required at
least two or three witnesses required especially when issuing a death sentence.
Deuteronomy 17:6, “But never put a person to death on the testimony of only one
witness. There must always be two or three witnesses.” So far, we listened to
the testimonies of hundreds of witnesses who
said they saw the risen Lord. Yet some skeptics would say none of them are
credible. But who can challenge and refute the supreme witness who would
speak of his own resurrection?
IV. THE SUPREME WITNESS
Listen
to the powerful testimony of Jesus who himself prophesied about His own resurrection
"Listen," he said, "we're going up to Jerusalem, where the Son
of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious
law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans
to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day, he will
be raised from the dead."(Matt 20: 18-19).
Remember the encounter of two
disciples on the Road to Emmaus? When they returned to the disciples and
telling them how they recognized Jesus, Jesus himself suddenly appeared to
them, Luke 24: 36-48, “Peace be with you,” he said. But the whole group was
startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!
“Why are you frightened?” he asked.
“Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet.
You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost
because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do. “As he spoke, he showed
them his hands and his feet…They gave him a piece of fish, and he ate it as
they watched.
Then he said, “When I was with you
before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the
prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures. And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the
Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.”
Dear friends, after looking at all these
scriptural evidence, and based on my own
personal experience of receiving the gift of salvation, I am more than convinced
that Jesus Christ has indeed risen from the dead. This is the reason why we
celebrate Easter. Jesus is not in the tomb. He has
risen! Our risen savior is here to offer the forgiveness of your sins, and fill you with the power of
resurrection, so that your life will become full of meaning and purpose. Amen!
