The Proof Of The Resurrection
Introduction: In Western Churches, we shout and sing Christ has risen joyfully and enthusiastically on Easter Sunday morning. For most Christians, there it ends. I grew up in a Lutheran Church where we were constantly reminded of Christ’s Birth (Christmas) and His Resurrection (Easter) as we recited the Apostle Creed as a part of Sunday Worship Service.
I had an interesting conversation
with my car mechanic, a Lebanese Orthodox Christian who celebrated Easter on
April 24. He said, “I wish we all celebrate Easter on the same day.” Greek
Orthodox Christians also celebrated Easter on April 24. Why those differences?
The reason is as follows: Since the
date of Greek Orthodox Easter is based on a modified Julian calendar (while the
Western world uses the Gregorian calendar), the festivities sometimes do not
occur at the same time as other Christian Easter celebrations.
Sometimes the dates can be as much
as a month apart. In 2022, Greek Orthodox Easter is celebrated on April 24, a
week later than Easter observances in the Western church.[1] Two months before and 40
days after the Resurrection are notable for the Greek Orthodox Christians.
We have dear family friends who are
Greek Orthodox Christians. Right after Easter, Wilma got a text from the wife
of this family. Here is how it was written. “Christ is RISEN!!!!! ( we say this
for 40 days now!!! ) In this JOYOUS period of the Resurrection!!!!! (and the
other person responds, “TRULY HE is Risen!!!!!!). What a GLORIOUS
PROCLAMATION!!!!
This is how we greet each other and
say good morning and good night, how we answer the phone!! It’s so beautiful
and such a GRACE-filled Season!!! ♥️♥️♥️. Her ongoing enthusiasm for the Risen
Lord was captivating and contagious in that text.
In his book, “Preaching as
Reminding: Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness, Jefferey D. Arthurs
explains what reminding does. “Stirring memory does many things for those who
listen.”[2] Isn’t that what Christ did
after he rose from the dead for 40 days?
Acts 1:3, “During the forty days
after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and
he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to
them about the Kingdom of God.” We don’t know what he taught them about the
Kingdom of God. Perhaps some new teaching or most of them were a reminder of
His earlier teachings.
We will find out what more is there
about the Resurrection over the next three Sundays. Let us find out how the
Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian Church. I Corinthians 15:1-11.
I.
The Good News is what saves us.
Vs. 1-2, “Let me now remind you,
dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You
welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that
saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course,
you believed something that was never true in the first place.”
Paul begins this chapter by saying,
“please don’t forget this fundamental truth, so I remind you, dear brothers and
sisters, of what I preached to you before.” What is the Good News, and how did
they respond to it? First, the bad news is, “For everyone has sinned; we all
fall short of God’s standard.” Romans 3:23. No matter what religion you are
from, including Christianity, we all are sinners, and we all are destined to go
to Hell when we die in our sins.
The Good News is that “But God
showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were
still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of
Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” Romans 5:8.
Let’s pay attention to this powerful
conjunction, “But,” that changes everything. Someone said these are, “But God
moments.” Thirty-one scriptures in the Bible indicate, “But God.” People may
have meant evil, but God meant it for good. Things may be going wrong, but God
can set things back in the correct order. You think there is no way, but God
opens the way.
Our sins were leading us towards
Hell, But God showed his great love by sending Christ to die for us so that we
can be made right with God and escape Hell forever. If that is not the Good
News, what else is? How many of you have heard it preached earlier? Perhaps we
all did.
How you respond and what you do with
it makes all the difference. Some outright reject it, and others think it can’t
be real. It sounds simple; I must earn my salvation by my virtuous living. How
did the Corinthian believers respond to the Good News? They welcomed it, and
they continued to remain firm in what they believed.
Vs.2, “It is this Good News that
saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course,
you believed something that was never true in the first place.” When it comes
to the salvation of our souls, belief in anything and anyone will not save us,
but believing in Jesus Christ, His death and Resurrection, and firmly holding
on to that truth will save us.
Some of Jesus’ disciples doubted
whether He had risen from the dead. Very soon after the Resurrection, Jesus met
with the eleven disciples on the mount of Galilee. Did all of them believe him
right away? Matthew 28:17, “When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of
them doubted!” That mixed reaction to Jesus’ Resurrection is still prevailing
today.
Some readily accept the truth and
get saved, and others deny it and hence remain condemned. How do we know the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the essential truth upon which our Christian
faith thrives? For forty days, Jesus addressed this unbelief among His
disciples. He appeared to them several times in different forms. Paul recounted
those appearances.
II.
The Resurrection of Christ is the Scriptural Truth. (Vs.3-4)
Vs. 3-4, “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.” Let’s pay close attention
to these verses.
What you are reading here is most
important. Paul explains later in the chapter why it is crucial to our faith.
How did Paul believe what he was passing on to the Corinthian believers was the
absolute truth? Because this scriptural truth had been passed on to him, by
whom? None other than Jesus Christ Himself.
After his conversion on the road of
Damascus, what did Paul do, and where did Paul go? Some records say, “Paul was
in Arabia (including Damascus and the surrounding desert) for at least three
years immediately after his conversion.”[3] Could it be possible that
was where He got the revelation from Jesus, which he recounts in the book of
Galatians?
Galatians 1:11-12, “Dear brothers and
sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based
on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source, and no one
taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.”
Paul established the truth that the
crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ happened as the scriptures
prophesied. One scholar, J. Barton Payne, has found 574 verses in the OT that point
to the coming Messiah. Alfred Edersheim found 456 OT verses referring to the
same. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly
ministry.”[4]
Even by conservative estimates
fulfilling 300 prophecies is a pretty good track record. As if that was not
enough, Jesus made several personal appearances to prove that He indeed was
risen from the dead. Yet several people still have a hard time believing in Jesus’
Resurrection.
III.
The physical appearance of Jesus was the proof of His Resurrection. (Vs. 5-9)
Trying to prove the act of the
Resurrection of Christ, which happened over two thousand years ago, amidst
strong opposition to it from certain people is a challenging task. However, we
must learn and equip ourselves if someone asks about our Christian hope. We
must always be ready to explain it, but not judgingly and condemningly but
gently and respectfully.
Let me share a few incidents where
Jesus appeared after He rose from the dead. The first person He appeared to was
Mary Magdalene. She went and told the grieving disciples that Jesus was alive
and she had seen him, but the disciples did not believe her.
After that, He appeared in a
different form to two of his followers on the road of Emmaus. Again, they told
the rest of the disciples, but no one believed them. Later he appeared to the
eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their
stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after
he had been raised from the dead.
In our passage, we read, “He was
seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500
of his followers at one time. 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.”
Do you think all those people told a
lie? Or did they hallucinate that they saw Jesus after He rose from the dead?
Here is the real problem. It is not that Jesus did not rise from the dead, but
even after repeated proofs due to the stubbornness of heart, some people refuse
to believe. II Corinthians 4:4, “Satan,
who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.
They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t
understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of
God.” How many here believe that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead? Let us
firmly hold on to this truth and pray that God will open the eyes of those who
have a hard time believing this truth. Amen!
