He Is Risen | Sunday, March 31, 2024

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty... And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins... If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15)

The same men who fled in fear became bold martyrs—and only one thing can explain why.

The Most Important Event in Human History

Welcome to Cross Connection Church. If you are new or visiting, we are glad you are here. This is an important day in the church calendar, and I would say it is the celebration of the most important event in all of human history—at least, that is how Christians understand the Scriptures.

On that first Resurrection Sunday, some of Jesus's first followers came to the tomb and found it open and empty. Mark's gospel chapter 16 says an angelic messenger told them, "You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth. He is not here. He is risen." In Matthew's gospel they are told to go and proclaim it to the rest of his followers.

This is the celebration of the most important event in the Christian faith, and as the Apostle Paul understood it, it is the event that marks the Christian faith. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. Without it, you can pack it up and go home, because none of this makes sense without the resurrection.

Christianity Rises and Falls on the Resurrection

A number of years ago a Christian author—though some of his beliefs are questionable—made the point that even if the resurrection didn't happen, Christianity would still have value because of the important teachings of Jesus. That is not what the early Apostles believed, and it is not what we find in the Gospels. Without the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no Christianity.

Paul said it as clearly as it can be said in 1 Corinthians 15. The resurrection is the most important event in Christianity, and if Christ did not rise from the dead, then everything taught and believed makes no sense. The Christian faith rises and falls upon this event. If you disprove the resurrection, Christianity fails. If you prove the resurrection, you prove everything else: that Jesus is who he claimed to be—the Son of God, the Christ—and that there is a God, a heaven, a hell, and life beyond the grave.

The Scholarship and the Minimal Facts

Because this is true, the resurrection has been the central focus of many Bible scholars and apologists for a very long time. Thousands of pages have been written in its defense. N.T. Wright wrote The Resurrection of the Son of God, Michael Licona wrote The Resurrection of Jesus, and Gary Habermas recently released the first of what I believe will be four volumes—1,500 pages in the first volume alone.

What is amazing is that even critical scholars—historians of the first century who do not share the Christian belief in a bodily resurrection—agree on a number of points. They agree that Jesus died by crucifixion outside Jerusalem, that he was buried in a tomb, and that a few days later the tomb was found empty by his disciples. They have no good explanation for how that happened. They agree the disciples saw something; they may call it a hallucination or a vision. But the Scriptures declare plainly that they saw the Risen Lord.

Of all the proofs, the one that stands out most to me is the transformation that took place in the lives of Jesus's followers. They were so radically changed by contact with the Risen Lord that the transformation is ultimately best explained by the fact that they saw Jesus raised from the dead.

The Apostle John, Not John the Baptist

To explore this, turn with me to 1 John chapter 1. It is worth pausing to clarify that the John who wrote the Gospel of John, the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John, and is considered the author of Revelation is not the same John I spoke of last week—John the Baptist. These are two different men: the Apostle John and John the Baptist.

The Apostle John was one of Jesus's earliest followers, and many historians believe he was probably the youngest—possibly as young as fifteen when he began to follow Jesus. He lived a very long life. He was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee, a fisherman from the region of the Sea of Galilee. Zebedee, James, and John were fishermen, and from their same town came two other fishermen, Andrew and Simon—the Simon we know as Peter. They were probably friends and perhaps business partners, and together they became some of Jesus's first followers when this traveling preacher came and called them to follow him.

They Followed for Lousy Reasons

When you really get into the Gospels, you discover that many who followed Jesus did not follow for the best reasons. They came to him believing he was the Messiah—a Hebrew word that simply means "the anointed one." But that word carried a great deal of baggage. In the centuries leading up to Jesus, the prophets had said many great things about the coming Messiah. The Jewish people hoped this anointed one would come as a conquering king, a political mover who would cast off the oppression of Rome and restore Israel to be the kingdom over all the earth.

Jesus's disciples were not immune to that desire. They came to him hoping he would establish a great movement, and that they would be part of his inner circle. This is why the disciples were constantly bickering about who would be the greatest in his kingdom. We can have a flowery view of James, John, and Peter, but early on they followed Jesus for lousy reasons, and all of them wanted to be the greatest.

John calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Between him and Peter there seems to be something like a sibling rivalry. James and John even got their mother involved, asking Jesus if her boys could sit at his right and left hand in his kingdom. Jesus called them the "sons of thunder," because when a Samaritan town did not receive them well, they asked, "Can we call down fire from heaven like Elijah and destroy them?" At one point the disciples even said, "We've left everything to follow you—what are we going to get?"

Point number one: Jesus's earliest followers followed him for lousy reasons. And if we are honest, some of us begin to follow Jesus for less than the best reasons—just for what he can do for us. There is a way the gospel is preached on American television that invites people to follow Jesus for health, wealth, and prosperity, appealing to the baser inclinations of our flesh. Sometimes our prayers sound more like a drive-thru order than worship of the King of Kings: "I want this, and don't hold the ketchup."

Palm Sunday and Rising Expectations

When the disciples came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, they had to be excited. Multitudes crowded around Jesus as he rode in on a donkey, singing, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." They were declaring with their words and actions: You are Messiah, you are King, you are Christ. In the disciples' minds, they were already part of his posse, anticipating ruling and reigning with him.

It only got better. The first thing Jesus did was cleanse the temple of those buying and selling where they ought not to be—and the disciples must have thought, "Finally, he's stepping into the role we knew he would take." In the days that followed, Jesus was in the temple confronting the religious establishment—the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, and Herodians—calling them hypocrites and blind guides. Then, as he left the temple, he told his disciples that not one stone would be left upon another. They must have thought, "That's right, he's going to destroy it all and establish his kingdom, and we'll be right there with him." His words were literally fulfilled in AD 70 when Rome destroyed Jerusalem.

The Tone Changes at Passover

But Jesus's tone changed on the night of the Passover, the most important night in Jewish history. He gathered with his disciples in a somber mood and began to tell them, "One of you will betray me," and, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night." They protested, "No, I would die before I would deny you." A few hours later Judas betrayed him with a kiss for thirty pieces of silver. The rest fled in fear. Before sunrise, Peter denied him three times.

Jesus stood trial before the Sanhedrin, then Pontius Pilate, then Herod, then Pilate again. After a horrific beating he was crucified that same day on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem. By sundown he was dead and hastily buried in a newly cut tomb. And what happened to those who said, "We will die with you before we deny you"?

Point number two: when Jesus died, his earliest followers fled in fear. They had pledged their fidelity, but they did not even show up to take him down from the cross. It was two secret followers, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who buried him. The rest hid behind shut doors for fear of the religious council (John 20). They were even planning their exodus from Jerusalem. Luke 24 tells us two of them left for Emmaus, and when the Risen Jesus joined them, they said, "Jesus of Nazareth—we had believed he might be the Messiah, but he's dead." Their hope of power and position was gone. Their expectations of greatness were dashed.

Why Didn't They Just Go Home?

So why didn't his once-faithful and promising disciples simply go back to their businesses? That would seem to be the apparent outcome. But it is not what happened. Those who hid in fear had a dramatic turnaround. The fearful deniers became bold witnesses, and many of them died as martyrs. For the rest of their lives, they attested to one clear thing: Jesus, who died on the cross, was seen alive by them after he rose from the dead.

Point number three: the resurrection is the only plausible explanation for the transformation of the disciples. Even critical scholars agree something dramatic happened. Bart Ehrman, one of the most well-known critical scholars of our day, agrees the early followers saw something. He says, "I don't believe in miracles, so it couldn't have been a resurrection—maybe a hallucination." But whatever they saw radically transformed them. The resurrection is the only plausible explanation.

What John Saw With His Own Eyes

Some fifty years after the resurrection, after watching his friend be arrested, beaten, crucified, and buried, the Apostle John wrote:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (1 John 1)

Remember what John said in the opening of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Now he says, in effect, "We heard him, we saw him, we touched him. He died on the cross, was buried, rose from the dead, and I saw him. I had a meal with him. He was manifested to us, and because of that we can have fellowship with one another and with God, and our joy can be full."

They All Died as Martyrs

What is amazing is that in the fifty years between the resurrection and the writing of this letter, all of John's friends had died as martyrs. James, the brother of John, was beheaded by Herod Agrippa around AD 42 (Acts 12:2). Andrew was crucified in what we now call Turkey. Thomas was pierced through by spears after bringing the gospel to India. Philip was tortured to death in North Africa. Matthew traveled to Persia and Ethiopia, where tradition says he was stabbed to death. James the son of Alphaeus was stoned and clubbed to death in Syria. Simon the Zealot was killed in Persia for refusing to sacrifice to the sun god. Peter was crucified upside down in Rome around AD 64–66, and Paul was beheaded in Rome shortly after.

What united these men? They tell us themselves: it was that they had seen the Risen Lord. That was their testimony. His life after his crucifixion radically transformed them. They were no longer seeking the things they had selfishly sought at the start—otherwise, why would they die as penniless martyrs? They were no longer fearful and hiding. They had seen the Risen Lord.

They Were Skeptical Too

It is normal for modern people to be skeptical about the resurrection, because normally when people die, they stay dead. But the early followers were skeptical too. Every time the resurrection comes up in the book of Acts—as in Acts 17 when Paul preaches it—people respond, "Come on, you're one of those weirdos." Thomas said, "Unless I see him and put my hands in his scars and his side, I cannot believe." Even when Jesus repeatedly told them he would die and rise on the third day, they had no comprehension of it.

Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. (Mark 9)

We might think we are too modern and too smart to believe in a resurrection. But two thousand years ago they questioned whether it was real too—until they saw the Risen Lord.

No Resurrection, No Christianity

Point number four: there is no eternal life, fullness of joy, or fellowship with the Father without the resurrection. It is the crux of the Christian faith. And it is even bigger than that—there is no Christianity at all without Christ rising from the dead.

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred at once, of whom the greater part remain... last of all He was seen by me also. (1 Corinthians 15)

Paul says these witnesses are still alive—you can go talk to them. He then repeats the warning: if Christ is not risen, our preaching is empty, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Point number five: if there is no resurrection, there is no point to Christianity. It all hangs upon this. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again, and was seen by dozens, even hundreds, of witnesses whose lives were radically transformed by what they saw, heard, and touched—and who went to their deaths as martyrs proclaiming, "Christ is risen."

What the Empty Tomb Proves

Everything about the Christian faith hangs on the empty tomb. If the resurrection is true—and I believe it is, and the evidence supports it—then it proves Jesus is a prophet, for he predicted he would die and rise. It confirms he is the Christ, the anointed one. It validates his divinity as the Son of God. It debunks his detractors—it doesn't matter what anyone says against him if he rose from the dead. It settles the problem of sin, because he died for our sins. It destroys death, and it secures our salvation and gives us hope of our own future resurrection.

I hope everything I say is just a reminder of things you already know. But if you don't know it, know this: Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and to save that which is lost, to give his life a ransom for many, to give life abundantly. His resurrection proves he is able to do exactly that. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That is the good news of the gospel. If you have never heard it before today, you have heard it now, and I hope you would put your trust and faith in him—because he is risen, risen indeed.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank you for the good news of the gospel. Jesus, we who were far from you, separated because of sin, alienated because of rebellion, without hope in this world—because of your death on the cross we have the opportunity to experience your resurrecting power in our lives, to be raised from deadness to life, from darkness to light. We who were not a people could be made a people; we who had not obtained mercy might receive mercy by your grace. Jesus, you who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might receive your righteousness and have a joy that is full, increasing unto abundance, lasting for eternity, because of what you accomplished when you said, "It is finished."

As we are in an attitude of prayer, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to the good news, to receive the gift of grace and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Paul said in Romans 10 that if you believe God raised him from the dead and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, you will be saved, and all who trust in him will not be ashamed.

If you would like to receive that grace this morning, pray this simple prayer with me: Dear Lord Jesus, I recognize my need for you. I know I have done things against your nature. I pray that you would forgive me of my sin, that you would help me to follow you by faith and be a new creation in you. Father, give me your grace, pour out your Spirit upon me, and help me to follow you by faith. In Jesus's name, amen.