The Resurrection: The Crux of Christianity
April 4, 2024 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
Pastor Miles teaches that the resurrection of Jesus is the central, indispensable claim of Christianity, noting that even Jesus's earliest disciples were skeptical until they saw the risen Lord. Drawing on 1 Corinthians 15, he argues that without the resurrection there is no eternal life, no joy, no forgiveness, and no Christian faith at all.
- Skepticism about the resurrection is nothing new; Jesus's own disciples, including Thomas, Peter, and John, struggled to grasp or believe it.
- There is no eternal life, fullness of joy, or fellowship with the Father apart from the resurrection.
- Paul presents the resurrection as the heart of the gospel, attested by hundreds of eyewitnesses, many still living when he wrote.
- If Christ is not risen, preaching is empty, faith is futile, and believers remain in their sins.
- The resurrection proves Jesus is prophet, Christ, and Son of God, settles the problem of sin, and secures our salvation and future hope.
Readable is a lightly edited reading copy; Verbatim stays close to the spoken words. The audio and video are the record of what was said.
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 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present... Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?... And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ()
The empty tomb is not a footnote to the gospel — it is the very thing the gospel hangs upon.
Skepticism About the Resurrection Is Nothing New
It's pretty normal for modern people, when they hear about the resurrection, to be skeptical. After all, when people die, they normally stay dead and don't come back to life. But listen: the early followers of Jesus were skeptical of the resurrection too. Every time it came up in the book of Acts, it provoked resistance. A great example is , where Paul preaches the resurrection from the dead, and as soon as he says it, people respond, "Oh, come on — you're one of those weirdos." Many simply said, "We don't believe that."
Even Jesus's closest disciples struggled with it. John and Peter were skeptical. Thomas, when told by his fellow followers that Jesus had risen, said, "Unless I see Him and put my hands in His scars and in His side, I can't believe it." It was just too far out for him.
The Disciples Couldn't Even Grasp the Idea
They were skeptical even though Jesus told them on several occasions that He would rise. He said plainly, "We're going to Jerusalem. I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to die, and on the third day I will rise again." And what was the response of His disciples? They had no comprehension of the idea of a resurrection.
In , as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what "rising from the dead" even meant. In He taught them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask Him.
We tend to think we're so modern, with all our technology and understanding, that we know dead people don't rise — so the resurrection probably didn't happen. We say that because we think we're so smart. But two thousand years ago they questioned whether it was real too, until they saw the risen Lord.
No Eternal Life Without the Resurrection
John writes, "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."
Here is the fourth point: there is no eternal life, no fullness of joy, and no fellowship with the Father without the resurrection. It is the critical thing — the crux of the Christian faith. And it is even bigger than that. As I've already said, there is no Christianity at all without Christ rising from the dead.
The Resurrection at the Heart of the Gospel
In , Paul declares the gospel he preached, the good news which they received and in which they stand, by which they are saved if they hold fast. "I delivered to you first of all," Paul says, "that which I also received: 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."
Then he calls the witnesses. Christ was seen by Cephas — Peter — then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred people at once, of whom the greater part, Paul says, are still alive. You can go talk to them. Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles, and last of all by Paul himself, as one born out of due time.
If Christ Is Not Risen, Everything Collapses
Paul presses the logic. If Christ has been preached as raised from the dead, how can some say there is no resurrection of the dead? 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 empty. We are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified that He raised up Christ — whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead do not rise.
If the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen, and if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most to be pitied.
Everything Hangs on the Empty Tomb
Here is the fifth and final point: if there is no resurrection, then there is no point to Christianity. It all hangs on this. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures — and He was seen by dozens, even hundreds, of witnesses whose lives were radically transformed by what they saw, heard, and touched. They went to their deaths as martyrs, proclaiming as they died, "Christ is risen."
Everything about the Christian faith hangs on the empty tomb. It hangs entirely upon the resurrection. It is the central good thing in the good news we call the gospel.
And if it is true — as I believe it is, and the evidence supports — then it proves Jesus is a prophet, for He predicted He would die and rise. It confirms He is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah. It validates that He is the Son of God; it validates His divinity. It rebukes His detractors — it doesn't matter what anyone says against Him, because He rose from the dead. It settles the problem of sin, because He died for our sins. It destroys death, which is exactly what Paul goes on to say in . It secures our salvation, and it gives us hope of our own future restoration and resurrection.
The Good News I Hope You Know
I hope everything I say on a Sunday morning is just a reminder of things you already know. But if you don't know this, I want you to know it: Jesus Christ came into the world to rescue and save sinners. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to give His life a ransom for many, to give life and that more abundantly — and His resurrection proves that He is able to do exactly what He came to do.
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. That is the news I hope you already know — and if you've never heard it before today, you've heard it now. I hope you would put your trust and faith in Him, because He is risen. He is risen indeed. It's good news.
Now, it's pretty normal for modern people, when they hear about the resurrection, to say, "Well, I'm not really sure," because normally, when people die, they stay dead and don't really come back to life. Maybe you're a little skeptical about the resurrection. Listen, the early followers of Jesus were skeptical about the resurrection as well. In fact, every time the resurrection would come up in the book of Acts, a great example of this is in , the Apostle Paul is preaching the resurrection. As soon as he mentioned the resurrection from the dead, everybody reacted, "Oh, come on, you're one of those weirdos." A lot of people just said, "Ah, we don't believe that." They were skeptical of the resurrection.
Even guys like John and Peter were skeptical. Thomas, one of Jesus's disciples, when he was told by his fellow friends and followers of Jesus that Jesus had raised from the dead, said, "Well, unless I see him and put my hands in his scars and in his side, I can't believe it," because it was too far out. They were skeptical of the resurrection, even when Jesus told them that he would rise from the dead on a number of occasions in the Gospels. He said, "We're going to Jerusalem. I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to die, and on the third day, I'll rise again." What was the response of his disciples? They had no comprehension of the idea of a resurrection.
In , as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So, they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. Jesus said, "I'm going to rise from the dead," and they responded with confusion. In , he taught his disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. After he is killed, he will rise again the third day." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him. They were thinking, "We don't really know what that means. You're going to rise from the dead?"
You see, the resurrection might seem implausible to us. We might think, "Well, we're so modern, and we have all this technology and understanding. We know that dead people don't rise from the dead, so the resurrection probably didn't happen." That's what we say because we're so smart. But 2,000 years ago, they questioned whether or not it was real until they saw the Risen Lord. Life was manifested, as John says, and we have seen it. We bear witness and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, was manifested.
To us, that which we have seen, we declare to you; that which we have heard, that you also might have fellowship with us. Truly, our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write, that your joy may be full.
Point number four: there is no eternal life, fullness of joy, and fellowship with the Father without the resurrection. It is the crux of the Christian faith. There is no eternal life, fullness of joy, and fellowship with the Father without the resurrection. It's even bigger than that. As I already alluded to previously, there is no Christianity without Christ rising from the dead.
In , Paul writes, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, the good news that I preached to you, which you also received, in which you stand, and by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain." Here’s the gospel I delivered to you, first of all: Paul says that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred individuals at once, of whom the greater part remain to this time; Paul says they are still alive, and you can go talk to them. At that point in time, some have died. Afterward, He was seen by James and then by all of the apostles. Last of all, He was seen by me, one born out of due time.
If Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead (), then Christ is not risen. If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is empty. Yes, and we are found as false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up if, in fact, the dead do not rise.
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. If Christ is not risen, then your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
We are of all men most to be pitied. Point number five, and I'll wrap it up: If there is no resurrection, then there is no point to Christianity. It all hangs upon this. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and on the third day, He rose again according to the Scriptures. He was seen by dozens, even hundreds, of witnesses whose lives were radically transformed by what they saw, heard, and touched after He had died. These witnesses went to their deaths as martyrs, proclaiming as they did, "Christ is risen."
Everything about the Christian faith hangs on the empty tomb. It entirely depends upon the resurrection. It is the central good thing to the good news that is called the Gospel. If it is true, as I believe it is, and the evidence supports that it is, then it proves that Jesus is a prophet. He predicted that He would die and rise again. It confirms that He is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. It validates that He is the Son of God and affirms His divinity. It silences His detractors; if He rose from the dead, it doesn't matter what anybody says against Him—He rose from the dead.
It settles the problem of sin because He died for our sins. It destroys death, which is what Paul goes on to say in . It secures our salvation and gives us hope for future restoration and resurrection ourselves. As I've said many times before, I hope that everything I say when you come here on a Sunday morning is just a reminder of things you already know. I hope that you know these things, but if you don't, I want you to know this: Jesus Christ came into the world to rescue and save sinners. Jesus Christ came into this world to seek and to save that which is lost. He came into this world to give His life as a ransom for many, to give life.
That more abundantly, and His resurrection proves that that's exactly what He is able to do. That's what He came to do.
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. Amen! That is the good news that I hope you know. If you have never heard it before today, you've heard it now.
I hope that you would put your trust and your faith in Him because He is risen. He is risen indeed! It's good news.
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