He is risen.
Really?
Really.
I don't know about you,
but the people who have died that I know
have not come back from the dead.
People don't normally come back from the dead.
And that's the claim of your Bible.
That Jesus came back from the dead.
This morning, here's the case I'm going to make.
Either the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened
or it didn't.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ
is either the biggest con job
the world has ever known,
or the resurrection of Jesus Christ
is the greatest news the world could ever know.
He was either raised from the dead or He wasn't.
And this morning, I want to help you see
from the Bible, from the New Testament,
from Luke, who was a doctor,
Dr. Luke's account
of the resurrection of Jesus.
We're going to look at 12 verses
out of Luke chapter 24.
It's the last chapter in the Gospel of Luke.
You've got Bibles in your pews.
And if you want to just start opening up your Bibles,
it goes Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
So what we're going to do this morning is this.
I want to help you see
what the New Testament actually says
about the resurrection of Jesus.
And then, I want to help you ask a question.
A question everyone must ask.
And then, I want to help you realize
what's riding on this stuff.
what's riding on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And then, we'll bring it home.
I'll ask the question, how do you respond?
So let's look at this biblical account,
the Gospel of Luke.
Here's how to think about your Gospels
in the New Testament.
Think of them as eyewitnesses' accounts
of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Take them at their word.
That's what they're claiming to be.
We have eyewitnesses writing the New Testament
saying this is what we saw.
This is what we experienced.
And so we're going to look at Luke 24, 1-12.
This is what Ben read just moments ago.
So if you're there,
let me draw your attention to some things.
In verses 1-3, we read about these ladies,
these women,
who early on that first Sunday
went to the tomb
and they brought spices with them.
And they were surprised.
Now there's a couple things I need to clarify real quick.
Notice that it's on Sunday,
not Saturday.
And so the reason for that is this.
On Friday, Jesus was crucified.
And on sundown, on Friday,
the Sabbath began.
And so they were preparing the body of Jesus for burial.
And so when sundown hit,
they could work no longer.
And so they had to wait out the Sabbath day,
which was Saturday.
And so first thing on Sunday,
they made their way back to the tomb
to finish preparing the body.
So that's what's going on here.
But there's something else
I want to draw your attention to.
They're not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,
Peter Cottondale,
hopping down the bunny trail.
They're not that.
They're sad.
Do you know why?
Because Jesus had been killed.
Their Savior, or so they thought,
their teacher, was dead.
They saw where His body was laid.
You can look back at Luke 23, verse 55.
They saw where the body of Jesus was laid.
And then they went home.
Which helps us understand,
they didn't get the wrong tomb
when they went back Sunday morning.
They knew where the tomb was.
But they were going there
to do something gruesome.
They were going there
to prepare Jesus' body.
How far along they got on that Friday
in preparing His body from burial,
we don't know.
But what we do know,
He was beat up.
His body would have had holes,
wrists, and in His feet,
and in His side.
He would have puncture wounds
all around His skull.
I don't know if His hair
kind of had that coagulated,
crusty blood in it still.
That's what they're going to.
His back would have been
a bloody mess.
The cat of nine tails,
which He was whipped with,
was a Roman device
that had stone,
pieces of metal,
in the nine lashes of the whip.
And it was designed
to tear a back open.
It would have been ugly.
What they were going to do
was gruesome.
They were sad.
And so early that Sunday morning,
they're making their way
to the tomb
to finish preparing His body.
And the stones rolled away.
It was like one to two tons.
Not light.
And so they're already like,
what is going on here?
And they walk in,
and what they find
is an empty tomb.
That's the claim.
That's the fact
non-Christians and Christians
need to deal with.
It's an empty tomb.
There's no body of Jesus.
So whether you're a Christian
or a non-Christian,
we're looking at the same fact.
No body.
The difference is
how you explain that.
How do you make sense
of the empty tomb?
And so what we see
in Luke chapter 24,
verses 4 and forward,
is the explanation
of the empty tomb.
In verses 4 through 8,
we see in this account
a movement.
In verse 4,
these ladies are really
not only sad,
but now they're perplexed.
They're confused.
In addition to their sadness,
where is the body
of our Lord Jesus?
Where is it?
And then if you look
in verse 5,
they were frightened
and they bowed their faces
to the ground.
Why?
Because there are two men
there now.
In dazzling appearance.
They were angels.
Announcing something.
That might remind you
of Luke 2
in Bethlehem.
The angels announcing
the birth of the Christ.
These angels were announcing
the resurrection
of the Christ.
You see,
all heaven
had been waiting
for this moment.
All heaven
had been seeing
the outworking
of these things.
There's been
eager excitement.
God sent
these angels
down
to tell
these ladies
that in fact,
Jesus has been
raised from the dead.
That's what they're
declaring.
They're like,
duh!
You're not going to find
the living among the dead!
He's not here.
He is risen.
And then if you look
at verse 6,
He's not here
but He's risen.
Remember how He told you
while He was still
in Galilee,
verse 7,
that the Son of Man
must be delivered
into the hands
of sinful men
and be crucified
and on the third day
rise.
Do you see
what the angels
are doing?
They're quoting Jesus.
Do you know why
they're quoting Jesus?
Because Jesus'
word is authoritative.
Jesus predicted
His own death
and His resurrection
in Luke chapter 9.
And here it is.
Being fulfilled.
And so with these angels
declaring this,
it adds weight
to the words
of what Jesus
has said.
And then these disciples,
these ladies,
lights go on.
They remembered
verse 8.
They remembered
His words.
They remembered
what He would say.
By the way,
that whole episode
right there
in Luke chapter 9,
you might remember this.
This is the whole episode
where Jesus asks
His disciples,
hey, who do people
say that I am?
Some say John the Baptist
come back from the dead.
Others say Elijah,
one of the prophets,
and then Peter.
Do you remember
what Peter said?
You are the Christ.
The Messiah.
The long-anticipated
King of God.
And what Jesus does
with that,
it's very important
to know.
That confession,
Jesus then says,
and then the Son of Man,
a title for the Messiah,
will be handed over
to sinful men,
killed,
crucified,
and on the third day,
rise again.
What these angels
are saying,
it's bringing clarity
to who Jesus is.
A risen Messiah.
So these ladies,
now remembering,
make a beeline
to the other disciples.
And Luke is very purposeful
in verse 10
in pointing out
these were all women
who first saw
the empty tomb.
If you were
in the first century,
basing a case
on the witness
of women
was something
that you wouldn't do.
At that time,
women's testimony
was seen
as lesser
than men's.
And so it wouldn't
have carried
the same weight.
But what Luke
is doing here
is saying,
this is how it happened.
It's almost
counterintuitive.
And what it ends
up doing is
authenticates
the genuine
outworking
of what happened.
These women
were the first
to see the empty tomb.
And then we see
them showing up,
talking to the disciples,
and the disciples,
they're like,
whatever.
Sure,
yes,
I know you're upset.
Sure.
They thought it was
a quote-unquote
idle tale.
And they disbelieved.
It's a very strong word.
They did not believe
what they were saying.
Jesus' disciples
met the resurrection news
with skepticism.
Doesn't say much
of the disciples,
does it?
upon hearing
of the resurrection
of Jesus,
it's something
we don't hear
of that often.
A dead man
raised from the dead?
Alive?
One of the other
disciples who was there
was Peter.
And in verse 12,
we see what happens.
when he hears,
he jumps up
and runs.
Runs to the
empty tomb.
The question is,
why?
Why would Peter
respond this way?
And the rest of the
disciples respond
with idle tale,
whatever,
disbelief.
What's the difference?
let me make a suggestion.
In Luke 22,
Jesus is
arrested.
And before
he's arrested
at the Last Supper,
Jesus says,
one of you is going
to betray me.
And Peter says,
not me,
I'm going to the
death, baby!
Peter was a hothead,
very passionate.
I'm bringing it
down with you,
Jesus!
And what Jesus
told him was this,
you're going to
deny me three times
before the rooster
crows.
And it happened.
Peter denied
Jesus three times,
there was a rooster
that crowed,
and then Peter
wept bitterly.
It happened just
a couple days
before this.
Which means,
Peter has in mind,
Jesus' words
come true.
And so when he
hears these ladies
saying they met
an angel,
and the angel
said,
Jesus is the one,
remember what he
said?
He was going to
be handed over
to sinful men,
crucified and
rise again.
Peter's like,
yes!
And he jumps,
and he's running
to the tomb.
We don't know
how long he's
running for.
We don't know
what his heart rate
was.
We don't know
any of that
kind of detail.
But I am guessing
that as he's running,
it's okay,
okay.
All right.
I can't.
This is amazing.
Okay.
Wait, wait.
I said he was
the Christ,
and then he said
he was going to
rise from the dead.
Yes.
And then there was
Jairus' daughter
raised from the dead.
Yes.
And then there was
that widow's son
in the town of Nain.
He raised him
from the dead.
And then
there was Lazarus
raised from the dead.
And Jesus said
at that point,
I'm the resurrection
and the life.
If any of you die,
if you believe in me,
yet you will live.
I can't wait.
He gets to the tomb.
Bows down.
Looks in.
And he sees
the linens
quote unquote
by themselves.
Do you know
what that means?
There was no body.
No body.
No body of Jesus.
And then it records
Peter leaving
and wondering
or marveling.
He knew what was up.
Soon thereafter,
he would have
a personal encounter
with the risen Christ himself.
The biblical account
claims
that Jesus
raised from the dead.
Supernaturally
raised
from the dead
bodily.
That's the claim
Luke is making
right here.
The point is
Jesus is alive.
Jesus' corpse
was carried
into that tomb
and three days
later,
he walked
out
on his own
power.
That's the claim.
That's the biblical account.
The New Testament
claims that
Jesus not only died,
but he was raised
bodily
from the grave.
Supernaturally.
Now here's the question
everybody must answer.
How do you
explain the
empty tomb?
How do you
make sense of it?
There have been
several attempts
to make sense
of the empty tomb.
One is called
the stolen body theory.
It goes something
like this.
There's two versions.
The enemies of Jesus
stole his body.
The enemies
of Jesus
stole his body.
wanted to prevent
something from happening.
But here's the deal.
If the enemies of Jesus
stole the body of Jesus
and then there's this rumor
that starts going around
that Jesus' body
he had raised
from the dead.
If you were an enemy
of Jesus,
what would you do?
I'd pull a Jerry Maguire.
You know,
show me the money.
show me the body.
That's what I would do.
I'd just wheel out
the body of Jesus
right in the middle
of Jerusalem
and say,
here it is.
Squash that rumor.
The other version
of the stolen
savior theory
is Jesus'
disciples stole it.
Not only would that
first be like
doing what Jesus
told you not to do,
but did you know
that ten of the eleven
disciples died
martyrs' deaths
proclaiming that
not only Jesus died
but he was raised
from the dead bodily?
Let me ask you this way.
Would you die
for a known lie?
Would you give yourself
up for something
you knew that wasn't true?
The best explanation
of the empty tomb
is that God
supernaturally raised
Jesus from the dead
because he's the Messiah.
Here's another
explanation
for the empty tomb.
It's the swooned
savior theory.
Now I'm guessing
that when you hear
the word swoon
you think of teenage girls
swooning at one direction,
something like that.
It gets at fainting,
becoming unconscious.
And so the difference here
is the difference
between being resuscitated
and being resurrected.
and so the theory goes
that Jesus didn't really
die on the cross
and that when he was
brought back into,
put in the tomb,
he recovered.
You know how brutalized
he was?
He couldn't even carry
his cross.
He was so beat up.
He lost so much blood.
He was pierced.
He probably went into shock.
Do you know
that crucifixion
was one of the most
horrific ways to die?
You eventually died
of asphyxiation.
You couldn't breathe.
It was a whole body
kind of death.
The word,
our word excruciate
for pain
means literally
out of the cross.
that's the kind of pain
we're talking about.
People didn't recover
from crucifixions.
Not to mention
the Roman soldiers
who were there
assigned to make sure
that he was dead.
They knew what
they were doing.
They knew a dead body
when they saw it.
And so when Jesus
was put in the tomb,
he was dead.
Let's just pretend
he wasn't dead.
That he kind of recovered.
He would still have to move
a one or ten,
one or two ton
pound stone
out of the way.
And then he would have
to clear a guard
stationed in front of him.
Now a better explanation
is that God
supernaturally raised him
from the dead.
And then there's
the sentimentalized Savior.
It goes something like this.
The disciples
were so grieved.
They were so sad
that their Savior died
that as soon as they heard
any kind of rumor
that Jesus was alive,
they grabbed onto it.
And they believed it
and wanted to believe it
so much they said
it was true.
That's how it goes.
It's kind of like
a mass psychosis
of the early disciples
of Jesus.
They wanted to believe
it so much
that they actually
kind of felt
Jesus' presence.
that they felt him
speaking to him
after he died.
But that's not
what the New Testament
claims.
The New Testament
claims that
there were
over 500
eyewitnesses
to Jesus
after he was raised
from the dead.
Even in Luke 24,
what you'll read is
eyewitness account
after eyewitness.
Even Jesus,
after he was raised
from the dead,
walks into
the upper room
that was locked
and he says,
hey, it's me, Jesus.
And hey, look it,
you can touch my hands.
I'm kind of hungry.
Can you give me some fish?
Munch, munch, munch.
It's me, bodily raised
from the dead.
The New Testament
doesn't give any space
for this psychosis.
The best explanation
for the question,
the best answer,
how do you explain
the empty tomb?
Is that God
supernaturally raised
Jesus from the dead?
That it actually happened?
Here's the crazy claim.
It's just not
a religious claim.
It's a claim
to history.
That it actually
happened.
That Jesus
was really
dead.
Dead.
And then was raised
from the dead
three days later.
that's the eyewitness
testimony
of his disciples.
Did you know
that his disciples,
their lives
were dramatically changed?
Do you remember
what happened
in the garden
when Jesus was arrested?
His disciples
bolted
like,
out of here!
See ya!
After his resurrection,
Jesus appears
to his disciples
and something
changes
in his disciples.
They go from
being cowards
to being courageous.
They go from being,
I don't want to be
identified with this guy.
I'm going to die
for this guy.
The best explanation
for the empty tomb
is that God
supernaturally
raised Jesus
from the dead.
How do you explain
the empty tomb?
There's more
writing on this
than just history.
There's more
writing on the resurrection
than the question
did it happen
or not?
It's bigger
than that.
Here's what's
writing on it.
Who did Jesus
claim to be?
That's what's
writing on the resurrection.
Did you know
that he claimed
to be God?
He said,
I and the Father
are one.
Before Abraham
was,
I am,
as in the great
I am,
God.
He claimed that
for himself.
He taught things
like this.
The human problem
is not an external
problem.
It's an internal
problem.
What makes us
dirty in God's
eyes is not
outside of us,
it's inside of us.
It's called sin.
That's what he taught.
He taught his kingdom
was going to come
and spread.
He taught that he
was going to come
back one day
and make all
wrongs right,
that he was going
to bring justice
for everything.
And then there
was his miracles.
He calmed seas.
He cast out demons.
He cured diseases.
He raised people
from the dead.
If the resurrection
did not take place,
all of this about
Jesus,
nothing.
It doesn't mean
anything.
Because he himself
said,
I'm going to die
three days later.
I'm going to be
raised from the dead.
So if Jesus
was not raised
from the dead,
do you know
what that means?
Jesus is either
a liar
or he is
a lunatic.
He's a liar
if he wasn't
raised from the dead
because what he
said about himself
and what would
happen didn't
come true.
And it cast doubt
on everything else
he said about himself.
If he wasn't
raised from the dead,
he could be a lunatic.
Which means
he believed
that he was
really God
in the flesh,
but in actuality
he wasn't.
He just lost
his marbles.
He was not
in his right mind.
That's if
Jesus was not
raised from the dead.
But if Jesus
was raised
from the dead,
that puts
Jesus
in a camp
all
by himself.
He's not
a liar.
He's not a lunatic.
He's Lord
of
all.
Because what
he said
would happen
happened.
He said
happened.
God in the flesh,
he made this
outrageous claim.
I am the way,
the truth,
and life.
No one comes
to the Father
but through me.
If you want to be
saved,
if you want to go
to heaven,
you need to come
through me.
That's his claim.
There's no other
name under heaven
which man can be
saved.
That's what's
riding on this.
It's who Jesus
is.
God in the flesh,
teacher bar none,
the one who would
return and make
all things right.
What's riding on
the resurrection?
Who Jesus
really is
and what he
offers.
He offers
real forgiveness.
On Good Friday,
we celebrate
Good Friday
because Christians
believe that's the
day that Jesus
was killed,
crucified,
put to death
for all the sins
of those who
would one day
believe in him.
So think about it
this way.
Friday is when
the payment was
made.
Sunday was when
we got notice
that the payment
was accepted.
Jesus rose
from the dead
and it was this
declaration by God
saying payment
received in full,
my wrath
fully satisfied.
See what's
riding on this?
If Jesus was not
raised from the
dead, you know
what Paul says?
We're still in
our sins.
The resurrection
points to real
forgiveness and of
course the resurrection
points to real
hope.
our Savior's alive.
He's not dead.
The resurrection
demonstrates Jesus'
victory over death.
Death could not
hold him down.
So do you know
what that means
for Christians?
We have confidence
that our Savior's
gone before us.
We don't need to
fear death now.
Jesus is our
resurrection and
life.
If we believe
him though we
die yet we
shall live because
our Savior lives.
Peter calls him
our living hope.
What's riding on
the resurrection?
Who Jesus really
is.
Real forgiveness
and real hope.
How do you
respond?
How do you
respond to
something like
this?
How do you
respond to
this message
of Jesus
God in the
flesh crucified
on Friday
raised from the
dead on Sunday?
How do you
respond?
I'll give you
five options.
How's that?
You like options?
First is this.
You can deny
him.
Reject him
outright.
Maybe you're
the type that
says you know
what I don't
believe in the
supernatural stuff.
Dead people
stay dead.
They don't come
back to life.
Sorry I don't
buy it.
Okay.
Or maybe you're
saying you know
what it's a good
case I can see
why Jesus would
be Lord of all
but you know
what I really
love my sin.
I don't want to
change my life.
I like what I
get to do and I
know if I bowed
my knee to Jesus
I'd have to give
it up.
Just as long as
you know why
you're denying
him.
So you can
deny him.
Option two.
You can inquire
about him.
Pull a Peter.
Run to the tomb.
Explore.
Is it empty?
It's going to
hold up.
Ask the question
did it happen
or not?
Let that drive
the conversation.
Inquire about him.
But realize
when you inquire
about Jesus
you're going to
have to eventually
make a decision
of whether
he's Lord of all
or not.
And so the
third option is
to decide
to follow him.
To bow your
knee to Jesus.
To become
a Christian.
Here's how you know
it's time to become
a Christian.
you become aware
of your own sin.
And you become
aware that your
sin is against
the Holy God
and that his
just wrath
is over you.
And then you
also know
that this
same God
whose wrath
is just
has provided
a Savior
for you.
Who was put
to death
for you.
and was raised
from the dead
for you.
When you realize
this information
when that gets
real personal
like that
man I'm a sinner
I need a Savior.
God's provided
this Savior
who died
and was raised
from the dead.
You're ready
to become a Christian.
Put your faith
in Jesus.
The Bible
describes it
as repentance
and faith.
Turning from
your sinful ways
your sinful life
and trusting
in Jesus.
It's decisive.
You can decide
to become
a Christian today
on Easter Sunday
2015.
All you need
to do is
just say to Jesus
who's alive
I'll take it.
I believe it.
I believe
who you are.
I believe
you died
and I believe
you rose from
the dead
and I believe
you did it
for me
to rescue me
from my sin.
That's all
you need to do.
If you do
that today
would you let
me know?
I would be
so glad
to know.
Fourth thing
for Christians
in the room
your salvation
is based
upon the death
and resurrection
Jesus.
You're saved
because Jesus
was crucified
and raised
from the dead.
But did you
know that
the resurrection
of Jesus
provides a
very potent
motivation
to continue
to follow Jesus
after becoming
a Christian?
Check this out.
Any Christians
in the room
have ever had
doubts about
the Christian faith?
I have.
I've talked
to some
very smart
people
and I'm
like oh
that's a
really good
point.
You know
what to do?
Did the
resurrection
of Jesus
Christ
happen or
not?
It provides
encouragement
for a
questioning
soul.
Or maybe
you're facing
some danger
because you're
sticking your
neck out
as a Christian
in your
workplace
or your
school
or with
your
non-believing
family and
friends and
they're giving
you some
heat for it
and you're
like is
this worth
it?
Was Jesus
raised from
the dead
or not?
It's a
historical event
that happened.
Be encouraged
by that.
Maybe you're
in despair
brother.
Maybe you're
in despair
sister.
Going through
some kind
of divorce.
You've been
diagnosed with
a disease.
You're facing
your own
death.
You're seeing
devastation.
Did the
resurrection of
Jesus Christ
happen or
not?
Because if it
happened, God's
got a plan for
everything.
Maybe you're a
Christian who's
distracted.
Maybe you're
being lulled
to sleep by
some lullabies
of the world.
The resurrection
is like spiritual
smelling salts
for the Christian
soul.
It wakes you
up.
It snaps you
out of it.
It either
happened or
it didn't.
It's very
clarifying.
Or maybe
you're a
Christian who's
being tempted
to devilish
delights.
Desires of
the flesh.
Here's how the
resurrection
functions for
you.
God has
united you
to the
Savior who
died and
was raised
for you.
Death, sin,
sin no longer
has any power
over you.
Therefore, you
can now say
no to sin
with a smile
because you
would rather
please Jesus
than satisfy
your flesh.
That's what the
resurrection is.
It happened.
I've been
raised with
Jesus.
The fifth
option is
this.
If you've
become a
Christian,
you go
public.
You go
public.
You go
public with
becoming a
Christian.
It's
called
baptism.
Baptism is
a declaration,
an outward
declaration of
an inward
change.
When someone
becomes a
Christian,
they're united
to death in
Christ's death
and resurrection.
They become
one with
Jesus.
And what
baptism is,
is saying to
anybody who
would care to
listen, I
become one
with Jesus.
You see this
pool of water
here?
The water
represents death.
And so we
have five
people going
to be
baptized this
morning.
And each
one, I'm
going to ask
them two
questions.
Have you
put your
faith in
Jesus Christ
alone for
the forgiveness
of your sins,
the promise of
eternal life?
Yes.
Is it your
purpose, desire
to follow Jesus
all the days of
your life, no
matter what
happens?
Yes.
And I'm
going to say,
based on your
public profession
of faith, I
baptize you in
the name of the
Father, Son, and
the Holy Spirit.
And I'm
going to say,
united with
Christ in
his death,
under the
water,
raised with
Christ to
newness of
life.
What they're
saying is that
they have been
united with
Christ in
his death and
resurrection.
You get it?
It's awesome.
I couldn't sleep
last night because
I was so excited
about this.
Before we go
there, the
resurrection either
happened or it
didn't.
it's either the
world's biggest
con job or it's
the greatest news
the world could
ever hear.
Because the
resurrection
verifies who
Jesus is and
his offer of
real forgiveness
and real hope
for any who
would believe.
Let me pray and
then we'll start
doing some
baptizing.
Lord Jesus, we
do thank you so
much for who you
are and what
you've done.
God, we give you
praise for the
resurrection of
Jesus.
For those of us in
the room who are
Christians, God, you
be praised.
Thank you for
uniting us to
Jesus.
Thank you that we
have the promise of
forgiveness of sins
and the hope of a
life eternal
because our
Savior reigns.
God, I pray that
you would do your
work now.
We thank you for
your word.
We thank you, God.
There's no question
from the Bible that
Jesus has been
raised from the
dead.
Thank you, Jesus.
In your name we
pray.
Amen.