As Christians we confess as the Apostles Creed reminds us that we believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. When we talk about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we come to the point of our faith that is the most difficult for an unbelieving mind to grasp. Yet whether or not it is believable to a 21^st century mind it is the foundation point of our faith. If the resurrection of Jesus did not occur, then we have believed the greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon humanity. If it did then we have every reason live like it matters. The Bible says it simply, "If there's no resurrection, there's no living Christ. And face it—if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there's no resurrection." (1 Cor. 15:13-15, MsgB) Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

After his five year-old son died of leukemia Joe Bayly recalls a visit to the office of the physician who treated his son so compassionately. He was waiting with others in the waiting room to see the doctor when he began a conversation with a woman whose son was waiting to see the same doctor. After casual greetings were exchanged and some comparisons of her son’s treatment and his son’s, Joe began to reflect aloud how grateful he was for the hope that he would see his son again in heaven. He said, "It’s good to know, isn’t it, that even though the medical outlook is hopeless, we can have hope for our children in such a situation. We can be sure that after our child dies, he’ll be completely removed from sickness and suffering and everything like that, and be completely well and happy." The woman replied, "If I could only believe that. But I don’t. When he dies, I’ll just have to cover him up with dirt and forget I ever had him." She then turned back to watching her little boy push a toy auto on the floor.

While the woman didn’t look at him he went on to carefully explain why he believed as he did. He said, "Because we covered our little boy up with dirt yesterday afternoon. I’m in here to thank the doctor for his kindness today." Then she looked straight at him and said, "You look like a rational person. How can you possibly believe that the death of a man, or a little boy, is any different from the death of an animal?"

The answer? Because a Christian confesses after Jesus’ death by crucifixion, "On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead." Christians believe in the New Testament confession of the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That confession is central to our Christian faith and the Bible says we have a responsibility to defend it. 1 Cor. 15:12 (MsgB) says, "Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection?"

I need you to understand today that when you come to the resurrection of Jesus you are coming to the bottom line of our faith. There are many today who want the morality of the Christian faith but have no confidence in the reality of Jesus resurrection. One of those is John Dominic Crossan, who has spent his entire life studying the life of Jesus and the Gospels. He is known as the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. Crossan’s conclusion about the resurrection of Jesus in his book, "Jesus, a Revolutionary Biography" is that Jesus body was a meal for the wild dogs that happened to hang around at the foot of the cross. Yet Crossan will go on to praise the virtues of Jesus teaching and life. In the same way Dan Brown’s "The Da Vinci Code" perpetuates the same thinking that the story of Jesus resurrection is merely a fable used by the early church to control its adherents. The arguments and doubts about the resurrection are not new. In fact those first to doubt the reality of his resurrection were those who had heard Jesus tell of its coming for over three years.

One thing that you and I need to understand when we talk about Christians believing in the resurrection of Jesus is to clarify a difference that some make when they speak about the resurrection. Today some will make a distinction in the historical Jesus and the Jesus of faith. What they mean is that the Jesus of history was just a man like any other man and may have been executed by the Romans but certainly didn’t come back to life after he died. The Jesus of faith is then the idea of Jesus teaching or instruction. So the Jesus of faith is only the "spirit" of Jesus teaching that is out in the world. Somewhat like the "spirit" of the Abraham Lincoln is sensed through his speeches and letters. He’s dead but his teaching or ideas live on. In contrast when we say Jesus rose from the dead, we mean that the body of Jesus was transformed in every dimension—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual—and left the tomb, later was seen and finally ascended to be with the Father. Jesus was raised in a real body that had new spiritual qualities.

John Updike writes, "Make no mistake: if He rose at all it was as His body; if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the Church will fall." The church has not fallen because of the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. What is the evidence? The best way to summarize it is by four statements.

Matthew 28:1 (NIV), "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb." Luke 24:2-3 (NIV) says, "They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." Each gospel attests to this basic truth – the tomb was empty. How do you explain this?

Some will say that the women went to the wrong tomb because it was too dark for them to know where they were. However it may not have been completely dark. Matthew says it was "at dawn". Mark says, "just after sunrise" (Mark 16:1). They were not fools. They followed and saw Joseph of Arimathea put Jesus’ body in the tomb. They might have been mistaken once but Mary Magdalene came back and would not have made the same mistake twice. They came not looking for the resurrection but to anoint the body. Even if the women had made a mistake, Peter and John, who also followed the body to the tomb, would not have made the same mistake.

Others say Jesus fainted on the cross, woke up later in the tomb and went out. Yet Pilate was convinced enough of the fact of Jesus death to give the centurion permission to take down the body. The Centurion was certain because he gave the order to pierce Jesus’ body. Think for a moment what you would need to believe that Jesus fainted. For this to be true then what you are saying that after the trial, the beating, the stress of his suffering, his being nailed to the cross, his body being pierced, lying for thirty-six hours in a stone cave without food or water he was then able to remove the 75-100 lbs. of spices and grave clothes, move the huge stone, sneak past the guards, and then go on to claim he had risen with no question of his integrity, send people out to serve him with their life, hide out for forty days – and then just disappear.

Another idea is that thieves stole the body. Yet there is no evidence for this. The problem here is how would they get past the guards? Also while it would not have been uncommon for a wealthy person’s grave to be robbed what would the motive have been for them to rob the grave of Jesus? He was a criminal from all a thief would know. Another question would have been: Why leave the grave clothes because they would have been the only things of value?

Still some say the disciples removed the body themselves. This was the rumor that the Jews spread (Matt. 28:13). Yet Pilate had ordered it secure (Matt. 27:65-66; 28:11-15). This story doesn’t hold up. How would all the guards be asleep at the same time? How did the women get past the guards? Why would the disciples defend to the death what they knew to be a lie? Yet you come away with the conviction that they believed he had risen from the dead.

A final idea is that the Roman or Jewish authorities took it. If they did then all they would need to do when the stories were circulating that he had risen would have been to produce the body. But they didn’t have it.

The conclusion is that the body wasn’t stolen, he didn’t faint, the women weren’t mistaken-- it was raised by God!

The proof of this lies in John’s recording in some detail that the grave clothes were undisturbed. John 20:3-7 (NIV) says, "So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen." The method for the preparation of a body for burial involved wrapping the body in individual strips of cloth and layering the spices in the wrappings themselves. They would wrap the head and the neck allowing for the persons face to be seen. This would involve a separate cloth for the person’s head.

What would we have seen had we been there? It is not like when we wake up where our bedding looks all messed up. Nor is it like Lazarus in John 11 when Jesus commanded that the grave clothes be taken away from his body so he could be free. What we believe is that he passed from death into an altogether new sphere of existence. In other words his body was so transformed that it passed through the grave clothes without disturbing them. It would have been similar to the ability Jesus had to pass through doors and enter rooms. If this were the case, then the grave clothes would have collapsed, not been unwound. This is what John describes in verse 5 when he saw, "the linen wrappings lying there…" This would explain verses 6-7 which say that the head cloth was set apart, "by itself." This was a proof to Peter and John of the reality of the resurrection.

When Mary saw the angels, one was at the head and the other at the feet, as if the grave clothes were between them. Matthew and Mark record the angels inviting the investigation of the tomb. Matthew 28:6 (NIV), "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." Mark 16:6 (NIV) "Don't be alarmed…You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." The absence of the body, proved by the undisturbed grave clothes, is proof of the reality of the resurrection.

Matthew 28:8-9 (NIV), "So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him." There is no question that the Gospels record Jesus as being seen. Let’s review who saw Jesus after the resurrection: Mary Magdalene, the women on their way from the tomb, Peter, the two disciples on the road outside of Jerusalem, the ten remaining disciples (without Thomas) in the upper room, later the eleven disciples with Thomas in the upper room, 500 at one time in Galilee, James the half brother of Jesus, the disciples by the lake, many on Mt. of Olives, Paul on the Damascus road. There may have been others. How do we explain them?

Some pose the idea that the stories are inventions of his followers. Now, recall that the stories are clear, sober and unadorned accounts. They are graphic with touches of an eyewitness report. The truth is they are just too hectically reported to be invented. They really are not even good inventions. Anyone trying to create a cohesive account would have cleared up the different accounts, then removed the doubt and fear parts of the story, would have also recorded the actual resurrection itself (which none of the Gospels do) and would have chosen a better first witness than the women. Moreover would the disciples have been transformed by a lie?

Another explanation for Jesus being seen was that it was a hallucination. A hallucination is when you think something or someone is there when they are not. They occur normally when someone has been wishing for something to happen. For a hallucination to occur the setting has got to be favorable. When you hear the resurrection accounts both are missing – they had not been expecting the resurrection and when and where he appeared they were surprised. John 20:18 (NIV) records Mary Magdalene going to the disciples after she had seen Jesus with this simple statement, "I have seen the Lord!"

Of all the proofs for the resurrection of Jesus I believe the transformation of the disciples is the most convincing of all. The men in the Gospels are not the men in Acts. They are men who were changed radically. How do you explain the transformation? It was the coming of the Holy Spirit because of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Luke writes in Acts 2:22-24 (NIV), "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (Acts 2:32, NIV). The chapter concludes, "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:46-47, NIV)

What changed about them? Peter was the one who had denied knowing Jesus three times. He became Peter the proclaimer. James, the half brother of Jesus was changed from being a doubter to being James, the leader. In case after case human weakness was transformed into supernatural abilities. Fearful reluctance was transformed into bold confidence. Their fears and intimidation were transformed into a sense of invincibility. Their lonely feelings of abandonment were transformed into joyful perseverance. They were not motivated or mesmerized; they were transformed.

John Dominic Crossan says in his book, "The Birth of Christianity" that Jesus’ "resurrection" meant something different to the disciples than it means today. That what mattered to the disciples was not that Jesus actually rose from the dead but that his vision and movement stayed alive after he died. Give me a break! What changed the disciples was not the vision of Jesus movement but that they had been with Jesus after he was resurrected!

The body was gone, the grave clothes undisturbed, Jesus was seen and disciples transformed. I realize that some may see the proofs I have brought today and will choose not to believe. Yet I say to you I believe more than on the basis of these proofs. I believe because I know God. The Creed concludes the references to Jesus with these words, "He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead." Those words say to me that the God that I know will not let death have the last word.

Several years ago after my father died I had taken my mother to visit his grave. As she looked and touched his name on the marker I happened to see another family there in the same area. A woman about my age was kneeling in front of a marker of someone she loved. She reached out and ever so gently began to stroke the letters of the name of the one whose grave was marked by the stone. Who was it? I don’t know. It was a holy moment. When you have knelt and rubbed the etched letters on the marker of someone you have loved, you have heard the mockers, "How can you possibly believe…?" You believe because of this: "He is not here, he is risen!"

Christians believe as the Apostles Creed says, "On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead." We believe in the resurrection of Jesus!

Sunday, February 8, 2004

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org