The Resurrection of Jesus
Hoax or History?
Introduction. (I Corinthians 15:12-19). One of the most remarkable claims of the the Christian faith concerns the resurrection. John 5:28, 29: “…the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (NKJV). This claim rests not only upon the promise of a future resurrection but a past resurrection of its founder. That is a unique claim!
A. Abraham - whom the Jews look as the father of their faith, died in 1500 BC.
B. Buddha - the founder of the Buddhist faith is said to have died with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind” (Mahaparinibbana Sutra).
C. Muhammad - the founder of Islam, died on June 8, 632 AD.
The Christian faith claims that Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of a virgin in the Judean town of Bethlehem, died by crucifixion, was buried and after three days was raised to life.
That single claim is fundamental to what the Christian faith is. It establishes who Jesus was. Either he was a persuasive Jewish radical that deceived thousands of followers into going to their deaths for him. Or, He was the Son of God. This morning we are going to test that claim. Is there rational historical evidence to support a belief in the resurrection of Jesus? Or, are Christians mindless fools who have accepted a childish myth?
I. The Witnesses of the Resurrection.
The heart of Gospel preaching is the claim that those who walked and talked with Jesus witnessed His resurrection. Consider four such claims:
· Upon the selection of a replacement for Judas (Acts 1:21,22).
· In the sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2:32).
· The sermon on Solomon’s Porch (Acts 3:14,15).
· Before the Jewish council (Acts 5:30-32).
Here are four claims that these men were “witnesses.” What if we were to examine these witnesses and their testimony in the same way that a modern judge and jury considers the evidence and testimony in a court case? To do so we would need to follow some basic approaches to ascertain truth. There are basically two types of information: 1. Knowledge from personal experience. (None of us can obtain this type of information about the resurrection because none of us were there). Or, 2. Testimony, which is information based upon credible witnesses. We should note that all history is based upon testimony. For example, how do we know there was a Civil War in the United States? We read the testimony of credible witnesses.
Not all testimony is valid. So testimony must be tested. How is this done? Three questions are asked:
· What is the character and motive of the witness? That is, has the witnessed lied before? Is there some motive they might have to falsify their testimony?
· Was the witness in a position to know the facts? Some may claim to have knowledge when it is in fact simply hearsay.
· Are the many witnesses and does their testimony agree?
II. Examination of the Witnesses.
1. Character.
· Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:25, “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor…”
· John wrote in Revelation 21:8 that in the age to come, “…all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” This shows a record of standing for truth and a belief that dishonesty is cause for condemnation.
Critics of faith often accuse the Christian faith of being “mythology.” One definition of a “myth” is: “an imaginary or fictitious person, thing, event or story.” We are familiar with myths. They involve imaginary places (e.g. Mount Olympus). They involve imaginary people (e.g. Apollo, Zeus, Athena). They involve imaginary events (e.g. a statue becomes alive, Cupid shoots love arrows). The Bible is not that type of stuff!
· Luke 1:1-4 Luke gives an “orderly account” from the testimony of “eye witnesses.”
· Luke 3:1-3 Note: Here we have specific real places, people and events. That is not smart “mythology!” It is too easily contradicted. This is like trying to convince World War II veterans that there was a major Japanese invasion of California. There is just too much evidence to the contrary.
Apart from the testimony of Christians the death of Jesus is a historical fact.
· Cornelius Tacitus (Roman historian – born AD 52).
· Lucian of Samosata (2nd Century satirist).
· Flavius Josephus (Jewish historian – born AD 37). In the Arabic text of his work known as the Antiquities of the Jews, he writes…
“Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die…[his disciples] reported that he appeared to them three days after crucifixion and that he was alive…”
· Jewish Babylonian Talmud, claims…
“On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshua of Nazareth.”
We see then that the witnesses have record of appreciating truth and making claims that are built upon historical facts.
2. Motives.
· Money? Some might argue that at first the Apostles might have had a financial motive. Acts 4:35 tells us that the disciples sold what they had and laid the proceeds at the Apostles’ feet. But the problem is that the last part of the verse says, “they distributed to each as anyone had need.” II Corinthians 11:27 records that Paul was forced to experience “hunger” – “thirst” – “nakedness.”
· Power? However, they faced persecution right away. They were cast our of synagogues and lost their former associations. In fact, most of the witnesses to Christ’s death would loose their lives for their testimony. Why? (I Corinthians 15:30-32). Men don’t die for a lie!
B. Were the witnesses in a position to know the facts (I John 1:1-4).
C. Were there many witnesses? Does their testimony agree?
1. Number - Over 500 (I Corinthians 15:-6). That is a powerful claim, that could easily have been verified or refuted!
2. Agreement. Have you ever heard critics of faith claim, “the Bible is full of contradictions!” That is simply not true!
There are instances in which one witness will bring out details which another witness won’t address. That is not a contradiction. For example:
· Mark’s account says that Jesus was crucified the “third hour” (15:25), darkness came the “sixth hour” (15:33) and Jesus died the “ninth hour” (15:35). Yet…
· John’s account says Jesus was sentenced the “sixth hour” (19:14).
Answer: Biblical writers use different time standards. Mark is using Hebrew time, while John is using Roman time keeping.
· Matthew’s account says one angel appeared to the women (28:5).
· Luke’s account mentions two angels (24:4).
Answer: Matthew is simply recording the words of the angel who spoke. There is no material contradiction between the testimony of the witnesses of the resurrection!
III. Testimony of the Witnesses.
1. Death & burial (Matthew 27:57-66).
1. Jesus was dead (vs. 58).
· The centurion’s testimony (Mark 15:44, 45). Pilate confirmed Jesus’ death by a centurion.
· The women’s testimony (Matthew 27: 55-56, 61). Note: They saw Him die and be buried.
· John’s testimony (John 19:33-35). He was the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (vs. 26). We know this from John 21:20-25. He witnessed blood & water (which some say is an indication of a ruptured heart). It was a sign of death.
2. New tomb (vs. 60). Luke 23:53 says it was one in which no one had been laid before. Why is that significant? It means there was no chance of confusion of bodies or trickery.
3. Hewn out of the rock (vs. 60). No secret passage ways such as in a cave.
4. A large stone is rolled over the tomb (vs. 60). Mark 16:3 tells us that two full grown women could not move it!
5. A Romans seal was set on the tomb (vs. 66). Perhaps much life Daniel I the lion’s den (Daniel 6:17). This often was cord pressed into clay or wax. The violation for breaking such a seal was death. And yet…
B. The tomb was empty (John 20:3-8, 11).
Conclusion. This brings us to the key question – Who moved the stone?
There are three possible natural answers:
· The Romans. What motive would they have?
1. Acts 16:27 – The Philippian jailer was ready to kill himself for fear that the prisoners had escaped.
2. Acts 27:42 – In the shipwreck when Paul and other prisoners were on board, the soldiers were ready to kill the prisoners rather than risk some of them escaping. It is clear that Roman guards did faced mortal jeopardy of their charge was compromised.
· The Jews. What motive would they have? They had warned that the “latter end would be worse than the first” if people believed that Jesus was resurrected.
1. If they had, why wouldn’t they bring the body out at Pentecost and put all claims of the resurrection to an end?
· His disciples. That was the claim of the Jews and Romans (Matthew 28:11-15). There are a few problems with this claim…
· How could they have known it was the disciples if they were asleep?
· Why were they asleep if they knew that they could loose their lives for sleeping?
· Why were the disciples not arrested for grave robbery? Besides, even the disciples doubted that Jesus had been resurrected! (Mark 16:9-14). There is a better explanation…
The True Answer: God did it! (Acts 13:26-33). Jesus had predicted this…
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again” (Matthew 20:18,19).
He even declared His own power to achieve this. He said of his life…
“…I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again…” (John 10:18).
He could do that because He was the Son of God! There is rational evidence to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. What does that mean then to us? (II Corinthians 4:8-14).