Our ONLY HopeOur ONLY HopeLife, Death and Resurrection of Life, Death and Resurrection of

JesusJesus

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve

6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 

 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead…”

1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 12-20a

Question

- Jesus’ resurrection is the thread by which Christianity hangs. If it didn’t happen, the rest is not true. Why is the resurrection such a big deal?

- What advantages are there to this? - What disadvantages?

“It is, of course, historically prejudicial to exclude automatically all Christian evidence, as if no one who became a follower of Jesus could ever report accurately about his life and teachings, or to assume that all non-Christian evidence was necessarily more “objective.” But even using only such non-Christian sources, there is ample evidence to confirm the main contours of the early Christian claims: Jesus was a Jew who lived in Israel during the first third of the first century; was born out of wedlock; intersected with the life and ministry of John the Baptist; attracted great crowds,

especially because of his wondrous deeds; had a group of particularly close followers called disciples (five of whom are named); ran afoul of the Jewish religious authorities because of his controversial teachings sometimes deemed heretical or blasphemous; was crucified during the time of Pontius Pilate’s governorship in Judea (A.D. 26-35), and yet was believed by many of his followers to have been the Messiah, the anticipated liberator of Israel. This belief did not disappear despite Jesus’ death because a number of his supporters claimed to have seen him resurrected from the

dead. His followers, therefore, continued consistently to grow in numbers, gathering together regularly for worship and instruction and even singing hymns to him as if he were a god (or God). – Craig L. Bloomberg from “Jesus of Nazareth: How Historians Can Know Him and Why It Matters”

Historical AccountAuthor and Date – Who was writing and when?

– Mark – minor character – Luke – only appears in the NT 3 times– Matthew –a converted tax-collector would be a

strange choice.– While people question who wrote (with no

evidence), almost all skeptics agree that that they were all three written within the first century by orthodox Christians in the awareness of apostles. We can easily date Mark in the 60s or 70s with the other two in the 80s. If we accept early church father’s testimony, all are dated in the mid-60s.

Historical AccountGenre – Luke 1:1-4Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught..

Historical AccountIntent – These writers had good reason to report accurately. There were a number of eye-witnesses around that could verify the validity of the story, yet it would have been difficult to corroborate for conspiracy. After all, there were plenty of people who opposed the teaching and ways of Jesus in the first century. If they had been able to discredit the writings of these authors, they could have eliminated this “new movement.” So, it seems that these writers had better reason to report accurately than hyperbole.

Historical Account• Oral Composition –common practice

– Ancient Jews (many of the early followers) honed the art of memorization; some rabbis ahd the entire Hebrew scriptures memorized – in fact, there was a period of time when scribes would “check their work” against a rabbi’s memory.

– Greek schoolboys did similar things with famous Greek writings such as Illiad and the Odyssey

• Oral culture did not rely on print like we do• Main educational technique was rote memorization

– Remarkable amount of transcripts/copies indicates the significance and work put in by early Christians.

Prophecy1

_________________________________________

840,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Question

How do most people regard Jesus in your circles? What do you think the general consensus is about this historical figure?

Virgin Birth• The style and purpose does not favor “myth”• Genealogy and specific history indicates an event

they believed to have really happened• There is no reason why the early church would

need to invent this supernatural claim.• Christians spent much of their time defining

themselves over and against pagan thought (Acts 17, 1 Cor. 1-2, Col. 2)

• Pagan myths are most probably dated after the Gospels with the exception of Buddha which does not feature a virgin mother (and Buddha did not claim to be deity)

Infancy and Childhood• Odd backdrop for one claiming to be God and King• Magi visited him in the manger as “king” which is a

title bestowed upon him as “Christ” or “Messiah, LORD” (Mat. 2:2)

• Jesus likely received religious instruction, attended Jewish festivals and services, and learned carpentry under Joseph (Mark 6:3, Matt. 13:55)

• Was regarded as having incredible insight and understanding as a boy (Luke 2:46-47)

• The summary statements: Luke 2:40 & Luke 2:52

Teaching• Initiated around the age of 30 with a baptism

surrounded by a sign from Heaven where God calls Jesus His Son which is recorded in all three accounts (Luke 3:21-22, Matt. 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11)

• Jesus fasted and was tempted by the devil before beginning his public ministry

• His teaching was distinct because he spoke with such incredible authority (Matthew 7:28-29, Mark 1:22, John 7:15), claimed to have supernatural insight, and said He could forgive sins (Luke 7)

Teaching• “He never used such words as ‘perhaps,’ ‘maybe,’ ‘I

think so.’ Even his words had a concrete feeling about them. They fell upon the soul with the authority of certainty.” – E. Stanley Jones

• He issued strange moral teachings such as “love your enemies” and “blessed are those who mourn” which would not have been a popular message, yet does so with the word “amen” or “truly”

• He seems to, at times, be driving away his followers saying things like “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you cannot be a disciple of mine” (John 6)

Teaching• He speaks most frequently about a coming

Kingdom of God or Heaven and how to access it (Matt. 13:17, 18:3; Mark 10:15, John 3:3-5)

• Jesus used stories and parables and seemed uniquely masterful at asking questions that indicated the heart motivation of the interlocutor (Matt. 22)

Miracles• Jesus substantiates his claims to be who He says

He is through miracles and character• Messianic expectations did not assume the ability to

heal, exorcise demons, or perform signs• He seemed reluctant (and usually refusing) to

perform miracles for those who demanded them, but also asked many to keep a healing to themselves

• Jesus performed a variety of miracles including resurrecting the dead Lazarus (John 11)

• Jesus also imparts these abilities to his followers

Compassion• Jesus seems to gravitate toward the lowly by

choosing tax-collectors and “average” men as His followers

• He demonstrates unparalleled compassion for the down and out such as prostitutes and drunks

• Jesus demonstrated a high regard and respect for women that would not have been typical

• He offers love without condition, encourages His followers to do the same, and pleaded with people to flee the coming judgment in descriptive detail

Identity• Bread of Life (6:48)• Light of the World ((8:12)• The Gate (10:7)• Good Shepherd (10:11)• Resurrection and Life (11:25)• Way, Truth and Life (14:6)• True Vine (15:1)

His Character“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with with a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell (a liar). You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God (Lord): or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool (lunatic), you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon (liar); or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C. S. Lewis

– Pilate found no basis for conviction (Luke 23:4)– A Centurion concluded He was a righteous man

after His death (Luke 23:47)– The criminal crucified next to Him spoke up about

his innocence (Luke 23:41)– John describes Him as being “full of grace and

truth” (John 1:14) and sinless (1 John 3:5)– Peter describes Him as a Lamb with no blemish

or defect (1 Peter 1:19)– Paul describes Him as creator, ruler, and

reconciler who has no sin (Col. 1 and 2 Cor. 5:21)– Judas confessed “innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4)– Hebrews describes Him as a High Priest who can

identify with temptation (Heb. 4&7)

• Take 3 minutes and explain this concept to another person and then switch.

• Do you think this is an effective tool?

Question

Resurrection

“There is no evidence for a form of early Christianity in which the resurrection was not a central belief. Nor was this belief, as it were, bolted on to Christianity at the edge. It was the central driving force, informing the whole movement.” - N.T. Wright

“for the supernatural was so intertwined with the rest (of Jesus’ life) that, if they ripped out all the supernatural,… no historical Jesus remained (which is untenable); if they kept the historical Jesus the supernatural remained as well.” - Francis Schaeffer

Difficult to Dismiss• How a small band of defeated followers of

Jesus were transformed almost overnight

• What motivated Jews to move Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday

• Why women as first-responders

• What the cross?

• How the Jewish expectation of all people being rasied form the dead together at the end of time (Dan. 12:2) allowed them to declare Jesus to have been raised seperately

Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the

Resurrection,By William Lane Craig

Appearances• Peter

• 12 Disciples

• 500 witnesses

• James

• Apostles

• Saul/Paul

“The more we study the tradition with regard to the appearances, the firmer the rock begins to appear upon which they are based…” said Norman Perrin, NT critic of the world renown University of Chicago

And when evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. And Joseph brought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in die rock; and He rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus were looking on to see where He was laid. Mark 15:42-47

Empty TombEmpty Tomb• The site of Jesus’ grave was known to Jew and

Christian alike. • Paul’s descriptionPaul’s description• Marks’ report is the oldestMarks’ report is the oldest• The story lacks legendary characteristicThe story lacks legendary characteristic• Women indicate it’s not fabricatedWomen indicate it’s not fabricated• Antagonist acknowledge empty tombAntagonist acknowledge empty tomb“It is extremely difficult to object to the empty

tomb on historical grounds; those who deny it do so on the basis of theological or philosophical assumptions.” – D.H. van Daalen

Origins of Christianity• Disciples stole the body and lied…• Jesus did not die on the cross…• Disciples projected hallucinations…

ConclusionOne might ask, "Well, then how do skeptical scholars explain the facts of the resurrection appearances, the empty tomb, and the origin of the Christian faith?" The fact of the matter is, they don't. Modem scholarship recognizes no plausible explanatory alternative to the resurrection of Jesus. Those who refuse to accept the resurrection as a fact of history are simply self-confessedly left without an explanation. These three great facts-the resurrection appearances, the empty tomb, and the origin of the Christian faith-all point unavoidably to one conclusion: The resurrection of Jesus. Today the rational man can hardly be blamed if he believes that on that first Easter morning a divine miracle occurred.

– William Lane Craig

Questions

• Why would a person still reject the historical resurrection of Jesus?

• What thought, questions, ideas do you have about what we discussed today?

• What further evidence might need to be demonstrated to show the plausibility of Christianity?