Sermon for Sunday April 12th, 2009

THE RISEN SAVIOR by Bruce Ball

1 Corinthians 15:4-15:8


What makes a good sermon? It is one that will take you to the valley of sinful despair, and then transports you to the top of the hill in praise! It will make you drop to your knees in sorrowful repentance, and then bring you up to jumping with joy! It is one that makes you cry over the sin in your life and then shows you the happiness found in forgiveness in Jesus.

But most of all, no matter where it takes you, when it ends, you will always find yourself feeling closer to Jesus Christ than you were before you heard it.

There may not be much jumping and falling today, and there may not be much laughter and crying, but I sincerely hope that by the end of this sermon, you will find yourself closer to Christ than you were before you heard it.

Let’s start by reading our main text this morning.

LUKE 24:1-8

‘On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from he tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.’

’While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!’

’Remember how He told you, while He was till with you in Galilee: The son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” Then they remembered His words.’

The resurrection cannot be reduced to a philosophy. We are not asked to believe the doctrine of the resurrection: We are asked to meet the Person who was resurrected’ the One who was raised from the dead. By being willing to listen to the story of Jesus, we are taken from the position of not really believing; to a position of realizing that the truth is a Person. And it is through that realization of who Jesus really is that we actually meet Him. But how can we meet Him if He is not alive? Factually speaking, Jesus is very much alive, and He continues to work in our lives yet today!

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice, and be happy in it! This Easter Sunday, and all over the world, Christian preachers are preaching on one subject: The Empty Tomb. This morning, Christians everywhere will be asking the same question and receiving the same good news: ’Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!’

Years ago there was a story about a judge in Yugoslavia who had an accident. He was electrocuted when he reached up to turn on a light while he was standing in his bathtub. His wife found him and called for help. The firemen pronounced him dead at the scene and took him to a funeral home. The local radio station broadcast the story over the airwaves. The whole town was in shock upon hearing about him. But that isn’t the end of the story.

In the middle of the night, lying in the funeral home waiting to be embalmed the judge suddenly came to. The room was dark and he was disoriented and had no idea where he was. He stumbled down the hall in the dark and woke up a student, who lived at the funeral home while he was learning the business. As you might imagine, the young man had the most adverse of reactions to seeing the judge. He ran from the house in his pajamas, screaming and terrified.

Then the judge phoned his wife to get her to come pick him up but she screamed and fainted. Next he tried calling a couple of his friends but they all thought it was some sort of prank and hung up on him. Finally, he called a friend in the next town that hadn’t heard of his death, and he came over to get him and take him to his family to convince them he was not dead after all.

Christianity, from it earliest days, has claimed that another man awoke from death too. He also found Himself in a dark room, but He was not disoriented. This man wasn’t just any man, however, He was Christ Jesus, the Savior – and the Son of the living God. And when he arose from the grave, he arose to a new life in a glorified body, never to die again. And skeptics, just like the skeptics in that judge’s town, have had trouble believing the story ever since.

When I was studying for this sermon, I realized that we had to begin it with a question. Christians believe that the resurrection is the single most important event in the history of the world, and that it has profound implications for our lives. Everything about the Christian faith rises or falls on one question: "Did Jesus really rise from the dead?"

I believe that just knowing or believing something, even in Jesus, does you no good at all - unless you actually try to use in your daily life. So rather than just answering this question today we’re also going to look at how it affects our daily lives.

So, was the resurrection a hoax? Let’s look at some of the evidence that proves Jesus did rise from the grave.


1. THERE’S THE EMPTY TOMB

We read in Luke’s gospel today that some women went to Jesus’ grave to anoint his body with burial spices, "but when they entered the tomb they did not find the body of Jesus.” Now, if the body was not in the tomb, we have to ask ourselves, ‘Where did it go, and how did it get there?’

If Jesus didn’t rise from the grave, then someone took the body. Think about this for a moment. It would have been impossible for his followers to take it considering the fact that an elite group of Roman guards was assigned to guard the tomb. Also, what about that heavy rock blocking the way; if they had tried to move it, the soldiers would have heard them and stopped them.

We have to ask ourselves why the soldiers were there in the first place. The Pharisees remembered that Jesus had claimed that he would rise from the dead after three days so they asked Pilate for soldiers to guard the tomb to keep anyone from stealing the body.

And if Jesus’ enemies took His body, why didn’t they produce it later to prove that He was still dead? No, the truth was, and will always be that Jesus did, in fact, arise from the dead and walk out of the tomb.

The empty tomb is something that is impossible to deny - it is a historical fact.


2. AND LET’S NOT FORGET THE EYEWITNESSES

1 CORINTHIANS 15:4-8 tells us about those witnesses.

’That He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then, He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, He appeared to me also …’

There were not just a few eyewitnesses, who saw Jesus after He arose from the dead, there were over 500 credible people who gave personal testimony to having seen, heard, or touched Jesus after He arose.

The awesome thing about these appearances is that later on, when people were preaching about Jesus, they could point out people who were still living who had personally seen him. It’s not like him saying, a bunch of people saw Jesus, but they’re all dead and gone now. He was saying, "So and so saw him - go ask him about it!”

In fact, the whole Jesus story started right there in Jerusalem where all the events happened. They didn’t go thousands of miles away and say, "Way over yonder in Jerusalem these things unfolded.” They were saying in essence, "this happened right down the street and we all know people who saw it happen.” It could not be refuted. So, what has mankind done since then? We have introduced all kinds of excuses and theories to explain away the resurrection and the fact that so many people saw the risen Savior.

There’s the "vision theory" which says that the disciples wanted to see Jesus so badly they just imagined they saw him. Another theory is the "swoon theory" which says that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross but had just fainted, and then he woke up in the cool air of the tomb. An even more outlandish theory is the "telegraph theory" which says that Jesus somehow telegraphed a picture of himself in bodily form back from heaven to his followers. Then, there was the theory that claimed that everyone who had seen Him was lying.

The trouble with every theory that takes the place of the cross and its reality, is that it takes more faith to believe them than it does to believe the truth as recorded in the Bible.


3. LOOK AT THE CHANGE IN THE EARLY CHURCH

In ACTS 5:27-28; we find a piece of critical evidence as to the early church’s testimony.

’Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’

A profound and permanent change came over the disciples and the early church in the days following Easter morning. The only way to explain this drastic change is that they were thoroughly convinced that Jesus had risen from the grave. The changed lives of these people and their willingness to be martyred, or worse, for the sake of their faith must be considered as proof of the resurrection.

In the Garden of Gethsemane the disciples had deserted Jesus. They were absent at the cross because they were hiding in fear. Peter cursed and denied knowing Jesus three times. Can you imagine this fearful bunch of cowards having the courage to go to the tomb, confront trained Roman soldiers, overpowering them and stealing the body - and then making up an elaborate story with no one ever later confessing that they had just made it up?

No, the evidence points out that the disciples did not take the body of Jesus. But because of Jesus being raised, the disciples changed dramatically.

And at the same time, we see the early church literally erupt with the gospel message, turning the world upside down. All the disciples, except for John, stood strong in their belief and died for their faith. So did thousands of others in the early church. They were fed to hungry lions or tarred and burned on crosses. Some were even sawed in half because they stood up for what they believed in.

What gave the disciples the strength to stand firm in such persecution? The resurrection of Jesus gave them that strength.

PHILIPPIANS 4:13

‘I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who gives me strength.’

Through Jesus, we can have the strength to do anything we have to do in order to grow His kingdom or keep in our salvation.

Do people die for a lie? No they don’t. They knew He was alive because they saw Him, or else they knew people who did see Him after He arose. They couldn’t be silenced because they believed what He said, "Because I live, you shall live, also."

The focus of the resurrection should be less on what happened to Jesus and more on the change that happened to the believers afterwards because of what happened to Jesus. It’s also happening to us today. And with that focus, what difference has the resurrection made to you?

First of all, the resurrection AUTHENTICATES Jesus and his teaching.

One author who wrote about the resurrection likened it to a keystone in architecture. A lot of newer homes have arched windows made out of brick or stone. The block in the center of the arch that holds all the other blocks in place is called the keystone. If you pull it out the entire arch will collapse. That’s why they call it the ’keystone.’ The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the keystone of the Christian faith. Without it, everything collapses. His resurrection proves He was who He said He was.

The true test of a prophet is whether what he says is going to happen actually happens. History is filled with false prophets who made claims that didn’t come true. Some were lunatics, but some were, and still are, making these claims just to lead people astray. No matter what these people may come up with, Jesus proved everything He prophesied, by arising from the tomb that first Easter morning.

The resurrection provides HOPE for the future.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-22 tells us,

‘But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead – the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam, all die – so in Christ, all will be made alive.’

Hope is vital - in fact it’s critical - for our every day survival in life. God understands that.

In ROMANS 15:4, it says,

‘For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE.’

Have you ever been without hope? If you have, you know it is one of the most miserable places a human can be. Remember the two disciples walking along the road to Emmaus? They were talking about how Jesus had been killed and buried. Every time I read this story, I can actually feel their despair and hopelessness.

With no hope, confusion and chaos quickly take over, along with doubts and mistrust. These two men even walked with Jesus for a while, but He kept His identify from them. I can just imagine how hope rushed in to fill their hearts once they learned that the man they had fellowshipped with was Jesus; the One who arose from the tomb.

But let us never give up hope, because the Christian life is essentially a life of hope; the Hope we have as children of God. The fantastic thing about the Christian faith is that we never view death as the end. Instead, we look into eternity and see the hope that is offered through the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. The word ‘hope’ occurs some 52 times in the New Testament alone. And it is always connected in some way to God. God is the author of hope.

But what exactly is hope? One definition of hope is: “Having both a desire, and the expectation of getting what is desired." We cannot hope for that which we do not desire or expect. Life can be difficult and harsh, and there are times we may think that it will not get better. But there is hope found in Christ, but we will not find true hope anywhere else.

For us to understand what hope does, let me equate it to memories. Memories are what connects us to our past. Without memories, we could never travel back and revisit those precious times of our past. In the same way, hope connects us with the future. Without hope, we could never envision the glory that awaits us at the end of our race. Without hope, we could never look forward with anticipation to crossing that river on our way to Heaven’s shore.

You might be feeling lonely and depressed today, but if you are, look at Elijah. He thought he didn’t have a friend in the world, but God showed him that it was not nearly as bad as he thought. This gave Elijah hope.

Do you feel frightened by the obstacles you face in the world? Remember David. He fought a giant over 9 feet tall, and won! If God will let a young man like David go up against and defeat a Giant, don’t you think He will also help you when you call out to Him?

Have you felt like your whole life was in crisis? Look at Daniel. I cannot think of a worse crisis than being put in a cage with hungry lions! That would truly be a crisis of biblical proportions, wouldn’t it?

What I am getting at is that we all need hope to exist. And we need to know that the only giver of hope is God Almighty. And when we read His book, the Bible, we are given that hope we need through the Holy Spirit – all because of one very special thing that happened many years ago; Christ Jesus awoke from the dead and walked out of the tomb, leaving it empty as proof that He is the One and Only. He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and He is the Savior to each of us, if we but will only believe.

As I said earlier, knowing that Jesus died on the cross to take our sins away, and then arose from the grave to show us He is eternal, does us no good at all unless we put it to use in our daily lives.

I stand here each week and say that if you have never received Jesus, to please come forward. There are many in churches that do not really know just what is involved in receiving Jesus, though. It means that we first must have a yearning from within our hearts to change from what we have been - into what we should be. That means to repent and turn away from focusing on the world and start focusing on Jesus.

That is why Jesus died on the cross: To afford us the opportunity to do just that. His death gives us life.