Easter
Sunrise Bible Study
March
31, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the
broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a
decision Is the church loved?
24:1-12 The Resurrection
I’d like to focus on two phrases from the text we read earlier in the
service.
(Lk 24:5–6 NKJV) —5 …they said
to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not
here, but is risen!
:6 He is not here, but is risen!
The resurrection is one of the best attested facts in history.
Illustration
One man who was
highly skilled at dealing with evidence was Dr. Simon Greenleaf. He is among
the giants even today when it comes to the rules for evidence in the courtroom.
He was the famous Royall Professor of Law at Harvard University and
succeeded Justice Joseph Story as the Dane Professor of Law in the same
university. The rise of Harvard Law School to its eminent position among the
legal schools of the United States is to be ascribed to the efforts of these
two men. Greenleaf produced his famous three-volume work, A Treatise on the Law
of Evidence, which still is considered one of the greatest single authorities
on this subject in the entire literature of legal procedure.
Greenleaf examined the value of the historical evidence for the
resurrection of Jesus Christ to ascertain the truth. He applied the principles
contained in his three-volume treatise on evidence. His findings were recorded
in his book, An Examination of the
Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the
Courts of Justice.
Greenleaf came
to the conclusion that, according to the laws of legal evidence used in courts
of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.
Here’s some of
what an investigator will find in looking at the evidence.
He really died
A trained Roman executioner saw that He was dead.
He was buried
He was buried in a tomb that had been carved out of solid rock, a stone
weighing up to 1 ½ tons had been rolled across the entrance.
Sealed tomb
The stone carried a Roman seal, meaning that you would die if you opened
it.
Guarded tomb
The Jewish leaders were afraid something would happen, and they requested
Pilate to put a Roman guard on the tomb.
On that first Resurrection Sunday morning, this is what was found:
Broken seal
Somebody was going to be in trouble with the Roman government.
Empty tomb
If the ladies simply went to the wrong tomb, what
about Joseph of Arimathaea or Nicodemus, who also
participated in His burial. Were the guards at the wrong tomb? And if all these people went to the wrong
tomb, why didn’t the Romans and the Jews simply produce the body of Jesus after
the disciples began to proclaim that He had risen?
The stone was moved
This stone, weighing up to 1 ½ tons, was not in its place. The text indicates it had been moved up the
hill.
Roman guard fled
Though they risked losing their own lives, the Roman guard had left their
post and fled to the Jewish high priest to find protection from their boss,
Pilate (Mat. 28:11-15) because the tomb was empty.
Empty grave clothes
John describes that he and Peter found the graveclothes
lying in a little pile, as if Jesus had simply passed through the grave
clothes, then folded up the head cloth. (John 20:5-7)
Appeared to many
(1 Co 15:5–6 NKJV)
—5 and that
He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that
He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once…
He is risen.
Over a period of forty days, Jesus began to make appearances to His
disciples (Acts 1:3; 1Cor. 15:5-8).
These men continued to claim right up to each of their
deaths that they had seen the risen Christ.
All but John died horrible martyr’s deaths because of what they
preached.
In addition to the twelve, Jesus appeared to others as well. Paul records Jesus appeared to upwards of 500
people (1Cor. 15:6)
Even the Jewish Historian Josephus mentions Jesus and the resurrection.
Now,
there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man,
for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth
with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the
Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; (64) and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the
principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the
first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day,
as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful
things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not
extinct at this day.[1]
C. S. Lewis wrote in his book Mere
Christianity:
“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 the man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the Devil of
Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God,
or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can
spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; 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.”
:5 Why do you seek the living
among the dead?
The ladies had
gone to the tomb, thinking they were going to add more spices to Jesus’ dead
body as His dead body decayed like dead bodies do.
They didn’t want Jesus to be a stinky Jesus.
Yet much to their surprise, Jesus was not in the condition they expected
Him to be.
You may be at
church today, expecting Jesus to be like you last saw Him, dead and decaying,
or hanging on a cross.
I’ve got news for you. He isn’t dead.
A dead Jesus stays in the tomb, or He stays at church where you last saw
Him.
But Jesus isn’t dead.
He’s alive.
You may even be a person who believes that Jesus was a real, historical
person.
You may believe that He lived 2,000 years ago, taught many good things, and
did many miracles.
You may believe that He died on a cross, may even believe He died on the
cross to pay for your sins.
You may believe in your head that He rose from the dead after three days.
To a “religious” person, Jesus may be an historical person.
But “religion” tends to bring lots of spices to church to cover up the fact
that deep down inside they are afraid to face the truth that their “religion”
stinks.
I’ve got news for you. Jesus isn’t a
religion. He’s a person. And He’s alive.
He wants you to know Him.
He wants you to walk with Him.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians,
(Eph 3:17 NKJV) that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith
That’s a living Jesus.
Jesus said,
(Re 3:20 NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine
with him, and he with Me.
Let today be the day that you let Jesus come into
your heart.