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THE RESURRECTION PART #2

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

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THE LEGEND THEORY

• This theory claims that the body of Jesus was either left on the cross and rotted or was eaten by birds or He was put in a common grave and was eaten by dogs, and later the apostles started the story of the resurrection and it became a legend.

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PROBLEMS

• 1ST – It does not account for

the claims of the Jews that Jesus body was stolen. The 1st century claim presupposes that Jesus was buried and that the tomb was found empty. The legend theory ignores this.

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PROBLEMS

• 2nd

– The legendary story is full of historical details that could be investigated by anyone interested and was proclaimed publicly in the very city where these events took place to people who were witnesses to the events.

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PROBLEMS

• 3RD

– If one were to invent a legendary story that was to be taken as actual history, one would include the most reliable witness of the event.

– Yet this is not the case with the resurrection of Jesus.

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• Many advocates of the legend theory claim that we can see the legend develop in the gospels.

• One account is found in the accounts of Joseph of Arimathea.

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• Mark 15:42-46 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.  And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

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• Matthew 27:57-60 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

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• Luke 23:50-53 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.

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• John 19:38-42 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

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• Another version of the legend theory claims that enthusiastic followers of Jesus other than the apostles began to tell exaggerated stories of His deeds, and these stories developed over time into what we have today.

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• The understanding of the resurrection that the apostles had came from the tradition of the Pharisees.

• The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the physical body to an incorruptible state at the end of time.

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THE QURANIC ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTION

• The New Testament is not the only sacred book that gives as account of the resurrection. The Quran, Islam’s holy book, tells of the arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection.

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QuranSurah 4:157-8

• [4:157] And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him - they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him.

• [4:158] Instead, GOD raised him to Him; GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.

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PROBLEMS

• The Quran dates from the 7th century, 600 years from the events it claims to correctly document.

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THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

• Resurrection is the claim that on the 3rd day after He was crucified and buried, Jesus was resurrected from the dead by the power of God for the purpose of testifying to Jesus’ authority to say and do the things He did.

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PAUL• Saul was a Jew in

religious studies by the most respected of Pharisees, learned Greek culture and language, and was a Roman citizen. This was a privileged and uncommon combination.

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• ACTS 22

• 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

• 6 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

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• Paul was not predisposed to believe in Jesus. In fact he was predisposed not to believe in Jesus.

• Paul was not converted to a belief that if he just believed in Jesus’ teaching, then it would be just like Jesus had come back from the dead.

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• Paul was not converted by a hallucination since those who were with him at the conversion could testify to Paul's state of mind, the light that appeared, and that a sound that they could not discern came from the light. Hallucinations are internal to the mind, not externally verifiable like this event.

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• If the tomb was not empty, someone as radically devoted to the cause of defeating Christianity as Paul would have has Jesus’ tomb opened at once to expose the body and stop the movement.

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• The Apostles did not believe Paul’s conversion. Paul had to work to gain there trust. When Paul did finally meet the apostles, they approved him and endorsed the message he was teaching the gentiles.

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• And as a Pharisee, Paul believed in a physical, bodily resurrection, not an apparition, hallucination, or fanatical remembrance of someone's life.

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• Thus the best explanation for Paul's embracing the very thing he hated most in the world is that he had a real, historical encounter with the resurrected person of Jesus.

• Only a radical event such as this could explain so radical a conversion in so passionate a person.

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• 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 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.

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• “The truly extraordinary thing is that this belief was held by a tiny group who, for the first 2 or 3 generations at least, could hardly have mounted a riot in a village, let alone a revolution in an empire. And yet they persisted against all odds, attracting the unwelcome notice of the authorities because of the power of the message and the worldview and lifestyle it generated and sustained. And whenever we go back to the key texts for evidence of why they persisted in such an improbable and dangerous belief they answer: it is because Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead.”

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CONCLUSION

• The resurrection of Jesus from the dead, taken in complete isolation, is admittedly difficult to accept at face value. But we can’t take it in complete isolation.– Because we have seen that miracles are

possible the resurrection cannot be discarded out of hand.

– Because the time and person who would be resurrected was foretold of ahead of the events, make it harder to dismiss.

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• When the events of the Sunday after the crucifixion are studied in context, we see that the resurrection alone makes since of the facts and falls prey to none of the objections.

• As a result the resurrection has real meaning. It is the event that authenticated Jesus as someone who spoke the very words of God.

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• But what exactly did He teach?

– Jesus moral and ethical teaching is revered not just by Christians but also by many who confess other religions and even by many atheists.

– However Jesus also taught about who He was and what He was here for. He taught about Himself, His identity and nature.

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NEXT TIME• THE BIG QUESTION IS

THIS:

“DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD?”

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