Ah yes!
Easter/Resurrection Sunday 2017. The “Super Bowl” of Sunday church services.
This is the day that pastors look forward to the most, I suppose. The pews are
more full than usual with visitors, both unsaved first timers and folks who
satisfy the wrath of God by attending church on this one day out of the year.
Preachers are sweating the message as this one needs to count. This message
needs to hit them in their heart. The Holy Spirit needs to convict them so that
they choose salvation this day and follow Christ. Messages of second chances
and redemption roll from pulpits across the globe. But… I am not a preacher,
nor am I pastor, so I am going to break the rules and speak on something
completely off the wall. This week for my special Resurrection Sunday message I
am going to address two questions that are raised by the skeptics: Did Jesus
actually rise from the dead and walk out of the tomb, and if so, then did He
actually die to begin with?
Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?
To many of
our atheist friends the notion that Jesus had risen from the dead three days
later is as absurd as Jesus being born of a virgin. However, many times during
His earthly ministry Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection. Even the
story of the bronze serpent on a pole in Numbers 21 is a type of Jesus’
crucifixion. But the question that remains is whether Jesus walked out of His
own grave. Jesus said “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life
that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I
have received from My Father.” (John 10:17-18). Jesus did just that as He gave
up his Spirit when He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Scripture says “But
the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that
you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:5-6). Later “...as they
went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they
came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.” (v.9). Now any skeptic would
say that these women were delusional and hallucinating. This leads us to the
next event: “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the
city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When
they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum
of money to the soldiers, saying, ‘Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and
stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we
will appease him and make you secure.’ So
they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is
commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” (Vv. 11-15). These guards
were the same ones that fell out when the angel appeared to them (Vv. 3-4).
There are many theories that the skeptics rely on to disprove Jesus’
resurrection. But one does not need to stray far from this story from the
guards and the priests to see the evidence. Their unraveling reveals the
resurrection.
Traditionally,
if a Roman soldier fell asleep and allowed the prisoner to escape, then he
would be put to death. “But when Herod had searched for him and not found him,
he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.” (Acts
12:19), this occurring after an angel freed Peter from prison. Also, “And the
keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill
himself.” (Acts 16:27). Could it be that the guard, thinking that he allowed
the prisoners to go free because he was sleeping, thought it would be best to
take his own life than to be put to death for his shameful failure? It appears that
you would certainly be put to death if you were a Roman soldier who failed to
keep guard. But we do not see that with the case of the “disciples stealing
Jesus’ body while the guards slept”. Why? First, if we read the context, we see
that this story is in response to his resurrection, not of the disciples
actually stealing the body. Second, the guards were not asleep, but became “as
dead men” when they witnessed the angel rolling back the stone (Matt. 28:4).
So, biblically speaking, the guards were the only eyewitness to the
resurrection. Third, we can assume that the guards and leaders acknowledged
that Jesus did indeed rise because they were expecting it, which is why they
sent guards to keep watch and why they fabricated this story instead of assuming
that the guards actually fell asleep and were lying about the resurrection.
They knew that what the guards were telling them was the truth. Some of the
refutations to the Jewish leader’s story are: “1) If the guards were sleeping,
how did they know that the disciples stole the body? 2) There is no way that
the disciples could possibly have overcome the guard. 3) It is preposterous to
believe that the disciples died for a lie that they created.”[1] That
last point is the most important. Who on earth would choose to be tortured and
killed for a fabricated story? The apostles preached Jesus crucified and
resurrected and not a single one of them cracked under pressure and confessed
that they had taken Jesus away and buried Him elsewhere. Also in the Scriptures,
we see Jesus appear to His disciples in a physical form and not one of an
apparition. He was able to have Thomas stick his hand into His side (I wonder
what that felt like. Awkward?), and even eat fish- two simple things that only
a physical form of a person can accomplish. So that leads us to the next
question…
Did Jesus Die?
As a skeptic,
it makes sense: If someone can prove to you that Jesus walked out of the tomb,
and you are convinced, then He must’ve not died to begin with. There are many
theories that abound with this one. One of them is that Jesus simply passed out
from exhaustion and was revived by the burial spices. However, something
happened after Jesus died that would crush all of the skeptic’s arguments. “Then
the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was
crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already
dead, they did not break His legs. But
one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and
water came out.” (John 19:32-34). The water and blood here is significant. “This
gathering of fluid in the membrane around the heart is called pericardial
effusion, and the fluid gathering around the lungs is called pleural effusion.
This explains why, after Jesus died and a Roman soldier thrust a spear through
Jesus’ side (probably His right side, piercing both the lungs and the heart),
blood and water came from His side just as John recorded in his Gospel.”[2] According
to Scriptures Jesus had suffered this flooding in his heart and lungs. So, even
if the scourging, beating, crucifixion, and piercing did not kill him, this
alone would have if it had not already signified his death. Who on earth could
survive such fluid building up and suffocating such vital organs? Who on earth
could survive having a spear go through their heart and their lungs and then
three days later move around as though it was a flesh wound? The piercing and
flow just solidified the fact that he was dead.
As Christians,
we know that Jesus died as it was necessary for Him to be our final sacrificial
lamb. If He had not died then our sins would not be atoned for and we would
still be dead in them. If He had not risen then there would be no hope for you
and me to be renewed in redemption, justification, and sanctification. Jesus
would have been just another martyr who died for a cause. To the skeptics that
is exactly who He is- a good man who died for what He believed in. However, as
those who are redeemed, we know what they don’t…
He is risen
and He lives!
In Christ
Alone!
[1]
House and Holden. Charts of Apologetics
and Christian Evidences. Grand Rapids,MI.: Zondervan, 2006..
[2]
Michael S. Houdmann. "Why did
blood and water come out of Jesus' side when He was pierced?” http://www.gotquestions.org/blood-water-Jesus.html.
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