METRO CORE SESSION #11 JESUS: BACK FROM THE DEAD? October 19-20, 2013 Greg Cahalan & Jeremy Schossau

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1 METRO CORE SESSION #11 JESUS: BACK FROM THE DEAD? October 19-20, 2013 Greg Cahalan & Jeremy Schossau Over the past several weeks during our weekend experiences we ve been in this series called NO APOLOGIES FAITH HAS IT S REASONS. We ve been talking about how the Christian Faith is more than just a BLIND SORT OF FAITH. While it is still faith it is a faith that is reasonable. What we have tried to do was to give you some reasons why we personally have come to believe in God and the Bible and Jesus. We ve tried to put forward some thoughts and arguments that would compel a reasonable thinking person towards Biblical Faith. But today we re going talk about perhaps the biggest question of faith there is. Even bigger maybe than DOES GOD EXIST in the first place. And the QUESTION IS DID JESUS REALLY COME BACK FROM THE DEAD. I think it might be easier for some people to believe that there is a GOD OUT THERE SOMEWHERE than to believe a DEAD MAN CAN COME BACK TO LIFE. Can a dead man come back to life? THE ANSWER TO THAT SCIENTIFICALLY is no. When you stop breathing you re done. Dead people don t walk around. Contrary to what half of America thinks ZOMBIES are not real. But the Bible claims and CHRISTIANS BELIEVE that Jesus came back to life - rose from the dead after his crucifixion. And herein lays the tension. HOW CAN A REASONABLE THINKING PERSON BELIEVE THIS? They can t, of course, apart from a belief in the SUPERNATURAL. But is it reasonable to believe this? It is not possible to overstate the importance of this question! If Jesus did not come back from the dead, then the Christian faith is a well-crafted lie. If Jesus did not come back from the dead, then we might as well throw our Bibles in the garbage can. Here is the way the Scripture puts it: If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins [and] those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:14-19). The whole thing rises and falls on this one historical event. It either happened, or it didn t. If it did NOT happen, then the Bible is not the Word of God and Jesus is not the Son of God. But if it DID happen, then it changes everything at least for me. I can tell you what it means for me. When I am trying to figure out who to believe and who to follow in this world, I am going to follow the GUY who ROSE FROM THE DEAD! I don t know about you, but that s just how it s going to be for me. If Jesus body is not rotting in the grave, then I am choosing Jesus not Muhammad, Gandhi, Buddha or Oprah! If Jesus rose from the dead, then it confirms that He was who He claimed to be, the Son of God, and that His teaching has the authority of God Himself. So let s talk about this whole deal DID JESUS COME BACK FROM THE DEAD? Page 1 of 10

2 Let s go on a JOURNEY for a moment. Imagine that you were one of Jesus closest followers. You watched him die a slow and painful death as he hung on the cross. You watched one of the soldiers pierce his side with a spear, and you saw the blood and water flow from his side confirming that he was, in fact, dead. You watched them wrap his dead body in a cloth and place it in a tomb, guarded by Roman soldiers. You are devastated. The person you had put your hope in is gone. You thought he was the Messiah, but now he is dead. You are grieving the loss of a friend and the loss of a dream, and it is difficult to cope. Three days pass and you decide to go and visit the tomb. You want to pay your final respects according to the customs of that day. The Scripture records that TWO WOMEN decide to go to the tomb. Now let s just say you are one of them. AND when you get there, you find that the stone in front of the tomb has been rolled away WHICH IS A LITTLE FREAKY TO YOU, and before you have a chance to go into shock an angel appears to you and speaks these words: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. WHICH IS A LITTLE MORE THAN FREAKY. You check it out for yourself and the moment you set foot in the tomb YOU BURST INTO TEARS because sure enough the tomb is empty. YOU THINK THEY VE TAKEN THE BODY OF JESUS. He s just gone. Your Messiah, the one you loved, the one who taught you all about the love of God and the mystery of God is just gone. AND the ROMAN guards who were supposed to protect the tomb are shaking with fear like they had seen a ghost. You aren t sure what to do, so you take off running to tell the other disciples. And while you are running you literally RUN INTO HIM. Jesus Himself is standing in the road right in front of you! IT S GETTING FREAKIER BY THE MINUTE You stop in your tracks. You re about to pee your pants Right? He speaks to you and tells you not to be afraid. Oh you re afraid alright but he tells you not to be. And you think BUT YOU RE DEAD. I SAW YOU DIE. I SAW THEM PUT YOU IN THE TOMB. And you think am I going CRAZY? Is this a trick? You think you might be dreaming but you re not sure. It definitely seems real. You re in FREAK OUT MODE about now. And so literally you cut and run. You high tail it back to the other FOLLOWERS who are hanging out back in town; SCARED TO DEATH that they are going to be the next killed. And when you get there you tell PETER and the others that Jesus is not dead he s ALIVE. And they think you re crazy. But there is enough hope that they go and check it out. AND WHY IS THERE HOPE? Because they remember the PROPHETIC WORDS that this would happen. ALL of a sudden they are going didn t he say something about rising from the dead and all that. At the time you thought he was a little crazy Rising from the dead? Who rises from the dead? You had no idea what he was talking about. BUT now the pieces are starting to come together. Page 2 of 10

3 So Peter and the others and the two ladies turn around and make a mad dash for the tomb. Maybe you can put yourself in Peter s shoes. You re thinking what is going on? These women are crazy. But you run and run and run and all of sudden you are standing at the edge of the tomb. YOU TAKE A DEEP BREATH and you lean in AND HE S GONE. He s just not there. Your mind starts racing. You re heart beat jumps. AND RIGHT HERE right now you have to decide. IS THIS TRUE? COULD IT BE TRUE? Now let me ask. What did Peter feel in that moment? What was going through his mind? CAN A DEAD MAN LIVE AGAIN? AND that is what you face. RIGHT HERE IN THIS MOMENT. Some guy says a DEAD MAN is ALIVE and you re going NOT SURE what to think about this. And yet, as we sit here today, in this room, almost 2000 years later, more than 2 billion people in the world say they believe that Jesus rose from the dead, despite the fact that they have never seen anyone else rise from the dead, and despite the fact science would say it is impossible. Somehow a dead preacher from a little hick town called Nazareth has become the most famous person in all of history. For some reason, Jesus of Nazareth is the subject of more songs, books and artwork than anyone who has ever lived. He has had more impact on the world than all other teachers, philosophers, armies, rulers and kings put together. Most of the world even measures time based on the year of his birth. And it s all based on this belief that he rose from the dead. Why would people believe this? And is it even possible today to figure out if the resurrection ever happened? I can tell you this We are convinced that Jesus rose from the dead and we re going to look at some of the evidences that point us to a reasonable faith in the resurrection and I hope, by the time we are finished, that you will agree. So we re going to build our thinking around three questions that we need to talk about. The first one is 1. Did Jesus really die? Think about this. There are some people that aren t sure that Jesus actually DIED on that cross. There is no doubt, historically that Jesus was crucified. A whole bunch of writers outside of the BIBLE record the fact that Jesus was EXECUTED BY ROMAN CRUCIFIXION. Ancient historians and writers like Josephus, TACITUS and Julius Africanus, among others say, IN THE LEAST, he was crucified. BUT some people say well maybe he didn t actually die so thus no need for a resurrection. 2. How do you explain the empty tomb? Listen, you guys might think that is a pretty simplistic question and wonder who is even asking that question. I will tell you who was asking it everyone in the first century was asking it, because the tomb was empty and nobody could ever find the body. All anyone would have had to do Page 3 of 10

4 to completely disprove Christianity and the resurrection is produce a dead body. And nobody could. 3. Were there credible eyewitnesses? And really, this is the biggie. Any case is built around the credibility of the witnesses right? Well, there were all these people running around right after the death and reported Resurrection saying THE MAN IS NOT DEAD HE S ALIVE. So let s start with this first one Did Jesus really die? There are people who believe that Jesus did not really die at his crucifixion, but was merely unconscious. They just thought he was dead, so they put him in a tomb, but he later woke up and recuperated in the coolness of the tomb and fully recovered. This is known as: The Swoon Theory. In other words, Jesus just fainted on the cross, but didn t die. Those who believe this theory say that it explains the empty tomb and the so-called resurrection appearances. There are literally dozens of medical studies that have shown how crucifixion works to kill people, and how it would be obvious to everyone present when someone had died. The primary cause of death by crucifixion was asphyxiation (death from being unable to breathe). This happens because the hanging position itself, with the arms tightly outstretched, puts the chest and lungs into the inhaled position, thus collapsing the lung cavity. In order to exhale, the victim has to push himself up on his nail-pierced hands and push with his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down and take another breath. Then he d have to push himself up again to exhale, over and over and over. This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn t be able to push up and breathe anymore. You knew a victim was dead when he would remain hanging in the down position without pushing up to breathe. And if it was taking too long for someone to die, the guards would just break the victim s legs so they would be unable to push up and breathe. Once a victim stopped breathing, the guards would then generally inflict an absolutely fatal death blow to ensure the victim was dead. This lines up exactly with the account of Jesus death in the Gospel of John: Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (John 19:31-34). The flow of blood and water is evidence of something known as hypovolemic shock that is caused by the loss of large amounts of blood. This kind of shock leads to a rapid heart rate that causes heart failure and the collection of fluid in the membranes around the heart. As the spear pierced through the lung and into the heart, it would cause this fluid to come out. The Page 4 of 10

5 fluid would look like water, followed by a large volume of blood. Based on modern medical knowledge, there is just simply no way that Jesus was not dead. There is simply no good evidence for the swoon theory. It is not reasonable. All of the evidence points to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth actually died on a Roman cross and was buried in a nearby tomb. The dude was dead! And that leads us to this question How do you explain the empty tomb? If Jesus really died, and was really buried in a tomb, then it would be very easy disprove the resurrection by simply providing his dead body. Don t forget that Jesus was publicly executed and buried in Jerusalem. Not only was he buried in Jerusalem, but Pilate ordered the tomb to be guarded so the disciples would not come and steal the body. And yet, three days later the tomb was empty. How do you explain this? People have all kinds of theories about this but the one that gets floated the most is that the DISCIPLES of Jesus had stolen the body. You know those crazy JESUS followers got a plan together and in the middle of the night when the guards fell asleep they slipped in, rolled the stone away and stole the body. A lot of people believed this. But seriously, it s just not likely. I was reading some stuff about ROMAN SOLDIERS and these guys were bad to the bone. Did you know that that the Roman Soldier would be executed for any number of offenses? Offenses like befriending an enemy, shrinking back in the face of duty and get this FOR FALLING ASLEEP WHILE ON DUTY. Even if the Roman guards had slept, consider what it would have taken for thieves to remove the body from the tomb. The circular stone used to seal the tomb weighed between one and two tons. Thieves would have had to sneak past the guards, roll the large stone up a grooved incline, enter the dark tomb, and exit with the body all without waking a single member of the guard! Possible but not plausible. It would have taken considerable bravery to go up against a detachment of Roman soldiers. Yet the historical record shows that in the days following the death of Jesus, the disciples were a depressed and cowardly group. Why would a group of men who had run and hidden when Jesus was alive suddenly and courageously decide to steal his body and begin propagating a story that would certainly bring on them the very treatment they had fled just three days earlier? EVEN THE JEWISH LEADERSHIP that had Jesus executed knew that if NO BODY WAS FOUND THEY WERE IN TROUBLE. PRODUCING A BODY would END THIS WHOLE JESUS COMING BACK TO LIFE THING. AND GET THIS the Bible actually speaks directly to this : Some of Page 5 of 10

6 the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Matthew 28:11-15 These disciples didn t steal the body. Any reasonable thinking person knew that was not in the realm of plausibility. And this leads us to what I think is the greatest evidence of the resurrection. Were the eyewitnesses credible? It s the credibility of the witnesses that make or break any case. Think about this. They would have no motivation to cooperate in the heist. And secondly, if the disciples somehow managed to sneak past the guards, roll away the stone, steal Jesus body and escape from the scene without being noticed, at least THEY would have known that the resurrection was a hoax. This would mean that all of the so-called eyewitnesses would have known that they were lying. And listen Who would die for something that they KNEW was a lie? Just take the apostles themselves. At least eleven of them were killed for refusing to deny their eyewitness testimony that Jesus rose from the dead. They were tortured, beaten, and killed by some of the cruelest methods. 1. Peter was crucified upside down. 2. Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross. 3. James, son of Zebedee, was beheaded by the sword. 4. Philip was scourged and crucified. 5. Bartholomew was flayed alive and crucified upside down. 6. Thomas was executed with spears. 7. Matthew was pinned to the ground and beheaded. 8. James, son of Alphaeus, was crucified. 9. Thaddaeus was crucified 10. Simon was crucified. 11. Matthias was stoned and beheaded. Many people respond to this by saying, Big deal. This doesn t prove anything. Lots of people have died for a lie. Ever hear of 9/11? And that is right. Many people have died for a lie but not for something they KNEW was a lie. Any example I am aware of when someone died for a lie, they did so BELIEVING it was the truth. When it comes to the apostles, in order to believe that they died for a lie, you have to believe that they died KNOWING it was a lie! Page 6 of 10

7 The apostles were eyewitnesses. While the 9/11 suicide hijackers certainly believed that what they died for was true, they did not know for sure if it was true. They put their faith in traditions passed down to them over many generations. In contrast, the early Christian martyrs were actual eyewitnesses. Either they saw what they claimed to see, or they did not. THEY KNEW for certain whether it was true or not. One thing is for sure, the remarkable change that happened in their lives is compelling evidence that they really BELIEVED it was true they really believed that they had seen Jesus RISEN from the dead with their own eyes. These men went from pathetic and scared followers of a crucified rabbi to fearless apostles overnight. They went from denying Him and hiding from the world to boldly preaching that Jesus is the Lord of life and the Judge of history. These were the same people who could not stay awake for one hour of prayer the night Jesus was arrested. It was the same group who ran away when the going got tough and Jesus was sentenced to die. Peter, their so-called leader, denied Jesus three times, the final time with bitter cursing. The only ones who were willing to identify with him at his crucifixion were a couple of women, one of which was his mommy, and his beloved disciple John. If you were to try this evidence in a courtroom to figure out whether Jesus really rose from the dead it would be beyond any reasonable doubt that these were credible eyewitnesses. They really believed what they proclaimed. And you would not be able to come up with ANY reasonable motive for why they would lie about it. They had NOTHING to gain from this, and absolutely everything to lose. According to the historical record, both inside and outside of the Bible, most Christians could end their suffering and persecution simply by renouncing their faith. Instead, they all chose to endure the suffering and proclaim the resurrection of Jesus to their deaths! Jesus coming back from the dead is simply the best explanation for the transformation of Jesus disciples. And it is the best explanation for the rapid spread of Christianity in the ancient world. Remember, all anyone had to do was provide the body and the whole thing would have been over. In addition, if even ONE of the eyewitnesses later admitted it was a lie, the credibility of the whole story would be called into question. But NOT ONE of them did. This is remarkable considering that there were over 500 of them. Try bringing over 500 eyewitnesses into a courtroom, all of whom tell the same story, and see if anyone thinks there is a reasonable doubt whether it really happened. Here is a list of the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection over a forty-day period that are in the historical record: The Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus: 1. Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18) Page 7 of 10

8 2. Mary and the other women (Matthew 28:1-10) 3. Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5) 4. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) 5. Ten apostles (Luke 24:36-49) 6. Eleven apostles (John 20:24-31) 7. Seven apostles (John 21) 8. All of the apostles (Matthew 28:16-20) 9. Five hundred disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6) 10. James (1 Corinthians 15:7) 11. Again to all the apostles (Acts 1:4-8) 12. The apostle Paul (Acts 9:1-9; 1 Corinthians 15:8; 9:1) One remarkable thing about this list that is easy to miss is that the VERY FIRST people to witness the resurrection were WOMEN. If this whole story was made up, this makes absolutely NO sense. Listen to this quote from Dr. William Lane Craig: When you understand the role of women in first-century Jewish society, what's really extraordinary is that this empty tomb story should feature women as the discoverers of the empty tomb in the first place. Women were on a very low rung of the social ladder in first-century Palestine. There are old rabbinical sayings that said, 'Let the words of Law be burned rather than delivered to women' and 'blessed is he whose children are male, but woe to him whose children are female.' Women's testimony was regarded as so worthless that they weren't even allowed to serve as legal witnesses in a Jewish court of Law. In light of this, it's absolutely remarkable that the chief witnesses to the empty tomb are these women... Any later legendary account would have certainly portrayed male disciples as discovering the tomb - Peter or John, for example. The fact that women are the first witnesses to the empty tomb is most plausibly explained by the reality that - like it or not - they were the discoverers of the empty tomb! This shows that the Gospel writers faithfully recorded what happened, even if it was embarrassing. This bespeaks the historicity of this tradition rather than its legendary status." (Dr. William Lane Craig, quoted by Lee Strobel, The Case For Christ, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998, p. 293) Friends, every bit of this evidence is just compelling. And there is still more. Consider two more people who are on this list of eyewitnesses, Jesus brother James and the Apostle Paul. Imagine if you had grown up with Jesus as his brother. Remember that there doesn t seem to have been anything particularly remarkable about Jesus when he was a boy. He didn t perform his first miracle until he was 30 years old. And then all of a sudden, your brother starts travelling around claiming to be the Son of God. The Scripture tells us that Jesus family thought he was out of his mind. They were embarrassed by him and his message. They even mocked him. I mean, what would you think if your brother went Page 8 of 10

9 around the town saying things like I am the way the truth and the life? I d tell you what I d do if it were my brother. I d probably call the men with the white coats. But then something happened to James. After Jesus was crucified and buried, all of a sudden James is one of the leaders of the early Christians and is preaching the resurrection all over Jerusalem. He eventually even wrote one of the books of the Bible, the Epistle of James. Here is the way he described himself at the beginning of his epistle: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1). THIS WAS HIS BROTHER. What could have changed James from an embarrassed scoffer to a man willing to die for his brother s claim to be the Son of God? Listen to this quote from J.P. Moreland, professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology: The gospels tell us Jesus family, including James, were embarrassed by what he was claiming to be. They didn t believe in him; they confronted him. In ancient Judaism it was highly embarrassing for a rabbi s family not to accept him. Therefore, the gospel writers would have no motive for fabricating this skepticism if it weren t true. Later the historian Josephus tells us that James, the brother of Jesus, who was the leader of the Jerusalem church, was stoned to death because of his belief in his brother. Why did James s life change? Paul tells us [in 1 Corinthians 15:7]: the resurrected Jesus appeared to him. There s no other explanation. J.P. Moreland The testimony of James is incredible, but the testimony of the apostle Paul is even more incredible. Paul was not just a scoffer and a skeptic, he was a KILLER of Christians. He was a wealthy and influential leader among the Jewish people in Jerusalem. He was a Pharisee who was educated under one the greatest rabbis of his time. He was so devoted to the Jewish law that he viewed Christians as blasphemers who should be put to death. Here is how Paul himself described his views: I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. (Acts 26:9-11) One day he set out for one these persecution journeys, but instead of persecuting the Christians when he arrived, all of a sudden the story takes a dramatic turn: At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" 22 Yet Saul [Paul] grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. 23 After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him (Acts 9:20-23). Page 9 of 10

10 What in the world happened to this guy? Why did he go from killing Christians, to preaching that Jesus is the Son of God? Why did he literally give up everything for this message? He gave up his wealth. He gave up his influence. He gave up his position in society. He gave up his friends and family? Why? He definitely was not crazy. We know from Paul s writings that he was a first-class intellect. He was one of the smartest people of his day. He was not gullible and simple-minded. No HE WAS AN EYEWITNESS! He had SEEN the risen Christ with his own eyes, and spent the rest of his life proclaiming his message! His conversion was so dramatic, that it took the other Christians a while to actually believe he was sincere and not just faking it in order to get information from them to arrest them. But there was nothing insincere about Paul s new faith. He ended up writing 2/3 of the New Testament and was eventually tortured and beheaded in Rome. His words describing his faith in Jesus are perhaps the most powerful ever penned: I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things Philippians 3:8 So there you have it. That is the testimony of the eyewitnesses. They are credible. Their story is consistent. They gave their lives for this message instead of renouncing it. There were more than 500 of them. Their testimony turned the world upside down, making Jesus the most influential person in the history of the world. In the words of Josh McDowell, this is evidence that demands a verdict. We all must decide. There are some other crazy theories out there that try to explain all of this. One theory is the Twin Theory. The twin theory suggests that Jesus had an identical twin brother nobody knew about who took Jesus place on the cross. There is no evidence for that. My personal favorite theory is the Alien Theory. The alien theory says that Jesus was an alien from another planet. According to this theory, because He was from another planet He was very advanced in His knowledge of medicine and science. He also had highly developed psychic abilities, and many things that were natural to Him looked miraculous to people in the first century. Thus, He had the ability to heal Himself in the tomb, exit the tomb unnoticed by guards, was able to locate the disciple's hideout telepathically, and transport Himself into their presence. Hmm. I don t know about you, but I think I will stick to the eyewitness testimony of over 500 people, including Jesus brother James and the great Apostle Paul. I think the evidence that Jesus came back from the dead is beyond a reasonable doubt. I am willing to stake my life on that message. How about you? Page 10 of 10