EASTER (DOES THE RESURRECTION MATTER?)

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1 EASTER (DOES THE RESURRECTION MATTER?) SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CONNECT (from last week): As we celebrate Easter this week, spend some time thinking about how you can be serving your sisters and brothers in Christ this year. WARM-UP Questions 1. Did you learn anything or grow in anyway this Easter? What most stood out for you over the weekend? 2. Why does Jesus death and resurrection change everything? What does it mean for you? READ Matthew 27: Why was Jesus death like no other? How was it significant even beyond the physical agony? (Especially consider Jesus cry from the cross in v.46.) 4. How does his death enable us to be reconciled to God? 5. What was the significance of the darkness and the Temple curtain being torn in two? How about the raising of the dead? 6. What is important about the centurion s exclamation, that, Surely he was the Son of God!? READ Matthew 27:62-28:15 7. How do you think Mary and Mary felt that morning? How about the disciples? 8. Why did the chief priests feel it was important to quash the news of Jesus resurrection? 9. How does the cross and Jesus resurrection demonstrate God s costly love for us? How does it demonstrate the seriousness with which God takes us? 10. If someone asked you what is the evidence for Jesus resurrection, what would you say? (Especially think about the evidence provided in this section of Matthew s Gospel.) 11. How is Jesus resurrection a new beginning for the whole world? How has it been a new beginning for you? How do we take hold of this new beginning made possible through Jesus? 12. What s significant about Matthew s reporting of Jesus resurrection and the Great Commission being brought so closely together? 13. How can we more clearly communicate the Good News of Jesus death and resurrection? APPLY (to this week): What difference does Jesus resurrection make to your everyday life? How revel more in the amazing news of Jesus triumph over sin and death? PRAY: Loving God, thank you for Jesus dying and rising for us, conquering sin and death, and opening a way that we can be saved. Please help us to grow in this truth and reflect the reality of your resurrection more in our lives. In Jesus name, Amen. For sermons and additional resources, visit STBARTS.COM.AU

2 EASTER (DOES THE RESURRECTION MATTER?) GOING DEEPER RESOURCES & SUGGESTIONS Each week we provide additional resources that help to go deeper with whatever series we re currently focusing on as a church. Resources could include recommended books, articles, online sermons, courses, or videos. These are optional extras! Please don t feel under pressure to look at every resource, but consider what could be useful to. Talks & Other Audio VIDEO: Bishop Tom Wright on Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?. VIDEO: Professor Darrell Bock on the resurrection. VIDEO: John Dickson on the history of the resurrection. VIDEO: Jerusalem music video used at our Good Friday service. VIDEO: Son of Man video used at our Good Friday service (by Dan Stevers). Study Guide for Lent BOOK: For Lent this year we have developed a Lenten Guide looking at some of the final stories of Jesus. You can download a PDF copy here: Articles and Other Reading ARTICLE: Excerpt on the resurrection from the King s Cross by Tim Keller. ARTICLE: What is the evidence that Jesus Christ Lived and Died. BOOK: Surprised by Hope by Tom Wright. BOOK: The Resurrection of the Son of God by Tom Wright. Resurrection-of-the-Son-of-God-Canon-N-T-Wright/ ?ref=gridview&qid= &sr=1-1 For sermons and additional resources, visit STBARTS.COM.AU

3 Talk 8/8 (Easter Day): 16/04/17 Why The Resurrection Matters by the Rev d Adam Lowe Matthew 28:1-20 and 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Easter is about more than chocolate eggs and hot cross buns I know - of course that s what you expect a minister to say, in church, on Easter Day But I can honestly say, that the only reason that I stand here today, is because I am utterly convinced, that Jesus died and rose again. Perhaps you're here and you absolutely agree. Perhaps you re here and you ve never really thought about it. Perhaps you re here and you re not sure, you re still working things through. Perhaps you re here and you think that these claims sound like madness. Wherever you re at - the claim of Easter is phenomenal. The claim of Easter is that Jesus, who was God s own Son, went to the cross, died on the cross, and then on the third day, rose from the dead, and that his resurrection, foreshadows and enables the resurrection of all who trust in him, and not only that, but that the new life he brings impinges on our reality today. That s a massive claim. And as C S Lewis, put it: if false, is of no importance [we can all go home], and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. So today, I want to simply explore one question: why does the resurrection of Jesus matter?!2

4 IT S TRUE \\ HISTORICALLY GROUNDED So first, the resurrection matters because it s true. Some people I know, think that even the idea that Jesus, could be raised from the dead is completely outlandish. And as a result of that assessment, some dismiss it without even considering the evidence, because they re not even willing to entertain the possibility. Someone can t possibly be raised from the dead, so I m not going to bother pursuing it any further. But to that, I just want to say: what if you re wrong about what is possible. Think for a moment: if there is a God, and it was God who created the universe, who created life in the first place, than surely - even though it is beyond our comprehension - it could be possible for God to reverse even death. What I m saying is: that the objection that resurrection isn t possible, is insufficient, because what if we re wrong about what is a possibility in the first place?! We can let our defined notion of possibility rule out the consideration of evidence, instead of letting the evidence inform us to what is possible, what is true.!3 And when it comes to the resurrection, I think the evidence is compelling. I just want to point to there key pieces of evidence today. First: The Tomb was Empty We see that in the Gospels, we see that in Matthew s Gospel. The women are taken to the tomb, it s empty. Some people say, perhaps Mary and Mary got the tombs mixed up, but in chapter 27 of Matthew, we re told they were there when the body was placed. When all the rumours started going around, that Jesus had risen, had the body still been there, the Roman authorities could have just produced it. Other people say, well the disciples stole the body. Well that s unlikely, not only because they go on to become martyrs, but also because the tomb was under guard. And if Matthew made up the entire thing, why on earth would he mention the possible theory of a stolen body as he does in verses 11 to 15. Why does he include such details? Because he s not fabricating, he's witnessing. Some people say, well the idea that the tomb was empty, was a much later idea. But that s simply not true.!4

5 The chief priests wanted to make up an excuse for the empty tomb, the earliest Christian accounts - many of which are independent - all assert the resurrection, even non-christian sources say that the first Christians believed Jesus was risen. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says: 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) Paul is writing very early on, but when he says for what I received I passed on to you, he s saying that this is part of the oral history that has been reliably passed on. Even more than that, Paul says, if you don t believe me, go check out the witnesses: Cephas, the apostles, and more than 500 at one time - many of whom are still alive. Which points to the second key piece of evidence, that there were many witnesses. Different people at different times, individually, in groups, up to hundreds at a time. People saw him, spoke with him, witnessed him eat, felt his touch.!5 And then if Matthew was fabricating all of this, there s no way he would choose women to be the first witnesses: but that s what he reports: Mary and Mary. At this time in history, women were considered as unreliable witnesses, they weren t even permitted to give testimony in court. So if Matthew was making it up, and wanted to give it credibility, he wouldn t have had women as the first ones to encounter the risen Lord. The tomb was empty, there were many witnesses, even unexpected ones And then the final point of evidence, is that this event changed the course of history. The disciples went from being disillusioned, depressed, and scattered, to establishing the one of the greatest movements the world has ever known. Wayne Meeks, of Yale University puts it look this: Never in so short a time has any other religious faith, or for that matter, any other set of ideas religious, political, or otherwise, without the aid of physical force achieved so commanding a position in such a short time in such an important society. The more one examines the factors that seem to account for the extraordinary victory of Christianity, the more one is driven to search for a cause underlying them all, it is clear that at the very beginning of Christianity there must have occurred a vast release of energy virtually unparalleled in history without which the future course of the religion is utterly inexplicable. (Wayne Meeks, Professor Emeritus in Religious Studies, Yale University)!6

6 The only force that could have caused such a change, was an encounter with the Risen Lord. The tomb was empty, there were hundreds of witnesses, and those who encountered the Risen Lord Jesus were radically transformed, and went on to transform the world, even if it cost them their lives.!7 IT S TRIUMPH \\ VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH The resurrection matters because it s true, but it also matters, because it s triumph! It is victory over sin and death. All throughout the Bible, there is an inextricable link between sin and death. That starts right back in Genesis, that as sin entered the world, so did death. However, God had a plan to graciously set things right, through his son: that the death of the Messiah, would be for the sin of the world. The Old Testament anticipated this Jesus himself told people this, that s what the earliest of Christians fervently believed, and they were willing to die to defend that truth. In Matthew, we see the effect of Jesus death, as the curtain in the Temple, the curtain that separated the holy of holies, the curtain that separated the very presence of God, was torn in two, symbolising that through his death, a way opened up for relationship with God.!8

7 But if Jesus stayed dead, it wouldn t be much of a victory! In order to be victorious over sin, Jesus also had to be victorious over death. And that s exactly what we see! Not even death could hold him down! We read in the book of Acts: 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:24 Paul puts it like this: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:54b-55) Paul is literally making fun of death, saying it now has no power. Death could not hold him down! Jesus wasn t simply a martyr who left a legacy. Jesus wasn t simply a teacher who left some teachings. Jesus is the living Lord who has given us himself, forever.!9 There were plenty of so-called Messiahs, who came and went. If you followed one and they died, you found their successor and followed them. but the disciples never followed anyone else; the disciples never made a shrine at Jesus grave; Why? Because they didn t need to, because their Messiah had risen from the grave, and with it conquered death itself. The resurrection matters: because it s true, because it s triumph, but also because it s a new beginning: for you and for me.!10

8 IT S A NEW BEGINNING \\ FOR YOU AND ME His resurrection shows us that he conquered evil, His resurrection shows us that he conquered death itself; and His resurrection ushers in a whole new beginning: anticipating a time when sin and death will be no more. And when you make Jesus the Lord of your life, your Saviour, our death is bundled up with his death, which means our sin is dealt with, our resurrection is bundled up with his resurrection. That's one of the great hopes of Christianity. Not a cross your fingers, hope it s true, but a hope that is as certain as Jesus rising from the grave. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22) Paul is saying: that it is because Jesus rose from the dead, all who follow him will rise from the dead too.!11 As a culture, we have all sorts of wild and ungrounded thoughts about death. When we re not busy denying death exists, or trying to defy it with the next amazing super-food, we sometimes romanticise it. Often people will, say, well they re no longer with us, they re now a star, or an angel. I m not sure if people really believe that, or if they just say it to feel comfort, but that s not what Christianity asserts. Christians look forward to a physical and tangible resurrection. A resurrection when we will be given new bodies, imperishable ones. And if you want to see what that looks like, you simply look towards the Lord Jesus. He s the first fruit. And that news impinges on our reality today. It means: that God loves you and welcomes you more than you can ever know. It means: death has been defeated. It means: when Christ returns death will be destroyed. It means: that every believer can have complete assurance that our sins have been paid for.!12

9 That God likes the physical and the spiritual and will redeem both. It means: that Jesus resurrection was a birth from death and a dance of victory over death and over him who had the power of death! It means: that new life is bursting into our entire world. It means: that we have a job to show what this new life looks like. It means: that Jesus victory can be your victory. It means: we can live with a freedom, we have a hope, that is practically incomprehensible in just how wonderful it is. And that it s bursting into our world today. You can grasp it today. All you need to do is trust in the Risen one. If you just can t work out how that is all possible, if it messes with your mind, don t worry, it did with the first witnesses too. At the end of Matthew s Gospel, the disciples are gathered on the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. And when they see him, there are two distinct reactions: Some worship, some doubt. Even with the Risen Lord before them, some still can t come to grips with this reality.!13 Sometimes we say, if only God would give us a sign, today we re reminded that God has given us the greatest sign imaginable. His son. Crucified and Resurrected. Inviting us into relationship with him today. Time and time again, people asked Jesus, what must I do to receive eternal life. Lots thought it was be doing all the right things. But Jesus says, actually, there s no way you can earn it, the only possible way is by believing in him 25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26) Jesus resurrection matters: Because it s true, it s the greatest triumph the world has ever known, and it s the great new beginning. The only question that remains is: does it matter to you?!14