The Reality of the Resurrection

Transcript

Mark chapter 16, verses 1 through 8. When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back. It was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And He said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He’s not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee.

There you will see Him, just as He told you.

And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

— Mark 16

(ESV)

This, brothers and sisters, is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Would you pray with me? Our Father and our God, we are so thankful for Your Word. We’re thankful for the truth that is contained in Your Word, and how all of it points to and comes to its apex in the very story that we will unpack this morning, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We recognize, Father, that in order to get out of Your Word, the truth that is contained in it, we must be helped. So we approach You this morning needy and dependent, asking that You might intervene with the help of Your Holy Spirit

to illuminate the text, to give us eyes to see what is so plain, to give us the faith to trust in what Your Word says. And we pray, O Lord and God, that at the close of our service this morning, we would be radically changed, that our affections would be so moved for Jesus, that we would not help but go and tell others of the empty tomb. And we pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen. Amen. Well, Mark’s gospel account of the resurrection is not typically the go-to passage for unpacking or preaching on Resurrection Sunday. And the reason why is because it’s the shortest account of the resurrection. And because Mark’s gospel account is a bit more punchy and to the point than the other resurrection accounts. But I’m so thankful to preach Mark’s gospel on Resurrection Sunday, because as you know, I love the gospel of Mark.

Sorrow and Devotion

I love its punchiness and its pointedness. And I’ll tell you the truth, this morning I am excited to preach this text, but I also am a bit sad to bring this beautiful and poetic book to a close. But I will hold the excitement of the resurrection story and the sadness of closing this book in tandem as I preach this morning. And with that being said, to help us along in our text this morning, I’ve broken up our text into three sections. In verses 1 through 3, we’ll look at the sorrow and devotion. In verses 4 through 5, we’ll look at fear and hope. And then finally, in verses 6 through 8, we’ll look at evidence and hope. Okay? So let’s pick up in verse 1 with sorrow and devotion. Verse 1, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might go and anoint him.

So just to set some context for those of you who have not been following along with us in Mark’s gospel, over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at the painful and historic accounts of Jesus as he was betrayed by Judas, as he was abandoned by his followers and friends, as he was falsely condemned by the religious elite of society, as he was mocked by the Roman soldiers and hailed as a fake king, as he was unjustly crucified at the hands of the religious leaders and Pilate, the Roman governor. Last week, we spent some time investigating the evidence of his actual death on the cross and his actual burial in the tomb, all of which took place on Friday, just before the Sabbath. And we saw in great detail how his lifeless body was prepared for burial in a way that reflected his actual royalty. He was wrapped with linen cloths, anointed with 75 pounds of spices.

He was laid to rest in a rich man’s tomb, in the middle of this glorious garden. And this morning, we will spend some time investigating the evidence of the resurrection, which took place on Sunday morning, just after the Sabbath. So, just like last week, our text begins with another time stamp. That’s typically the case when you’re looking at evidence. It comes with a time stamp. When the Sabbath was passed. Now, this time stamp is important because it helps us to understand that the Sabbath, which was on Saturday, had just ended. Now, during the Sabbath, the Jewish community was prohibited from doing any work, which meant that if you owned a shop, or if you sold particular goods, you were not allowed to work or sell anything on the Sabbath. The Jews were very strict with this rule. And so, what would typically happen was that when the sun would finally go down on the Sabbath,

when the Sabbath was technically over, the shops would then open back up for business. And so, these women, Mary Magdalene, the mother of Mary, the mother of James, and this other woman, Salome, well, they go to the shops after the Sabbath to secure spices for Jesus. Now, why do they do that? Why do they secure spices? Well, it is their love for their dead Lord that compels them to go and get spices for Jesus. But why would these women go and get spices if Jesus has already been buried in the tomb with spices? I mean, if you remember last week, Joseph and Nicodemus brought enough spices to bury a village. If you remember also last week, the women were present when Jesus was laid in the tomb. They saw these men prepare the body of Jesus with linen cloths and spices, the kinds of spices that were fit for a king.

So it’s not as if there wasn’t enough spices. These women secure more spices because these women wanted to demonstrate their love and their devotion with their own spices. You see, the truth is, these women who have faithfully followed Jesus when all the other men abandoned Jesus, they’re the ones who had remained close to Jesus this whole time, they will not be outdone by the men. Either the ones who secretly were following Jesus or the ones that ran away when things got difficult. So they want to go and care for the body of their dear Jesus in a way that is not rushed, but detailed and careful and worshipful. And you see, brothers and sisters, this is what love looks like. Not a rushed burial, not a hasty preparation for burial to try and beat the clock of the Sabbath. They want a slow and sorrowful anointing with spices.

So they purchase their spices late on Saturday evening after the Sabbath and they make their way to the tomb of Jesus. In fact, in verse 2 it says, And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. So very early on the first day of the week, which would be Sunday, when the sun had risen, they go to see Jesus. Now, just real quick here, don’t miss Mark’s wordplay here. Mark emphasizes here when the sun, the S-U-N, has risen. And that’s a bit of wordplay intended to build up some anticipation for Jesus, the sun, the S-U-N, who has risen. This is Mark’s creative double entendre. And we know that to be the case because in John’s gospel it tells us while it was still dark. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. So Mark has taken creative and descriptive liberty to emphasize that it was so early in the morning

that the sun had just peaked above the horizon. But it’s also so early that it’s still dark enough that the light of the sun would just begin to pierce through the darkness. And brothers and sisters, can you see the beauty and poetic bend of Mark’s creative pen? Now, why do these women head to the tomb this early, while it’s still dark, when the sun is just barely rising? Well, because of sorrow. You see, sorrow has a way of stealing sleep. The pain of loss is usually accompanied with the loss of sleep. These women are heartbroken. The only thing they can think about is getting to the tomb to be close to their Lord, even if He is dead. Their sorrow was driving their desire to bury Jesus with their own spices. And it was their devotion that was driving their desire to be with Jesus

as early as humanly and legally possible. And really what you have here, brothers and sisters, is an unthinkable devotion. An uncomfortable and messy devotion. You know, the whole purpose behind using spices for burial in the first century was to prevent the smell of decay. Decomposition, as you might imagine, could be an unbearable odor. This is why Jewish people would wrap the bodies of the deceased in cloth and spices to mask the smell of decomposition. Now listen, it’s been three days. These women know very well the condition that a body would be in after three days of decomposition. But their love for Jesus and their devotion to Jesus drives them to the tomb as early as possible, despite what they perceive would be a horrible condition with Jesus’ dead body. They don’t care about the smell of decomposition. They only care about caring for Jesus, even after His death.

And this, again, brothers and sisters, is another incredible act of devotion. But listen, though these women are full of devotion, they are at the same time full of unbelief. You see, Jesus told His disciples, including these women and many other women who follow Jesus, that He would die, that He would be buried, and that He would raise from the grave on the third day, on Sunday. Their act of devotion is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but the fact of the matter is that they really did not believe Jesus’ words when He said that He would raise from the grave on Sunday morning. And brothers and sisters, is this not often the case with us? How often do we struggle to believe Jesus’ words? Jesus tells us in His Word that the path to human flourishing and satisfaction is only found in Him, but we don’t believe Him.

So we chase after all kinds of other things to find human flourishing and to find satisfaction. Things like money and success and worldly pleasures, but those things prove to never satisfy. Jesus tells us that His sexual ethic is better for us than our own sexual ethic, but we don’t believe Him, so we do our own thing. Jesus says if we lose our life, we will find it, but we don’t believe Him, because quite honestly, that sounds crazy. Jesus tells us in His Word that our identity is wrapped in Him, but in our expressive individualism culture, we place our identity on ourselves and in our work and in our sexual identity or in our social status or in our political ideologies. Though Christians love Jesus, we often struggle or fail to trust Him and His words. And that is exactly the case with these women. They love Jesus.

They are radically devoted to Him, but they didn’t believe His words when He said He would raise from the dead. And it is because of their disbelief that they travel to the tomb early in the morning expecting Jesus to still be in the tomb. And as they’re traveling to the tomb, you see how sometimes sorrow and devotion can impact your sense of rational thinking. They’re so preoccupied with sorrow and loss and devotion that they fail to think about all the details concerning the tomb, mainly how they’re going to get in the tomb. So as they’re walking to the tomb, verse 3 says, And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? You see, as they’re walking, it finally hits them. We have a huge problem. And that huge problem is there’s a huge stone in front of the tomb

Fear and Help

and we’re not going to be able to get in to be with Jesus. So their deep devotion is met with a difficult dilemma. You essentially have this two-ton block, this two-ton stone that is covering the entrance of the tomb, and they’re not going to be able to roll away the stone by themselves. No way. It’s way too heavy. So though they’re full of devotion, they are in every way desperate and needy because they can’t get to Jesus in their own strength. They need help. And what they don’t know yet is that they will receive help, but in a way that is so supernatural that it arouses fear. Which brings us to verses 4 and 5 with fear and help. And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back. Listen, it was very large. Mark tells you it’s large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side

dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, do not be alarmed. Now just imagine for a second the kind of fear that these women faced. First off, imagine walking through a graveyard when it’s still a bit dark outside. That alone? No thank you. Moving through a graveyard for many people, including myself, induces a bit of fear, right? Because when you walk through graveyards, or when you visit places where people are buried, you are immediately confronted with the reality of human frailty and human finality. That life as we understand it, as we know it, will eventually come to an end. Graveyards have a sobering and fearful way of reminding you that you are not invincible. That death is coming for everyone. And of course, for many people, the fear of death is largely shaped by their fear of the unknown.

When people don’t know what’s going to happen to them when they die, they experience great fear. And graveyards oftentimes stimulate those kinds of thoughts. So there’s already a sense of fear as they’re walking through this graveyard in the dark. But then they are confronted with the empty tomb, which brings about even more fear. Now what is it about the tomb that causes them to be so alarmed? Well, Mark’s gospel doesn’t give us the details, but in Matthew’s account we get a better picture of what caused the fear. In Matthew 28, verses 1 through 5, it says, Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake. Okay? First of all, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came

and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards, keep that in your mind, trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. So in Matthew’s account, it tells us that first there was a great earthquake. Now what accounts for the great earthquake? Well, we don’t know for sure, but the text does tell us that this angel came down from heaven. So maybe it was the force of this angelic beam that hits the earth like an asteroid, that when this angel collided with earth, it shook the ground and caused for the earth to quake. But whatever the reason, whether it was an earthquake or not, it is nonetheless fear-inducing. But it wasn’t simply that there was an earthquake that caused the fear.

It’s when they see this angel whose appearance is a lightning wipe, kind of like the Mount of Transfiguration. And this angel rolled back the stone and sat on the stone. And it’s here that causes these women to be so overcome with fear, just as we would be, right? If we witnessed this supernatural and transcendent reality, we would be alarmed. These women just peered into another dimension, a divine and angelic dimension where angels do God’s bidding. This is why they’re alarmed. Now just think about this for a second. Up to this point, you have these women whose sorrow and devotion compelled them to get close to Jesus. They want to be with Jesus. As they try to get close to Jesus, they realize that they can’t get to Jesus in their own strength because of the stone that would be blocking them from Jesus. Humanly speaking, they can’t roll away the stone.

They need help. And when they arrive at the tomb, they realized that they were helped, but not in a human sense, but in a divine sense. Listen, their divine help descended from heaven and removed that which separated them from Jesus. Though their help was a divine act from God. And though Jesus was not physically there, they nonetheless needed the help if they intended to get to Jesus. And do you hear, do you sense what’s going on here? This is a bit of a gospel picture. Now, it’s not a perfect picture, and at some point it eventually breaks down, but it is a bit of the gospel in miniature. It reveals that in our sorrow and even in our religious devotion, we can’t get to God. We’re not strong enough or smart enough or religious enough. We need help that comes from outside of humanity. We need supernatural help.

Someone who would descend from heaven to remove that which separated us from God, mainly our sin. We can’t remove the barrier between us and God on our own. We need help. This stone being rolled away speaks so much of our helplessness and our need to get to God and God’s heavenly provision. So these women are confronted by the open tomb and this angelic announcement, and as a result, they’re overwhelmed with fear even though they’ve been helped. And listen, it wasn’t just the women that were terrified in this scene. Matthew tells us that there were guards there who, upon seeing this whole situation, trembled and became like dead men. The soldiers were so terrified that they drop into this coma-like state. Now, the question is, why were the guards there to begin with? Well, again, Matthew’s gospel tells us that the day before this whole situation goes down,

the day before Jesus dies, the religious leaders ask for the soldiers to secure the tomb. Matthew 27 verses 62 through 66 says, As a side note, they’re referencing Jesus as an imposter, a fake king, a fake rabbi. We remember how that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days I will rise. Stop for a second. You remember the charges that these religious leaders brought before Pilate and the religious authorities. They said Jesus said he was going to destroy the temple. They knew that Jesus was referencing his body, but they took Jesus’ words and they twisted it in a bogus act of falsely convicting him. And we know that to be the case because they admit it right here. After three days I will rise.

Evidence and Hope

Pilate said to them, So this is why the soldiers were there. They were there to make sure that no one could come and take the body of Jesus out of the tomb. But just like we saw last week, the religious leaders in their attempt to control the situation, they end up proving more evidence for the reality of the resurrection. Which brings us to verses 6 through 8 with evidence and hope. And in verse 6 the angel says to these women, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. Now why does the angel emphasize the fact that Jesus was crucified? That should be obvious, right? Well here this angel gives testimony to the certainty of the crucifixion. This angel in his announcement is providing more evidence for his actual death that he actually died. And the reason for this emphatic statement is because what the angel says next

gives an account for the empty tomb. Look at what the angel says in the second half of verse 6. This glorious statement here. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. Here the angel becomes the interpreter for what has happened with the dead Jesus. Lest there be any doubt or skepticism concerning the unfolding events. The angel essentially says, You’re seeking Jesus who was dead, who was crucified, who was laid in the tomb, but he is no longer in the tomb because he is risen. Now the phrase he has risen can be better translated, he has been raised. So when the angel is saying to these women that Jesus has been raised by God from death to life, he’s ensuring that this Jesus is no longer in the tomb because God has raised him. So though they seek the tomb of Jesus, the angel says he’s not here

because he’s alive. And if words are not enough, if what I’m telling you is not enough, then go in. Take a look. See where they laid him. Do you remember where they laid him? In the tomb? Brothers and sisters, you remember last week at the close of our passage in verse 47? It says Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid. They saw exactly where Jesus was laid in the tomb. They gave eyewitness testimony to the fact that Jesus was laid in the tomb as a dead man and is now no longer there, which can only mean one thing, that he is in fact raised from the dead. And what I want you to see here in this passage is the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection. You have the women, you have the guards, and you have the angel. Okay?

So first, you have these women witnesses who see with their own eyes not just the presence of the angel and his words, but they also see the empty tomb. Now, why is the testimony of these three women a proof of the resurrection? Well, because these women, you see, sadly in the first century, their testimony would not be considered a credible testimony. That’s just a culture they lived in. And the fact that these women are the first to witness the evidence really emphasizes two things. First, the Lord’s emphasis on the dignity of women. But secondly, if this encounter of the resurrection were not true, if it were somehow a hoax, then the early Christians would not emphasize the testimony of women. Surely in this culture, the people responsible for the hoax would have tried to make it more credible by having men be the one who witnessed the empty tomb.

But it wasn’t a hoax. And God, in this very counter-cultural way, uses the testimony of dignified women to be the first witnesses of the empty tomb of the resurrection of Jesus. Then you have the Roman soldiers who witnessed the angel crashing into earth and rolling the stone away. And just a side note, in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 28, verses 11 through 15, immediately after this encounter with the angel, it says, While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, Tell people his disciples came by night and stole him away while he was asleep. And if this comes to the governor’s ear, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. So, immediately following this supernatural encounter with the angel and the empty tomb, the guards leave their post because the tomb’s empty. And then they go and they tell the chief priests exactly what happened. And how did the religious leaders respond? They pay off the soldiers. They tell the soldiers, if anyone asks what happens, tell them the disciples stole the body of Jesus. And then they tell the soldiers, don’t trip. If Pilate gets upset, we know how to handle him. We’ll make sure he’s taken care of. Now, just think about this for a second. These irreligious soldiers witness this supernatural encounter. They go and they report it to the religious leaders who have a framework for these kinds of supernatural encounters. And the religious leaders, well, they act like irreligious people who have no framework for this kind of supernatural encounter.

You see, they’re so concerned with their religious reputation that they dismiss the reality of this supernatural resurrection. And listen, this has been the case with these religious leaders throughout our time in Mark’s Gospel. This is the chief of hypocrisy. These religious leaders, who are the moral elite of the first century world, they ask the pagan soldiers to lie about what they’ve seen. They ask these soldiers to lie to protect their religion. And they go so far as to pay them to lie. And this shouldn’t be a shock, because they’ve been lying about Jesus ever since Jesus stepped on the scene. But the Roman soldiers give testimony. They give evidence to the religious leaders as to what really happened with Jesus. And the reason we have the evidence is because of what we saw last week. Not all of these religious leaders agreed with how Jesus was treated.

You remember Nicodemus? You remember Joseph of Arimathea? They didn’t agree with how the religious leaders treated Jesus. And some of them were actually followers of Jesus. So when the soldiers came and reported to the Jews what happened, and when the Jews covered it up, the ones who were honest eventually exposed the cover-up. And furthermore, if the disciples of Jesus were the ones who somehow removed the body of Jesus from the tomb, the guards would have most certainly stopped them. Twelve disciples, how many soldiers would have been guarding the tomb? And if the guards were somehow working with the disciples to take the body out of the tomb, what would the guards gain from participating in this elaborate hoax? If Pilate found out, they’d be dead. You see, it’s just not plausible. It’s a reach. And finally, you have the angel’s testimony as evidence. The angel really connects all of the dots.

In fact, it was the angel who rolled away the stone to give evidence to the empty tomb, to showcase the fact that Jesus was not there. So what accounts for this empty tomb that the angel reveals? Well, the evidence is clear. Jesus has been raised. Now, just a couple things for clarity’s sake here. The angel rolling away the stone was not to somehow let Jesus out of the tomb, as if Jesus in his divine state couldn’t roll back a stone. The stone wasn’t rolled away to let Jesus out. The stone was rolled away to let the women in, so that they could see for themselves that Jesus was in fact raised. The stone being rolled away by the angel was to provide evidence to the women and to the guards. Okay? I mentioned the text gives us three clear references to the reality of the resurrection,

but there is another evidence that the text alludes to. If you look at verse 7, listen to what the angel tells the women. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. You see, the evidence is not only for the women. It’s also for the other followers of Jesus. But before we get into the evidence here, I want you to first see the greatest implications of the resurrection here, and that is the forgiveness of sins. The fact that the angel says go and tell the disciples and Peter about the empty tomb screams of God’s forgiveness. If you remember, all the disciples abandoned Jesus. They all left him when he was in his most vulnerable state. They scattered just like Jesus said they would. Jesus told them, you will all fall away.

And the angel specifically mentions Peter. And the reason he mentions Peter specifically is because it has everything to do with forgiveness. When Jesus told his disciples, you will all fall away, it was Peter who boldly proclaimed, I will die for you, Jesus, before I deny you. But in the end, when the pressure came, Peter actually denied Jesus three times. This is huge. The angel says go tell the disciples and specifically mentions Peter because Peter at this point isn’t thinking of himself as a disciple anymore. Peter, in his denial of Jesus, has grossly sinned against the God of the universe. And he thinks there’s no way God will forgive him for his great sin. He has denied Jesus three times. But you see, this is why Jesus had to die. To pay for our sins. And the resurrection proves that the payment for our sin was accepted.

Jesus could forgive Peter because Jesus died on the cross and was raised to life to forgive his sins. And not just Peter, but for anyone who would trust and believe in what Jesus did on the cross and how he was raised from death to life, you too can experience the forgiveness of sins. It’s in this angelic announcement to go and tell where we get both God’s forgiveness to sinners and evidence in the form of fulfilled prophecy. On the evening of the Lord’s Supper in Mark chapter 14 verses 27 through 28, Jesus told them, again, you will all fall away for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. So Jesus is referencing Old Testament. He’s fulfilling it by what he’s saying there. But then he says, but after I am raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Jesus, before his death, prophesies that the disciples will all scatter

and that Peter will deny him three times. And in this prophecy, Jesus tells his disciples, they’ll all fall away, but I’ll meet you in Galilee. I’ll meet you in Galilee. And this is exactly what the angel tells the women. Go and tell them that I’ll meet them in Galilee, just like I promised, just like I prophesied. And how do the women respond to the angel’s call? Verse 8 says, And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. And this is how Mark ends his gospel. This is how he ends the resurrection account. They went out of the tomb. They’re afraid. Astonishment has seized them. They said nothing to anyone, and they were afraid. Why does Mark choose to do that? Because Mark is all about shock and awe.

He wants to leave you in the suspense of astonishment of what God has done, of what Christ has accomplished in his death, burial, and resurrection. But just a heads up. The women, they don’t remain silent. I mean, obviously, we have this account here, right? And we know this from other gospels that they actually do go and tell. Matthew 28, verse 8 says, So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear, They were afraid, but also with great joy. So they were full of fear, but also full of great joy, and they ran to tell the disciples. The women would go on to tell the other disciples. And not only that, but Jesus eventually appears to these specific witnesses, to these women. He also appears to the other disciples and many others, giving us verifiable eyewitness testimony to the resurrected Jesus. So it wasn’t just an empty tomb.

There were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, in a separate account, which lends even more evidence, the apostle Paul, some years later in his first letter to the Corinthian church, makes this evidential claim. He says,

For I deliver to you as a first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

— 1 Corinthians 15

(ESV)

Listen, the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus is undeniable,

completely verifiable, rooted in historical fact, fulfilled in scripture, and authenticated throughout the ages by historians. Irreligious historians, mind you. You have an empty tomb, you have the women’s witness, the angel’s announcement, the account of the guards, the verified appearance of the twelve disciples, the 500 men and women who saw the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes, James, the half-brother of Jesus, who would have been the most suspicious. He grew up with Jesus. He would know if Jesus was lying. He would know what his brother looks like. He testifies. And then finally, Paul, a former terrorist turned follower of Jesus, testifies. All these eyewitnesses testify to the resurrected Jesus. You know, all twelve apostles died a martyr’s death. Every single one of them died for Jesus. The question is, why would they be willing to lay down their life and die for Jesus? Well, the only reasonable answer is that they experienced the life, death,

The Call to Faith

and actual resurrection of Jesus with their own eyes. You see, the evidence is overwhelming. There is so much evidence for the resurrection, it’s impossible for it not to be a reality. But listen, and this is very important for you to understand. The resurrection is not merely a historical event to be examined or verified. It is a faith to be believed. Evidence isn’t what makes you a Christian. Believing by faith that Jesus died and was raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins is what makes you a Christian. Listen, even with empirical evidence, or with overwhelming data that proves the reality of the resurrection, we would still not believe. We wouldn’t believe. Because of the effects of sin, we cannot believe. Because we were born sinners, we were born spiritually dead, unable to assent to the truth of the resurrection. So we need God to give us the eyes of faith to trust and believe in the resurrection.

Well, then how does this happen? If we can’t believe, how do we believe? God must powerfully intervene. With the same power that raised Jesus from death to life, Jesus must powerfully raise us from spiritual death to life. God must roll away the stones from our eyes so that we can see the reality of the resurrection. Have you experienced this Jesus, the resurrected Jesus? Do you believe in the resurrected Jesus? Have you trusted in the resurrected Jesus for the forgiveness of sins? I could say this with complete joy this morning. You can experience that today. He was raised from the grave to give you life. And you can experience that life with him for all of eternity by trusting and believing in Jesus. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Meaning no one can get to God except through Jesus. Jesus makes this bold claim that there is no other way to God,

that God alone is the way to God. No other path will lead you to God. No amount of spirituality will lead you to God. No other religion that claims to bring you to God will be able to do it. They all fail. In fact, every fake god, every spiritual guru, every false prophet has died. Only Jesus has been raised from the grave. Jesus is alive. You see, the resurrection of Jesus is the validation of all the claims of Jesus. The resurrection powerfully validates and vindicates Jesus. Though Jesus was mistreated and falsely convicted, though Jesus was mocked and hailed as a fake king, was rejected and despised by men, the resurrection powerfully demonstrates that what Jesus said is true. Which means he is who he says he is. The son of God who is God. The king of all creation who came to the earth that he created,

who veiled himself in human flesh that he created to die the death that we deserve to die for our many sins against this righteous and holy God who created us. And why did this Jesus need to die and raise for our sins? Because there was no other way. The only way for sinful humanity to be made right with a holy God was for God to come and save sinful humanity. The penalty for our sin against this massive, transcendent, supernatural, holy, righteous, like no other God. The penalty for sinning against this God is death. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. The payment for our sin against him is death. Someone had to die. And that someone had to be perfect. Which means that person had to be God. There was no other way. We’re not good enough. We’re not spiritual enough.

We’re not strong enough. We need God to intervene in our hopeless and empty attempts to try and earn God’s forgiveness and acceptance through our own self-righteousness. It won’t work. It won’t work. Jesus must earn our forgiveness and acceptance, and he did on the cross if you would simply trust and believe him. God’s way of intervening on a helpless humanity was by sending Jesus to live a perfect life, to die a horrific death, and to raise victorious from the grave so that we might experience eternal life with him. Just as the resurrection reveals that Jesus conquered death, the grave couldn’t contain him. Death couldn’t hold him. In the same way, so shall we conquer death. The grave will not hold us if we believe in Jesus. Though we will die, those who trust in Jesus will be raised from death to eternal life, to be with him for all of eternity.

Do you want to trust him this morning? Do you want to trust him this morning? Ask him to intervene. Ask him to help you believe. Turn from your sin. Confess your sin to this God. He is a merciful God. He will forgive you of all of your sins. He will wash you clean. And he will embrace you as his child. You could do that right where you are this morning. Ask him to help you believe. He will save you of your sins. And dear Christian, if you are indeed a follower of Jesus, then the resurrection is our greatest hope. Not just for the life to come. Though that is a glorious hope. But the resurrection gives us hope for today. Because of the resurrection, you have been raised to life with Christ. And that same power that raised you from death to life, God provides you now through the Holy Spirit,

so that you can keep on believing. He gives you that same power so that you can persevere in the faith. He gives you resurrection power so that you can live a holy and righteous and repentant life. He gives you resurrection power so that you can love deeply, serve sacrificially God and others in our world. He gives you resurrection power so that you can forgive people, just as we have been forgiven. He gives you resurrection power so that you can walk through the darkest and most difficult of days. He gives you resurrection power so that we can worship Him and rightly serve Him and rightly sense His abiding presence in every aspect of our life. This is what Christ gives you in the power of His resurrection. So be encouraged this morning. This is what He gives to you, dear Christian. Life and life abundantly. This is why we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, He is our only hope and He is our greatest joy because when all the joys of this life is done, we will have Him for eternity where we will experience joy forever. Brothers and sisters, the resurrection secures our hope. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we are so incredibly indebted to the work of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who rose victoriously from the grave to secure our life, our salvation, our hope, and our joy. We will one day, with resurrected bodies,

see our King face to face. We will see the King who laid down His life for sinners so that we might be brought into His kingdom, a kingdom that will never perish, a kingdom that will last throughout the ages and for eternity. Father, we delight in the accomplishments of the resurrection and we thank You for the Holy Spirit’s power that enables us to live as Christians in a dark world, to testify of Your goodness and grace to sinners, the kind of sinners that we once were. And we pray, O Lord and God, that You would make us bold to go and tell with fear, but with great joy, because You are able to save the worst of sinners. And for that, we testify of a good God who is merciful and kind. Open the blind eyes of sinners today that they might trust You and believe that You are who You said You are.

We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen.