Transcription
[music] Welcome to the teaching ministry of Calvary Port St. Lucy, where our mission is to help people [music] of all ages become lifelong followers of Christ. Our model is the early church [music], and our message is the life application verse-by-verse teaching of God's word. So grab a Bible and join [music] us now for an in-depth study of the scriptures.
>> All right. So for the past two weekends, we have witnessed from the pages of scripture literally the greatest act of love ever displayed in the history of humanity. And that is the suffering and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. If anyone here today feels unloved, all you need to do is look back at the cross, because it was at Calvary that God showed his love for the world, and specifically, he showed his love for you. If you ask the Lord, "God, how much do you love me? Really, how much do you love me?" His answer, as I said last weekend, would be this much, proven by his open-armed sacrifice to pay the price for your sins. What Jesus said is absolutely true in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down their life for his friends."
>> And you need to know that Jesus didn't just die for the world. He died for you. And he wants to be your friend. As we've seen in the last two weeks, the passion of Christ was super significant. The death of Christ last week, super significant. But there's another event that's just as significant, perhaps even more significant than his passion and his death. And we have arrived there right now in the scriptures, and that is his resurrection. Ladies and gentlemen, without the resurrection, none of it really matters. With the resurrection, nothing's more important in the entire world. And so before we get into the resurrection, we got to talk briefly about his burial. And so right now, if you're looking at Matthew 27:57, can you just say amen so I know you're with me?
So here we go. "When it was evening," okay, so this would be Friday and the sun has almost set. "When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was also, surprise, surprise, a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and then Pilate ordered it to be given to him." Now, as I've told you before, I like to compare gospel with gospel to try to get the full story. And Luke's gospel tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was a good and upright man. He was a man that was looking for the kingdom of God. And then, very important for our study, he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Matthew just told us in his gospel that Joseph was a wealthy man. And surprising, because he was a member of the Sanhedrin, Matthew tells us that he is a follower of Jesus. John gives us some more information, telling us that Joseph was a "quote, secret disciple for fear of the Jews."
And so I don't know, we don't know how long Joseph of Arimathea has been a secret disciple of Jesus. Maybe it's been days, weeks, months. We don't know. What we do know is that when it finally came down to the vote, the vote of the Sanhedrin as to whether or not to condemn Jesus of Nazareth, at that moment, according to the gospel of Luke, at that moment, everybody knows Joseph of Arimathea is a follower of Jesus. And the reason why is because he would not consent to the vote of his colleagues. Can you imagine this? We don't know how exactly it went down, but Caiaphas, the high priest, if you're new to the Bible, the Sanhedrin is the highest ruling body in Israel at the time, made up of 71 members, including the high priest. There are Pharisees in it. There are Sadducees in it, right? And so, Caiaphas, I can see him, "All in favor of condemning Jesus? I. 68." "All opposed?" "Two guys, Joseph and Nicodemus." "No, no, we should not condemn Jesus." And at that moment, the secret disciple, Joseph of Arimathea, became a public disciple.
Ladies and gentlemen, at that moment, Joseph's faith in Christ finally became public. And that's always a wonderful thing, but it's also a difficult thing, especially considering who he went to work with every day. These guys hated Jesus. Now, before we move on, I hope that everyone in your life knows that you are a follower of the risen Christ. And if everybody in your life does not know that about you, here is a simple solution: Tell them. Tell them this week. Let them know. Go public with who you are and who's you are.
>> Let them know, man. Who cares what they think? We live for an audience of one.
And we need to be public with our faith. You say, "But pastor, you don't know who I work with. Telling them I'm a follower of Christ, that's going to be very, very hard." Well, let me ask you, are your co-workers as hardhearted and as opposed to Christ as the guys that Joseph of Arimathea went to work with every day, the Sanhedrin? No, of course not. And so, listen, you need to tell them. You say, "I'm afraid." Well, the bottom line is what Paul wrote to a pastor who could be timid sometimes. Timothy, look at this. "God has not given us a spirit of what?"
>> You see that? God doesn't give us a spirit of fear. God never gives us an attitude of fear. That means that if you're fearful, that fear comes from one of two places: either the devil or your flesh. God does not give us a spirit of fear. What, what kind of attitude does God give us?
>> Right? But of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore, because God has given us this, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. But share with me, Paul says to Timothy, "in the sufferings of the gospel according to the power of God." Why did Paul talk about suffering? Because he knew well that if Timothy would not give into fear and tell everybody and anybody that he's a follower of the risen Christ, there's going to be people who don't like that. There's going to be people who resist him. There's going to be people who, uh, cause him suffering. And it's the same thing with us today. I know it was way harder 2,000 [clears throat] years ago in the Roman Empire. But ladies and gentlemen, there's still people today that don't like the Lord, who are not going to like it when you tell them that you're a follower of Christ. But who, who cares, right? Again, we live for an audience of one. And because God has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind, we should never be ashamed of Jesus Christ or of his amazing life, because it's the greatest life ever. [applause]
Joseph, man, it was hard for him to say, "No, I don't agree with all of my colleagues to condemn Jesus of Nazareth." That was hard. And it was also very hard for Po for Joseph to go to Pilate because of Pilate's reputation of being a brutal, violent governor. It was very hard for Joseph to go to Pilate and ask for possession of Jesus' body. But here's what you need to know. If you're listening, say, "Amen."
>> Amen.
>> As a man of character, Joseph did the hard thing because it was the right thing.
>> And that's what God's calling you to do. Hey, I know we live in America. I know that everybody wants everything convenient and everybody wants everything comfortable. And God forbid that anything should be hard. Well, you need to know before you start following Jesus, like with all you got, it's going to be hard, >> right?
>> It's going to be difficult.
>> Amen.
>> Do it anyway because it's the right thing to do.
"Verse 59. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own tomb, his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock." And so what does Joseph do here? He puts the body of Jesus in his personal tomb, his tomb. And John tells us it's in a garden area. Then it says, "And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away."
"Mary Magdalene, look at this in verse 61. And the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb." And so Friday, right before the sun goes down, Mary, the two Marys are sitting there and they watch, uh, the body of Jesus go into a certain tomb, and they knew where that tomb was. Now, John tells us that the famous rabbi Nicodemus helped Joseph as they prepared Jesus' body for burial, as they applied the aromatic spices that Nicodemus brought, and as they placed the body in Joseph's own tomb, essentially a burial cave again in a garden area. And then after they're finished, right, what do they do? The two men, no doubt getting some help from somebody, right? They push and they roll this giant circular stone into a trench to seal the tomb. Why? To make sure that Jesus' body was never desecrated by hungry wild animals. But you need to know that they buried Jesus in Joseph's personal tomb. And if you're new to the Bible, that fulfilled yet another detailed ancient prophecy from the Old Testament. One of the things you need to know is one of the reasons we believe that the Bible is God's word is because of not one, two, three, or four or five fulfilled prophecies, but hundreds of fulfilled prophecies written in the Old Testament, fulfilled literally in history in the New Testament. Here's just one of them, speaking of the suffering servant, the Messiah, in Isaiah 53: "He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal. He was put in what kind of grave?"
>> A rich man's grave. Joseph of Arimathea. Rich or poor? You tell me.
>> Rich. Matthew told us he's a rich guy.
"Verse 62. The next day, that is after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, 'Sir, we remember how that impostor said while he was still alive, quote, "After three days I will rise." Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he's risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first.'" Pilate, no doubt annoyed right now with these religious guys, says to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go make it as secure as you can."
"Verse 66. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard."
All right. So here we go again. The same religious leaders that opposed Jesus during his life are now opposing Jesus during his death. Pilate, in response to their request, made the order to station a Roman guard at the tomb. And so the soldiers, the guards, sealed the tomb. Now, in order to seal the tomb, what they would have done is take a rope, and they would have attached the rope to the side of the hill, and then stretched the rope across the giant circular stone, and then attached it again on the other side of the stone to the side of the hill. At some place not depicted in that picture, they would have put a glob of wax somewhere on the rope, and then they would have imprinted the imperial seal on that wax, telling everybody and anybody, "Don't mess with this tomb. If you dare to break this seal, the seal of the Roman Empire, you're in big trouble." Okay?
No chapter or verse divisions in the original autographs or the early manuscripts. We have it here in our Bible so we can get around easily, but it just keeps flowing. Now look at chapter 28, verse 1. "Now after the Sabbath," okay, so the sun now has set toward the dawn of the first day of the week, that's Sunday, "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb."
All right, so pause right there. Why are they going to the tomb early on Sunday morning? Well, again, on Friday, right before sundown, Joseph and Nicodemus, they have to hurry up to get Jesus' body into that tomb. They have to hurry up and apply the spices. They have to hurry up and, and, and lay him down in the tomb. Why? Because the sun is about to set. What happens when the sun sets on Friday?
>> Sabbath.
You can't work, right? So they had to hurry up and get it done. And apparently they didn't do a good enough job because now the women are coming. They're coming with spices to finish the job. And so here comes Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. And it says in verse two, "And behold, there was a great earthquake." Things are getting exciting now. It's Sunday morning. There's a great earthquake. "For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it." I love this. "His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards," look at this, these big bad brutes, right? Hardened Roman soldiers. "For fear of him, fear of the angel, the guards trembled and became like dead men."
What a display of who's really in charge. Who's really in charge? The soldiers? No way. Pilate? Give me a break. Herod Antipas down the street? No, he's a nut. Caesar? No, he's not even in control. He thinks he is, sitting in his big throne in Rome. He's not in control either. You know who's in control? Yahweh. God is absolutely in control of the whole situation. [applause]
It says in verse two that God sent an angel, and the angel descended, and the angel rolled back the stone, and he sat on it. And these big Roman soldiers, right, so tough, their only response is to fall backwards and shake and become like dead men. All right. So, why did the, why did the angel roll back the stone? Did he roll back the stone to let Jesus out? No. I mean, it's not like Jesus came back to life inside the tomb and went and started beating on the back of the big stone. "Gabriel, get me out of here, man." All right. Okay. Hold on a minute. No. Jesus, in his resurrected body, according to, to John chapter 20, could materialize and dematerialize at will, which he did, by the way, for 40 days in between his resurrection and his ascension. And so Jesus could walk through walls in his resurrected body. He could walk through locked doors. He could eat in his resurrected body. Quick side notes, not in the notes. Just want to share this to encourage you. The Bible says when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
>> Amen.
>> You guys understand what I'm saying? Yeah.
>> Resurrected bodies.
>> You're going to be like a superhero.
>> Walking through walls,
>> walking through locked doors. My favorite of all, eating. Eating. Eating. It's getting close to lunchtime. We're going to be eating in heaven. It's great. You say, "What's going to happen to the food?" I have no idea. That is not in the Bible. It's not in the Bible. So, I don't know. Okay. But back to our story. So if you're listening, say amen here.
>> The angel does not roll back the stone to let Jesus out. Come on. No. He rolls back the stone so everybody can look in and see that Christ has risen.
>> He's alive.
>> Evidence. Empty tomb. There it is. Empty tomb. [applause]
Okay. And so now we see in verse five of chapter 28. "But the angel said to the women, 'What angels almost always say in the whole Bible, Old and New Testament, whenever somebody has an angel encounter, it's always the same thing. What are the words?'"
"Don't be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. I love it. Here it is. He is not here, for he has risen."
>> Let's all say that together. All right. [applause]
So, in a moment, on the count of three, you're going to say, "He is not here, for he has risen."
>> You ready?
>> One, two, three.
He is not here, for he has risen. [cheering]
>> He is alive. [applause]
He is alive. And so then the angel says to the women, "Come, see the place where he lay, and then go quickly and tell. Come see, and then go tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you to Galilee, and there you will see him. See, I have told you."
"Verse 8. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
Now, in the angel's message to the women, you need to know that he said two phrases that are very, very important. In fact, they point, those two phrases point to our responsibility as believers. What are those two phrases? In verse six, the angel said, "Come and see." In verse seven, he says, "Go and tell."
"Come and see." What does that mean? In other words, "Hey ladies, come and see. The stone is rolled away. Go on in there. See if you see a body. Come and see." All right. So, "come and see." Um, points to our call from the Lord to come and see the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Come and see. And then once you know that, you know that you know that he has risen from the dead, then we are to, verse seven, "go and tell" other people. By the way, he didn't rise spiritually. That's what the cults say. Real Christians say that he rose bodily. In other words, the same body that was crucified, the same body that was buried, is the same body that came marching victorious over sin, death, and hell out of that tomb.
>> The bodily resurrection. Ladies and gentlemen, please don't believe that Jesus just rose spiritually. That's cult teaching. He rose bodily. That's an essential of the Christian faith. You cannot be a Christian unless you believe, among some other things, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nothing's more important than what we're talking about today. We're talking about the resurrection. And so, what happens here? Jesus gets up, walks out of the tomb. It's the bodily resurrection, and there's evidence for that bodily resurrection. Okay? Okay.
And so in, in a moment, I'm going to share some evidence for his resurrection. Three evidences here in a moment. But then 10 weeks from now on Easter Sunday, I'm going to share more evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My hope is that if you're not convinced yet that Christ has risen bodily, that Christ has risen indeed, that you will come and see. In other words, you'll keep coming to Calvary, keep listening to the word of God being taught, especially come on Easter weekend and get some more evidences. But not only that, but you'll come and see and do some research for yourself on the resurrection. Now, I have a master's in theology, and so I know that there are some very boring books on theology, and there's some very boring books on apologetics as well. But there are some writers out there that keep the cookies on the bottom shelf and write to the layman. And so my number one favorite book to recommend to anybody who has never researched the historical accuracy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, my number one favorite book to recommend to them is "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. Lee Strobel was at our church a year and a half ago. Any of his "Case for Christ," "Case for Easter," "Case for," uh, "The Creator," "Case for," they're all dynamite, and they're easy to read, and they're solid. And so, come and see.
And then once you know that you know that you know that Christ is risen, listen, you got to go and tell. You got to tell others. Don't just assume everybody believes this. They don't. Hey, by the way, don't believe that everybody who comes to Calvary believes this. I mean, we get tons of visitors every single weekend. God is blessing this church, and so we see people coming to Christ, um, almost every single gathering, like 90% or or above. Last night, we had a young lady who was a Hindu. She's in our church. She had a new believer's Bible. I said, "Did you give your," after talking to her about her Hinduism, um, I said, "Did you give your life to Christ tonight?" She goes, "No, no, no, no. I just went and got the Bible because I'm, I'm researching for myself." I thought, "That's great. Welcome to Calvary, right? So glad that you're here." [applause] This is why we exist. This is why we exist. So you can come and you can hear. And then listen, the ball's in your court. It's your decision what you decide.
And so the truth is, as followers of Christ, we have the greatest news ever. And that greatest news ever is simply this, and it's for anybody, anywhere, any time. The greatest news ever is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
>> Amen.
>> Jesus Christ said this. Look at this. "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever," can everybody say "whoever"?
>> Whoever.
>> "Whoever believes in me," very important. It's not enough to just believe that. You got to believe in. "Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." And then he asked Martha, in the context right before he raises her brother Lazarus from the dead, "Martha, do you believe this?" Now, Martha loved the Lord, yet he's still challenging her. "Do you really believe this?" This is why I challenge you every weekend. Are you sure you believe it? Like, do you know that you know that you know? Okay. And so it's very, very important that you know that Christ is risen from the dead. Bodily resurrection. And it's not enough that you believe that he's the Son of God, or that he's risen from the dead, or that he died for the sins of the world. It's important. But here's what you need to know: the devils believe and tremble. Belief is not enough. You need to believe in the risen Christ, that he paid for your sins, that without him you have no hope. That's what Jesus did for us. And so we should celebrate that he's the resurrection and the life.
You see, our culture is always trying to squeeze us into their mold. Our culture is always trying to get us to be excited about what they're excited about in their weird agenda. "Come join us. Get excited about what we're excited about." And that's all you see or read about in the news. Well, here's an, here's an idea. Why don't we get excited about the resurrection and the life, the risen Lord Jesus Christ?
>> Why don't we get excited about him? [applause]
Nothing's more important. And if you believe in the risen Christ, good news, everybody. Even though your body may die, the real you, your soul, it's never going to die. Because the moment that you take your last breath, the moment that this body gives way and dies, if you believe in the risen Christ, guess what? Absent from the body, present with the Lord.
>> You take your last breath and you're going to see angels. [applause]
You're going to see angels. Okay? So, listen, listen here. Here's the thing. People believe, "Hey, if it's not detectable by my five senses, I don't believe in it." Are you kidding me? Do you realize there's a whole another realm to life, a spiritual realm? And so if you believe in the risen Christ, guess what? You're going to see angels when you take your last breath. They're going to whisk you immediately into the presence of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. Absent from the body, present from, present with the Lord. But, but it gets even better. On the coming day of resurrection, God will give you an eternal body. An eternal body that will never get sick or grow old and die. And not only that, he's going to give you a new home. A new home that never needs to be repaired. There are no Home Depots in heaven. You never have to go down there ever again, right? Because your home will be perfect forever. And not only is he going to give you a perfect body, and not only is he going to give you a perfect home, he's going to give you eternal relationships where you never have to say goodbye ever again to the people that you love, >> as long as they know Jesus. This is the best news ever. [applause] It is the best news ever.
And so listen, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of service of service. And here it is. Don't be conformed to this world. Stop getting excited about what they're excited about. Don't be conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
"Come and see. Go and tell." Look at verse 9. "The ladies are running. They're excited. The angel just talked to them. And all of a sudden, in verse 9, behold, Jesus met them." That's a shock. "And said, 'Greetings.'" And they came up and took hold of his feet. What does that mean? They fell right on their faces. And can you guys say the next, the last two words in verse 9? What did they do?
>> Oh, that's important. That's important. I'm going to come back to that.
"Then Jesus, verse 10, said to them, 'Don't be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'" It's very important to note here that Jesus accepted worship. Why is that important? Because ladies and gentlemen, if he was just a man, if he was just a good Jew, he would, believe me, never accept worship. And so these ladies come and they fall at his feet and they begin to worship him. And what does Jesus do? He accepts it. He didn't reject it. He didn't say, "Hey ladies, what are you doing? Don't you know the first commandment? Exodus 20:3, 'You shall have no other gods before me.' Yahweh says, 'Get up. Why are you worshiping me?'" He didn't do that. He didn't say that because he's God.
Now, sometimes people will ask, and it's a, it's a legitimate question, but they'll say, "Did Jesus know he was God?" What do you think?
>> Yeah.
That was great. By the way, I've, I've done this test every sing, you're the fifth gathering, and, um, so far, you're tied with 8 a.m. in the amount of people that said yes. So, good job. And so, in case you didn't just say yes, you need to know: yes, Jesus knew he was God in flesh. Here's another question you can answer out loud. Did Jesus ever say he was God?
>> Oh,
>> I heard some nos. I heard some yes. Now I hear murmuring.
>> Can I give you the answer to the test? And everybody will get an A+. Did Jesus ever say he was God? Yes. Yes. Yes. 10,000 times, yes. In John chapter 10:30, he said to the unbelieving Jews, "Quote, 'I and the Father are one.'" What do you call that? In John 14:9, he said, "Quote, 'Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.'" What do you call that? And then most powerfully, in John 8:58, he says, "Quote, 'Before Abraham was, I am.'" What do you call that? What you call that is, "I'm God. I am the Great I Am." And as C.S. Lewis said, he's either a liar or he's a lunatic or he's Lord.
>> The choice is yours. But you got to make a choice. You say, "I don't want to make a choice." Okay. Don't make a choice. Find out what happens to you when you take your last breath. I'm serious. You got to choose. And to choose to be apathetic or agnostic or, "I don't need to make a choice," what you're saying is, "No thank you. I don't want to hear the evidence. I'll be the Lord of my own life." You see how that, how well that goes over in eternity? Because ladies and gentlemen, there's only one Lord, and you're not it. And one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, not you and not me. [applause]
Jesus knew he was God. He said he was God. His disciples knew it as well. Check out what Paul writes. Speaking of Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God." Somebody says, and I've heard this before, "Come on. Come on. Where's God? If he appears to me, I'll believe." Well, guess what, everybody? He already did.
>> Jesus. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. How do we know what the invisible God looks like? Look at Jesus. He became visible. God became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the image of the invisible God. Look at this. "The firstborn of all creation." Now, the cults will take those five words, one, two, three, four, five, "The firstborn of all creation," out of their context and teach that Jesus was created, that he's just an angel, like the Jehovah's Witnesses. He's Michael the Archangel or Aras back in the day. You need to leave that sentence in its context, because the word "firstborn" does not mean that Jesus was created. The word "firstborn" simply means highest in rank, protoc. It means preeminence in position. And if you keep it in its context, the next sentence interprets "the firstborn of all creation." Here it is: "For by him all things were what?"
>> Jesus wasn't created. He's the creator.
"For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. He's before space, time, and material. He's before all things, and in him all things hold together." The true Christ, the Christ of the Bible, the Christ, by the way, that the Catholics and Bible-believing Protestants have in common. The true Christ is the creator and sustainer of all things because in him all things hold together. The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther, he said this about that passage. He says this establishes that Christ is God. This is why he can't be considered an angel. Instead, he's the Lord and creator of angels and of all other creatures. I hope you put your faith in the biblical Christ and not the Christ of false religions and cults.
"Verse 11. While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city." Okay? And so imagine these guys have just been knocked off their feet and were shaking on the ground like dead men because of an angel encounter. So they came to, and they're going into Jerusalem, and they go to the Sanhedrin and they told the chief priests all that had taken place.
"Verse 12. And when they had assembled with the elders," okay, so the Sanhedrin now is having an emergency meeting because of the information that the soldiers gave them. By the way, uh, before I go any further, look at me, please. What would the soldiers have told the Sanhedrin? An angel came down, rolled back the stone. We were knocked off our feet. The tomb is now empty. The body of Jesus is gone. What do you call that, everybody? I call it evidence. So what's the going to be the response of the religious people?
"Verse 12. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they," the Sanhedrin, "gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, 'Tell the people his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.'" Now, it must have been a lot of money, because any Roman soldier knew that if I sleep on the job, I am in serious trouble. I may even die. Must have been a lot of money. They're concerned that Pilate's going to hear that they slept on the job, but that's okay. Look at verse 14. The Sanhedrin tells the soldiers, "If this comes to the governor's ears, we'll satisfy him. We'll keep you out of trouble." What a lie.
How do the guards respond? The guards say, "Hey, Caiaphas, keep your money. I know what I saw. I got to go find the followers of Jesus. This is crazy. I got to get some more information." Is that how the guards responded?
>> No.
We know the heart of man. This is why everybody needs redemption. Everybody needs a change of heart. And so, how did the soldiers respond?
"Verse 15. So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews sadly to this day."
All right. So, how do we know, as I begin to wrap up this message, please stay with me to the end. But how do we know the disciples didn't steal the body? That was the report in the first century. That was the lie. How do we know it was a lie? Somebody says, "Well, pastor, Matthew just wrote it." When God's word says it, I believe it. That settles it. And I admire your faith. I'm very happy. I believe the same thing as you do. But you got to understand that some other people are not so easily convinced. So the reason that we know that the disciples didn't steal the body is because of the, hear the word, mountain of evidence that we have for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And there is a mountain. I'm just going to quickly give you three evidences. I'll give you more down the road. If you're taking notes, what's some of the evidence?
Well, number one, the disciples didn't have enough courage to steal the body. I mean, can we just think logically about this for a minute? When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the temple guards in the garden of Gethsemane, you guys remember that story Thursday night? Okay. What did the disciples do? They ran away. They scattered into the night. They went and hid. They're in hiding somewhere. Okay. Okay. And so it makes no sense that these disciples who were so scared on Thursday night, just two and a half days later, mustered up enough courage on Sunday morning to come out of hiding in the middle of the night, go to the tomb, which is in a garden area according to John, and where there's Roman soldiers who, according to the Jewish religious leaders, are sleeping, right? It makes no sense that they went and they tiptoed past the snoring soldiers and then they got behind the massive circular stone. All right, you ready? One, two, three. Ah, Peter [screaming] pushed the big roller stone out of the trench, tiptoed into the suppler, took Jesus's face cloth off of him, folded it up very neatly, and set it by itself in the corner, which is what John 20:7 says. What grave robber would do that? And then took the body of Jesus, past the sleeping soldiers, and into the night. Really, that's what we're supposed to believe?
Was there anybody there to cross-examine this lie in the first century AD that so many, unfortunately, so many Jewish people believed? Thank God, a lot of Jewish believes, Jewish people denied that lie and knew that Christ was risen. But are we here? Here, here's my point. Are we really to believe that the disciples who were so scared on Thursday night that they ran away, they had the courage to do this just two and a half days later? Are we really to believe that the scared disciples who didn't have the courage, listen to this, to stand up for a living Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, now all of a sudden, two and a half days later, have the courage to steal a dead Christ on Sunday morning? Hey everybody, that doesn't make sense. That doesn't add up.
But there's a stronger argument if you're taking notes. Number two, over 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Christ. This is the one that gets me excited. In AD 55, so can everybody just say AD 55?
>> AD 55.
The Apostle Paul, who by the way, had a divine encounter with the risen Christ and went from persecuting the church to being the biggest advocate for the church. That's a miracle. That's an evidence. And so the Apostle Paul, AD 55, writes to the church of Corinth. And I want you to see next slide, please, what he writes to the church of Corinth. "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received." All right. I want to see if you've been listening. When did Paul write this?
>> AD 55.
He's delivering them something that he's already received prior to AD 55. Something that's already been in circulation. Something that's already been developed. What's that? The first Christian creed. I love the Nicene Creed, but that's not the first Christian creed. The first Christian creed is right here in 1 Corinthians 15. And it's already been formulated, and it's already circulating in the churches, AD 55. Okay, everybody look at me, please. Very, very important. Perhaps the most important part of the message. AD 55. When does Jesus die and rise again? Either AD 30, 33. Good scholars debate. Let's say it's 33. We're talking 22 years, right? Did I get my math right?
>> 33 to 25.
We're talking about 22 years. Paul says, "I delivered to you what I also received." What did he receive? Something that's already been in formulation, circulating around the churches. A creed that has certain points. I received these points. Okay. So, now we're prior to 20 years. Now, we may even go all the way back, uh, very, very close to the resurrection, but definitely within 20 years. Why is this a big deal, pastor? Because people have been saying for 2,000 years that the resurrection is just a legend that the church developed over hundreds of years. That's hogwash, >> ladies and gentlemen.
Legend takes a minimum of cultural legend takes a minimum of two generations to develop. In other words, a minimum of 50 to 100 years for legendary stories to develop about an event. 50 to 100 years. We are within 20 years. What's the points of the creed? Christ died. Can you go back, please? Christ died for our sins. What does that mean? Is it a legend or a historical fact in accordance with the scriptures, the Old Testament, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Daniel 9, that he was buried, and that he, here it is, drum roll, raised on the third day. Legend or historical fact?
>> It's fact.
Now, if you want to be irrational, you could say it's a legend. But the facts are, this is prior to 20 years after the death and resurrection of Christ. News flash, it's eyewitness testimony, not legend. "He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. He appeared to Cephas, to the 12." Next slide, please. "And then he appeared to more than how many?"
>> 500.
"Brothers at one time." Most. And somebody says, "Well, how do you know Paul's not lying?" Anybody can lie. Anybody can write whatever they want. Here's how we know he's not lying. Because most of these 500 people are still alive. I've told you before, one day I'm going to write a book. Don't steal the title. "Still Alive in AD 55." Then you'll know I wrote the book. What's it about? It's about at least 251 people who are still alive in AD 55. And if you were a first-century skeptic, could knock on their door and ask them, "Did you really see Jesus alive from the dead?" Come on. People don't just get up out of their grave, and all of them would say, "Yes, I saw the risen Christ still alive." "Though some have fallen asleep." Then the risen Christ appears to James. Who's James? He's the little half-brother of Jesus. Remember him? The little half-brother of Jesus who didn't believe in Jesus during his three-year ministry, didn't believe he was a Messiah, used to mock him. Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall when the risen Christ walks into the room with his little brother, and his brother, what Jesus walks over, big brother to little brother, "Get over here. Puts him in a headlock, gives him a noogie. Now you believe I'm alive, that I'm alive." "He appears to James, last of all, as to one untimely born. He appears also to the Apostle Paul."
Lee Strobel, in his book "Case for Christ," love this quote. Check it out. "If you were to call each one of the witnesses to a court of law to be cross-examined for just 15 minutes each, these are 500 eyewitnesses, and you went around the clock without break, it would take you from breakfast on Monday until dinner on Friday to hear them all. And after listening to 129 straight hours of eyewitness testimony, who could possibly walk away unconvinced?" Ladies and gentlemen, any unbiased jury in any generation has to arrive at one verdict, and that is that Jesus is guilty. He's guilty of rising from the dead.
>> He's alive. [applause]
You can know that. You know that. You know that. Last point, and we're done. If you're taking notes, the disciples refused to recant in the face of martyrdom. So the disciples, for the rest of their lives, preach the risen Christ. It's one thing for me in America, 2026, to preach the risen Christ. It's another thing for these guys in the Roman Empire to preach the risen Christ, to say Jesus is Lord when everybody's supposed to make an offering and say Caesar is Lord every year. So, so hard. So what was the result of these men saying that Jesus rose from the dead? Well, in our book that we give our visitors, "More Than a Carpenter," this is from various historical sources and long-standing tradition. Peter crucified. Andrew crucified. James killed by a sword. We see that in Acts 12. Philip crucified. Bartholomew crucified. Thomas killed by a spear. Matthew killed by the sword. The author of the gospel that we're studying. Killed by the sword. James crucified. Thaddaeus killed by arrows. Simon the Zealot crucified. The only one who did not die a martyr's death, you know who it is, right?
>> John the Apostle.
All these guys had to say is, "Wait, don't kill us. We made it up. We stole the body." And their lives would have been spared. None of them did that. They refused to recant their testimonies. All of them were martyred except for John. What does that mean? That means they were willing to die for their faith. Somebody says, "What's the big deal?" Religious people and other religions are willing to die for their faith. Some of them are even willing to hijack our planes and fly our planes into our buildings, thinking they're 72 virgins waiting for them on the other side. So what's the difference? They were willing to die for their faith. What's the difference between them and the apostles? It's, it's very, very important you get this. This slide here. We're almost done here. But here's the distinction. Religious zealots may die for what they believe to be true, but no one dies for a known lie. Nobody dies for a known lie. The 9/11 terrorists really believed there's 72 virgins waiting for them on the other side. Now, obviously, that wasn't true, but they believed it was true. You're comparing apples with oranges. There's no comparison. That's not what happened with the disciples. Number one, the disciples didn't martyr themselves as they were killing and hurting people. The disciples were martyred by others as they're helping people. So number one, the integrity and the character of the apostles are up here. The 9/11 terrorists are down in hell where they are right now. So there's a big difference in character, but there's also this big difference as well. If the disciples stole the body, then they knew they stole the body, and none of them would have died for a lie. Everybody, it doesn't make any logical sense at all.
That's just three little evidences that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. And all those apostles went to their death with this in their hearts: "I saw him. I saw him alive after he had been dead." And why is that? Last slide. Because Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."
Do you believe this? Do you believe it?
>> Now, it's one thing to say, "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus died for the sins of the world, that Jesus rose from the grave." That's important. But again, the devils believe and tremble. My question to you is, do you believe in the risen Christ? Do you believe so much that you have turned from your sin? I didn't say you cleaned up your act. You're trying harder. You're turning over a new leaf. All of that is not the gospel. And by the way, you can't turn your life around by yourself anyway. You need Jesus' help. I'm saying, are you willing to turn from your sin the best way you know how? Turn to Jesus Christ. Believe that he's your only hope. That you can't work your way to heaven because it's not by works of righteousness which we have done. The work has already been done by Christ on the cross. He paid our debt, sin debt, in full. Have you turned to Christ believing he's your only hope and confessed him as Lord and Savior, given him your life? Have you converted to Christianity? That's my question. Maybe you have a head knowledge. Now it's time to have a heart knowledge.