Sermon Title: “Can An Intelligent Person Believe In The Resurrection?”
Date: Sunday, April 16, 2017
Church Calendar: Easter Sunday Worship @ 10 a.m.
Our Theme Today: The Resurrection
Our Question:
The Resurrection.
One thing is fairly certain: it’s either a fact, or a fairytale.
Today we ask: “Can an intelligent person believe in the resurrection?”
We’ll talk about that, and more, during our sermon time today!
Scripture (For Reader): P (New International Version)
24Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
1
Jesus Christ rose from the dead at Easter;
OR
He didn’t.
Today,
most of us are gathering because
(presumably)
we believe that in some way, He DID rise.
But how do we know that we haven’t been duped?
How do we know that this isn’t just some colossal hoax?
Oftentimes,
I don’t think we stop to think of just how important the resurrection IS to Christianity:
that it is one of the major things that delineates Jesus from other great leaders of history.
And let’s face it,
there are many of them,
many great leaders
in a diverse range of fields:
Beethoven in music
Freud in psychology
Shakespeare in literature
Rosa Parks in social justice
Aristotle in philosophy
Newton in science
etc., etc.
And religion posts the names of some great leaders also:
Abraham
Confucius
Buddha
Mohammed
But there is a claim by Christianity
that is NOT claimed by these other great leaders:
it is the claim of resurrection.
2
And it seems to me
to be a perfectly appropriate question to ask:
“Are we believing a fairy tale?”
Because, truth be told,
resurrections aren’t the normal course of things.
Well today,
what I’d like to do is
share from a very personal standpoint why I don’t believe it is a fairy tale - -
and primarily for 1 reason;
THE TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLES
the people who were there at the time
the people who claimed to have SEEN the resurrected Christ
the people who were willing to die for their belief.
Did you know that 11 of the 12 disciples died martyr’s deaths?
1) Peter - crucified
2) Andrew - crucified
3) Matthew - slain by a sword
4) James, son of Alphaeus - crucified
5) Philip - crucified
6) Simon - crucified
7) Thaddeus - killed by arrows
8) Thomas - killed by a spear thrust
9) Bartholomew - crucified
10) James, son of Zebedee - slain by a sword
11) James, the biological brother of Jesus - killed by rocks
Now,
some people might respond,
“So what does that prove - -
a lot of people have died for a lie?”
And I would agree,
a lot of people HAVE died for a lie,
but they thought it was the truth.
3
In this case,
if Jesus had not raised from the dead,
they would have known it.
Now,
I think you could easily find 11 people who have died for a lie,
BELIEVING it was the truth.
But,
I think you would be VERY hard pressed to find 11 people
willing to die for a lie
KNOWING it was a lie.
(And they would have known.)
I mean,
take our Scripture lesson this morning.
In it, the disciple Thomas says this:
QUOTE:
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands
and put my finger where the nails were,
and put my hand into his side,
I will not believe it.”
UNQUOTE.
Obviously,
something happened to change this man’s mind - -
to the point where he was willing to die DEFENDING the resurrection.
I personally believe it was an encounter with the resurrected Jesus.
And Thomas wasn’t the ONLY one who underwent a rather dramatic transformation.
Take Peter.
Here’s a guy that as Jesus was heading for trial
DENIED Jesus (and on multiple occasions),
and finally deserted Jesus altogether.
But something happened.
Just a short time after the crucifixion and burial,
Peter shows up preaching boldly in Jerusalem - -
and is later crucified himself for proclaiming the risen Christ.
4
And the list goes on.
James, the biological brother of Jesus.
When Jesus was alive,
James didn’t believe in his brother as the Messiah.
But something happened to JAMES.
Shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial,
James is founding preaching in Jerusalem - -
and the content of his message
is that Jesus died for sins,
was resurrected
and is alive.
Some years ago,
my brother-in-law wrote a book titled,
Evidence That Demands A Verdict.
My friends,
from where I stand
these radically changed lives signifies the evidence.
So the only question left is this:
What verdict will YOU render?
Fairy Tale?
or
Fact of History?
Only you can decide how you will sort it out for yourself.
You think about that!
Let us pray.
“Our God,
We thank You for for this day
for the hope that is central to it.
We thank You for empty graves.
We thank You for changed lives.
And we thank You for being a God who is patient with us
as we seek to sort all of it through.
We ARE grateful. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
Resource For Today’s Sermon: More Than A Carpenter