1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast [a]the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing. 3 For I delivered to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that, He appeared to [c]James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all, as [d]to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, [e]and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The resurrection is the arguably the most important doctrine in Christianity.
Well over three hundred verses are concerned with the subject of Jesus' resurrection in the New Testament. We are told that this event is a sign for unbelievers (Matthew 12:38-40); cf. John 20:24-29) as well as the answer for the believer's doubt (Luke 24:38-43). It serves as the guarantee that Jesus' teachings are true (Acts 2:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20) and is the center of the gospel itself (Romans 4:24-25, 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Further, the resurrection is the impetus for evangelism (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 10:39-43), the key indication of the believer's daily power to live the Christian life (Rom. 6:4-14, 8:9-11; Phil. 3:10) and the reason for the total commitment of our lives (Rom. 7:4; 1 Cor. 15:57-58). The resurrection even addresses the fear of death (John 11:25; 1 Cor. 15:54-58; cf. Hebrews 2:14-15) and is related to the second coming of Jesus (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7). Lastly, this event is a model of the Christian's resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:2; 1 Cor. 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and provides a foretaste of heaven for the believer (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
Gary R. Habermas & J.P. Moreland, Immortality - The Other Side of Death, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992, p. 245.
Though it is of utmost importance for the Christian, there are those who deny that it happened, and some even go so far as to deny that Jesus even lived. Every year, around Easter, popular magazines will do articles about Easter. And invariably they question the truth of the resurrection. Often they will repeat the lie told by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day that Jesus’ disciples came and stole His body from the tomb by night, and spread the lie that He had risen.
Of course, in order for them to do that, they would have also had to falsify some appearances to others.
From CNN.COM
https://www.cnn.com/2014/04/18/opinion/parini-jesus-easter/index.html
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
Did Jesus really rise from the dead? What would that look like? Many Christians imagine some literal wakening from the dead and refuse to accept the slightest hint that the Resurrection might be regarded as symbolic without denigrating it.
Evidence for the Resurrection
prayer
The Church, the Scripture, the Disciples, the Antagonist, the Common Witness
I. The Church
The existence of the Church is evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.
Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast [a]the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing.
Paul is describing how he brought the gospel to them. “I proclaimed it to you.” “Which also you received.” Just think about that for a moment. Paul, a Jewish man, preaching a Jewish Messiah, walks into a Gentile city, and preaches that his Jewish Messiah died by means of Roman crucifixion, rose from the dead, and now, by repentance and faith in his name, you can be saved from Hell, and gain heaven.
We get so used to that message that sometimes we forget how strange it would sound to the uninitiated. Paul knew how it was received; to the Jews it was a stumbling block, to the Greeks it was moronic.
But, when Paul preached this message to Corinth, what did they do?... I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received,
You received it. And not only did they receive it. … in which also you stand. You didn’t just have a momentary lapse in judgment, you have continued in the faith. They have persevered.
-----This is Paul preaching “the perseverance of the faith.” The perseverance of the faith is the doctrine that states that all true Christians will continue in the faith, and if they don’t, they weren’t truly saved.----
But he is saying, you stayed. This wasn’t just a fad, or a passing thing. You persevered.
And that is one of the great pieces of evidence for the truth of the gospel and the resurrection. It is the evidence of the existence of the Church. What is it that bears witness to the truth of the resurrection? The existence of the Church. How do explain the perseverance of the Church, the fact that it has spread around the world, if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead?
Other religious movements exist and have spread, but none of them are based on a resurrected dead man.
Jesus performed miraculous works like no person ever had. Jesus repeatedly claimed that He would rise from the dead. His disciples went out into a Gentile world and preached a crucified and risen Lord. And they performed miracles like no one had before.
And people throughout history have come to believe the gospel, and had their lives changed. They have gotten sober, overcome deviant lifestyles, reformed criminals, brought reconciliation to families. All based on a resurrection lie?
How do you explain the existence of the ongoing Church? Despite massive societal efforts to stamp it out, it flourishes during persecution.
The second evidence is
II. The Scriptures
3 For I delivered to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Paul points out that he had delivered to them this message, and it wasn’t a message that he concocted out of his own brain. The message came from the Scriptures; the Bible. And when Paul said this he would have been referring to the Old Testament. The letter he is writing is one of the earliest books of the New Testament. Most of what we know as the New Testament, and New Testament Scripture, wasn’t even written yet.
So, what is he saying? He is saying that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were written about in the Old Testament Scriptures, hundreds, and even thousands of years before it happened.
That is a second great evidence for the truth of the gospel, the resurrection; the prophecies of Scripture. From the creation itself, and man’s fall, God has been telling mankind of a dying and rising Savior. God told Adam and Eve that there would come the Son of Adam who would be wounded by Satan, but would crush the Serpent’s head.
His death
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. Verse 9 And [p]they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
----10 Yet it pleased the Lord to [q]bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 [r]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. ----
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
His resurrection
Psalm 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in [e]Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to [f]see corruption.
Psalm 110:1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The Church, the Scripture
III. The Resurrection Witnesses
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that, He appeared to [c]James, then to all the apostles,
A. To Cephas (Peter)
Jesus appeared to many after His resurrection. The first one disciple mentioned is Peter. We know that Jesus appeared to the women who came to the grave first of all. But they weren’t believed. Remember that the women came to the disciples and told them that the Lord had appeared to them. Then Peter and John ran to the tomb and saw the graveclothes empty, and John believed but Peter doubted. So then later, Jesus appeared to Peter. We have no narrative about that appearing; when and where it happened. All we have is this record from Paul, and in Luke 24 the Road to Emmaus appearances…
34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
But not only is this evidence for the resurrection because it is one more witness, it is strong evidence for the resurrection because it is Peter. People who want to cast doubt on the resurrection of Jesus will explain away the eyewitnesses as liars. They say that Peter and the other disciples, stole Jesus’ body, and made up the story of the resurrection. And I always ask the question? “To what end?” Or, “why would they do that?” Did this group of outcasts and fishermen aspire to start a new religion? They thought that Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies. They thought that He would be a military leader like David who would usher in a day of peace, prosperity, and world dominance for Israel. Now that Messiah was humiliated, beaten, and nailed to a post until He died. Why would anyone think of starting a new religion around a humiliated and crucified Messiah?
And Peter least of all. How can anyone say that Peter had the courage to stand up for a dead Christ? He denied Jesus three times while He was on trial.
And get this, even after he saw the resurrected Christ and spoke with Him, Peter was still in a funk. When Jesus appeared, it was great, but in the hours and days in between appearances, Peter got listless. On one such occasion, he decides to go back to fishing. That’s what he knows.
So, even when Peter knew that the Lord was resurrected, he was in no mood to start a new movement.
What changed? The filling with the Spirit.
In that same passage as he appears to Peter, he appears to the disciples. Paul lists them as witnesses as well.
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
In Luke 24, right after the road to Emmaus story, while the gathered group is discussing the appearances so far…
36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.”
He appeared to the disciples, here and in other places.
37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.Handle Me and see, for aspirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
He appeared to the twelve. Now we know that the first time here, Judas Iscariot has committed suicide, and Thomas is not with them. Thomas is with them a week later when Jesus appears again. We also know that Judas was later replaced as an apostle by Matthias. And his chief qualification was that he had to be a witness to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
----Acts 1: 21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”----
So, he appeared to the twelve. And He appeared multiple times over the 40 days before His ascension, to many people. Paul mentions that on one occasion He appeared among a crowd of more than 500.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.
And Paul indicates that at the time he wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, (around 55 AD.) that most of those 500 were still alive. That’s about 25 years after the resurrection, and all those 500 were still attesting to their having seen Jesus resurrected.
Think about that. During those 25 years people had been imprisoned and put to death for preaching Jesus. The apostle James had been put to death. Yet, 500 witnesses are still saying, “I saw Jesus resurrected from the dead.”
There’s another witness.
7 After that, He appeared to [c]James, then to all the apostles,
Now, you might think that Paul is talking about an appearance of Christ to the apostle James. But, because of the wording here, most agree that this was an appearance to Jesus’ brother James.
Which again is a wonderful testimony to the resurrection. It’s one thing to have a true believer be your witness. It’s another to have a non-believer. Before Jesus resurrection, Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him.
John 7: After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the [a]Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
James didn’t even believe in Jesus. So, back to the idea that this whole resurrection was made up; why would a total non-believer lie about his brother, who was crucified, being risen from the dead? Here’s a theory; Jesus appeared to him personally, and he was converted.
James became the chief elder of the Jerusalem church. He went from non-believer, to chief advocate for the gospel.
The Church, the Scripture, the disciples
IV. The Antagonist
8 and last of all, as [d]to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, [e]and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
Then Jesus appeared personally to the Saul of Tarsus. You remember this story.
Acts 9: Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul,why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [a]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Talk about incredible evidence for the resurrection. The disciples doubted, Peter denied, James disbelieved, but Paul was an enemy to the gospel. He was actively traveling from city to city searching for Jewish people practicing Christianity, to arrest them for blasphemy, and imprison them.
That’s what he was doing when Jesus appeared to him. He calls himself, “one untimely born.” The words here mean, an abortion. Paul is saying I was an abortion.
He was a forced delivery. So, here’s the supposed scenario that enemies of the gospel propose today. They agree that Jesus was crucified. They agree that Jesus claimed that He would rise from the dead. But, since He didn’t, his disciples, you know, the ones who were shocked that He was crucified, the ones who fled when He was arrested, the ones who were hiding in their homes with the doors locked after the crucifixion, somehow collected themselves, went by night on the 3rd day, and stole His body. Then they started spreading the rumor that He had risen from the dead.
Then they had to convince some people. James, Jesus’ brother had to be convinced, and 500 witnesses had to be convinced, they either had to convince them to lie, or they had to somehow convince them that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead.
And, to make the case entirely plausible, they reached out to the guy who was having Christians imprisoned and put to death for professing belief in Jesus, and talked him, Saul of Tarsus into believing that Jesus was risen.
Saul who wasn’t a disciple. Saul who may not have even been around to ever meet Jesus. They got him to not only profess faith in Christ, but become Christianity’s greatest advocate.
That’s quite a feat. So, you can either believe that, or you can believe that Jesus did rise.
The Church, the Scripture, the Disciples, the Antagonist
V. The Common Witness
11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
So, Paul lays out all these evidences for the resurrection. Each of them is compelling. Together they overwhelm the opposition. But then he lays out a final evidence.
11 Whether then it was I or they, (whether we are talking about my witness to the resurrection, or the disciples, James, or the 500)
so we preach and so you believed.
What is he saying? He is saying this. No matter who you talk to about this; Paul, Peter, James, the disciples, or the 500, we all preach the same thing, we all believe the same thing. There was no disagreement about the events. There was no one among them who said, “Well, we kinda did steal Jesus’ body.” Nobody said, “Well, I saw somebody that the disciples claimed was Jesus, but I didn’t think it was him.” Nobody said, “I think what I saw was a hallucination.”
Nobody disagreed.
One of the chief criticisms of Christianity today are the number of disagreements among Christians. People will say, “Why are there so many denominations?” “You’ll can’t even agree among yourselves.” But among the witnesses to the resurrection, there was no division by denomination. They all agreed.
And that my friends is powerful evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They went to their deaths, some even tortured and executed, professing that they had seen the resurrected Christ.
And so today we gather again, as people have gathered every Sunday for 2000 years, as Easter has been celebrated every year for 2000 years, celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. Let me close with this poem.
The day of resurrection?
Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness,
The Passover of God.
From death to life eternal,
From this world to the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over
With hymns of victory.
Now let the heavens be joyful,
Let earth her song begin;
Let the round world keep triumph,
And all that is therein;
Let all things seen and unseen
Their notes in gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen,
Our Joy that hath no end.
John of Damascus.
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