The Vindication of the Resurrection

8/7/2019 The Vindication of the Resurrection

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The Vindication of the Resurrection Rob Wilkerson

Sunday, April 24, 2011 1 | P a g e

An Easter Sunday Talk from 1 Corinthians 15:5-8

Rob Wilkerson,Church in the Boro
http://www.robwilkerson.net/http://www.robwilkerson.net/http://www.robwilkerson.net/http://www.churchintheboro.com/http://www.churchintheboro.com/http://www.churchintheboro.com/http://www.churchintheboro.com/http://www.robwilkerson.net/


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Introduction: What if Jesus Resurrection Were Put on Trial Today?

One of the most crucial pieces of evidence against a defendant in the court of law is an

eyewitness to the crime. Without an actual eyewitness who, with their own eyes and ears, saw

and heard the crime as it was being committed, the rest of the evidence is considered

circumstantial. Other evidences may point to the defendant, but none seals the case like theperson who saw him do it.

But what happens when the defense attorney begins a line of questioning that leaves both the

eye-witness and jury only thinking he saw or heard the defendant? Perhaps it was dark that

night. Perhaps the defendant was far enough away that any number of other men in a lineup

could have matched the description. Perhaps the eyewitness was tired or under the influence

of alcohol or some other intoxicating substance.

Thats the job of the defense attorneyto counter-examine the eyewitness and hopefully

unravel their story, to the end that, at best, the jury themselves are left questioning whether ornot the eyewitness really saw what he thought he saw. Any good defense attorney knows the

damage that an eyewitness can cause his case. And he knows that the undoing of their

testimony means the greater chance that his client may be given a not guilty vote.

But what happens to the defenses case when more than one eyewitness is produced? What

do you think would happen if you had two or three or maybe even five different persons who

all saw the defendant commit the crime in question? What happens then? Each eyewitness

will obviously only strengthen the case of the prosecution against the defendant. And though

Im not a lawyer, I have been seated before on jury duty for a murder case. There were several

eyewitnesses. And each time an eyewitness spoke, the defendant was in more and more

trouble. One day we were called in and seated, only to be told by assistant district attorney

that the defendant had changed his plea to guilty. There were simply too many eyewitnesses.

His case was crushed underneath the weight of the evidence.

That was the case with a man who had three or possibly more eyewitnesses to his crime. It at

least made it to court where the testimony could be told and heard. But would such a case

even make it to court if there were, say, over 500 eyewitnesses to the crime? Im not sure. But

I would bet that it would probably not, for the defendant would simply enter a plea of guilty

and sentencing would be the only thing to take place in the court of law. Why even think about

entering a plea of not guilty or hear a case at all when a perpetrator has over 500

eyewitnesses ready to testify against him?

When Jesus Becomes the Defendant in the Worlds Eyes

Yet this is the case today when our Lord Jesus is put on trial as the defendant by the world. To

many the simple idea that a person could actually rise from the dead after three days is

preposterous. This is definitely the way we see progressive liberalism moving back into the

mainstream churches, and even evangelical churches today. Resurrection in many of these


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to discuss the Easter event and he used that form 37 times. For Paul, Jesus was

raised by God. Jesus did not rise."2

To Paul, Jesus was not restored to life in his original body in order to walk around

and talk to his followers. Rather, Jesus was raised from death into the presence

of God in a spiritual body. As he writes in I Corinthians 15:50 Paul believed:"...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable

inherit the imperishable."

Paul seems to be unaware of the empty tomb, of the bodily resurrection, of the

visitation by one or more women, and other details of the resurrection story as

was written later in the gospels. It is also doubtful that the story was known by

other Christians at that time. It is probable that the account was created after

Paul's death.

It is also doubtful that Jesus appeared to a crowd of more than 500. A dead man

talking to a group would be such a miraculous event that word of it would

spread very widely. The incident would have been recorded by other Christian

authors and also by non-Christian historians of the time. No other trace of the

group of 500 exists

One interpretation of the resurrection story concludes that the earliest followers

of Jesus knew nothing about the resurrection. Paul believed that Jesus had a

passive role in his resurrection. He was raised by God into heaven, housed in a

spirit body. His physical body rotted. The story of the tomb, its stone, the angels,

men and women at the tomb, of Jesus meeting, talking and eating with his

followers, etc. is a myth, a legend created by various Christian movements manydecades after Jesus' execution. That saga became captured in the four canonical

gospels at different stages in its development.

Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/resur_lt.htm

I personally found these paragraphs to be confusing, especially in light of the twelve generally

accepted knowable, historical facts about the resurrection. Gary Habermas, one of the leading

scholars on the resurrection of Jesus, lists these in his book,The Historical Jesus.

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.2. Jesus was buried.3. Jesus death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope, believing that

his life was ended.

4. Although not as widely accepted, many scholars hold that the tomb inwhich Jesus was buried was discovered to be empty just a few days later.

5. Critical scholars agree that the disciples had experiences which they
http://books.google.com/books?id=pMMeqKHZIDkC&lpg=PP1&dq=gary%20habermas%20the%20historical%20jesus&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=pMMeqKHZIDkC&lpg=PP1&dq=gary%20habermas%20the%20historical%20jesus&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=pMMeqKHZIDkC&lpg=PP1&dq=gary%20habermas%20the%20historical%20jesus&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.com/books?id=pMMeqKHZIDkC&lpg=PP1&dq=gary%20habermas%20the%20historical%20jesus&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false


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everything, and the natural laws of science no longer apply. This in turn leaves you in a position

to have to account for it, or in the very least what youre going to do with it. At that point you

can, on the one hand, reject it and look utterly foolish since its plainly and painfully obvious. Or

you can believe in the supernatural and face up to it.

At that point if you reject the painful and plain truth about the supernatural then you end uphaving to create all sorts of rationale and argumentation and debate against it, essentially

suppressing the truth about it in their hearts. If you accept it then you have to face it along

with the act that the supernatural forces at work must be interacted with at some level,

regardless of what kind offaith is required.

However, at the logical end of it all, I believe is the necessity of the person to face the fact of

the supernatural and reason that there is a supernatural being and that He is God, thereby

opening one up to all the other truth that is in the Bible from God. Ultimately, its all about

accountability and personal responsibility. Its easy to dismiss the resurrection and the

supernatural because its easier to live life without accountability to God Himself. John

MacArthur put it well.

Neutrality is not an option. Either Jesus rose and rightly demands

your attention, repentance, trust and obedience, or he stayed

dead. If he only became a rotting corpse why should you follow

him?

(Source: Preface in Gerard Crispins The Resurrection: The Unopened Gift

[Epsom, UK: Day One, 2002], p. 16).

In short, unbelievers essentially hate the truth, do not want to submit to it, and therefore they

do not give their ear to it, but instead rationalize it away. But the eyewitness testimony of over

500 people to a Jesus Christ who was in fact crucified and is now in fact resurrected is validation

of the resurrection.

How Believers React & Respond to the Resurrection

Now, while this is the case of the unsaved, what about the saved? It is possible to be so use to

the incontrovertible evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that even those

who affirm its truth have grown numb toward it. If the lost man hates and rejects this truth,

many saved persons ignore it and think hardly anything of it, except during the Easter Sunday

sermon. For many it is a fleeting thought that Jesus rose from the dead and that He was seen

by over 500 people. For them it is simply a passing wow! and then they turn back to their

business.


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them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had

seen Him after He had risen (16:14).

What followed this reproach was a command to go and preach the gospel to all creation

(16:15). The implication is that (1) it is a reproach on a believer to not truly believe in the

resurrection of Christ, and (2) it is an obligation on a believer to go into all the world and preachthe gospel since Christ has risen from the dead. After all, regardless of what country youre

from or what you country youre travelling to, it would be good news anywhere and

everywhere to hear that God sent His Son who was killed and resurrected.

The point I will make here as well as several more times this morning is that

the mission is inseparably connected

to the truth of the resurrection,

and that your involvement in the mission

is a reflection of your belief in the resurrection.

You simply will not be able to help yourself if you believe this truth. It will compel and propel

you to win others to Him. But if you do not win others to Him, it is primarily because the truth

of His resurrection and power has evidently not yet captured your heart and mind. And if this is

true, then take the same reproach on yourself that Jesus gave to the disciples. If they heard all

the reports and yet still didnt believe, youve heard more reports than they did, and yet will

you still not believe?

And if youre asking yourself if Im implying that missions and evangelism are the truest

reflections of your profession of Christ, youre right! Thats the clear implication and

application of Mark 16:14-15. If a Christian is one who has been truly impacted and gripped by

the resurrection of Christ, then that Christian will make it his or her aim to get that gospel to

the world, no matter what the cost, simply because of the value of the information you say you

believe. In other words, one cannot profess to be a Christian and yet not be going to the

nations to win the lost, because in not doing so, they show they have not yet believed in the

resurrection of Christ from the dead!

C. Consider the Impact of the Eyewitnesses on the WorldIt was said of some of the apostles that they turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).

Everything that was dear to the religious leaders of that day was turned upside down on its

head and it was crashing down around them. All the religious practices of wood, hay and

stubble which they had constructed in the lives and hearts of the people was burning up before

their very eyes. And it was all because twelve men had been so impacted by the resurrected


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Jesus Christ that they couldnt help themselves! It was such a magnificent act, a miracle above

all miracles, that the whole world simply had to know about it, no matter what the cost!

For most of the apostles, it did cost them their lives. But that didnt matter. They all knew the

implication and promise of Christs resurrection. If He rose from the dead, then they would

too! So what difference does it make what people might do to us? As I have told you before,Fear not! You can only be killed! They may kill you, but that is the very worst they can do.

They cannot take away what Christ has promised to do to you if you follow Him.

Thats why they had the impact on the world that they did at that time, and thats why modern

missions has had such an impact on the world in the last two and a half hundred years or so.

Men and women have firmly believed in the truth of the resurrection such that they were

compelled to tell others about the power of God. And they told that truth in such a way that

also showed the world that it didnt matter what happened to them the truth they had to tell

was worth the price of their very lives.

D. Now, Consider YOUR Impact on the World

Is it possible that the reason we have so little impact is because we hold so little regard for the

irrefutable evidence of the resurrection? Is it possible that we have little impact on the world

because the resurrection has had so little impact upon us? If it seems to you that this gospel is

held and told by you with so little power, it is because its power has not gripped you

completely. If it did, you would go. If it did, you could not help but impact the world around

you.

Recovering the Impact of a Validated Resurrection on the Church Today

2. How Should the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead Impact Christians Today?

A. The resurrection must return to the center stage of evangelistic efforts.1. We must constantly preach this part of the gospel to ourselves.

We often act like Peter who saw the empty tomb yet still did not believe (Luke 24). We

sometimes act like Thomas who didnt believe despite the testimony of three godly women

(John 20). We hear about it, and we read it. But too often it simply does not seem to have an

impact on us. Im not sure if this is because of our cultures inundation with news and facts andinformation. But regardless, there must be a resolve within to fight to recover this truth so it

will impact us and the world the way it needs to.

Some will argue that it is because we were not there, and therefore it could not impact us as

much as it did them. Perhaps. But Jesus told Thomas in John 20:29 that those who worshiped

Him and believed in Him without ever having seen Him are more blessed and satisfied and


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joyful than those who did actually see Him. So Jesus argument here runs contrary to normal

human understanding. Yet because He said it, it must be so.

Hence, it is our duty and delight to figure out how we are more blessed and satisfied and joyful

and happy having not see Him, and further how we can be more blessed and satisfied and

joyful and happy day by day, as we serve a resurrected Jesus weve never seen. From mypersonal experience this means two things for us.

First, this means we must not and cannot be like those disciples who, despite so muchtestimony to the opposite, continued to disbelieve that Jesus had risen from the dead.

How terrible! Work with all your might to read the gospels and meditate on His

resurrection. Pray with all your might that God might be pleased to deeply impact you

with these truths so that you would be changed forever!

Second, how comforting was their unbelief! What do I mean by this? Simply thatdespite their unbelief, Jesus made Himself known to them and then used them toimpact the world! And He can use you! No matter how deep your unbelief, He can use

you. Pray what the father of the handicapped child prayed, I believe Lord. Help my

unbelief! Confess it for what it is, ask Him to make you believe it, and then ask Him to

use you where He desires. If He could use unbelieving disciples, He can use you

beloved!

2. We must boldly preach this as part of the gospel to others.

It is interesting to take note of some of the gospel sermons in the book of Acts by a couple of

the apostles. And by comparison it is interesting to note how many gospel presentations and

sermons today seem to be void of something the apostles considered absolutely essential tothe gospel message, namely this crucial and central issue of the resurrection.

Acts 2:32. Peter preached his first sermon. And in transitioning to his conclusion hedrives home the truth of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He preaches, This

Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. It was important for Peter to

emphasize to this huge crowd that Jesus resurrection was not a matter of hearsay. He

and the apostles and others who were in the upper room praying were actually

witnesses to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

Acts 3:15. In Peters second sermon, he preached about the one whom God raisedfrom the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. Acts 5:32. In Peters third sermon, a fundamental argument in his sermon is the

testimony: we are witnesses of these things


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Acts 10:39-41. In Peters sermon to Cornelius, the resurrection was a central fact. Hepreached, And we are witneses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and

in JerusalemGod raised Him up on the third day, and granted that He should become

visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God,

that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

Acts 13:30-31. In one of Pauls sermons during his first missionary journey, hepreached, But God raised Him up from the dead; and for many days He appeared to

those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His

witnesses to the people. Evidently, then, the witnesses to Jesus resurrection were a

central truth in his understanding and preaching of the gospel.

One more passage that warrants our attention on this point is Acts 17:31. In Pauls sermon to

the crowd at Mars Hill, he preached, He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in

unrighteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by

raising Him from the dead.

The reason this warrants our attention is because Paul explains that the resurrection of Jesus

Christ from the dead becomes your evangelistic proof that Christ is going to judge them for their

unrighteousness. In other words, if they want proof for the fact that they should fear and bow

to this Christ, His own resurrection from the dead is enough. But if they reject that, what hope

is there left for them?

Consider the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19 and following. Remember what

he asked Abraham for? First he wanted Abraham to send someone to his five brothers so they

wouldnt have to endure such hell. Abraham responded by telling him that they had the OT

and with that they should be able to escape it. Yet then the rich man asked if he could go backand tell them, for surely they would believe if someone rose from the dead. Yet Abraham

concluded that if they wouldnt believe the Scriptures, they wont believe even if someone rose

from the dead.

Moving back to the beginning of Acts, we read some of Jesus last words to the upper room

group. He told them in 1:8 that they would be His witnesses. As eyewitnesses, they were to

bear their testimony everywhere they could to the most remote parts of the earth. And that

testimony continues to spread through those who witnessed the apostles and first believers. A

second generation of Christians were then born who simply took what they heard and believed

to others, who then became the third generation of believers, and so on and so forth.

The point here is that the witness to the resurrection didnt die just because the eyewitnesses

did. It is our responsibility to continue to testify to that witness even though we are not

eyewitnesses. And in so doing, we too become part of the witnesses of Jesus in Acts 1:8 who

are to take His death, burial and resurrection to the most remote regions of the earth.


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I recall the problem with Israel throughout their history. Several times over they were rebuked

and condemned by God because they did not do one simple thing. They did not pass down the

greatest historical facet of their nation the deliverance from Egypt at the Red Sea. This was

the single most important event in Israels history, and they were to pass it down to their

children so that even though their children were not eyewitnesses to that wondrous event,

they too would grow to love and know the God of the Red Sea. But it was the failure to passthis down and make much of this event that resulted in generation after generation rising up in

Israel who did not know God nor the ways of God. And this should serve as an example to us

regarding our children and our sharing with them of the greatest single event in all of history

the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Two Primary Reflections of the Validity of the Resurrection

Therefore, the mission will always wane when witnesses to the resurrected Christ wane either in

number or belief. Thankfully, God has promised that Jesus will see his offspring (Isa. 53:10-

11). This is seen nowhere better than in two primary reflections. First, the rapid expansion of

the church. Per Warnock,

No other successful movement has ever claimed its founder

rose from the dead. Ultimately, the persistence and growth

throughout history of the largest movement the world has ever

seen is the strongest evidence for the resurrection. Many

millions of people have claimed that their lives have been

transformed by Jesus and that they had a relationship with

Jesus (p. 54).

Second, the martyrdom of so many believers. Only an extremely deluded and perhaps even

drug-induced state of mind could impel so many people to willingly lay down their lives in the

name of and for a man who was never really raised from the dead. Is such mass delusion

possible? Many will point to examples such as Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana where 600

adults poisoned 300 plus children with cyanide, then administered to themselves in a so-called

act of revolution back on November 18, 1978.

But these and other incidents like them are vastly different in so many ways. Early Christian

martyrs were forced to bow the knee to Caesar, calling him a god. They said no and wereexecuted. All of the apostles were executed except for one, and in various countries too where

they were bringing the good news of a resurrected Jesus. Why would Jesus own apostles and

millions of Christians after them willingly and non-violently count their lives as worth so little if

they were not being motivated by the One whose life gave them so much more?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones


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So if we call ourselves by His name, let us rise up and muster up whatever energy we may

possess in order to affirm this truth to our hearts so that we can again be effective witnesses to

our city, county, community and our world. Therefore the pursuit of our lives should be to

recapture and maintain the wonder and awe of the resurrection of Christ.

B. It must return worship and awe to the center stage of the Christian life.1. What was Johns response in Revelation 1?

John records his own response for us: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But

he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I

died, and behold I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of Death and Hades (1:17 -18).

That is real worship. Biblically speaking, worship is not the raising of the hands while singing a

moving song. That is praise. Biblical worship is the prostration of a persons body before God

when they have encountered the living God.

And in keeping with Jesus philosophy that we are more blessed and happier without having

seen the resurrected Christ, then in some sense our worship and belief in Him, it seems to me,

must somehow be affected to a greater degree by truly worshiping this Christ we cannot see.

And how does this occur since we cannot see Him?

Simply put, He has given us an account of these things in the Scriptures and it is our obligation

and delight to do whatever we can to impress these things on our hearts until He is pleased to

appear to us in our minds. In other words, while we may never see Him with our eyes, we can

certainly see Him with our minds, and we should diligently seek to see Him this way.

In the thought of Jonathan Edwards, who is considered the greatest theologian in the history of

America, God appears to our understanding and He communicates Himself to our hearts. This

comes by a constant exposure to Gods truth and a constant appeal to the Spirit to make that

truth impact us in a lasting way. Thats how we must seek the resurrected Jesus Christ today.

We must spare no effort to place ourselves in a position where God will make Himself appear to

us in our minds and hearts, and do it often enough so that we will be lastingly changed. This is

worship, and when we worship long enough, we will become changed. Then and only then will

we really have something to say to the world, and then and only then will the world be more

likely to listen to us. They will say of us as it was said of the Apostles that we have been with

Jesus (Acts 4:13).

It is this act of Jesus Christ appearing to us in our minds and hearts that reminds me of the two

disciples response after they had walked and talked with the resurrected Christ.


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2. What was the response of the two disciples who walked with Jesus on the

road to Emmaus on the afternoon of the resurrection day?

Luke records for us in 24:32, And they said to one another, Were not our hearts bur ning

within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to

us? Christ appeared not only to them physically, but also to them mentally and spiritually.That appearance to their mind caused their hearts to burn. There was a moment of worship

which occurred in their hearts. And this moment of worship produced an immediate reaction:

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and

those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and has

appeared to Simon! (Luke 24:33-34).

The moment Christ invaded their hearts and minds with the truth of His resurrection they left

immediately for Jerusalem to go back and tell others. Once again, when this truth suddenly and

lastingly invades and permeates your soul, you will not be able to help but immediately tell

others. That is the way of the resurrection, and each time this occurred in Scripture, and every

time it occurs today it is simply further vindication of the resurrection of Christ.

Conclusion

You may not have seen the resurrected Christ with your eyes, but has He appeared to your

heart, your mind, your understanding, your soul? Has His love filled you to overflowing your

capacity to contain it within? You will know for sure whether or not He has by whether or not

you have made it your aim in life to tell others about this amazing work of salvation. Listen to

Martyn Lloyd-Jones as he elaborates on what I mean.

Once a man has the love of Christ in his heart you need not train

him to witness; he will do it. He will know the power, the

constraint, the motive; everything is already thereThe servants of

God who have most adorned the life and the history of the Christian

church have always been men who have realized that this is the

most important thing of all, and they have spent ours in prayer

seeking His face and enjoying His love. The man who knows the

love of Christ in his heart can do more in one hour than the busy

type of man can do in a century.

(Source:An Exposition of Ephesians 3 [Grand Rapids:

Baker Book House, 1979], pp. 247-530).

Further, you will know how well His resurrection has permeated your heart and mind and soul

by how you evangelize. Is the resurrection a central component of your thinking? Is it

therefore a central component of your witnessing and evangelizing? Do you make this the

central issue with an unbeliever, that Jesus vindicated His claim to deity by rising from the dead,


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and that He can spiritually appear in our hearts to confirm that, and that He has promised to

raise us up from the dead one day soon when He comes again? For Paul, and the original

apostles, and all first century Christians for that matter, the resurrection was the truth upon

which they lived and died.

A local church is validated by Christ when it validates the resurrection through real worship andtrue evangelism. This is the direction I desire for this local church. I want it to be validated by

Christ Himself. So let each of us commit our time to think, meditate, read, study and pray for

the Spirit to penetrate the numbness and rebellion of heart with the explosive power of the

resurrection. When we are changed individually, our church will be changed corporately.

When the resurrection enraptures our hearts, our little flock will not help but be launched into

the community in a new, effective and lasting way.

This is what I pray for. This is what Jesus died for. And this is what He rose again for. Lets pray

diligently to that end.

The Vindication of the Resurrection

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