Foundations of the Christian Life. Chapter 31. The Resurrection of the Dead. #2. The Resurrection of Christ.

Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 31. The Resurrection of the Dead. #2. The Resurrection of Christ.


THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IS THE BASIS OF OUR HOPE.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20.
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”


Paul makes it quite plain here that the whole of the Christian faith hinges on Christ's resurrection being a historical reality. Indeed, if it is not so, the "our faith is futile, we are still in our sins... and we are of all men to be most pitied".

Indeed if Christ has not been raised from the dead to eternal life then we have no guarantee that it will ever happen to us. He is the prototype and the guarantee that we also will rise in the same way.

Because our hope is based on the claim that Christ’s resurrection is historical we need to look at his death and resurrection to see if they really did happen. This will be the focus of this chapter.

CAN WE PROVE THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST HISTORICALLY?

George Eldon Ladd in “I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus” talks of two types of historical “proof”.
1. The Facts of our modern, so-called “History-as-a-Science”.
Ladd points out that modern “scientific” study of history there are two guiding principles, which are common to all “scientific” research.
* All facts can only be established using data that can be observed, or, in the case of historical events, that was observed at the time.
* All events of history are to be understood only in the context of strict “cause and effect” relations of natural events. In other words this universe is a closed, natural system. There is no room for the action of God, or other non-natural causes.

By these standards of modern historical study we cannot “prove” the resurrection of Christ to be a historical fact because:
* No one can see now, nor did anyone see back then see, the resurrection of Christ.
* For such an event to occur there would have had to be action from God, and that is ruled out of the discussion from the start. One cannot “see” God therefore one cannot prove his action.

So by the standards of modern historical study the resurrection can never be proven to be fact. But, then, very little we know about the past could be proven to be fact by this standard.

2. Ladd notes that there is another approach to history altogether, an approach which gathers the data we have and arrives at the best probable explanation of the historical events. In actual fact most history is of this sort, especially when we are dealing with ancient history.

This is the approach of forensic investigators in the courts of law of modern societies. Often there is no eyewitness to an event, a murder or a theft for instance. But the gathering of data which points to a logical conclusion is accepted as "proof of the facts of the events".

By using this approach Ladd argues that the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the best explanation of the data we actually have.

Modernity would still argue at this point that the resurrection implies action of God and that is not admissible. But what if the assumptions of modernism are not correct? Modernism assumes there is no God, or if there is he has nothing to do with the world as it now is. Everything has to be explained by natural causes.

But what if there is a God and he does act in the affairs of men? What if miracles do actually occur. I personally have seen enough miracles, in answer to prayer, to know – as a fact, as far as I am concerned – that there is a God and he does act in the affairs of men.

The problem with modernism and its denial of God and the resurrection of Christ is not that the evidence is not there, rather the assumptions of modernism rule out miracles like resurrection as a possibility before they even start to discuss the facts and the interpretation of them. But we need to remember the assumptions of modernism are just that -–assumptions. There is no proof that those assumptions are true – in fact there is plenty of evidence that they are not.


CHRIST’S RESURRECTION – A FACT?

GOOD READING:
F. Morison: Who Moved the Stone?
George Eldon Ladd: I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection is not something we can historically prove in the modern scientific sense. It is an event which we accept by faith and believe in. In spite of this we are not called to be intellectual martyrs. The fact that we cannot historically prove the resurrection does not mean that the belief is intellectually unsound, nor does it prove it did not happen. The available evidence demands that Christ rose from the dead, if we are prepared to examine the evidence as if it were in a court of law.

My understanding (I may be wrong) is that Morison was a non-Christian lawyer who set out to prove the resurrection of Christ to be a fallacy using the methods of forensic research and proof. However in his research he became convinced that the resurrection of Christ actually happened and so he became a Christian. His book remains one of the classic defenses of the resurrection of Christ. I highly recommend everyone to read it.

The whole Christian faith rests on the belief in Christ's resurrection. But did it, in fact, happen?

The Bible never sets out to prove it, it simply assumes it is true. However the fact of it is really irrefutable.

The Events.

These are the Historical facts as we know them. There are few historians that would disagree with these.

(1) Christ was crucified.

There is some debate as to whether this was the Wednesday, or the Friday, of Passover week. The year is uncertain. The fact of the event is not. No one has seriously suggested that the crucifixion never happened. We do know that it happened on "the day before the Sabbath" (John 19:31).

(a) John says this Sabbath was a "High Day", meaning it was not only a Sabbath but also it was a holy festival, i.e. Passover. Hence the crucifixion appears to have happened on Friday.

(b) The other gospels seem to indicate that it happened on a Wednesday, the reference to the Sabbath meaning simply that Thursday was a Holy Day, being a Festival.

The debate about this is technical and needn’t concern us now.
The Fact is Jesus was crucified on the day before the Passover. He died, on the Cross, at around 3.00p.m. – at the time the Priests were killing the lambs for the Passover celebration in the temple.

Matthew 27:45.
“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.”

Matthew 27:50.
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.”

That Jesus had died was confirmed by the Romans twice.

(i) By the Roman soldiers who were given the task of speeding up the death of the victims. Death by crucifixion could take several days but the Jews had their reasons for wanting the process to be completed earlier.

John 19:31-35.
“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.”

* The soldiers found Jesus already dead so did not break his legs; instead one threw a spear into Jesus side.
* John tells us that he saw this happen – this is an eyewitness account.

(ii) By the Roman Centurion overseeing the crucifixion.

Mark 15:43-45.
“Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.”

* The Centurion was a man of war and had seen many dead bodies – he knew Jesus was dead.


(2) Christ was Buried.

We read that his body was removed from the cross quickly so that it would not remain on the cross during the festival, and so pollute the land according to the Law of Moses (John 19:31-37).

Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and embalmed it, placing it in Joseph's own new tomb.

Mark 15:46.
"So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”

This clearly happened before 6.00.p.m. on the day of the Crucifixion, as the Sabbath started then, and they would not have been allowed to do such work on the Sabbath.


(3) Christ's body remained in the tomb throughout the Sabbath.

We know this because on the Saturday evening the Jewish leaders asked for the tomb to be sealed and a guard to be set to prevent the theft of the body.

Matthew 27:62-66.
“The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first." "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”

They would not do this without first checking to see if the body was still there, and they could not have done this until after the Sabbath was over, i.e. after 6.00.p.m. on Saturday. Opening the tomb would have constituted “work” and was forbidden on the Sabbath.


(4) On Sunday morning at dawn the tomb was found empty.

The body has disappeared, the guard has gone.

THE BIG QUESTION - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODY?

SUGGESTED POSSIBILITIES.

(1) He never died.

This has been suggested by some who have contended that he recovered in the tomb, somehow escaped and appeared to his disciples, then escaped to foreign lands, in particular India.

This suggestion fails to deal with the real issue. If he hadn't died he was still in a tomb sealed with a massive stone, under Roman guard. How could he get out from the inside? Where was he after that? No one could find him unless he wanted them to.

The evidence demands that he did, in fact, die.

(a) No one at the time ever questioned the fact of his death.

The issue always was, "Has he come back to life again?" The fact of his death was always assumed to be true, even by his opponents.

(b) The Centurion affirmed that he was dead.

This was a man who had seen many dead men, he would know!

(c) The Jews have never questioned it.

(d) Medically it is provable.

When a person dies, the blood often separates, the red cells gathering in the heart, the bulk of the clear liquid in the lungs.

John 19:34.
“Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”

This verse indicates that death was at an advanced stage when the spear struck him. The spear then passed through at least one lung and his heart, releasing both of the blood parts.

He had no medical attention after this.

The suggestion by some, that Jesus only "swooned" on the cross and later recovered in the tomb, demands more faith than believing that he died. It is ridiculous!

We must remember that he had holes in his hands and feet, his back had been torn apart by a whip, and a spear through his lung and heart. Even with the best of modern medical attention he could not have survived.


(2) Someone stole the body.

But who?

(a) The Disciples.

This was suggested by the Jewish leaders.

Matthew 28:11-15.
“When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”

The story is ridiculous on several fronts:
1. If the soldiers were asleep how would they know it was the disciples who came and stole the body away (if indeed it was stolen away)? All the soldiers could know, if they had been asleep, would be that when they awoke the body was gone. How it went, and whether or not it went with human help, is not something they could know. They were asleep!

2. Roman soldiers did not sleep while on duty. Because of the need of vigilance from rebels a sentry who fell asleep, if found by one of his fellow soldiers, would have a sword put through him - in case it happened again. They just would never wake up again. The lives of the whole company of soldiers depended on vigilance. One could not let a sleeper-on-duty risk everyone else’s life.

3. The Bible presents the disciples at this point in time as being absolutely shattered and demoralised. Ladd demonstrates convincingly that even though Jesus had tried to prepare them for his coming death and resurrection they simply could not “hear” what Jesus said. They had predetermined ideas that stopped them understanding. As a result they were not expecting the cross let alone a resurrection.

4. Imagine that group of scared, demoralised men hiding in a room, who in no way even believed Jesus was going to die, let alone rise from the dead. Could they steal the body and perpetuate such a fraud? If they did so, then they all died as martyrs for a cause they knew to be false, yet the accounts of them do not give the indication that they were mentally unstable.

(b) The Soldiers.

Why would they? They would have been executed if caught doing so, and for no motive.


(c) The Jewish Leaders.

If they had done so they would have produced it at the time that the disciples claimed he had risen. They did not, proving they didn't know where it was.

(d) Grave Robbers.

Why? And why risk death at the hands of a Roman guard for a (criminal's) body which was worthless? Why leave behind all of the valuable spices he was embalmed in? Why go to all the trouble to unwrap the body then rewrap the grave clothes to look as if the body had just "passed through"?


(3) It rotted away.

Overnight?
Wrapped in preservatives?

(4) Christ rose again from the dead by the power of God.

This remains the only other possibility. No man could have moved the body; it must have moved itself. All other explanations are exhausted.

PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION.

(1) Witnesses saw Christ alive after the crucifixion.

1 Corinthians 15:4-9.
“…that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

On top of this there are several other recorded resurrection appearances of Christ.

The Women, particularly Mary Magdalene.
Matthew 28:8ff.
“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Mark 16:9-11.
“When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”

The Disciples.
Matthew 28:16,17.
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”

The Two on the road to Emmaus.
Mark 16:12,13.
“Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.”

The Eleven.
Mark 16:14.
“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”

John 21:1.
“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way:…”


QUESTION: - What do we make of the resurrection appearances?

(a) Were they Hallucinations?

No! The disciples were in the wrong frame of mind psychologically for "seeing things". They had no expectation of such an event. Moreover 500 people at one time saw him. Such a mass hypnosis could not occur. We must remember that most of the people Paul was writing about were still alive when he wrote. You could still check up on their stories.

(b) Were they only a spiritual appearance, a vision.

No. Again they were in the wrong frame of mind for this. But consider, this appearance ate and drank, they touched it, it breaks bread.

(c) There must have been a real physical appearance of Christ to produce in the disciples the change of character we see in the Bible.

(d) Paul argues that his own experience of seeing Christ was a real appearance. It was not just a vision.


(2) The Shape of the Grave Clothes.

John 20:6,7.
“Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.”

The description here indicates that they had fallen flat as if the body inside them had simply disappeared, c/f Jesus entering the room after his resurrection (John 20:19).

It could be that the Turin Shroud is the cloth in question. There is plenty of evidence to suggest it is, and the so-called "scientific tests" done on it recently are themselves suspect. If it is not the cloth, then the Turin shroud is in itself a great mystery that defies any rational explanation.


(3) The Physical Appearance of Christ After his Crucifixion.

His activities on the day of the resurrection bore no relationship to a man who had just suffered such physical torture and destruction. He had been whipped, beaten, nailed to a cross, speared in the heart and lung with a spear yet:

(a) He apparently "walked" a 14 mile journey to Emmaus and back.

(b) He gave to those who saw him the appearance of absolute health and strength, as if he had indeed overcome death and destruction.


(4) Our Experience of Salvation.

When we put our faith in Christ our own personal experience of his power proves that the event actually happened.