HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL Easter Sunday ON

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL

Easter Sunday ON April Fool’s day? • Lee Strobel, the author of The Case For Christ, the Case for Faith, the Case for the Creator… a multitude of books defending every facet of Christian faith, was once an evangelistic Atheist. • When his wife told him she was a believer in Jesus Christ he set out to “save” her by debunking the myths of the Christian faith.

• The Case for the Real Jesus [note: this book has recently been retitled as In Defense of Jesus].

“the beginning of it all” “great unknown, ”

“If one had any real evidence that, indeed, Jesus did return from the dead, then that is the beginning of a dropping of a series of dominoes that takes us to all kinds of wonderful things, ” he said. “It assures an afterlife and all kinds of things that we would all hope are true. ”

He said, “I don’t think that Jesus is any more the Son of God than we are. ” And despite the importance of the resurrection, he admitted he had never investigated the historical evidence for it.

Well, Hefner was right about one thing: If the resurrection is true, it changes everything. • It confirms Jesus’ identity as the unique Son of God. It opens the door to eternal life for anyone who will truly follow him. • On the other hand, if Jesus’ resurrection is a legend or a lie, then Jesus is, at best, just another unfortunate crucifixion victim in a long line of failed revolutionaries and false messiahs.

• 1 Corinthians 15: 17, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ” • verse 19, “of all people most to be pitied. ” • IS THERE ANY REAL EVIDENCE THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD? • First, was Jesus alive at Point A? • Second, was Jesus dead at Point B? • And third, was Jesus alive again at Point C?

Was Jesus Alive at Point A • This idea was popularized by The Da Vinci Code, which said, “Nothing in Christianity is original. ” • Mithras • They say that Mithras was born of a virgin. . . in a cave. . . on December 25. . . he was considered a great traveling teacher. . . he had twelve disciples. . . he sacrificed himself for world peace. . . he was buried in a tomb • . . . and he rose three days later

• But listen as each point of this so-called “evidence” is examined by the eminent historian Dr. Edwin Yamauchi: 1 - Mithras was born of a virgin in a cave? No, he wasn’t! When you go back to the original myth, Mithras emerged fully-grown out of a rock. There was no virgin or cave. Besides, nowhere does the Bible say Jesus was born in a cave. 2 - Mithras was born on December 25? While that’s the date we celebrate Jesus’ birth, the Bible doesn’t tell us the date Jesus was born. 3 - Mithras was a traveling teacher with twelve disciples? No, he wasn’t! He was supposedly a god, not a teacher, and the Iranian Mithras had one follower while the Roman Mithras had two—but never twelve

4 - Mithras sacrificed himself for world peace? No, he didn’t! He was known for killing a bull. He didn’t sacrifice himself for anyone or anything. 5 - Mithras was buried in a tomb and resurrected after three days? No, he wasn’t! There’s no record of any belief about his death, so there’s no story about a resurrection.

• Here’s the truth, as summarized by senior Swedish scholar T. N. D. Mettinger: “The nearly universal consensus of scholars around the world is that there are no examples of any mythological gods dying and rising from the dead that came before Jesus. These resurrection myths came after Christianity, so Christianity could not have done the borrowing. ” Mettinger added, “There is, as far as I am aware, no prima facie evidence that the death and resurrection of Jesus is a mythological construct. ”

And what about those who try to deny that Jesus ever lived? • Historian Paul Maier writes: “The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence. ”

Was Jesus Dead at Point B? • Surah 4: 157 -158]. – And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah. " And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. – Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise.

So who is correct? Once again, we turn to historical evidence for the answer. • In the case of the execution of Jesus, however, we not only have reports in all four biographies of Jesus in the New Testament— the Gospels—each written within the lifetimes of his contemporaries, but we also have ancient sources outside the Bible: Among them are Josephus, Tacitus, Lucian, Mara Bar. Serapion, and the Talmud.

• The cruel, degrading, and humiliating killing of their leader on a cross would not have been something that Jesus’ followers would have invented if it were not true. • Set aside religion—just purely from a historical standpoint, where does the evidence point? Clearly to the crucifixion of Jesus.

• Dr. Alexander Metherell said a witness described Roman floggings like this: “The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles and tendons and bowels of the victim were open to exposure. ” • “Clearly the weight of the historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted. . Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge. ”

• Agnostic New Testament scholar James Tabor said, “I think we need have no doubt that given Jesus’ execution by Roman crucifixion, he was truly dead. ” James Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 230. • Even the atheist New Testament scholar Gerd Lüdemann said, “Jesus’ death as a consequence of crucifixion is indisputable. ” Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry (Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2004), 50.

Was Jesus Alive Again at Point C • ONE - his tomb was empty, • TWO - he appeared to people. (the first people try to explain away – the second, cannot be ignored. He was seen alive again. ) • First, there’s the Jerusalem Factor. • Second, there’s the Criterion of Embarrassment. • The first-century Jewish historian Josephus, who worked for the Romans, wrote this: “But let not the testimony of women be admitted. ”

• Third, there’s Enemy Attestation. • The real question is: How did the tomb get empty? • The Romans weren’t about to steal the body; they wanted Jesus dead. • The Jewish leaders weren’t about to steal his body; they wanted Jesus to stay dead. • The disciples didn’t have the motive, means, or opportunity to steal the body. Besides, we have multiple ancient sources affirming that the disciples lived lives of deprivation and suffering as a result of their proclamation that Jesus had risen. Why would they have done that if they knew it was all a lie?

Of course, the empty tomb alone isn’t enough to establish that Jesus was alive again. • Thankfully, we also have the numerous appearances of the risen Jesus to a variety of people in a variety of settings. • And get this: We have multiple ancient sources confirming that the disciples were convinced Jesus had risen and that he appeared to them.

• The 1 Corinthians 15 Creed: In 1 Corinthians 15: 3 – 7, the apostle Paul reported an early creed of the church: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter] and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters 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. ”

1 Corinthians 15: 11, regarding the resurrection, Paul wrote “whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. ”

• Sermon Summaries in Acts: Acts 2: 32: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ” • The Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John confirm that the disciples encountered the risen Jesus. • Craig Evans said, “There’s every reason to conclude that the Gospels have fairly and accurately reported the essential elements of Jesus’ teachings, life, death, and resurrection. They’re early enough, they’re rooted into the right streams that go back to Jesus and the original people, there’s continuity, there’s proximity, there’s verification of certain distinct points with archaeology and other documents, and then there’s the inner logic. ”

Clement “[The apostles had] complete certainty caused by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. ” Lee Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 117.

POLYCARP: He was appointed by John as bishop of Smyrna. He wrote a letter to the Philippians in which he mentioned the resurrection five times. Referring to Paul and the other apostles, he said: “For they did not love the present age, but him who died for our benefit and for our sake was raised by God. ”

• Let’s sum up what we’ve learned: – Jesus Was Alive at Point A. – Jesus Was Dead at Point B. – Jesus Was Alive Again at Point C. • Jesus really did rise from the dead, and this proves that he was who he claimed to be— the unique Son of God. – This means his teachings have authority for our lives today. – And it means he has opened heaven to everyone who will receive the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life he purchased for us on the cross.