1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 14-26
Introduction:
1. Every reason for our hope stands or falls on the historical reality of Jesus’ resurrection.
2. The naturalist laughs at this notion, but the historical data is very compelling.
3. With so much at stake we must be prepared to answer the skeptic’s accusations.
Discussion:
I. What’s At Stake
A. Paul was clear that the resurrection was his foremost proclamation (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
B. Seeing what is lost if the resurrection is not true explains why this is so.
1. Our proclamation and faith are empty (15:14, 17).
2. We are false witnesses of God, liars (15:15).
3. Our deceased loved ones have perished (15:18).
4. We have no freedom from death’s grip in the future (15:20-26; Hebrews 2:14-15).
5. We have no newness of life now (Romans 6:3-6; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
6. We have no Mediator/Advocate with God (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:23-25; 1 John 2:1).
7. We have no access to God in prayer (Hebrews 4:14-16).
C. As Paul stated, if Jesus did not rise, we are the most pitiable lot of all (1 Corinthians 15:19).
II. The Testimony of the Eyewitnesses
A. The consistent testimony of the New Testament writers is that Jesus was seen alive by numerous eyewitnesses who had likewise seen Him dead.
B. Even skeptics of Christianity recognize these witnesses truly believed their testimony.
1. Joseph McCabe admitted: “Paul was absolutely convinced of the resurrection; and this proves that it was widely believed not many years after the death of Jesus.”
2. Shirley Jackson Case: “The testimony of Paul alone is sufficient to convince us, beyond any reasonable doubt, that this was the commonly accepted opinion in his day—an opinion at that time supported by the highest authority imaginable, the eyewitnesses themselves.”
III. Proposed Explanations for the Empty Tomb
A. From the earliest days of the church, opponents have tried to explain the empty tomb.
B. Some wild ideas have been set forth: swoon theory, myth, stolen body, etc.
C. The earliest and most consistent contention is the stolen body theory (Matthew 28:11-15).
1. In Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho, he cites a Jewish letter that says: “A godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb where he was laid when unfastened from the cross and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.”
2. The Toledoth Yeshu (sixth century): “A diligent search was made, and he was not found in the grave where he had been buried. A gardener had taken him from the grave and had brought him into his garden and buried him in the sand over which the waters flowed into the garden.”
D. This idea begs several questions:
1. How did they get past the guards at the tomb? (Matthew 27:62-66)
2. How could the “sleeping” guards identify them? (Matthew 28:13)
3. Why were the guards not punished for their dereliction? (Acts 12:19-20; 16:25-27).
4. What of the price the eyewitnesses paid for their testimony?
IV. The Impossibility of an Apostolic Hoax
A. N.T. Wright aptly pointed out that “the historian is bound to face the question: once Jesus had been crucified, why would anyone say that He was Israel’s Messiah?” (Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins, pg. 128).
B. Fox’s Book of Martyrs records that “Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified, Thomas was thrust through with a spear, Matthew was slain with a halberd, Matthias was stoned and beheaded, Andrew was crucified…”
C. Wayne Jackson rightly stated: “While men may die out of religious deception, they do not willingly go to their deaths knowing they are perpetrating a hoax.”
D. The apostles were slain for their eyewitness testimony to the resurrection of Jesus.
E. All they had to do was give up the charade, deny the fairy-tale they invented, and they would have lived on, but they chose to die instead.
Conclusion:
1. Something convinced these eyewitnesses to die for their belief in a resurrected Jesus.
2. The explanations of the skeptics are lacking in every way.
3. The best explanation is that the apostles truly did see the resurrected Jesus, verifying He is the Son of God (Romans 1:4), and spoke the truth without fear or favor.