The Monumental Significance of Jesus Resurrection THE evidence provided to validate His teachings No sign will be given except Matt 123840 1614 No room for ambiguity either rise or be found a fraud ID: 468081
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Slide1
1 Corinthians 15:12-19Slide2
The Monumental Significance of Jesus’
Resurrection
THE evidence
provided
to validate His
teachings
“No sign will be given except…” – Matt. 12:38-40; 16:1-4
No room for ambiguity – either rise or be found a fraud
THE chief evidence provided
to validate Christianity
“If
Christ is not risen,
then…” (1 Cor. 15:13-19):
“…our preaching is
empty”
“…your faith is also
empty”
“…we are found false witnesses of
God”
“…your faith is
futile”
“…you are still in your sins
!”
“…those who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished”
“…
we are of all men the most pitiable
”
Christianity stands or falls on this event in history!Slide3
Putting the Historical Truth
to
the Test
Follow
the historical criteria used to assess
credibility
Extensive
independent sources support historical claims
Enemy attestation supports
historical claims
Embarrassing
admissions support historical claims
Eyewitness
testimony supports historical claims
Early
testimony
supports
historical
claims
Use the “Minimal Facts Approach”
To be fair, to be certain, to be honest, to be clear
Consider only those facts that are both:
Strongly supported by evidence, and
Conceded by almost every scholar, even skeptical
onesSlide4
Putting the Historical Truth
to
the Test
When we:
Follow the historical criteria used to assess credibility
Use
the “Minimal Facts Approach”
We can easily conclude:
T
here is enough REAL evidence to conclude that Jesus rose!
The evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is extremely compelling!
No plausible opposing theories exist that account for the facts!
Jesus’ resurrection is the only plausible explanation!
We must only accept the interpretation which explains ALL the facts without denying or distorting any of them!Slide5
Fact 1: Jesus Died By Crucifixion & Was Buried
Reported in all four Gospel accounts
Reported by a number of non-Christian sources
Josephus, Jewish historian (~93 A.D.)
“When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified.”
Lucian of
Samosata
, the Greek satirist
“The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who…was crucified on that account…”
Jewish Talmud
“On the eve of the Passover
Yeshua
was hanged…since nothing was brought forward in his
favour
he was hanged on the eve of the Passover” (Sanhedrin 43a). Slide6
Fact 1: Jesus Died By Crucifixion & Was Buried
Reported in all four Gospel accounts
Reported by a number of non-Christian sources
Conceded by vast majority of scholars
“One of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified on orders of the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate” (Agnostic skeptic Bart
Ehrman
).
“That he [Jesus] was crucified is as sure as anything historical ever can be” (John Dominic
Crossan
, Liberal Theologian, Leader of Jesus Seminar).Slide7
Fact 1: Jesus Died By Crucifixion & Was Buried
Criterion supported:
Extensive independent sources
Enemy attestation (even skeptics concede)
Embarrassing admissions (great Lord & Savior crucified?)
Eyewitness testimony
Early testimony
Conclusions & Implications:
Jesus was put to death and was taken from the cross dead.
Fallacious theories easily dismissed (ex: “Swoon Theory”)
The Jews never denied that Jesus was dead and buried.Slide8
Fact 2: Disciples Believed Jesus Rose from the Dead
They claimed it.
1 Corinthians 15:3-5 (very early proclamation, cf. v. 11)
Early eyewitnesses claimed they saw Him (1 Cor. 15:5-8)
All four gospels (written within 70 years of the event)
Apostolic Fathers, “church leaders” following the apostles:
Clement of Rome (A.D. 95)
“Therefore, having received orders and complete certainty caused by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and believing in the Word of God, they went with the Holy Spirit’s certainty, preaching the good news.”
Polycarp (A.D. 110)
“For they did not love the present age, but him who died for our benefit and for our sake was raised by God.”Slide9
Fact 2: Disciples Believed Jesus Rose from the Dead
They believed it.
Their transformation is strongly
documented—from
fearful, cowering men who abandoned and denied Jesus
to
men
who boldly
and publicly proclaimed Him risen from the
dead, to their own harm, persecution & martyrdom.
Almost unanimous consensus among scholars to this belief
Luke
Acts 4 – Peter and John arrested and imprisoned
Acts 5 – the apostles arrested and imprisoned and beaten
Acts 7 – Stephen, the first Christian martyr
Acts 12 – James, the brother of John is martyred & Peter is imprisoned
The resurrection was their central message (Acts 4:2, 33).Slide10
Fact 2: Disciples Believed Jesus Rose from the Dead
They believed it.
Almost unanimous consensus among scholars to this belief
Ignatius (A.D. 110)
“And when [Jesus] came to those with Peter, he said to them, ‘Take, handle me and see that I am not a bodiless demon’. And immediately they handled him and believed, having known his flesh and blood. Because of this they also despised death; but beyond death they were found.”
Tertullian (prior to 200)
“That Paul is beheaded has been written in their own blood. And if a heretic wishes his confidence to rest upon a public record, the archives of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem…Then is Peter girt by another, when he is made fast to the cross.”Slide11
Fact 2: Disciples Believed Jesus Rose from the Dead
They believed it.
Almost unanimous consensus among scholars to this belief
Origen (185-254)
The disciples’ devotion to the teachings of Jesus “was attended with danger to human life…[and that they] themselves were the first to manifest their disregard for its [i.e., death’s] terrors.”
“Jesus, who has both once risen Himself, and led His disciples to believe in His resurrection, and so thoroughly persuaded them of its truth, that they show to all men by their sufferings how they are able to laugh at all the troubles of life, beholding the life eternal and the resurrection clearly demonstrated to them both in word and deed.”Slide12
Fact 2: Disciples Believed Jesus Rose from the Dead
They believed it.
Almost unanimous consensus among scholars to this belief
Rudolf
Bultmann
, a highly critical NT scholar, agreed that historical criticism establishes “the fact that the first disciples came to believe in the resurrection” (that they had seen the risen Jesus).
Gerd
Ludemann
, atheistic NT scholar, concluded: “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’ death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”
Paula
Fredriksen
, of Boston University, commented: “I know in their own terms what they saw was the raised Jesus. That’s what they say and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attest to their conviction that that’s what they saw…I do know that as a historian that they must have seen something.”Slide13
Fact 2: Disciples Believed Jesus Rose from the Dead
Criterion supported:
Extensive independent sources
Enemy attestation (even skeptics concede)
Embarrassing admissions
Eyewitness testimony
Early testimony
Conclusions & Implications:
Their willingness to suffer and die for their testimony is:
Evidence of their sincerity, that they truly believed their message
Evidence they were not deliberately lying (liars make poor martyrs)
Evidence that not enough time passed for this to be legend or mythSlide14
Fact 3: The Church Persecutor Saul Was Converted
From worst persecutor to most
influential
promoter
Paul’s conversion is attested to in abundance
His own testimony (1 Cor. 15:9-10; Gal. 1:13-16; Phil. 3:6-7)
Luke recorded in Acts (9; 22; 26)
Early oral tradition circulating in Judea (Gal. 1:22-23)
What caused this change? Why did he willingly go from persecutor to persecuted?
He firmly believed that he had experienced an encounter with the risen Lord (Acts 9, 22, 26; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8).
At the time that Paul claimed he had seen the risen Jesus, he was an enemy of Christ and His church.Slide15
Fact 3: The Church Persecutor Saul Was Converted
His belief that he had seen the risen Christ was so strong he was willing to suffer continuously for the sake of the gospel, even to the point of martyrdom.
This point is well documented by:
Paul himself (2 Cor. 11:23-28; Phil. 1:21-23)
Luke (Ac 14:19; 16:19-24; 17:5; 18:12-13; 21:27-36; 23:12-35)
Clement of Rome (1 Clem 5:2-7)
Polycarp (Pol. Phil 9:2)
Tertullian (
Scorpiace
15; also cited by Eusebius in EH 2:25:8)
Dionysius of Corinth (cited by Eusebius in EH 2:25:8)
Origen (Commentary on Genesis cited by Eusebius in EH 3:1)Slide16
Fact 3: The Church Persecutor Saul Was Converted
Criterion supported:
Extensive independent sources
Enemy attestation
Embarrassing admissions
Eyewitness testimony
Early testimony
Conclusions & Implications:
Paul’s conversion was based on what he perceived to be a personal appearance of the risen Jesus directly to him.
He did not merely believe based on the testimony of someone else.Slide17
Fact 4: The Skeptic James Was Converted
The Gospels report that Jesus’ brothers (including James) were unbelievers during His ministry and prior to Resurrection (Mark 3:21, 31; 6:3-4; John 7:5)
After the resurrection, Paul and Luke identify James as a leader in the church (Gal. 1:19; Acts 15:12-21).
Hegesippus
(quoted at length by Eusebius in
EH
2:23
)
“
James, the brother of the Lord, succeeded to the government of the Church in conjunction with the apostles. He has been called the Just by all from the time of our
Saviour
to the present
day…”Slide18
Fact 4: The Skeptic James Was Converted
Not only did James convert to Christianity, his
faith was so
strong
he
died as a martyr because of them.
James
’ martyrdom is attested
by both Christian and non-Christian sources (Josephus
,
Hegesippus
and Clement of
Alexandria).
Josephus: “[
Ananus
]
assembled the Sanhedrin of the judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others
and
when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be
stoned.”Slide19
Fact 4: The Skeptic James Was Converted
What caused this change? Why did he willingly go from skeptic to church leader?
There were early reports of Jesus’ post-death appearance to His brother, James (1 Cor. 15:7).
James, no doubt, firmly believed that he had experienced an encounter with the risen Lord and it changed his life.Slide20
Fact 4: The Skeptic James Was Converted
Criterion supported:
Extensive independent sources
Enemy attestation
Embarrassing admissions
Eyewitness testimony
Early testimony
Conclusions & Implications:
Another
case of a skeptic converting to Christianity based on what he perceived was a personal appearance by the risen
Jesus.
Fallacious theories easily dismissed (ex: “Twin Brother”)Slide21
Undisputed Facts
Jesus was murdered by crucifixion.
Jesus was buried.
Three days later, Jesus’ body went missing.
There were appearances of Jesus to hundreds of people.
Christ’s appearance transformed His followers
His appearance transformed some previous enemies & skeptics.
The resurrection became the focus of His disciples’ teachings.
His followers were so devoted they were persecuted & killed.
Scholars—whether atheist, agnostic or Christian—who have thoroughly studied the case of the resurrection
all
agree to these facts.
The question then is: What best explains these facts?
No event of ancient history is better supported by historical evidence than the resurrection of Jesus Christ.Slide22
Putting the Historical Truth
to
the Test
When we:
Follow the historical criteria used to assess credibility
Use
the “Minimal Facts Approach”
We will easily conclude:
T
here is enough REAL evidence to conclude that Jesus rose!
The evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is extremely compelling!
No plausible opposing theories exist that account for the facts!
Jesus’ resurrection is the only plausible explanation!
We must only accept the interpretation which explains ALL the facts without denying or distorting any of them!Slide23
What Does This Have to Do With Me?
His resurrection was THE SIGN that Jesus promised:
As THE evidence to validate His teachings
As THE chief evidence of the validity of Christianity
Christianity stands or falls on this one event in history!
His resurrection proves Jesus & His words to be true!
His resurrection declares Jesus to be:
LORD – Acts 2:36; Romans 1:4
JUDGE – Acts 17:31
SAVIOR – 1 Peter 3:21Slide24
Ensure Your Own Resurrection Unto Life
Believe Jesus is God’s Son – Acts 16:31
Repent of your sins – Acts 2:38
Confess your faith in Jesus – Acts 8:36-38
Be immersed into Christ & raised with Him – Rom. 6:3-4
God will wash away your sins – Acts 22:16
God will add you to His church – Acts 2:47
God will enroll you in Heaven – Hebrews 12:23
Live faithfully until death to be raised unto life – Rev. 2:10