MANY CONVINCING PROOFS!
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· 174 viewsA sermon on the convicing proofs Jesus offered for his resurrection... and how we can have confidence that he is alive!
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
What is the book of Acts?
The little particle μὲν signals that Luke intends that it is to be the continuation of what Jesus began to do, and which he has already recorded and laid down in Luke (the gospel). In other words, Acts is is the continuation of the story!
Furthermore, Acts doesn't come to a definitive ending, coming to a conclusion with Paul alive in Rome, but under arrest, and on trial before Nero. The point is the story continues! It is not over, the gospel is still being preached and the church still serves as a living witness of the resurrection of Christ.
Luke states that his first book (πρῶτον λόγον) was an account of what Jesus began (ἤρξατο) to do and teach (ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν). For Luke the narrative of the work, gospel and kingdom of God through Christ is clearly not over, but in many ways just getting started. The gospel would soon sweep the Roman empire, to become a dominant force prior to close of the first century. By the fourth century the emperor himself would adopt Christianity as the state religion! It is hard to overstate the significance of Luke's observation here.
Two important factors
1. The convincing proofs of Jesus resurrection, which for the apostles resulted in a deep conviction and certainty that Jesus had, indeed, bodily risen from the dead.
2. The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, by which the power of God, as it had in the ministry of Christ, was now at work in the church, especially through the apostles.
The phrase "by many convicting proofs" (ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις) should be taken seriously.
Luke is categorically stating that Jesus resurrection was proven to the apostles and others beyond all doubt by his continual and repeated appearances over a period of 40 days (οἷς καὶ παρέστησεν ἑαυτὸν ζῶντα μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν αὐτὸν ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις, διʼ ἡμερῶν τεσσεράκοντα ὀπτανόμενος αὐτοῖς) (Holmes, M. W. (2011–2013). The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (). Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature).
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (). Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature). First, he presented himself alive to them, after his suffering (). This is important, that Jesus was seen alive, and that he deliberately and systematically appeared to his disciples after his resurrection. The were not a few isolated emotional encounters that could be confused with hysteria, but rather prolonged encounters in which numbers of people saw the physical Jesus alive, were convinced of his resurrection, many after doubting or disbelieving earlier reports. In these encounters Jesus taught them, ate with them and spoke with them at leisure! The result of this was that all those to whom Jesus appeared were utterly convinced! During these encounters he offered what Luke call's convincing proofs. The word he uses here means something that offers decisive proof of something (Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, 994). It was used as a technical term for incontrovertible proof in the sphere of logic (Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992, 81). The nature of these proof mis primary evidence, which the disciples and others saw, heard and touched () (Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, Vol. 2, 174). Luke is is describing in his gospel and Acts eyewitness testimony, by those who had primary proof of Jesus resurrection. The preposition with the dative indicated that these demonstrable and convincing proofs were the means by which Jesus presented himself alive! And these continued for a period of 40 days! In other words, the nature of the demonstration is something that removed all doubt and question about the issue of Jesus resurrection and that he was truly alive after his crucifixion and death.
First, he presented himself alive to them, after his suffering (). This is important, that Jesus was seen alive, and that he deliberately and systematically appeared to his disciples after his resurrection.
The were not a few isolated emotional encounters that could be confused with hysteria, but rather prolonged encounters in which numbers of people saw the physical Jesus alive, were convinced of his resurrection, many after doubting or disbelieving earlier reports. In these encounters Jesus taught them, ate with them and spoke with them at leisure! The result of this was that all those to whom Jesus appeared were utterly convinced!
The were not a few isolated emotional encounters that could be confused with hysteria, but rather prolonged encounters in which numbers of people saw the physical Jesus alive, were convinced of his resurrection, many after doubting or disbelieving earlier reports. In these encounters Jesus taught them, ate with them and spoke with them at leisure! The result of this was that all those to whom Jesus appeared were utterly convinced! During these encounters he offered what Luke call's convincing proofs. The word he uses here means something that offers decisive proof of something (Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, 994). It was used as a technical term for incontrovertible proof in the sphere of logic (Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992, 81). The nature of these proof mis primary evidence, which the disciples and others saw, heard and touched () (Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, Vol. 2, 174). Luke is is describing in his gospel and Acts eyewitness testimony, by those who had primary proof of Jesus resurrection. The preposition with the dative indicated that these demonstrable and convincing proofs were the means by which Jesus presented himself alive! And these continued for a period of 40 days! In other words, the nature of the demonstration is something that removed all doubt and question about the issue of Jesus resurrection and that he was truly alive after his crucifixion and death.
During these encounters he offered what Luke call's convincing proofs. The word he uses here means something that offers decisive proof of something (Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, 994). It was used as a technical term for incontrovertible proof in the sphere of logic (Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992, 81). The nature of these proof mis primary evidence, which the disciples and others saw, heard and touched () (Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, Vol. 2, 174). Luke is is describing in his gospel and Acts eyewitness testimony, by those who had primary proof of Jesus resurrection. The preposition with the dative indicated that these demonstrable and convincing proofs were the means by which Jesus presented himself alive!
And these continued for a period of 40 days! In other words, the nature of the demonstration is something that removed all doubt and question about the issue of Jesus resurrection and that he was truly alive after his crucifixion and death.
DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
What then is the nature of these "proofs?"
What then is the nature of these "proofs?"
1. What about the appearances of Jesus convinced them that he had risen from the dead, and that he was physically alive?
First, let's note that although Jesus was physically alive after his resurrection, and the disciples were convinced of this, the physical properties of his body and the nature of these appearances indicated that there were differences when compared to before the crucifixion. For example, he appeared in the room without entering the door - indeed the doors were barred and locked, and the disciples didn't let him in, but he appeared anyway among them (, ; 36). He appeared at different locations, and sometimes disappeared as easily as he appeared (we are unaccustomed to properties like this in physical matter).
He was recognized by them (even if not at first), but the shock of seeing him made them at first think he was a ghostly apparition (). But they were soon convinced that he was physically present when he invited them to touch his body, examine his hands and side (; , ). They saw Jesus break bread with his hands or eat actual food they had prepared themselves as he met and talked with them (, ; , ; ). They felt the breath of Jesus when he breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit ().
John later famously said that they proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus whom they had heard, seen and touched after his resurrection ().
Paul states that he also saw the risen Christ on the Damascus road, and this was not just visionary experience, but a genuine meeting with Jesus himself, convincing enough to turn the archenemy of the church into its most powerful apostle().
2. The disciples did not believe immediately, but took some convincing!
The infamous unbelief of Thomas who refused to accept that Jesus was alive, when the 10 other disciples and those who were with them insisted that Jesus had appeared on the evening of that first day (). His refusal is blunt and surprisingly firm. When Jesus appeared the next week under similar circumstances, he immediately addresses Thomas with the very words he had to oppose the others. Thomas' resistance melted immediately, maybe even before he had touch the scars, and proclaimed "my Lord and my God!" (). He was convinced immediately, and without hesitation by Jesus appearance. There was something about it that overcame all doubt and his own stubborn refusal to accept the word of the others (cf. )! Paul mentions three remarkable appearances of Jesus Peter, James his brother, and to 500 men at one time (). This makes it impossible for these to be hallucinatory!
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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, 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, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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, 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, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
3. Paul’s Remarkable Evidence!
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
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, 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, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Paul wrote this around 23 years after the resurrection, around 55-56 AD
He could refer his readers to the 500 who saw Jesus, and invite them to question them personally as eyewitnesses about the resurrection.
question them personally as eyewitnesses about the resurrection. (Mare, W. Harold. “1 Corinthians.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, Vol. 10. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976, 179-180). In the opening of Paul appeals to the commonly held belief in the church, passed on by the tradition which he recites, that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples, apostles, Peter, James and 500 others (). Some in the Corinth had come to doubt bodily resurrection, although there is some evidence that they did not doubt the resurrection of Christ (Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New International; Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987, 718-719). Paul's argument, Gordon Fee says, is designed to establish that Jesus rose corporeally from the dead, with a physical body, and he quotes the early tradition as supporting evidence that this was indeed the earliest belief of the church. By comparing Paul preaching of the gospel in at Antioch with its matching elements, and the elements of Peter's preaching, it becomes clear that this creed contains the most basic and earliest elements of the gospel preaching since the resurrection, going back to first days since Pentecost. So the creed itself is very early indeed. All of this well within the lifetimes of those who were eyewitnesses, by disciples and enemies of Christ. No refutation of the essential fact is offered, except the half-baked explanation found in Matthew that the disciples stole the body while the guards slept, and were proclaiming that Christ had risen ()! The problem with this was that the disciples were at first afraid, unbelieving, and dispirited, and only gradually became convinced and emboldened. We cannot accept the premise that the disciples who fled the garden at Jesus' arrest, denied they knew him, and who stayed away from Jersualem and the cross would in fact concoct an elaborate resurrection ruse that would incur persecution and death. Furthermore, it fails to explain how these unbelieving, unconvinced, dispirited self-preserving individuals became bold firebrands of the gospel message of a risen Jesus, without relenting or backing down. It is impossible to believe that such a conspiracy, shared by so many would not very quickly breakdown, and unravel! No, something else transformed these men, they had become convinced that Jesus was alive.
Paul's argument is designed to establish that Jesus rose corporeally from the dead, with a physical body, and he quotes the early tradition as supporting evidence...
...that this was indeed the earliest belief of the church.
By comparing Paul preaching of the gospel in at Antioch with its matching elements, and the elements of Peter's preaching, it becomes clear that this creed contains the most basic and earliest elements of the gospel preaching since the resurrection, going back to first days since Pentecost. So the creed itself is very early indeed. All of this well within the lifetimes of those who were eyewitnesses, by disciples and enemies of Christ. No refutation of the essential fact is offered, except the half-baked explanation found in Matthew that the disciples stole the body while the guards slept, and were proclaiming that Christ had risen ()! The problem with this was that the disciples were at first afraid, unbelieving, and dispirited, and only gradually became convinced and emboldened. We cannot accept the premise that the disciples who fled the garden at Jesus' arrest, denied they knew him, and who stayed away from Jersualem and the cross would in fact concoct an elaborate resurrection ruse that would incur persecution and death. Furthermore, it fails to explain how these unbelieving, unconvinced, dispirited self-preserving individuals became bold firebrands of the gospel message of a risen Jesus, without relenting or backing down. It is impossible to believe that such a conspiracy, shared by so many would not very quickly breakdown, and unravel! No, something else transformed these men, they had become convinced that Jesus was alive.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Neither should we think that the disciples and others were easily or uncritically convinced. The gospels make it clear that doubts persisted and had to be overcome for them to believe that he had risen from the dead. When Mary came from the tomb to say it was empty, Peter and John ran out to find it empty, Peter left confused and still unbelieving, while John believed something (). Peter was not convinced merely by the empty tomb. When Mary came back the second time and told the disciples that she had actually seen Jesus, and what he had said to her, they did not immediately believe her, or the other women, who on the way to the disciples in Bethany met the risen Christ () (; , ; , ). In other words, the disciples did not immediately or even readily believe, they had to be convinced. Those who became the Spirit-filled witnesses had to first be convinced, and their doubts, misgivings overcome.
The snobbery of the modern fallacy that attributes belief in the resurrection to the the credulity of the ancient, unsophisticated and backwards people of first century Palestine is exposed in the gospel narratives. Even ancient peoples knew the dead did not come back to life, and that virgins do not conceive and give birth to children! The emperor has no clothes! It simply proves that they are guilty of the same unbelief and hard heartedness, ancient reservations and unbelief of the first disciples!
Neither should we think that the disciples and others were easily or uncritically convinced. The gospels make it clear that doubts persisted and had to be overcome for them to believe that he had risen from the dead. When Mary came from the tomb to say it was empty, Peter and John ran out to find it empty, Peter left confused and still unbelieving, while John believed something (). Peter was not convinced merely by the empty tomb. When Mary came back the second time and told the disciples that she had actually seen Jesus, and what he had said to her, they did not immediately believe her, or the other women, who on the way to the disciples in Bethany met the risen Christ () (; , ; , ). In other words, the disciples did not immediately or even readily believe, they had to be convinced. Those who became the Spirit-filled witnesses had to first be convinced, and their doubts, misgivings overcome. The snobbery of the modern fallacy that attributes belief in the resurrection to the the credulity of the ancient, unsophisticated and backwards people of first century Palestine is exposed in the gospel narratives. Even ancient peoples knew the dead did not come back to life, and that virgins do not conceive and give birth to children! The emperor has no clothes! It simply proves that they are guilty of the same unbelief and hard heartedness, ancient reservations and unbelief of the first disciples!
Those who became the Spirit-filled witnesses had to first be convinced, and their doubts, misgivings overcome. The snobbery of the modern fallacy that attributes belief in the resurrection to the the credulity of the ancient, unsophisticated and backwards people of first century Palestine is exposed in the gospel narratives. Even ancient peoples knew the dead did not come back to life, and that virgins do not conceive and give birth to children! The emperor has no clothes! It simply proves that they are guilty of the same unbelief and hard heartedness, ancient reservations and unbelief of the first disciples!
So Luke calls the cumulative evidence, to which for 40 days the disciples we exposed unexpectedly, repeatedly and continuously, after which Jesus ascended into heaven, "convincing proofs." If there is one thing that is certain from the gospel accounts, Jesus actually rose from the dead, it is the only satisfying explanation for the evidence! And his appearances were enough to convince his skeptic followers, who were the first unbelievers! They needed convincing and they were convinced, changing from cowering and defeated men, into Spirit-filled firebrands of the gospel. It took more than a rumor and a hallucination to do that!
So Luke calls the cumulative evidence, to which for 40 days the disciples we exposed unexpectedly, repeatedly and continuously, after which Jesus ascended into heaven, "convincing proofs." If there is one thing that is certain from the gospel accounts, Jesus actually rose from the dead, it is the only satisfying explanation for the evidence!