Sermon Tone Analysis

When you woke up this morning, how many of you thought about the fact that you live in a world of BOTH true AND false,

real AND fake

real AND fake

real AND fake

The answer to this question really comes down to one issue: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth around the year AD30.

But how does a dead guy coming back to life change anything?

Well it’s because Jesus wasn’t just any old guy.

He was completely unique among humanity.

Author Henry J Heydt rightly says of Jesus, “No founder of any religion has dared to claim for himself one fraction of the assertions made by Jesus Christ about himself.”

[1] He claimed that because he had come, the kingdom of God had arrived.[2]

He then went on to back up this claim by doing deeds that baffled people who saw him do them.

He cast out demons that were tormenting people, instantly healing them.[3]

He revived people who had been dead for up to 4 days back to life.[4]

He healed sick people with a word, and immediately they were made well.[5]

He showed complete authority over the laws of nature, rebuking storms and feeding over 5000 people from a boy’s play lunch of two loaves of bread and three fish,[6] all in public view of a multitude of eye witnesses.

genuine AND counterfeit.

Ultimately, he said that he eternally existed,[7] making himself equal with God,[8] that he had come from heaven,[9] and that he was bringing the kingdom of God to earth.

All the miracles that he performed were signs to people that the kingdom of God had come, and that evil, sickness, death and disorder were coming to an end.

genuine AND counterfeit.

genuine AND counterfeit.

Before his crucifixion, he made it clear to his followers that he was going to die and then be raised to life after three days,[10] and then return to heaven.[11]

Why would he allow himself to be murdered?

Well Jesus saw the purpose of his death and resurrection as a ransom for many,[12] a casting out and defeat of Satan,[13] a sacrifice that would make the forgiveness of sins possible and secure the way for people to enter the kingdom of God.[14]

I bet not many of you

I bet not many of you

I bet not many of you

Because that would be fairly strange, unless you’ve been reading this passage all week like I have.

Because that would be fairly strange, unless you’ve been reading this passage all week like I have.

Hopefully you can now see that whether Jesus was raised from the dead or not really matters.

If he didn’t, he’s still dead, and everything that he said about God’s kingdom is false.[15]

Evil, sickness, death and disorder still reign, and the kingdom of God is a nice idea, but there’s no reality to it.

However, if he did rise from the dead, he’s alive now and everything he said is true.

Because that would be fairly strange, unless you’ve been reading this passage all week like I have.

In our world there’s true and false isn’t there.

In our world there’s true and false isn’t there.

So, are there good reasons to believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

Yes.

I will outline four facts about Jesus death and resurrection that are agreed upon by all scholars doing ancient history, both Christian and non-Christian, and will leave the best explanation of these facts for you to decide.

In our world there’s true and false isn’t there.

There’s genuine oakley’s, AND the $4 foakley’s I bought when I was in the Philippines.

There’s genuine oakley’s, AND the $4 foakley’s I bought when I was in the Philippines.

There’s genuine oakley’s, AND the $4 foakley’s I bought when I was in the Philippines.

First, Jesus death by crucifixion.

Although some have claimed that Jesus survived his crucifixion (swoon theory), or that he didn’t die at all (Islam), the overwhelming evidence puts it beyond doubt to all scholars of ancient history that Jesus died.

He was flogged to the near point of death, followed by having his wrists and feet nailed to a wooden cross, followed by having his heart pierced with a spear.

This was all done by professional Roman executioners who crucified people for a living and made sure they did the job properly.

Second, Jesus burial in a known tomb.

Normally criminals who were crucified were not given an honourable burial, however, history records for us that Joseph of Arimathea, a leader of the Jewish people, asked the Roman Governor Pilate permission to take the body of Jesus down from the cross and bury it in his family tomb.[16]

Pilot gave permission, and the tomb was sealed, and two Roman guards posted to keep watch lest any of his followers try to come and steal the body.[17]

Real meat hamburgers that go off after a week AND Maccas cheeseburgers that stay the same after 14 years.

Real meat hamburgers that go off after a week AND Maccas cheeseburgers that stay the same after 14 years.

Real meat hamburgers that go off after a week AND Maccas cheeseburgers that stay the same after 14 years.

There’s a SPIRIT of truth, and a spirit of falsehood.

Third, the empty tomb.

Although Jesus’ followers had heard him say he would die and rise again, they didn’t believe it.

This is shown in the total unbelief when the first group of women arrive at the tomb on the third day.

The seal is broken, and the tomb is empty.

Peter and John then arrive, having been told by the women, and they too are shocked by what they see, or rather, by what they don’t see.

The historian Luke tells us that his followers were preaching publicly that Jesus had been resurrected only 7 weeks after his death.

If this was something his followers made up, it would have been easy for the Roman governors to crush these proclamations by presenting the corpse of Jesus, but they couldn’t.

In fact, the early Jews paid the soldiers to spread the lie that Jesus body had been stolen by his followers, which became a commonly held belief among the Jews.[18]

All this is overwhelming evidence that Jesus tomb was empty 3 days after his death.

There’s a SPIRIT of truth, and a spirit of falsehood.

There’s a SPIRIT of truth, and a spirit of falsehood.

But the trend today is to see ALL spirits as true, to be NAÏVE to the reality of deceptive spirits, and to accept it ALL.

Finally, the appearances of Jesus after his death.

On multiple occasions, in various situations, to many different people, Jesus showed up.

The New testament lists twelve of these appearances over a forty-day period:[19] to Mary Magdalene and the other women with her, to the twelve apostles, to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to five hundred disciples, to James, and to the apostle Paul.

All these visitations are described as bodily appearances, not spiritual ones.

Thomas placed his hands in Jesus side and felt his body.

Jesus ate meals with them, talked with them, and they touched him.

The resurrected Jesus had real flesh and bones.[20]

These were not appearances of Jesus from heaven either, as Jesus’ return into heaven happened 40 days after his resurrection, again seen and attested by multiple eye-witnesses.

One of the key signs that this was not a made-up account by his followers, is the fact that the first recorded witnesses of the resurrected Jesus were women.

The testimony of women was not highly regarded in that day.

[21] If the church were going to invent a resurrection story, they would not include women as the first witnesses.

The apostle Paul is the one who records for us the appearance of Jesus to the 500 disciples at one time.

He goes on to say that most of these disciples are still alive.[22]

Why would he say this in his letter?

So that anyone who had doubts about the truth of Paul’s claim, could go check it with the hundreds of other people who had the same eye-witness testimony.

Some have claimed that these appearances were really hallucinations.

But this theory fails for multiple reasons.

Hallucinations are unique to the individual, not to large groups of people.

Furthermore, they are usually wish fulfillment, however, the disciples had all but lost hope at the sight of Jesus death on the cross.

His resurrection was not something that they were expecting.

The hallucination theory also leads to the conclusion that the existence of Christianity is founded upon mentally ill people who were grossly out of touch with reality, which goes against all the evidence of the actual lives of these people.

But the trend today is to see ALL spirits as true, to be NAÏVE to the reality of deceptive spirits, and to accept it ALL.

But the trend today is to see ALL spirits as true, to be NAÏVE to the reality of deceptive spirits, and to accept it ALL.

These four almost completely undisputed facts of history offer good reasons to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

If you still doubt this, the challenge is put forward for you to offer a better explanation of the facts.

After all, what’s true for you is true for you, and what’s true for me is true for me.

It’s wrong to tell people what they can and can’t believe.

After all, what’s true for you is true for you, and what’s true for me is true for me.

It’s wrong to tell people what they can and can’t believe.

After all, what’s true for you is true for you, and what’s true for me is true for me.

It’s wrong to tell people what they can and can’t believe.

What we all long for deep down is not a mere fantasy.

There is more!

Freedom from evil, sickness, death, disorder and injustice is available through the one who overcame all these in his own life and resurrection from death.

He is the one with all authority in heaven and earth, and he holds out in invitation to all of us who would seek eternal life, to call on his name, and be saved.