Sermon Tone Analysis

Compare ; ;

Luke reports 2 men standing in the tomb; Matthew reports a single angel sitting on top of the stone; Mark only reports one “man” sitting inside the tomb;

In Luke it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary mother of James; in John it was just Mary Magdalene; in Matthew it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary; in Mark it was Mary Magdalene, Mary Mother of James, and Salome

In Luke it was just Peter; in John it was Peter and John; Matthew and Mark do not report it;

Are these differences problems?

If every single narrative describing the resurrection sounded exactly the same, what do you think would be said about the narratives?

“They must have copied each other.”

Imagine you’re at a theatrical performance and there are multiple actors on the stage.

At one point, the lights go out and a spotlight shines on one of the actors.

You know other actors are on the stage.

But you can’t see them because the spotlight is focused on one person.

Literary spotlighting was a common practice for writers of the 1st century era.

This is when an author mentions only one person performing an action while being aware of several others who are present.

There are occasions in the Gospels where literary spotlighting is likely at play.

T

Ha’El hanne’eman: The Faithful God

Defending Jesus

Are you ready to defend the life, death, burial, and resurrection of your Lord?

Skeptics will say, “Of course the Bible will talk about the resurrection.

That’s not proof.”

How would you respond?

When the books of the New Testament were written, they proliferated quickly.

They were copied many times, with copies being sent far off to other Christians so they could read them as well.

After reading them, those Christians often copied the books before sending them on.

them on.

How exactly can this kind of proliferation of texts, without any central control, be uniformly and undetectably altered?

How can someone corrupt the words?

No one had control over Christendom until hundreds of years after Christ.

How exactly can this kind of proliferation of texts, without any central control, be uniformly and undetectably altered?

How can someone corrupt the words?

No one had control over Christendom until hundreds of years after Christ.

them on.

How exactly can this kind of proliferation of texts, without any central control, be uniformly and undetectably altered?

How can someone corrupt the words?

No one had control over Christendom until hundreds of years after Christ.

All historians agree that the gospels were written down and circulated during the first generation after the events, while the eyewitnesses were still alive.

In order for the gospels to be legendary at their core, more generations would be needed between the events they record and the date of their composition.

Importance of the Resurrection

A Messiah who failed to deliver and to reign, one who was defeated, humiliated, and slain by his enemies was a contradiction in terms.

Nowhere do ancient Jewish texts speak of this sort of “Messiah.”

Jews believed that the resurrection to glory and immortality only took place after the end of the world; they had no concept of, much less belief in, a resurrection within history.

Ancient Judaism had no place for the resurrection of an isolated individual, especially of the Messiah.

How would you imagine the disciples were right after the crucifixion?

So it’s difficult to exaggerate, therefore, what a catastrophe Jesus’ crucifixion would have been for the disciples.

It wasn’t just that their beloved teacher was gone; rather, Jesus’ death on the cross meant the crushing defeat of any hopes they had entertained that he was the Messiah.

Importance of the Resurrection

Why is the resurrection so important to Christianity?

Read

His Burial

Jesus’ burial is reported in extremely early, independent sources: ; ; ;

Joseph of Arimathea

Jesus’ burial is reported in extremely early, independent sources:All four gospels contain accounts of Jesus’ resurrection (; ; ; ).

Joseph of Arimathea was a well-known member of the Sanhedrin.

What is significant about including him in the story?

Sanhedrin very opposed to The Way, and took part in the condemnation of Jesus.

Using this man could easily be refuted

Burial place would be known to both Jews and Christians

The Empty Tomb

the disciples themselves could never have believed in the resurrection of Jesus when faced with a tomb containing His corpse.

The disciples themselves could never have believed in the resurrection of Jesus when faced with a tomb containing His corpse.

The disciples’ opponents would have exposed the whole affair as a sham by displaying the body of Jesus, perhaps even parading it through the streets of Jerusalem

The Creed Paul Received

Jesus’ resurrection story flourished in the very city where Jesus had been publicly crucified.

So long as the inhabitants of Jerusalem thought that Jesus’ corpse lay in the tomb, few would have been prepared to believe such silliness as the claim that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

The Creed Paul Received

Someone read

Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth cites an old Christian tradition that he had received from the earliest disciples.

Paul probably received this tradition no later than his visit to Jerusalem in AD 36 after his conversion in AD 33 - look at

In the minds of first-century Jews, there would have been no question that Jesus’ tomb would have been empty as a result of his being raised.

Therefore, when the tradition states that Christ “was buried and he was raised,” it automatically implies that an empty tomb was left behind.Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth cites an old Christian tradition that he had received from the earliest disciples Paul probably received this tradition no later than his visit to Jerusalem in AD 36 after his conversion in AD 33 ()This tradition, therefore, goes back to within the first five years after Jesus’ crucifixion in AD 30.

Timeline of Events

30 AD Crucifixion

33 AD Damascus Road

36 AD Paul visits Jerusalem

46 AD Book of James

52 AD Books of Thessalonians

55 AD Book of Galatians

57 AD Books of Corinthians

62 AD Gospel of Mark

This tradition, therefore, goes back to within the first five years after Jesus’ crucifixion in AD 30.

Empty Tomb: Women Witnesses

Why do you think using women as witnesses makes the story more credible?

First, women were not regarded as credible witnesses.

Second, women occupied a low rung on the Jewish social ladder.

Compared to men, women were, frankly, second-class citizens.The negative attitude toward the testimony of women is evident in the Jewish historian Josephus’ description of Jewish rules for admissible testimony: “Let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.”

If you are going to create a legend, you certainly would not want to use weak witnesses to help your claim

If the empty tomb story were a legend, then male disciples would have been made to be the ones who discover the empty tomb.

The fact that women— whose testimonies were deemed worthless— are the chief witnesses to the fact of the empty tomb can only be plausibly explained if, like it or not, they actually were the discoverers of the empty tomb, and the Gospel writers faithfully record what (for them) was an awkward and embarrassing fact.

The Disciples Stole the Body??

What’s the problem with this argument?

Look at

What do these verses convey about the Jewish leaders?

Think about that: “His disciples came by night and stole him away.”

The Jewish authorities did not deny the fact that Jesus’ tomb was empty; In other words, the Jewish claim that the disciples stole the body presupposes that the body was, in fact, missing.

Therefore, we have evidence from the very adversaries of the early Christian movement for the fact of the empty tomb.

Resurrection Defined

What is the difference between Jesus’ resurrection and Lazarus?

Look at

Rather, when Jesus rose from the dead, he began a new kind of human life in which he had a perfect body that was no longer subject to weakness, aging, death, or decay.

Evidence of a Physical Body