Sermon Tone Analysis

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

by \\ J. Hampton Keathley III \\ hamptonk3@bible.org

! Introduction

Now, Something happened 2000 years ago, something that has changed the course of history from B.C. (Before Christ) to A.D. (the Latin /Anno Domini/--the year of our Lord).

That “something” was so dramatic it completely changed 11 men’s lives, so that all but one died a mar­tyr’s death.

That something was an empty tomb?

An empty tomb that a 15-minute walk from the center of Jerusalem would have confirmed or disproved.

But even after 2,000 more years of history, a large portion of mankind hasn’t forgotten that empty tomb and the historical record of the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ.

If you wish to rationalize away the events sur­rounding Christ and His resurrection, you must deal with certain imponderables.”

(McDowell, /The Resurrection Factor/, p. 64)

By imponderables, McDowell is talking about historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The body of evidence is so great it has led millions throughout history to put their trust in Jesus Christ, many of whom were skilled in evaluating historical evidence.

We make this emphasis because many theories have been advanced that attempt to show the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fraud or nothing but a myth concocted many years later.

McDowell writes:

“I believe that many of the people who came up with these theories must have had two brains--one lost, and the other one out looking for it.

Historians have to become anti-historical to invent some of their ideas.

“ (p.

76)

With this in mind, let’s consider the testimony of a few outstanding historians.

These are testimonies of men who are some of the greatest minds of history--men who were specialists in gathering and evaluating historical evidence.

Note the following six testimonies from The Resurrection Factor, pages 10-12:

!! 1. Roman history scholar

I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.

!! 2. Textual critic

Brooke Foss Wescott, an English scholar, said, “Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.

Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it.

!! 3. Professor of ancient history

Dr. Paul L. Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, concluded that, “If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter.

And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy or archaeology that would disprove this statement.

!! 4. Legal authority

One man who was highly skilled at dealing with evidence was Dr. Simon Greenleaf.

He was the famous Royall Professor of Law at Harvard University and succeeded Justice Joseph Story as the Dane Professor of Law in the same university.

The rise of Harvard law School to its eminent position among the legal schools of the United States is to be ascribed to the efforts of these two men.

Greenleaf produced his famous three-volume work, /A Treatise on the Law of Evidence/, which still is considered one of the greatest single authorities on this subject in the entire literature of legal procedure.

Greenleaf examined the value of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ to ascertain the truth.

He applied the principles contained in his three-volume treatise on evidence.

His findings were recorded in his book, /An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice./

Greenleaf came to the conclusion that, according to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.

!! 5. Attorney general

An Englishman, John Singleton Copley, better known as Lord Lyndhurst, is recognized as one of the greatest legal minds in British history. . . .

Upon Copley’s death, among his personal papers were found his comments concerning the resurrection in the light of legal evidence and why he became a Christian: “I know pretty well what evidence is; and I tell you, such evidence as that for the resurrection has never broken down yet.

Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Darling, once said that “no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true.

!! 6. Rationalistic lawyer

Dr. Frank Morrison, a lawyer who had been brought up in a rationalistic environment, had come to the opinion that the resurrection was nothing but a fairy-tale happy ending which spoiled the matchless story of Jesus.

He felt that he owed it to himself and others to write a book that would present the truth about Jesus and dispel the mythical story of the resurrection.

Upon studying the facts, however, he, too, came to a different conclusion.

The sheer weight of the evidence compelled him to conclude that Jesus actually did rise from the dead.

Morrison wrote his book--but not the one he had planned.

It is titled, /Who Moved the Stone?/

The first chapter, very significantly, is, “The Book That Refused to Be Written.”

We covered some of the evidences for the resurrection in the lesson /Evidences for the Resurrection/, and this has been done by others in great detail.

An out­stand­ing book on this subject is Josh McDowell’s book, /The Res­ur­rec­tion Fac­tor/.

He also covers this in his book, /Evi­dence Demand’s A Ver­dict/.

There are many others as well.

All this wonderful evidence exists in spite of the security precautions taken by both the Jews and the Romans to make sure Jesus was dead and remained in the tomb.

These included things like the Roman seal that was bro­ken, the heavy stone that covered the door but was removed, and the Roman guard of soldiers who were there to guard the tomb.

All this makes the evidence that much more remarkable.

!

Ramifications of the Resurrection

What does all this mean to us?

How should it affect our lives?

How should it cause us to live?

Illustration:

“There ain’t gonna be no Easter this year,” a student remarked to his friend.

\\ “Why not?”

He was asked incredulously.

\\ “They found the body,” the student replied.

Despite his irreverent humor, his friend displayed a measure of insight often not shared by modern theologians.

Many theologians are perfectly willing to assert that Jesus died and rotted in the grave, but that the resurrection still has value as a symbol of ‘newness of life’ or ‘new beginning,’ so that Christianity can go on quite nicely as though nothing changed.

The friend’s joke implied that without the resurrection Christianity is worthless (William Craig, /Knowing the Truth About Resurrection, Our Response to the Empty Tomb/, p. 125).

And this friend was dead right.

Listen to Paul’s commentary on this from 1 Cor.

15:14-19.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

Moreover we are even found {to be} false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Note this observation:

Dr. J.N.D. Anderson, professor of oriental law and the director of the Institute of Advance Legal Studies at the University of London, concluded his research on the resurrection by saying, “It seems to me inescapable that anyone who chanced to read the pages of the New Testament for the first time would come away with one overwhelming impression, that there is a faith firmly rooted in certain allegedly historical events, a faith which would be false and misleading if those events had not actually taken place, but which--if they did not take place--is unique in its relevance and exclusive in its demands on our allegiance (McDowell, p. 14).

These observations by Dr. Anderson serves to stress the kind of results one’s faith in the resurrected Christ should have on us.

!! As to the Person of Christ

No other religious or philosophical leader of any of the worlds religions or philosophies has ever been proclaimed as a risen Savior.

Instead, many have shrines at their crypts.

They lie decayed with nothing remaining but their dust and their man-made philosophy or religious sayings and ethic.

Christ’s resurrection proves He was from God and spoke the truth--He is the way, the truth and the life.

The resurrec­tion proves Jesus was unique, one of a kind, and it marks Him out and authenticates Him as God’s Son.

Romans 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Acts 17:31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.

“

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 20:26-31 And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them.

Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, “Peace /be /with you.”

27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.”

28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed?

Blessed /are /they who did not see, and /yet /believed.”

30 Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

·         He is declared both Lord (deity) and Christ (Messiah of Old Testament prophecy and expecta­tion) on the basis of His resur­rection (cf.

Acts 10:36-43; Acts 2:22-36).

·         In Romans 1:4 Paul shows that the resurrec­tion is the final and convincing proof that Jesus was the Son of God.

Please note here that Paul’s subject is the gospel, the good news, of God.

The Resur­rection proves this.

·         In Matthew 12:39-40, Christ Himself pointed to His resurrection as the final proof of His person.

It proves that Jesus Christ was more than just another religious leader, idealist or philosopher.