The Resurrection Difference
1 Cor. 15: 1-11
Friends let me remind you of the good news proclaimed
The news you received and on which you have taken your stand. This gospel saves those who hold firmly to the word
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Here’s what’s important: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
he was buried and then raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 Last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I, or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The NBA runs little replays during its games that try to chronicle turning points in the game. It’s a game changing moment…someone makes a long shot, or blocks an opponent’s shot…and suddenly the game that was going one way, swings around for the other team. If we had video of our lives, we could probably look at some key moments and see that our choices made were game changers for us. Or something that happened changed the direction of our lives.
As a 9-year-old 4th grader I went to kids camp with the neighbor boy from across the street. I know that before that week of camp, I’d been to church most every Sunday of my life. But in spite of my good attendance record during my first 9 years of life, it was not until I went to that camp that the claims of Jesus first took hold in my imaginations. I guess I hadn’t been a very good listener… I probably could have told you the stories, of Christmas and Easter. But at camp it became clear to me that I was far from God, and I was loved by God. And I knew that Jesus had come to save me. And when I went forward and gave my heart to Jesus, I knew he had died for me and that somehow his resurrection made it possible for me to live for him.
The Easter story is important to me. Not only because it represents job security, but because there is no greater story for one to be privileged to tell. I’m also thankful each year that I’m not allergic to lilies. In some of the churches I’ve served there have been so many lilies up front that finding my ruddy little preacher face among the lilies was like a page from where’s Waldo. Some folks really like the Easter story. I suppose you folks must like Easter too, because you’ve made the extra effort. And for that I thank you.
I saw a cartoon of a couple greeting the pastor after an Easter service. The wife’s face is red with embarrassment and shock as her husband once again stuck his big foot in his bigger mouth. (evidently the husband is not a weekly attendee at worship), and as he is shaking the pastor’s hand the husband says, "You're in a rut, Reverend, You preach about the Resurrection every time I come here."
(OK maybe it’s too early for you, you may have to think about that one a bit…but whenever it hits you feel free to laugh.)
I don’t know how it was for you, but at my house growing up, Easter usually meant we usually got a new shirt and maybe a new tie to go with it. Some years the ties were so wide you almost didn’t need to wear a shirt, they filled up the whole space left from your coat. Some years they were skinny, it depended upon the times…but a new shirt with a scratchy stiff collar, and a new tie was part of our family celebration of Easter. We decorated eggs and hid them from each other several times. Until they were getting kind of cracked and nasty looking, then mom would make very colorful potato salad out of the good ones.
We love the Easter story, not only for the new clothes and perhaps a family meal together, we love Easter because somewhere deep within us we know that Easter is the key event of history. Its importance is greater than the importance of Christmas…in fact without Easter, we would not even bother with Christmas at all. The resurrection of Jesus makes the difference.
I’ll tell you one place the resurrection makes a difference. If I wasn’t in church with all of you today, I’d like to be in First Baptist Church of Birch Tree to hear brother Aaron preach. I’d like to hear him especially today. You know why? Because his father passed away this last week and his dad’s funeral services were on Tuesday. And I know that to him, the resurrection is not just a Bible doctrine to be talked over with a few nice stories a joke or two and a poem…much more than a story, Jesus resurrection means hope. The resurrection makes a huge difference …especially to those whose lives have been touched by grief and loss.
When you stand beside the casket of a loved one, suddenly the questions of life, and death, the question of what happens after our days on earth have ended cannot be set aside. The truth is when we’re grieving or hurting we’d like to really know what is true…without any guessing.
If you find yourself feeling doubtful as you consider the resurrection, you’re not alone. That may not be a lot of comfort, and being in the company of others who doubt may not help you sleep at night, but there certainly are many who have serious doubts. Skeptics are everywhere. Bill Maher is not just a skeptic, he’s actively against faith. He said on Larry King that faith is dumb…all faiths are dumb.” He’s very outspoken about all the things he does not believe. I think he’s dumb. So I guess we’re even, except my Bible says “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”
I take comfort in knowing that long before our contemporary skepticism came along, plenty of people dismissed the idea of the resurrection of the dead in general, and dismissed the idea of Christ's resurrection in particular.
It’s a very poor form of scholarship that would say that whereas illiterate peasants in 33 AD were so gullible that they did not understand that corpses do not rise from the dead, but today we know better.”
I wonder if we really understand death better than folks back then. In Jesus day, when someone died, the family and closest friends prepared the body, put it in the tomb. They did it all. I wonder what they would think about our modern ways of handling funerals. Someone comes and takes the body away, and puts makeup on it, and dresses the deceased up like it’s a day at the office. And then people come by and say, “doesn’t he or she look good.” Would the folks in Jesus day say we understand the reality of death? Or would they doubt whether or not we understand the seriousness of it?
I’d say those ancients had more experience with actual death than we do. And the historical record shows that plenty of those ancient, often portrayed as less educated folks did not immediately believe the news of Jesus resurrection. Included among the doubters was the whole group of Jesus disciples. The documented doubts expressed by Jesus' closest followers, and the disbelief by many of their contemporaries read like a episode in the "no spin zone.” And to me their doubts add authenticity to the original Easter proclamation. Those who heard it first, didn’t buy it.
Listen. When Mary (as was read earlier) saw the empty tomb she assumed that someone had stolen the body: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" She wept and cried: "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him...Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." In Mark 16, when Mary and several other women told the disciples that they had seen the risen Lord, "they did not believe it"
Luke renders it more bluntly: "They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense." That first Sunday night the eleven disciples cowered behind locked doors (John 20), and why not? It was not unreasonable for them to fear for their own lives. Later two witnesses from Emmaus reported their encounter with Jesus to the Eleven, "but they did not believe them either," and even Jesus himself "rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe" (Mark 16:13–14). Thomas continues to be the most famous doubter, of course, but Matthew 28 relates that while Jesus was making what might have been his last resurrection appearance "some doubted."
But then something happened and the doubts of these folks went away. Luke writes that after Jesus suffered, "he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive" (Acts 1:3). Somehow, some way, the understandable confusion of these "unschooled and ordinary men" (Acts 4:13) gave way to a bold conviction: "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact" (Acts 2:32).
When commanded by the religious authorities to cease and desist their preaching, Peter and John replied, "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” They claimed that they had eaten with the resurrected Jesus (Acts 10:41), "with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 4:33). All this, mind you, would have screeched to a halt if someone had produced a body.
Scripture speaks to our doubts…because the characters in scripture had to deal with their own understandable doubts. When it comes to someone rising from the dead, the first natural reaction is of course…”you have kidding.” But what did Paul report in our passage? He gave his readers places they could check if they wanted to. He said Jesus appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 Last of all he appeared to me, as to one abnormally born . The revised Standard version puts that final line this way: Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Paul knew he had not been in the right place at the right time in order to be an apostle… he missed the time of Jesus…but the risen Lord appeared to him…and it turns out there was still plenty for him to do.
Paul’s view of his own life is the testimony of so many believers today…that “last of all, the Lord made himself known to me.” You see for Paul it was not just history that he had related to the Corinthians when he first preached to them. He also preached his own story. Jesus appeared to more than 500 folks at once…most of them are still alive…feel free to ask them! And even if you don’t know or wouldn’t believe them…Paul says, “you do know me…and Jesus appeared to me.”
Folks, I can’t stand here and say that I have an ongoing, every moment sense of the presence of Jesus…I don’t. But I have known his presence sometimes in prayer, I’ve felt the power of his touch sometimes while preaching or singing. I can testify that I know my redeemer lives. What I read as a history of the people of faith…is in part my story too…because he has made himself known to me too.
How about you? What do you really think about the message we preach? That Jesus died for your sins. That he was buried. And on the third day rose from the dead…and then he made a number of appearances…enough so that there is good reason to doubt any doubts we may have.
The resurrection makes a difference…because it is the key event of history. Without his resurrection, his death is just an unfortunate execution by a brutal occupying military. But with the resurrection, the cross is a gift Jesus willingly gave to take away the sins of the world. He lay down his life for us, and he took it up again. The resurrection of Jesus makes all the difference my friends because it is true!
The fact that some doubted, makes me believe it more. This history is not a deception, but an accurate account of people like you and me coming to grips with an extraordinary fact. Jesus was dead but he is alive. He died for our sins, and in his rising we have life with him. This fact changes everything, Jesus is alive.
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