The Lord’s Message:  Proof of the Resurrection

The Lord’s Message:  Proof of the Resurrection
Date:  April 27, 2025
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  1 Corinthians 15:12-20

            If there is one important event in Christianity, it has to be the resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the kingpin that holds Christianity together. If you were able to prove that the resurrection did not happen, then Christian faith would fall like a house of cards.  This is what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17. Therefore, I feel that it is important that we prove that the resurrection happened.  The challenge we have this morning is proving an event that happened almost 2000 years ago. 

            Let us pray.

            The first evidence of proof of the resurrection is there is no doubt by the disciples, the High Priest, the Sanhedrin, Pontus Pilate, or the Roman soldiers that Jesus Christ died on a cross.  That is without dispute.  If there was any dispute about this, the Roman solider who pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, and water and blood ran out, would testify that Jesus died on the cross. His statement would have squashed this rumor.  Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and the women who took down the body of Jesus and prepared it for burial did not have doubts that Jesus was alive.  The disciples had no doubts that Jesus was dead when the women told them.  The High Priest and the Sanhedrin went to Pontus Pilate to insist that he seal the tomb and place soldiers to guard it, not for fear that Jesus was alive, but that the disciples might steal His body.  No one had any doubts that Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus has to be dead for the resurrection to happen. 

            The second evidence as to the proof of the resurrection comes when the guards see the angel and abandon their posts, they go to the chief priest to tell him what had happened.  Look at Matthew 28:11-15.  The penalty for the guards abandoning their post is death.  For them to go the Chief Priest asking for their protection would have resulted in their death.  If they wanted to prove that the disciples had taken the body of Jesus, why didn’t they round them up and demand to know where they had taken Jesus’ body?  Or better yet, produce the body and the resurrection becomes a myth.  But no where in the Bible is there any mention that they went and rounded up the disciples or even tried to place a body in the empty tomb. 

            The third evidence as to the proof of the resurrection is the number of different people who saw Jesus alive after He had been dead.  In Matthew 28:8-10, the women coming from the tomb.  The Risen Savior appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb in John 20:10-18.  Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:25-32.  Jesus then appeared to the rest of the disciples in Mark 16:14. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, the Apostle Paul says that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred people, most of whom are still alive.  Most theologians agree that the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 20 to 25 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Jesus appeared to so many different people after His resurrection that it is proof, with over 500 hundred eyewitnesses, of the resurrected Jesus.

            The fourth evidence as to the proof of the resurrection is found in the church historical records.  In these records, we find that all of Jesus’ disciples believe that Jesus was resurrected, and they were willing to die for this belief.  In Acts 7:54-60, Stephen was the first to be martyred.  In Acts 12:1-3, James, the brother of John, was the second to martyred for his faith in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Church history records that all the disciples were martyred for their faith, except John.  John was plunged into boiling oil.  He survived that ordeal.  Next, he was exiled to the island of Patmos for a number of years.  He survived and lived to an old age dying in Ephesus, Turkey.  For all the disciples to face extreme punishment and death for their faith that Jesus was resurrected is proof that the resurrection was not a lie.  In 1974, Charles Colson was convicted in the Watergate scandal and served 7 months in jail for his crime.  He became a Christian and has written 60 books about his faith.  He is quoted as saying this about proof of the resurrection of Jesus, “I know the resurrection is fact, and Watergate proved it to me.  12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it.  Each one was beaten, tortured, stoned, and put in prison.  They would not have endured that if it weren’t true.  Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks.  You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years?  Absolutely impossible!”  For the disciples to be tortured, beaten, thrown in jail and all, except one, martyred for their faith, tells me that Jesus being resurrected from the dead is not a lie, but a fact. 

            The fifth evidence as to proof of the resurrection comes from outside of the Bible and the church.  Josephus, a Jewish historian for Rome, recorded in his writings, Jewish Antiquities, a passage known as Testimonium Flavainum.  He describes Jesus as a wise man who was condemned and crucified at the hands of the Roman authorities.  He goes on to say, ‘that his followers believed he rose from the dead on the third day.”  Josephus is writing this around 93 to 96 AD or 60 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  For this event to bear that much weight 60 years after it occurred must have been particularly important, and the fact that it was written by a man who was not a follower of Jesus gives more credence that this did occur. 

            The sixth evidence as to proof of the resurrection is how fast Christianity spread.  From the time of Pentecost to a few centuries later to encompass North Africa, the Balkans, Asia Minor, and Roman Britain.  Then in 313 AD the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.  Today, it has spread across the globe.  There are over 2.4 billion Christians worldwide making up 31.2% of the population. 

            The seventh evidence as to the proof of the resurrection is the number of atheists who have been converted to Christianity.  Examples are writers C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Lee Strobel, who wrote The Case for Christ, actor Stephen Baldwin, rock star Alice Cooper, child actor Kurt Cameron, astronomer Alan Sandage, youtubers Woah Vicki and Taylor Alesia, singer Lenny Kravitz and once outspoken atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali.    C.S. Lewis said, “the resurrection is at the very core of the Christian message, and that for early Christians, preaching Christianity meant primarily preaching the resurrection.”  All of these atheists, and many more who have converted to Christianity, are proof in belief of the resurrection. 

 The last proof of the resurrection is the changed lives that are happening today.  If it was not for the resurrection, none of us who be here in this church.  There would be no need to have a church.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have come here to worship and praise God.    

            We have looked at proofs that Jesus was raised from the dead.  I am sure that there are more.  In John 20:31, the purpose for all of this is so that you may believe.  Next Sunday, we will look at how believing in the resurrection gives us the assurance that we will also be resurrected from the grave, 1 Corinthians 15:20.

            For now, continue to read your Bible, live the Bible and be the Bible for others.  Amen.