I Believe in Jesus' Resurrection

I BELIEVE IN JESUS’ RESURRECTION

… based on 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

I have a confession to make … I love to google. And that’s a dangerous

thing for someone like me who has a curiosity about irrelevant stuff …

there’s just an inexhaustible amount of useless information at my fingertips.

In any event as I was “googling” this past week I came across an

article about a grandfather who wanted to see how much his 4-year-old

granddaughter knew about the Easter story. He put her on his lap & asked

… “Polly, why do we celebrate Easter?” Without hesitating a moment, she

replied, “Jesus was crucified. After He died, His body was put into a grave.

They rolled a big stone in front of the opening.

A bunch of soldiers guarded the tomb.

On the 3 rd day, there was a huge earthquake, & the stone rolled away.”

The grandfather was so pleased with how much his granddaughter knew,

& then she continued … “When the earthquake happened, the entire town

came out to the grave. And if Jesus came out & saw His shadow …

they knew there would be 6 more weeks of winter!”

This morning we’re going to look at all the factual information about

the “correct” Easter story … from beginning to end.

And I want to introduce it by reading a passage of Scripture.

So, listen now to Good News from Paul, to the Church in Corinth, & also to

the Church at Bear Creek. Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord.

Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how

can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life?

from the desk of . . .

Rande Wayne Smith

D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

2

If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; and if Christ has not

been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have

nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God,

because we said that he raised Christ from death – but if it is true that the

dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. For if the dead are

not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been

raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.

It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. If

our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve

more pity than anyone else in all the world.

But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the

guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)

“The grass withers & flowers fade,

but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly

wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

Okay, this past week most of you should have received something in

the mail … a jury summons! You “excitedly” opened it & learned that you

were invited to appear on 20 April 2025 at Bear Creek Church “Courthouse”

… & that you have already been selected to be a juror! … So, let’s imagine

that this sanctuary is a courtroom & you are sitting in the jury box.

The case before you is … the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m going

to represent the defense attorney, & in my opening argument I want to help

you get the whole story right about what happened on that 1 st Easter. As

I’ve already said, there is just so much irrelevant information out there.

Tons & tons of it. And most of it doesn’t really have much bearing on our life

at all. But what does matter, & what will determine where we’re going to be

10,000 years from now, is whether or not Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus staked His entire reputation on the resurrection …

3

if it didn’t happen … everything else that He said & did is open to question.

The issue before the court this morning is not that of a crime, but a claim …

a claim so spectacular & so crucial that it’s either the cornerstone of

Christianity or it is its’ fatal flaw.

Members of the jury, the claim is that Jesus Christ rose bodily from

the dead. Without question, the resurrection is the supreme miracle of

Christianity … it’s at the very heart of our faith. If it never happened …

Christianity collapses into mythology, & billions of people have been

deceived. If it did happen, it authenticates everything Jesus did & said …

& believers have the guarantee of eternal life (John 14:19) & forgiveness of sins.

Let me state it as strongly as the Apostle Paul put it in his letter to

the Church in Corinth … “If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a

delusion.” The Resurrection is either the most wicked, heartless,

vicious hoax ever suggested … or it’s the most fantastic fact in all of history.

I will show you overwhelming proof that Jesus Christ did exactly what

He predicted He would do (Matthew 16:21) … that on the 3 rd day He rose from the

dead. Luke writes, “For 40 days after his death he appeared to the apostles

many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive.” (

The Acts 1:3)

I’m going to present 3 pieces of evidence, that when taken together,

will provide convincing proof that Jesus rose from the dead.

The 1 st piece of evidence that I want to bring before the court is Exhibit A:

The Empty Tomb. Scripture records that after professional executioners

crucified Jesus, His corpse was placed in a solid rock tomb. (Lukie 23:53) His

body was then covered with about 100 lbs. of spices, (John 19:39), & extensively

wrapped in a new linen sheet. Finally, a very large stone, estimated to weigh

almost 2 tons, was rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb. (Matthew 27:60)

After this boulder was in place, a contingent of up to 16 Roman

soldiers was assigned to secure the tomb. Some pictures you may have seen

show 1 or 2 men standing around in miniskirts, holding a spear in their hands.

4

That’s simply not the case. These soldiers were human fighting machines.

They could protect the area around the tomb against an entire battalion.

Scripture also records that in addition to the Roman guard, a tamper-proof

official Roman seal was placed on the stone. (Matthew 27:66)

Anyone who happened to make it past the Roman soldiers would have to

break this seal, thus incurring the wrath of Roman law.

Despite all these precautions … the stone, the soldiers, & the seal …

the tomb was empty that 1 st Easter morning! When the 1 st witnesses arrived,

they saw only the blood-stained burial cloths lying there. (John 20:5)

It was as if Jesus materialized right through them.

The empty tomb serves as Exhibit A. It’s a powerful testimony to the

resurrection of Jesus. Critics have never been able to refute the empty

tomb … even though they’ve suggested a bunch of ridiculous possibilities.

Maybe the disciples stole the body? (Matthew 28:13) … I don’t think so.

Remember who we’re talking about here. These guys have been nothing but

cowards since Jesus’ arrest. (Matthew 26:56) They ran away & hid. No way could

they have overpowered armed soldiers & rolled away a 2-ton boulder. They

would then have to dispose of Jesus’ body, & manufacture a myth about His

resurrection … a myth that they would eventually give their lives for.

That doesn’t seem plausible.

Another possibility would be that the religious leaders themselves

took the body. But if they had removed the body, all they would have had to

do is parade the remains through the streets of Jerusalem & they would

have derailed Christianity from the very start.

But they couldn’t produce the body because the body was no longer dead …

Jesus had been raised to life again!

Ladies & gentlemen of the jury … Christianity rises or falls on the

empty tomb. It’s the one silent & infallible witness. Critics cannot explain it

away. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then where’s the body? ...

5

Leaders/founders of every other religion died … & stayed dead …

their bones are decaying in the ground. That’s not the case with Jesus.

He proclaimed that He would rise from the dead on the 3 rd day (Luke 9:22) … &

that’s exactly what He did. The empty tomb validates His claim. Now while

this alone provides substantial evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, I’ll

grant that this fact wasn’t convincing in itself, even to His original followers.

(Matthew 28:17)

Even though Jesus had predicted that He would rise from the dead,

it’s obvious from their behavior, that they weren’t expecting it. (Luke 24:11)

They required more evidence …

something that would remove all doubt from their minds.

Men & women of the jury, I’d now like to enter into evidence Exhibit B:

Multiple Witnesses. The early followers didn’t believe Jesus had risen just

because of the empty tomb … they believed because they saw Him with their

own eyes. When they talked to others about Jesus, they didn’t say … “We

found an empty tomb.” Instead, they proclaimed … “We saw Jesus alive!”

The most outstanding proof that Jesus rose from the dead is that

more than 515 eyewitnesses saw Him on at least 12 different occasions.

Listen to Luke’s report … “For 40 days after his death he appeared to the

apostles many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive.

They saw him, & he talked with them about the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus provided unquestionable proof that He was alive.

After His resurrection, He appeared to a woman in a cemetery. (John 20:16)

In the afternoon, He walked side-by-side with 2 individuals as they made

their way down a road. (Luke 24:15) Later that same day, He passed through a

locked door & talked with His frightened followers who were huddled in a

room in Jerusalem. (John 20:19) He showed Himself to believers & doubters;

to tough-minded people & tenderhearted souls; to men & to women,

indoors & outside. Several people saw Him on more than one occasion,

some saw Him alone, & others saw Him with large groups,

sometimes at night & sometimes during the day.

The Apostle Paul, laid it all out for us … “I passed on to you what I

6

received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins,

as written in the Scriptures; that he was buried & that he was raised to life

3 days later, as written in the Scriptures; that he appeared to Peter, then to

all 12 apostles. Then he appeared to more than 500 of his followers at once,

most of whom are still alive, although some have died.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

Let me illustrate this in a contemporary setting. Imagine yesterday

morning I was driving out here to the Church. I was on 135 north, & slowed

down, & put my turn signal on to turn left on Rte. 45 in Bean Blossom.

Just then a car rams me from behind. No one else was around.

When the police officer arrived the 1 st thing he wanted to know was whether

or not anyone had seen the accident. Because no one had he couldn’t really

be sure what happened. I had an account of how I saw it …

& the guy who plowed into me had his story.

Now, imagine if there was an eyewitness who saw everything &

testified that my version of the story was true. The officer would be more

inclined to believe my account, wouldn’t he? … How about if there were 3

eyewitnesses corroborating my take of what happened? … It’d be even

stronger if 12 people were willing to testify that I was in the right as I was

making the turn in my Mustang. My case would be even stronger if 100

people saw what happened. And it would be absolutely airtight & totally

convincing if over 515 people were in St. Mary’s & Dollar General parking lots

looking on & saw everything unfold in front of their very eyes.

To put this in perspective, if we were to call each of them to the

witness stand to be questioned & cross-examined for just 15 minutes each,

& we went around the clock without a break … it would take from right now

until after lunch on Friday! After listening to 129 straight hours of

eyewitness testimony, who could possibly walk away unconvinced?

Ladies & gentlemen of the jury, that’s how strong the case is for the

resurrection of Jesus! Over 500 different individuals were willing to testify

that they had seen the resurrected Christ. When Christianity was launched

on the scene … those eyewitnesses were still alive & could be questioned.

In effect, the early Church could say …

7

“If you don’t believe us, you can ask those who saw Him with their own eyes.”

Peter, who was one of those eyewitnesses, stated as much in his 1 st sermon.

After summarizing what the Prophets wrote about Jesus, & how He lived,

Peter laid out the details surrounding His death. A copy of his sermon notes

has been preserved in Scripture for us. This is now he concludes his

message … “God has raised this very Jesus from death,

& we are all witnesses to this fact.” (The Acts 2:32)

It’s interesting that Peter preaches this sermon right in the heart of

Jerusalem … right where Jesus was crucified & buried, just 50 days earlier.

People knew the tomb was empty & that Jesus had appeared to 100’s

of men & women … it was verifiable.

Peter didn’t make the resurrection up …he saw Jesus; he talked with Him

& even had a fish fry with Him on the beach one day. (John 21:13) He wrote …

“We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the

mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. With our own eyes we saw his

greatness.” (2 Peter 1:16)

So, as you ponder the facts that I’m presenting this morning, I urge you to

consider Exhibit A: The Empty Tomb, & Exhibit B: The Multiple Witnesses.

But there’s 1 more compelling argument for the resurrection.

Distinguished members of the jury, I enter into evidence Exhibit C:

Changed Lives. Those who met the resurrected Jesus have had their lives

totally transformed. The resurrection is validated by the changed lives of

His followers. Something happened to radically reorient this original group

of followers. After Jesus was put to death … the disciples scattered.

They eventually gathered together, filled with fear, in a locked room.

Their leader had been executed. What would happen to them now?

John, who was there, lets us in on a scene that would forever change

their outlook, & their lives. “It was late that Sunday evening, (Easter

Sunday), & the disciples were gathered behind locked doors, because they

were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came & stood among

them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. After saying this, he showed them his

8

hands & his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,” (John

20:19-20) which has got to be one of the biggest understatements in Scripture!

Instead of reprimanding the disciples for not standing with Him in His

time of need, (Matthew 26:56), Jesus appeared to them & said … “Peace be with

you.” This overwhelming “peace” cut through their guilt & feelings of failure.

Their fear was replaced with joy. Peter was changed from a coward,

who had denied Jesus 3 times, (Mark 14:72) to a man of rock,

who became one of the pillars of the new Church. (Mathew 16:18)

These ordinary men were transformed from frightened wimps into the most

effective missionary organization the world has ever seen. (The Acts 1:8)

So, what motivated them to go everywhere & proclaim the Good News

of the risen Christ? Was it for money? Power? Fame? … I don’t think so.

Every one of them had gone from doubt to determination,

from confusion to conviction, from fear to faith. Listen to how they died,

& see if it sounds like they were just making up a story about a resurrection;

 Stephen was stoned in the streets of Jerusalem

 James was beheaded

 Matthias was draped with meat & eaten by vultures

 Jude Thaddaeus was crucified & shot to death with arrows

 Nathanael was skinned alive & crucified, &; died in double agony

 Philip was hanged from the column in the great Temple

 Andrew was stoned

 Matthew was beheaded in Alexandria

 Mark was dragged to death behind chariots

 Luke was crucified

 James Alphaeus was thrown from the roof of Herod’s Temple

 Barnabas was crucified on Cyprus

 Thomas was speared by a mob

 Timothy was dragged through the streets & then stoned to death

9

 Peter & Paul were taken while they were in Rome. And while 1,000’s of

believers gorged Nero’s lions in the Circus Maximus, Paul was beheaded

on the Apian Way

 Peter was forced to watch his beloved wife crucified on Vatican Hill

 Peter, himself, felt unworthy to die as Jesus did, so he asked to be

crucified head downward

Members of the jury, may I suggest that the only thing that could

have possibly changed their lives so dramatically was the resurrection of

Jesus Christ! Every one of those individuals could have lived, & be spared a

martyr’s death, if they had just simply uttered one statement … “He’s dead.”

But they refused because they knew Jesus was alive!

Exhibit C is changed lives. Not only did the resurrected Christ impact

that group of individuals, His life-changing power has transformed people

from the 3 rd decade of the 1 st century down through today …

to you in this room right now.

The combined testimony of changed lives runs into the billions …

“from every race, tribe, nation, & language” (The Revelation 7:9) in the world!

Despite various intellectual, social, & economic backgrounds, believers are

united in their conviction that Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus has changed my

life, & some of you have told me how He has changed yours. And His life-

changing power is just as available to us today as it was to that group of

frightened followers on that 1 st Easter Sunday night.

I would now like to make my closing argument. In considering the

resurrection of Jesus Christ …thinking men & women will take the time to

sort through all the available information & study the evidence.

1 st of all, how do we explain away the empty tomb?

2 nd , how do we argue against multiple witnesses?

Finally,

how do we escape the fact that the resurrected Christ changes lives?

The evidence is strong & compelling. In fact, many skeptics have

approached the resurrection with the goal of disproving it. And as they

10

gathered all the data, they discovered that the evidence demands a verdict.

Members of the jury … what’s your verdict on the resurrection?

This is so incredibly important. But the sad thing is … there are those

who may agree with the strong evidence for the resurrection, nevertheless,

are bored with it. It doesn’t do much for them. The data, simply put,

doesn’t seem relevant to their life. It might be significant for the next life

… but how does it impact “my” life today? So, I want to close my case by

arguing that the resurrection is full of truths that we can use today …

it applies in a remarkable way to our life right now.

Easter answers at least 5 questions that we all have.

#1 … the question of doubt. Is it true? How can I know it’s true?

What is truth? (John 18:38) Like Thomas, who wouldn’t believe unless he actually

could touch the wounds of Jesus, (John 20:25), the evidence for the

resurrection can displace doubt from our mind.

#2 … the question of loneliness.

Does anyone really care about me? Do I matter?

The resurrection proves that we matter deeply to God. Jesus died for

us. (John 3:16) He took the punishment for our sins. And now He can meet our

deepest need for a relationship with Him … because He’s alive.

#3 … the question of weakness. How can I find the power to change?

Why can’t I break those bad habits in my life? Well, the same power that

raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. He can transform us just like

He radically changed that 1 st group of weakened & frightened people.

#4 … the question of guilt. How can I get rid of my guilt for all that

I’ve done? The Good News is … the resurrection is the final proof that God

accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as our sin substitute. Jesus took our

punishment … & the resurrection validates this transaction. (Romans 3:25)

#5 … the question of death. What happens when I pass?

Because Jesus’ resurrection, we now know that there’s life beyond the grave.

It’s not just a theory … or let’s keep our fingers crossed … it’s a proven

reality. Because Jesus is alive, death will never have the last word.

11

Jesus proclaimed … “Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)

Okay, this was kind of fun this morning, but the truth of the matter is,

we can’t sit in a pretend jury box forever. The evidence for the

resurrection is overwhelming … & relevant to our lives. What are we going to

do with it? The evidence demands a verdict. It’s time to make our decision.

On that 1 st Easter morning, Peter & John ran to the tomb to see if what

Mary Magdalene told them was true. When John got there, he looked in,

& Scripture records … “he saw & believed.” (John 20:8) The word here, (εἶδεν),

doesn’t mean that he simply looked. It means he saw with an inner light that

led to a conclusion. In other words, the light went on for him.

John now completely understood.

So, the obvious question for each of us is …has the light gone on for

you, for me? If so, then we have experienced a change, a new birth. (John 3:3)

And for anyone who hasn’t, that’s something that needs to be dealt with.

Put your faith in Jesus, ask Him to forgive your sins,

let Him change you from the inside out.

That’s the Good News of Easter! “Christ is risen!” “He has risen indeed!”

MARANA THA