What If There Was No Resurrection?
Introduction:
To most fair historians there is little question as to the existence of Jesus. In fact many historians will even admit that he was put to death on a Roman cross, however the most disputed point of all is the resurrection of Jesus. The reason why is because if Jesus really did rise from the dead then that has huge implication for our lives. If Jesus really did rise from the dead it elevates him above all other people who have ever lived and established Christianity as the one path to God. No wonder there is such dispute as to the historical accuracy of the resurrection.
Did Jesus really rise from the dead? People may assert they have seen a lot of dead people and they never come back to life. The resurrection defies logic and reason. Some people would argue that the record of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is not reliable. Other still may say that Jesus did not resurrect bodily from the grave, but it was a rise in the hearts of the disciples to make themselves feel better. Others have attempted to argue that the disciples were just hallucinating when they saw the resurrected Jesus; however hallucinations may rarely occur in individuals, but not in large groups of people. Some people suggest that someone may have stolen the body of Jesus and that would explain he empty tomb. One might wonder what agenda someone would have in stealing the body of Jesus? How would any potential body thief get past the Roman guards stationed at the tomb, who if they failed would have been sentenced to death? More than that the disciples died for this truth, if it was a lie and they didn’t really see Jesus resurrected would they have died and sacrificed the way they did for something they knew was not true? Others have suggested that Jesus never really die when he was on the cross, but as just unconscious and woke up three days later. This is what the Koran teaches and what the Muslims believe about the resurrection of Jesus. It seems ignorant to me to believe that after being beaten the way that Jesus was and nailed to a cross and having your side pierced that he would have survived that torture.
The question that we want to know the answer to is does our faith blind us to the evidence? I believe Jesus really did rise from the dead as the Scriptures teach and I believe there is overwhelming evidence to validate that truth. However, what if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead? What would that mean to you and me today? What would that change?
People may be able to dispute the resurrection in their minds, they may attempt to argue the reliability of the Scriptures and the accuracy of the Biblical accounts of the resurrection but the one thing that no historian, skeptic, archaeologist or scientist can answer is where is the body of Jesus?
There is not another doctrine of our faith that is so vital to us than the resurrection. Our faith stands or falls based on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection is the most powerful evidence that we have that the Bible is true and Christianity is real, however many people walk away from hearing the story of Jesus unconvinced. Jesus’ resurrection is vital to our lives. His resurrection validated His life, teaching and ministry. His resurrection was God’s stamp of approval. His resurrection was the greatest proof of His Lordship. We see even further why the resurrection of Jesus is so hotly disputed. In a recent documentary titled, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” it is asserted that the bones of Jesus and his family have been discovered. Of course I believe that is false, but when people come up with such a statement what does that mean to us? What would it mean for someone to discredit Jesus resurrection?
Apparently, in the first century in the town of Corinth some people in the church began disputing the concept of a bodily resurrection from the dead. Paul wanted to spend some time correcting this false teaching in his letter to the Corinthians. He suggests to them that that bad doctrine of the resurrection had great implications upon them and he wanted them to follow that out to it’s end. So, what if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead?
Text: I Corinthians 15
I. The Message Would Be A Hoax
a. What Jesus Claimed
Throughout Jesus’ life he made many outrageous claims. It is these things he claimed about himself which we treasure today, but 2,000 years ago these claims created quite a stir and were difficult to accept coming from a carpenter from Nazareth. He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, to be obey with the Father, to have authority to forgive sins, to be King, to be Lord, and to be worthy of equal praise to the Father. When Jesus was put to death all his claims were in dispute. If Jesus remained in the tomb then those claims would have been absurd. The resurrection validates these claims that Jesus made for himself and further cements the truths that He preached. If the resurrection did not take place it makes Jesus a liar or at the very least great mistaken as to His origin and identity. If there is no resurrections then we lose the power and comfort from His promises, we lose the reliability of His teaching, and we lose the hope of redemption that He provided.
There are many people that deny that Jesus was really the Son of God. Most people however will at least refer to Jesus as a good, moral teacher. Let me assure you that we cannot deduce Jesus to being a good, moral teacher. Either He is who he claimed to be or He was the greatest con artist who ever has lived. If Jesus did not really arise from the dead then his message and his preaching can be thrown out the window and his claims are proven to be false.
Romans 1:4
Jesus was declared to be the Son of God based on the power of His resurrection. If you take that resurrection away then you take away the validity of his teaching. In fact, if the resurrection is not true Jesus could not even be as much as a prophet. The Old Testament gave the Jews a way to identify a false prophet. One way to identify a false prophet was if all his predictions didn’t come true. A true prophet’s predictions are never false. This says something about self proclaimed prophets like Nostradamus. Well, Jesus predicted His death and His resurrection on numerous occasions. He spoke of His body being the Temple, which he would rebuild in three days. He spoke of the sign of Jonah and as Jonah as in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights so he would be in the belly of the earth. If there is no resurrection then what Jesus claimed is false. He not only could not be the Son of God, he could not be a prophet or even a moral teacher. If the resurrection is a hoax then His message is a hoax and Jesus should go down in history as the world’s greatest deceiver.
b. What the Disciples Preached
There are some in the world who would say that even the disciples did not preach Jesus as risen from the dead, however It is absolutely clear that the disciples preached a resurrected Jesus.
Acts 2:24-33
Either the disciples were correct in their message or they were lying about it. Let me assure you that if anyone knew the truths about what Jesus did in his life and especially about his resurrection is what the band of twelve men called his disciples. If Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead then message and preaching of His disciples was all a part of the sham. In nearly fifty places the New Testament speaks about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. If this is not true than the disciples were unreliable witnesses. However, if Jesus’ resurrection is a real and historical event as the disciples claimed it was, then their message and their preaching has power and is binding. If Jesus didn’t really resurrect then the New Testament is just a product originated in the minds of the disciples and not the Truth as revealed by God Almighty.
I Corinthians 15:14-17
In verses 14-17 Paul says two times that faith is worthless if Christ has not been raised. The first time in verse 14 he says that faith is in vain or empty of any content. The second time he says it is worthless meaning it is idle and it gets you nothing, in other words it is fruitless.
If the resurrection never occurred then the apostles are admittedly false witnesses of the events that unfolded. The reliability of Christianity depends upon the resurrection. You see the resurrection is not something the disciples could have simply been mistaken about. They could not have been mistaken witnesses, if Jesus did not rise from the dead they were false witnesses. The disciples were eyewitnesses and gave a firsthand account of seeing Jesus resurrected. Paul referred to this in I Corinthians 15. He states that the resurrected Jesus appeared to Peter and James and the other disciples. He cements it even great when he says he appeared at one time to over 500 individuals most of whom Paul says were still living. In other words Paul was saying check out the evidence yourself, go ask them if you do not believe.
The Gospel that the disciples would have spent the rest of their lives preaching would have been that Jesus died, was buried, but rose again and is now at the right hand of God. If that is not true then the disciples were liars and their preaching is false and the New Testament carries no real weight or authority.
c. What We Believe Entirely
The Resurrection was a part of the gospel or the Good News and to remove the resurrection is to take away that good news.
I Corinthians 15:1-8
The resurrection of Jesus is the foundational doctrine of our faith and our faith rises and falls based in the truth of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. If the resurrection is wrong then everything we hold dear and believe is wrong and needs to be reevaluated. If Christ has not been raised we have nothing concrete to place our faith in.
II. There would Be No Salvation
One of the points that Paul makes more clear than anything else to the Corinthians that if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ did not rise and if Christ did not arise then we are lost in our sins and without hope of eternal life.
I Corinthians 15:14-20
A permanently dead redeemer is no redeemer at all. If Christ did not resurrect from the dead then there would be no salvation for mankind and as Paul says those that have died before us are without hope of eternal life and we are still in our sins. Paul says in Romans 10 that the resurrection is something that we must believe in order to be saved. Not only that but the resurrection is something that must have occurred in order for us to be saved. Jesus’ death on the cross did not complete Jesus’ work of redemption of mankind. When Jesus cried, “It is finished”, he did not mean that redemption was finished, but he meant that one particular work that He was sent for was finished, that part which involved humiliation and suffering. His resurrection completed His work. The resurrection is our hope, if He did not rise then we have no hope of eternal life and no comfort of something better, we would still be in our sins.
Romans 4:24-25
I love the old hymn that states the doctrine so well here, “living he loved me, dying he saved me, buried he carried my sins far away, rising he justified freely forever, one day he is coming, oh glorious day.” The book of Hebrews teaches us that when Christ arose his sacrifice was presented before the Father as the atonement for our sins. If He did not arise then His High Priestly work could not be completed. Sometimes I think we emphasize his death to the neglect of His resurrection. If He simply died and that was the end of the story it is a sad story indeed of a man wrongly punished, however the cross is not the end of the story. His resurrection is which allows us to also share in His resurrection one day. The Bible promises that just as Christ arose we too will one day arise.
Romans 6:3-9
Paul tells us that our baptism symbolizes the gospel. If there is no resurrection of Christ then you aren’t coming up when I baptize you, you get to stay down in the water because us coming up from the water symbolizes Christ coming up from the grave. Furthermore we are promised if we have been united with Him in His death we will one day be united in His resurrection.
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
Jesus resurrection, not his death sealed the victory over death. There is no single event in history which provided more hope for mankind than Jesus’ resurrection.
I Corinthians 15:50-57
For those of you who have lost loved ones who are in the Lord it was not their defeat it was their victory. The sting of death has been defeated because of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus never rose then we grieve like the rest of the world who has no hope and we feel the sting of death. However, Jesus resurrection assures us of a future victory and we can rest assured that one day we will experience a resurrection where we too will rise to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever all because our Savior conquered death. The resurrection makes available to us a power that is able to reverse the condition of death and restore to us life. As the world seeks to deny the resurrection of Jesus let us understand that our eternal future is tied to His. How could Jesus secure for us a future He himself did not possess? If he did not rise then we have no hope of eternal life, but if He did it provides a great hope of a future salvation and a future resurrection of our own.
III. There Would Be No Reigning Lord
Sometimes we mistakenly forget the events that unfolded following Jesus’ resurrection. After three days in the tomb Jesus arose with power. The Scriptures tell us that for forty days following that he appeared to many people. After those forty days was over he was with his disciples and before their very eyes ascended into Heaven. Of course the resurrection is significant, but the ascension is the time when Jesus took His rightful place at the right hand of God. We take a lot of comfort in knowing that we have a reigning Lord. It is a great comfort to know that during our trials and difficulties Jesus is still on His throne. However, if Jesus never rose from the dead he would never have been able to take His spot on the throne because he would still be dead and his body would be somewhere in Jerusalem.
Ephesians 1:19-23
In the Old Testament the priests were chosen for their duty not based on any spiritual qualification or character qualifications, but based on their lineage. The Scriptures refer to Jesus as our great High Priest. What qualifies Jesus to be our High Priest is not his physical decent through the line of Aaron or the tribe of Levi, but it is the resurrection from the dead.
Hebrews 7:16
Not only that, but his priesthood does not end. The priests of the Old Testament served in a temporary capacity, but Jesus’ priesthood is never ending because He lives forever. Therefore, Jesus is always interceding before God for all the saints.
Let us understand that if there be no resurrection there is no reigning Lord, there is no one interceding before God on our behalf, there is no power in our prayers, there is no comfort of someone bigger and greater than we who is in control, there is no hope of justice upon the wicked. Let me assure you that as the Scriptures plainly teach Jesus is not dead, he is not in a tomb somewhere, but He is Alive and He is reigning right now in Heaven.
IV. There Would Be No Second Coming
Let us take the implications a step further. If there is no resurrection then there is no second coming. There is no hope of Jesus returning one day to take His church to be with him. If there is no resurrection His promise of Heaven and taking us to be where He is carries no weight. Jesus cannot return to a place He hasn’t left. If there is no second coming then that strips us of the greatest hope that we have in this world. Perhaps that is why Paul says that if we only have hope in this world we are to be pitied above all men.
Acts 1:9-11
V. There Would Be No Power to Live
I love the words to the hymn which say, “Because He lives I can face tomorrow. Because He lives all fear is gone and I know who holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.
Philippians 3:10-11
Paul said he wanted to know the power of His resurrection. The Scriptures speak about God raising Jesus up from the grave with a mighty power. That power is available to us today. The resurrection gives us the power to live. It gives us the power to live a godly life. It gives us the power to serve and to be used by God. It gives us the power to be a part of the kingdom.
Today followers of the Islamic faith can visit the tomb of their leader Mohammed. Today followers of the Buddhist religion can go to the grave of their founder, Buddha. You can visit the graves of past presidents and historical figures, you can visit the graves of past loved ones, but you cannot visit the burial place of the greatest man that ever lived, Jesus Christ, because he rose from the dead and lives even today at the right hand of the throne of God himself.
