Significance

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history. If it occurred, God is real, Jesus is him, the Bible is true, heaven and hell are realities, and Jesus makes the difference on whether you go to one or the other.

Additionally, by its own admission, Christianity is a pointless exercise if Christ did not rise. The Apostle Paul said:

1 Corinthians 15:17 (ESV) — 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

So, if it happened, it is God breaking into our world, giving us hope that a glorious and resurrected future in his forever kingdom is possible through the work of Jesus. If it happened, it is God, yet again, answering the cry of man that he "reveal himself if he is there." If it happened, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, so we must discern and heed his every word.

But, if it did not happen, Jesus and the teachings of his church ought to be quickly discarded. Without the resurrection, there is no point to Christianity. As Paul said, our faith is futile.

Theories

That said, it is understandable why many cannot believe Jesus rose from the dead. It is, at face value, illogical. People don't rise from the dead, especially not as Jesus did. He was not merely resuscitated. Resurrection means so much more. He came back to life in the same body in which he died, but that body was transformed into a more glorious version. And it would never die again. It had not been resuscitated but resurrected, and his resurrection promises resurrection for all those who believe in him.

But it is insufficient for one to say they don't believe Jesus rose from the dead because people don't normally rise from the dead. That is the whole point. Christianity is so radical and life-changing that it should not be based on something normal. It should be based on something abnormal, something special, something supernatural. And since Christianity leads to a final and forever resurrection, it is appropriate for it to be based on Jesus' resurrection, the first resurrection.

Now, in our modern times, there is no serious debate about Jesus' existence. His is one of the most easily validated lives of antiquity. It is also widely believed that Jesus was crucified and that something after Jesus' death propelled a group of people to align themselves with him.

And that group -- we call them the church -- immediately began to spread throughout the known world. Their spread did not begin lifetimes after Jesus' life but right after his departure from the earth. In other words, the earliest spread of Christianity was not due to a legend about Jesus that developed hundreds of years later but as a response to what a group of people had seen and witnessed with their own eyes.

These historical events have led to many odd theories by those who cannot accept the possibility Jesus rose. Some have said Jesus almost died but fainted and revived a few days later. But it's hard to imagine how he wriggled out of the graveclothes, moved the massive stone, departed from the grave, and somehow convinced the disciples to suffer and die for him. Some have said all the early Christians hallucinated Christ's resurrection, but this is a clear demonstration they don't know how hallucinations work (hint: it's not a group experience). Some say it was a legend or myth adopted over time, or that the body was stolen, or that they simply went to the wrong tomb, or that the church lied so they could make money from the story of the resurrection.

My personal favorite is the twin theory: that Jesus had an identical twin brother. They were separated at birth. After Jesus died, this twin emerged, stole Jesus' body from the grave, and pretended to be the risen Messiah.

But the clearest explanation is the supernatural one: Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And in our passage today, I want to quickly point out seven clues that lend to the legitimacy of this claim.

Setting

For this, we will continue our study through Mark's gospel. We've taken it verse-by-verse for over a year now, and we will conclude next week. Last week, we read about Jesus' crucifixion and burial. He'd hastily been wrapped in graveclothes, slathered with seventy-five pounds of burial spices, and laid in a tomb that was then sealed and guarded by the Romans. The disciples have scattered, but when Sunday morning came, a group of women went to Jesus' tomb to complete his burial preparations.

1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.

5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.

1. The Documents

The first clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event is not in this text but is the text itself. The New Testament -- writings like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John -- is the most well-authenticated document of antiquity. We are able to compare and contrast almost six thousand ancient Greek copies of the New Testament (not to mention another almost twenty thousand non-Greek ancient manuscripts) to make sure we are reading what the original's said. That's around twenty-five thousand ancient manuscripts.

For comparison, the document of antiquity that comes is second is Homer's Iliad with 643 ancient manuscripts. 643 to 25K. And the earliest copy of the Iliad is from the thirteenth century, almost two thousand years after Homer died. We are living almost two thousand years after the New Testament was written, and our earliest copies come from the second century. We have a reliable book. It is what was originally written, and next week I will get into it a bit as we address the notation in many of your Bible about the last twelve verses of Mark.

And the contents are astounding. Some have said Christianity merely borrowed from myths and mystery religions, that Jesus' resurrection simply parroted all the resurrection fables in circulation at that time. The problem is there is no definitive evidence for the teaching of a deity resurrection in any of the mystery religions prior to the second century -- after the events of Jesus' time. No, pagan myths might've focused on the rebirth of the earth every spring, but no one around during Jesus' time was preaching the possibility of resurrected life after death.

The New Testament is different than anything before or after it. It's not written like mythology, but history. And that's the thing -- Jesus' resurrection is either an elaborate hoax, mythology, or history. But it isn't written like mythology, and there are reasons it could not have been a hoax. It is history.

2. The Stone

The second clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event is the stone that covered the tomb. In our passage, the women went to the tomb early in the morning to finish anointed Jesus' dead body with burial spices (1-2). They worried, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb" (3).

The reason they were concerned is that the stone was heavy, perhaps thousands of pounds, and they knew they couldn't move it with their bare hands. But they didn't know the full story. The other gospels tell us the Romans put a seal on the stone so the tomb would be tamper-proof, and that they set a guard outside the tomb to protect the body. No one could tamper with Jesus' body.

In other words, there were tight security measures surrounding Jesus' grave. These women could not even temporarily roll away the stone, so the early disciples had no chance of stealing the body of Jesus.

3. The Empty Tomb

The third clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event is the empty tomb. The women found the stone rolled back (4). The other gospels tell us an earthquake, the presence of angels, and the empty tomb had scared the soldiers away (Matthew 28:2-4). The tomb was a man-made cave carved into the side of a rock-hill, so the women were able to go inside. They saw a young man dressed in white sitting on the right side of the tomb (5). The other gospels tell us he was an angel, one of two.

"Do not be alarmed," he said. "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him." (6).

Now, in modern times there are two primary locations that are thought to be the ancient tomb of Christ. But it is hard to be certain. Other religions might venerate the grave sight of their founder, but not Christians. Why would they? Jesus was alive!

During Jesus' time, however, his tomb would have been easy to find. The disciples knew it belonged to an important man named Joseph of Arimathea. The Jews knew where it was. The Romans sealed and guarded it.

My point is that if Jesus had not risen from the dead, it would have been very easy to verify. All they had to do was go to the tomb, break the seal, roll away the stone, and look. But the enemies of Christ did no such thing. There is no record of any attempt to produce a body.

4. The Women

The fourth clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event is the women themselves. They were the first eyewitnesses. Three of them were the first to see the empty tomb, and one of them, Mary Magdalene, lingered in the garden around the tomb and was the first to see Jesus (9-10, John 20:11-18). These women were part of the early years of the church and could have been interviewed at any time about what and who they saw.

In our modern times, the testimony of multiple women would count for much, as it should. But in that culture, the testimony of women was not respected. So if the accounts of Jesus' resurrection were fictitious creations of the early church, it would have been more likely for them to report that men saw the empty tomb and the risen Lord first. But Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all recorded women as the first witnesses. I think they wrote this way because the women were the first witnesses.

5. Their Disbelief

The fifth clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event is the disbelief all throughout the passage. The women fled from the tomb while trembling and astonished (8). And when they reported what they'd seen, the others did not believe them (11). Jesus even appeared in his glorified state to a couple of unsuspecting disciples while traveling on a country road (12). Luke records this beautiful appearance in great detail (Luke 24:13-35). Eventually, they realized Jesus was this camouflaged traveler and told the others. But the others did not believe them (13). And finally, Jesus appeared to all eleven remaining disciples and rebuked them for their unbelief (14).

I bring up all this astonishment and unbelief as a clue to the fact of the resurrection because it is not at all how one might concoct a story. None of them are presented as hoping for a resurrection or clinging to Jesus' clear promises that he would rise on the third day. They did not believe, and this candid representation of the events serves as another clue that this is an accurate account.

6. The Appearances

The sixth clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event are the appearances of Jesus after he rose. In our passage, he appeared to the women and to the disciples, but there is a hint about another, larger meeting as well. When the angel spoke to the women, he told them to tell the disciples to go meet him in Galilee (7). Before Jesus died, he told them he would rise and meet them there (Mark 14:28). Paul referred to this Galilean meeting when he wrote that Jesus:

1 Corinthians 15:6 (ESV) — 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

This means that over forty days, Jesus appeared alive to his followers. And many people saw him. The 500. The women. The disciples. The New Testament records around fifteen appearances after the resurrection.

And these people were clearly convinced by what they saw because they quickly made the resurrection the foundation of their beliefs, preaching it in the very city Jesus was crucified. And many of them became willing to die for that message, a sign it was true. I say this because, though some will martyr themselves for a lie, no one would be martyred for something they knew was a lie. And these early witnesses had the information. They knew what they saw was true and were willing to die for it.

7. The Church

The seventh clue that Jesus' resurrection is a factual event is what was produced by it -- the church. In our passage, Jesus met the disciples and, as we'll see next week, commissioned them to tell others about him (14). And today, all over the world, thousands of churches have gathered to honor and rejoice over Christ's resurrection. Our religion is not based on teachings we found nifty or helpful or true to us, but on the event of the resurrection.

It was monumental enough for the first generation of Christians that they did something unthinkable. They shifted the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday because that's the day Jesus rose. Since all the first Christians were Jewish, and since Saturday was the Sabbath, and since God had put keeping the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments, shifting the day of worship to Sunday was a big deal. Something extraordinary happened right around AD 30 that caused a big contingent of Jews to begin worshipping on Sunday. Jesus rose.

But it isn't only the day shift that stands out. It's the changed lives. Peter changed. All the disciples changed. And enemies of Jesus, men like Paul, were changed. All over the Roman Empire, men and women who were bound in darkness were changed, brought into the light. The gospel went into a world with upside-down beliefs and morals and turned it right side up.

As I mentioned earlier, many critics have said the early church made up the resurrection for personal gain. But I think critics are the ones who get personal gain and notoriety. The early disciples, good people who championed truth-telling, got beatings, imprisonments, and death. Yet no one recanted because they'd seen the risen Lord, and he had fundamentally changed them and their view of the world.

And for the last two thousand years, Jesus Christ has been changing men and women into his image. Though enemies have attacked, though his Scriptures have been hidden, and though his message is the most singularly hated message of all time, his resurrection power still breaks through to change lives.

Conclusion

Months ago, Pastor Riley and I got together to plan this Easter service. As creative people often do, Riley asked if coffee would make our meeting better, and I agreed. We went downtown, grabbed some coffee from a local favorite of ours, and proceeded to walk around Lake El Estero, dreaming and talking about this weekend. Soon, we stumbled upon the Monterey Cemetery. I asked Riley if he'd mind walking through there. It is a serene and sobering environment. As we talked and walked, Riley asked, "What is the reason for our Easter celebration?"

Then it hit me. There we were, in the midst of a graveyard. Sin, for thousands of years, has killed people. But Jesus came. Jesus died. And Jesus rose. All so that those who die can rise forever with him. He came to set the captive free, and death was our captor. But, praise God, we are set free in him!

Let him be famous to us. Believe him. Trust him. Accept him.

And let us love him. Let us grow in him. Let us preach him.