Calvary Road Baptist Church
“PERSISTENT RESURRECTION DIS-BELIEF”
Each of you should have been given a small business card-sized distillation of the conclusions reached by Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona in their powerful book The Case For The Resurrection Of Jesus.[1] The book is a delightful read that wonderfully suits the practically-minded person who wants the basic facts related to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, precisely what we are celebrating today on Easter Sunday.
On one side of the card I have prepared for you are three things; the bold title reading “The CASE for the Resurrection of JESUS,” under that the five most straightforward and most persuasive of the many facts leading to the conclusion that Jesus Christ rose from the dead just as the Bible says He did, and the contact information for the Church at the very bottom, with the telephone number, address, and web site.
On the other side of the card I have the briefest of memory joggers that help anyone to understand the historical evidence leading to the conclusions acknowledged by historians, that Jesus Christ died by crucifixion, that His disciples believed He appeared to them after His resurrection, that Christianity’s greatest enemy became a Christian after he had seen the risen Savior (the Apostle Paul), that the world’s greatest skeptic became a Christian after he had seen the risen Lord (His brother James), and the empty tomb. Each of these facts is established with data available outside the Bible. You do not need the Bible to prove these things.
No one doubts that the greatest of all Christians was the Apostle Paul. No one doubts that before his conversion to Christ following his vision of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus he was the most dangerous enemy of Christianity and Christians. As well, no one doubts that the most prominent of Christianity’s early Church pastors was James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ who became the senior pastor of the Church in Jerusalem.[2] Neither does anyone challenge the evidence that James was the greatest of cynics as the half-brother who saw Him at close range over the course of more than thirty years of His life on earth, who scrutinized the Savior’s sinless life up close and personal, yet defiantly maintained his dis-belief despite the evidence until He saw the Lord Jesus after He rose from the dead.[3]
These things being understood, I will not bring a message on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that has anything to do with either the Apostle Paul or the Jerusalem Church pastor James. There is no doubt in my mind that my Lord Jesus Christ is alive, at the right hand of God on high, and that He is coming again, having risen from the dead after three days and nights as He said He would. Instead, I bring a message illustrating how difficult it is for someone to believe in the miracle of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It is a challenging fact to admit. Rather than spending time explaining the deadness of unsaved people’s souls, the hardness of unsaved people’s hearts, and the distorted perversity of unsaved people’s minds that makes it so hard for them to accept the truth when presented with the facts, I want to go in another direction.
Rather than spend a great deal of time trying to convince people that Jesus Christ rose from the dead I will provide for you four illustrations that establish how hard it is for anyone to believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, even those who had the most to lose by denying His resurrection and the most to gain by embracing His resurrection, His own disciples. The reason for this is obvious. If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, and if He is not as a consequence seated at the right hand of God on high, then everyone who dies will go to Hell, and everyone already dead is already in Hell.[4] However, if Jesus Christ is risen, is seated at God’s right hand on high, and is coming again, it is because He defeated sin, death, Hell, and the grave by rising from the dead, and there is salvation from sins for those who trust Him.
Those are the only two logical, rational, and reasonable alternative consequences for thinking people to deal with. Some people choose to pretend there are no consequences to be dealt with in the future, but thinking people know there are always consequences. Always. Therefore, since the person who most cares about your eternal and undying soul ought to be you, it ought to be you who addresses this matter of Christ’s resurrection. I am here to tell you that accepting Christ’s resurrection will be difficult. You will be tempted to dis-believe, which I take to be different than unbelief. An unbelieving person might be someone whose ignorance makes belief impossible or unlikely. I choose to label as a dis-believer someone who is not ignorant of the truth, but who still will not believe.
I will show you four historical accounts, each with illustrations showing how difficult it was for real people to accept the reality of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, despite having the facts that showed them He most certainly did:
First, CONSIDER MATTHEW’S ACCOUNT OF THE WITNESSES TO CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
Please turn to Matthew 28.1-15 and read along with me:
1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
14 And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
There are five things I want us to take note of:
First, take note that Matthew 28.1 records the events that took place around sundown on Saturday immediately following Christ’s crucifixion. I arrive at this conclusion because, first, we are told that it was “the end of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath ends at sundown on Saturday, Saturday dusk. I arrive at this conclusion, second, because we are told that “it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” Though I am admittedly in the minority, I think the Greek word does not refer to sun up, but rather to the approach of the Sabbath, which commences at dusk. Found only twice in the Greek New Testament, the word has this sense of approaching both times it is used.[5]
Next, verse 2 informs us that when the two Marys arrived at the tomb there was an earthquake and an angel rolled the stone back from the opening to the tomb. The earthquake and the angel rolling the stone away from the opening terrified the soldiers detailed to guard the tomb, verse 4.
On this occasion, at the tomb when the stone was rolled away, the angel told the two Marys the Lord was not there, that He had risen, and that they should look and see, verse 6.
Then, told by the angel to go and tell others, the two Marys ran with joy and fear, meeting their risen Lord along the way, verses 7-10.
Verses 11-15 tell us that some of the soldiers charged with guarding the tomb went and told their superiors, who then concocted a story and bribed them to adopt an agreed upon narrative. The problem with that, however, is that had there been no conspiracy to conceal the facts the guards would have forfeited their lives for losing what they were charged with guarding.
Next, CONSIDER MARK’S ACCOUNT OF THE WITNESSES TO CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
Please turn to Mark 16.1-14 and read along with me:
1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Notice the details of this account:
In Mark 16.1 the beginning of the Sabbath had passed, unlike Matthew 28.1 when the Sabbath was approaching. Also, in verse 1, three women approach the tomb in this account, the two Marys and Salome, whereas Matthew reported two women coming, either because there were then only two women visiting the tomb, or because Matthew mentioned only the two when there were three.
Mark 16.2 informs us their arrival occurred very early in the morning, near the rising of the sun. This is twelve hours after the Sabbath began. Did the two Marys first go to the tomb at dusk and then return twelve hours later with Salome?
In Mark 16.3-6 the women discuss the need for the stone to be rolled away, find that the stone has already been moved, and see that an angel is already on the scene, sitting inside the tomb. No mention of an earthquake in Mark’s account, or of the angel descending (he is already there as they arrive), or of any soldiers being there. Could it be that the soldiers were frightened and left twelve hours ago, with some of them having already reported to their superiors?
In verses 7-8 the women are dispatched by the angel to go and tell others, with a summary of events found in verses 9-14. But notice verses 11, 13 and 14: Verse 11 reveals the response by Christ’s mourning disciples when Mary Magdalene told them the good news that Christ had risen:
“And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.”
Verse 13 reveals the response to two others to whom the Lord appeared:
“And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.”
Now we come to the Lord Jesus Christ’s response to the remaining apostles who had been told of His resurrection by others, verse 14:
“Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”
Third, CONSIDER LUKE’S ACCOUNT OF THE WITNESSES TO CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
Please turn to Luke chapter 24. Luke’s account runs parallel to Mark’s account, so we will not take the time to read verses 1-9. We begin with verse 10:
10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Look at Luke 24.11, where we once more learn that the apostles were reluctant to believe the women’s testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the dead:
“And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.”
Because he did not believe the women, and had to go see for himself, Peter ran to the tomb to see for himself that it was empty, verse 12:
“Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”
Look down to verse 25 where we see the Lord Jesus Christ’s response later in the day when two of His disciples in the nearby village of Emmaus recounted what they had been told about the Lord’s resurrection, though they had not seen with their own eyes that He had risen:
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”
Finally, CONSIDER JOHN’S ACCOUNT OF THE WITNESSES TO CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
John’s Gospel account, like Mark and Luke’s, begins with events early Sunday morning, but provides less initial detail and covers a larger time frame. However, we are provided more evidence of a reluctance to accept that the Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the dead.
John 20.1:
“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”
See? It is dark and not dusk. It is early and not late. Only one Mary is mentioned here, yet we know from Mark and Luke there were two Marys present. And she sees that the stone has already been taken away, unlike Matthew’s account.
Verse 2:
“Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”
Notice that Mary Magdalene is not yet convinced the Savior had risen, even though before she spoke to Peter and John (the disciple Jesus loved) following her second trip to the tomb, she had encountered the Lord Jesus just after her first trip to the tomb. Matthew 28.9 reminds us:
“And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.”
When Peter and young John ran to the tomb the younger man looked in, saw only the linen the Lord’s body had been wrapped in, and believed, John 20.8:
“Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.”
Verses 10-16 records what is now Mary’s third time coming to the tomb, and yet she initially still does not believe her Lord had risen from the dead. But then she saw Him again:
10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Now we turn to doubting Thomas, who was not present when the risen Lord appeared to the other apostles, and who initially refused to believe He had risen from the dead. We look to John 20.24-31:
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Perhaps you are agreed with me that Matthew’s account of the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection records events Saturday night at dusk or you agree with the majority of commentators who hold that all four Gospel accounts record events that occurred beginning just before sun up on Sunday morning. That’s perfectly fine.
What I have sought to establish with this message from God’s Word, and is more important than the precise timing of Matthew’s account, is that, #1, every Gospel account has the Savior resurrected following the Sabbath, and on the first day of the week, and, #2, the dis-belief of our Lord’s closest followers is established.
It is generally thought by unbelievers, and especially self-styled intellectuals with their presumed concern for honest inquiry, that the Lord’s followers were a group of gullible dupes who were easily suckered into believing all sorts of nonsense about what the Lord said and did, most importantly that He rose from the dead.
Nonsense. By way of introduction, I mentioned the fierce opponent of Christianity who became the Apostle Paul and the determined cynic who became the pastor of the Jerusalem Church, James. Those two men did not forsake position and prestige in the Jewish community for a lifetime of persecution without overwhelming evidence. No one could characterize those men as naive or gullible dupes. And in our brief consideration of the four Gospel accounts, we have seen repeated resistance and outright reluctance to accept the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection as true by His most devoted followers. Even after she had already seen the risen Savior, Mary still had doubts that what she had seen and heard and felt was real, so foreign to her operational paradigm was the Lord’s conquest of death. The two Marys found it so hard to believe that after a Saturday dusk encounter with the risen Savior they returned in their dis-belief to the tomb almost twelve hours later, perhaps imagining what they had experienced before was a dream or a delusion.
Then there were the apostles. The remaining eleven men had been with Jesus of Nazareth from the beginning. They had forsaken all to follow Him. They seem, especially with Thomas, to be determined to deny that their Lord had risen from the dead, despite the number of times He had predicted both His crucifixion and His resurrection. Theirs was determined dis-belief.
So, what does this leave us with on Easter Sunday morning? It leaves us with the realization that the earliest followers of the Lord Jesus Christ were very reluctant to embrace the notion that He rose from the dead, that He is alive. Their inclinations were not to naively believe something just because. On the contrary, they had to be soundly convinced by irrefutable proof. And they were. They tried to be dis-believers, but face to face confrontations with the risen Savior ripped their dis-belief away.
Consider Mary Magdalene. She had three trips to the empty tomb and two encounters with the risen Savior before she was convinced. John had to see the empty tomb and the arrangement of the body wrappings before he believed. And Thomas. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared through a wall without opening the door and challenged Thomas to thrust his fingers into the wounds in the risen Savior’s side and hands to strip away his dis-belief and force by what he could no longer deny his acknowledgment that Jesus Christ was his Lord and his God.
So, what will it take for you? Something needs to convince you that Jesus Christ rose from the dead or you will spend eternity in the lake of fire.[6] If Christ be not risen we are yet in our sins, Paul wrote. You will have to believe my Lord rose from the dead without seeing Him, without hearing His voice, and without feeling His wounds. Why? You are no Paul, and you are no Thomas, therefore, He will not appear for you.
What it will take with you is this thing called faith. What God requires from you is the right conclusion drawn from circumstantial evidence. That’s what faith is. God requires it, and it only comes from God through the preaching of His Word, when given by the Holy Spirit.[7] Without faith, specifically without faith in Christ, you are doomed because you are damned.[8]
The question for you to address is whether you will exercise due diligence with regard for the eternal safety of your immortal soul, or if you will become someone guilty of dis-belief. You have sufficient evidence that the Son of God rose from the dead. The question now is what you will do with the facts at your disposal and whether or not the Spirit of God will work to convince you of your soul’s peril and your desperate need of Christ.
But for those of us who have already tasted that the Lord is gracious, we choose to celebrate Easter Sunday in the knowledge that our Lord and sweet Savior is enthroned at God’s right hand on high. It is based on that comforting reality that we say to each other, “He is risen!”
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[1] Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case For The Resurrection Of Jesus, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004)
[2] Acts 15.13-21
[3] 1 Corinthians 15.7
[4] 1 Corinthians 15.17
[5] Luke 23.54
[6] Revelation 21.8
[7] Hebrews 11.1, 6; Romans 10.17; 2 Corinthians 4.13
[8] Romans 4.5; 5.1
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