Easter C 2004

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

A Resurrection To Stand and Live By

The 18th June 1815 is one of the most significant dates in English history, the day on which Wellington faced Napoleon at Waterloo. The future of the nation was at stake. Everyone up and down the land was hoping that Wellington had won. One of the main lookout posts was Winchester Cathedral from where the channel could just be seen. But on that day it was very foggy. However the fog lifted for a moment and the message from the channel could be seen: "Wellington defeated..." The worst had happened and the depressing news was signaled from beacon to beacon up and down the land. But then a few hours later the fog cleared and the message was seen more clearly: "Wellington defeated the French."

Well Good Friday is only half the story, because Jesus' resurrection at Easter shows that the victory is won. If news of Wellington’s victory brought joy to the English, Easter does it even more so for us, because it is not only an enemy general who is defeated but death itself. Jesus is the Son of God and is well able to defeat death. And his victory becomes ours. That is the implication: there is hope, and as Paul puts it, we are saved, saved from a life of guilt and futility, rescued to live a life that God meant us to live in relationship to him. That is what is at stake here: The hope of our salvation from death to a life of joy and peace.

But not everyone is happy with this Easter message. Jesus’ resurrection remains a controversial topic. Often it is claimed that there is insufficient evidence to prove that Jesus rose from the dead. However, this claim is merely a smokescreen and is easily proven false. In our Epistle reading for today Paul provides us with some convincing evidence to prove Jesus rose from the dead.

First is the evidence of the Old Testament (OT) Scriptures. Paul writes, “Christ… died… was buried… was raised… according to the Scriptures” (3, 4). One Scripture Paul undoubtedly has in mind is Isaiah 53, where 700 years before Jesus died, it is told quite plainly that the Christ would be rejected and punished for the people’s sins. And that after dying, He would come back to life. Jesus clearly saw Himself as this suffering servant. That He was the One to give His life for the sins of the people was a key element in all His teaching.

Isaiah is just one example of an Old Testament (OT) prophet predicting Jesus’ death and resurrection hundreds of years before it happened. In fact, Jesus fulfilled over 200 prophecies from the OT. There is no way that one man could deliberately set out to fulfill all those prophecies, for, among other things, they talk about His birth and death, things a human being has no control over. The OT Scriptures are an excellent piece of evidence for the truth of the Easter events, because they show us how it was all planned by God to the last detail. This gives us great confidence in the truth of the Gospel.

The second piece of evidence Paul presents us is the evidence of the witnesses. There is an impressive list: “Jesus appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of who are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also.” Let us then consider some of the witnesses Paul gives us. For instance there is James, the half-brother of Jesus. In John 7 we learn that he did not believe in the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah. Yet, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, he became the most respected leader of the church. Why the change of heart? Apparently, seeing his dead brother alive again must have been very convincing.

Paul also mentions a crowd of 500 people, most who were still alive. The implication is that the Corinthians could ask them if they wanted to. “Do you doubt that Jesus rose again? Then go and interview these witnesses.” That’s what we would do, isn’t it? Good witnesses are very important. 500 people could not have all had the same hallucination. No, Paul is very clear. This resurrection was a real physical event. Jesus was not simply alive in the minds of his followers, as some would have us believe today, or the subject of wishful thinking, like hare-brained Elvis fans claiming Elvis is in Paraguay running a coffee plantation. No this was a real physical resurrection from the dead. Jesus was dead, but was raised to life and was seen by witnesses.

But we know that memories can play tricks on brains and sometimes people just believe what they want to believe. Well this letter that Paul was writing to the Corinthians was written about 20 years after Jesus died and rose again. Now 20 years is actually not a long time. For instance, 20 years ago I began my studies in university. I can still remember all of my first year professors and a good number of my classmates. 20 years ago I went for a week to Haiti to visit our Lutheran mission there. I still have vivid memories of all the places I visited in that nation. Do you remember where you were 20 years ago? I bet you can you still clearly remember events that happened back then. You don't just forget important things in your life. Nor would you forget an event like a man being raised from the dead and appearing to you in person. Twenty years is not a long time. These witnesses were very sure of what they saw. Jesus appeared to them time and again over a period of a whole month before He was taken into heaven.

Another important fact to keep in mind is the lack of any credible evidence to the contrary. If the whole story was just a hoax, something someone made up, then you would expect that a good number of people who were with Jesus and saw what really happened, to come forward and challenge it. The early Christians were in no positions of power at the time the New Testament was written. In fact they were hated by the authorities and bitterly persecuted. It would have been very easy for anyone who knew Jesus to challenge the Biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection. The authorities would have been eager to hear anyone who would come forward and help them to debunk the story of Jesus’ resurrection once and for all. However, there was not a single witness to contradict what Paul was preaching. On the contrary, all of the apostles stuck to the message even though they were persecuted, imprisoned and executed. Would you give up your life for something you knew was false? Unlikely!

There is another piece of evidence Paul tells us about. And that is the evidence of a changed life. This is Paul's life. See what he says about himself in verse 9: "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." Paul was a cold-hearted murderer, who was so opposed to the message of Jesus that he actively persecuted Christians. He would break up church meetings and have the Christians tried and imprisoned. That was Paul's life. But then something happened. Something so radical that he changed from being an obsessed persecutor to a devoted follower. Someone that was so opposed to the message does not suddenly turn around like this. Something must have happened to make Paul stand up just a few weeks later in the middle of a town and proclaim that Jesus had risen from the dead and was the Son of God. The only thing that explains it is that Jesus must be alive! The evidence of a changed life is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence. That, says Paul to the Corinthians, is the evidence at hand. It is clear for all to see. These events are rooted in history. They did happen. And the evidence points only to one conclusion: Jesus rose from the dead and is alive.

Paul has shown us the truth at stake: At stake is our salvation. And we have seen the evidence at hand. But there is one final point Paul has to make, and that is the challenge at heart. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is no idle curiosity as we have seen. It is the truth and without it, we are lost in the vain futility of existence. Because it did happen there are serious consequences for us. Paul writes: “By this Gospel [the Gospel about Jesus who died and rose again] you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain" (2). Paul says that this Gospel is something we must hold onto firmly. If the gospel is true then it is life changing and it is something worth living for. If Jesus rose from the dead, then it proves there is a God who loves us and wants us to live with Him. We have a purpose, we have a goal and we have a mission.

A couple of years ago, Jeremy Bowen, foreign correspondent with the BBC put together a piece on the life of Jesus called “Son of God” that took a “fresh look” at the evidence for Jesus. The program is in many ways very good, and Jesus is given a fair hearing. And when it comes to the resurrection, Jeremy makes it clear that the evidence points in one direction: To the fact that Jesus rose again. And yet what does he say at the end of the program? He's not convinced having just said the evidence is very strong. And I think the reason is he is aware of the implications. Let us look at these:

If Jesus died and rose again, it means that we are sinners who would be damned without the forgiveness He earned for us by His death on our behalf. Paul writes to the Romans: “[Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (25). This reality is tough to accept. It forces all of us to publicly admit: “Jesus died for my sins.” This morning we witnessed the Baptism of Nathan Ambedkar. Why was he baptized? Because he was born with a sinful nature and we know that only through God’s grace given in Baptism can he have the assurance of salvation. That an adorable, innocent-looking baby can be a lost and condemned sinner, is a tough message to accept. Accepting the Easter message means falling on our knees and confessing that we are poor miserable sinners who do not deserve God’s grace.

Another “disturbing” implication of Easter is that God has a claim on our lives. Having overcome death, Jesus has become the way for us to overcome death. Paul spells this out clearly to the people of Athens: “For [God] has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). One day we must all answer to God. Another difficult message to accept.

Many people like Jeremy Bowen remain “unconvinced” by Jesus’ resurrection, not because there is insufficient evidence for faith, but because the implications are inconvenient. So let us not be like those who are “unconvinced” in the light of clear evidence. Will you let your pride get in the way of experiencing the joy and gladness of the Easter message? Only the truth will set you free—free to live your life the way God designed it to be lived: With faith, hope and love.

Let us praise God for providing us with the clear testimony of the OT Scriptures that tell us what Jesus was going to do; also the witnesses of the NT who knew Jesus and who were willing to lay down their lives so that we could hear their testimony; and also for the evidence of changed lives—even our own lives that are now filled with an amazing joy and peace.

Having heard and believed the message of this good news, let us stand by it and hold firmly to it, for by it we are saved. Therefore we can joyfully respond to each other: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.

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