The Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15)

Part 1

The Fact of the Resurrection of Christ

1 Cor. 15.1-11

Faith must always be built on facts. We believe in something or trust someone’s word because that idea and the person himself is true, reliable, and accurate. No one wants to find out that what he so strongly believed in was a lie or a mistake. No one wants to be a fool, to be taken in, or conned. Not only is it embarrassing to be fooled, it can also be costly and potentially dangerous. Before you believe in something or in someone you must always get the facts.

A fact is something that actually happened. It is something that actually exists. A fact is that which conforms to the way things really are. Facts are unforgiving, unbending, uncompromising. We can ignore a fact, speak against it, or try to hide it, but it doesn’t change and it isn’t going to just go away. We build our lives on facts. If you are not willing or able to do that you could find yourself locked up in a prison cell or in a mental hospital. Ignore the facts and you could easily end up lying on a cold, metal tray with a tag hanging from your big toe.

But what about religion and religious faith? Do the facts apply there? Many people don’t think so. What it comes to religion or spirituality most people today think that facts have no relevance. Religion is a personal thing, people say. It is sort of like choosing a favorite flavor of ice cream or movie. There is no right or wrong answer. It is just a personal feeling and preference.

There were apparently some people in the Corinthian Church who thought they were free to pick and choose what they wanted to believe about the Gospel. That Church was started by the Apostle Paul. Paul had preached the resurrection of Christ to the Corinthians. Yet, there were some of them who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They refused to believe that a dead body could be reanimated. Once you are dead you are just dead. Therefore, Christ could not have been raised from the dead. Maybe this was because many of the Corinthians were Gentiles and the great philosophers in the Greek tradition mostly thought the body was a prison for the soul. Why would you even want to raise a body back to life? The thing was the immortality of the soul, not the resurrection of the body. No wonder the philosophers at Athens politely dismissed Paul when he mentioned the resurrection (See Acts 17). Unlike the Greek thinkers the Jews believed that God could raise the dead. And when Paul found out that there were a number of people in the Church at Corinth questioning the possibility of the resurrection, he had to address that in his letter.

When it comes to something like the resurrection we are not talking about an optional position, a matter of opinion, or a point of speculation. There are some things on which Christians can agree to disagree. The resurrection is not one of those things. That’s because if you throw out the resurrection of the dead you must throw out the entire Gospel and the whole of the Christian faith. If there is no resurrection then being a Christian is a big waste of time and energy. We might expect the unbelieving world to toss out the resurrection as a myth. But when there are people in the Church questioning the resurrection we are talking about a major spiritual disaster. You can’t be saved without believing the Gospel. And without the resurrection you have no Gospel.

It is quite natural for people to be skeptical. It is difficult for us to believe things that are outside of our personal experience or that seem to contradict the normal course of nature. How many of us have ever seen a dead body come back to life? Would you believe it if someone told you they had witnessed such an event? You would probably be skeptical and that is not without good reason. All skepticism is not bad. If you were not skeptical you would be easily taken in by just about anything. A healthy skepticism can help us to find the truth in a world of lies. On the other hand, we can’t be skeptical all the time about everything. There are some things we have to believe because these facts are true and we are fools if we don’t believe. At some point every skeptic has to become skeptical of his skepticism. If we don’t begin to doubt some of our doubts then we could never change our minds about anything and we would become hardened, cynical, and finally blind, being unwilling even to trust our own faculties of thought and reason. You can’t live by being a skeptic about everything. When facts are presented you must accept them.

Is the resurrection of Christ a fact? How do we know that Christ actually rose from the dead? Why should we believe this to be true? The Apostle Paul gives a few convincing reasons to believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead.

Christ Died and Was Buried

We must begin with the fact that Christ died and was buried. Obviously, you can’t have a resurrection without an actual death. Remember that a resurrection means that the dead body has become alive again. This is not some kind of living death, like a zombie from a horror movie, but the return of the living person, not as a ghost, but physically whole and well. The resurrection of Jesus was not the appearance of a ghost or the vague hope that Jesus’ spirit lives on somewhere.

The body of Jesus that died on the Cross and was placed in a tomb came to life again. That is Resurrection. It is a physical thing we are talking about. There are those people who are too spiritual to believe in a physical resurrection. To these people the raising of a physical body seems crude, base, and primitive. But it was God who created everything that is physical, including our bodies. And it is God who gave His Son a body and sent Him into the world. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the Cross. Jesus’ body then died and was placed in a tomb. This body was raised from the dead. It seems that Christ’s body was changed after He rose from the dead. He was in a glorified body that could ascend into Heaven. But Jesus still had a body. And the tomb of Jesus was empty. When Jesus comes again He will come in His glorified body.

Was Jesus really dead?

There could have been confusion concerning the details of Christ’s death and burial. All kinds of things could have happened that would have made it very difficult for us to believe the fact of the resurrection. The Gospel writers anticipate skepticism and questions concerning the events leading up to the resurrection and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they provide answers that help us to believe. If there had been any sloppiness in the record of these events there would be reason to be skeptical. If we have reason to doubt these events then all of the other miraculous events in Scripture are also questionable. How could we begin to trust the Scriptures if the facts are not clear? How could we have any hope of salvation or trust in God if these things are vague?

In spite of the clarity and detail of the Biblical record of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, there are still those enemies of the faith who have raised certain objections. One popular objection was that Jesus never really died in the first place. This is sometimes called the Swoon Theory of the Resurrection. Jesus simply swooned, or passed out, while on the Cross and they thought he was dead. But when he was placed in a cold tomb he revived and came out but the disciples mistakenly thought that he had risen from the dead. Islam also teaches that Jesus did not really die on the Cross but was taken directly into Heaven without having died or rose again. But what is the agenda of those who want to explain away the Resurrection? Obviously, if the Resurrection is true then we must deal with who Jesus is and we must submit to Him as Lord. This is what the World in its rebellion against God wants to avoid. To say that Jesus was just another prophet or a great moral teacher is perhaps acceptable to the world. But to say that Jesus is the Son of God is a great threat to human freedom and autonomy.

But the Gospel writers provide many details concerning how Christ died. These details are not provided just to show the blood and gore of his death, though His suffering certainly was great, but to prove that He really was dead. If He was not dead then there is no forgiveness of sins and there was no Resurrection. 

The Gospels tell us details like:

• He cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit (Matt. 27.50)
• Pilate believed that Jesus was dead and gave charge of the body to Joseph of Arimathea (Matt. 27.58)
• The Centurion in charge of the Crucifixion confirmed for Pilate that Jesus had died (Mark 15.44-45)
• Jesus cried out to God “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” and then breathed His last (Luke 23.46)
• Jesus said “It is finished,” and then gave up His spirit (John 19.30)
• The soldiers did not break his legs to make him die, like the two thieves. But they pierced his side causing blood and water to flow out of His body, which was proof of death (John 19.34).

All of these details clearly prove that Jesus actually died. If He did not die then these witnesses must have either been terrible liars or just fools. Those who crucified Jesus were there to make sure He was really dead. And those who bury a body usually make sure that the person is actually dead.

There are very good reasons to believe that Jesus died. If a person chooses not to believe this it cannot be because there are no facts. It is because the person is not willing to believe those facts. The heart is the home of faith (See Rom. 10.10) not the intellect. The source of unbelief is a wicked heart not an intellectual deficiency.

Why does the Burial of Jesus Matter?

After Jesus died on the Cross His body was taken down and buried in a tomb. Paul includes this fact as an aspect of the Gospel preaching. This detail should not be overlooked. Jesus was buried in a tomb. He was not burned, dismembered, lost, or thrown into a mass grave. If anything unusual or mysterious had happened to the body of Jesus then believing in the Resurrection would be difficult. The Jews buried their dead in anticipation of the Resurrection of the Dead at the end of Time. Great care was taken with the body of the dead, and this was also true of Jesus’ body. The Gospel writers record in great detail what was done with the body of Jesus. Nothing is left open to speculation. For example, if no one knew where the body was buried then it could not have been verified that His tomb was empty. But, fortunately, we know exactly what happened to the body of Jesus: 

·    Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, which Pilate gave to       Joseph (Matt. 27.57-58)
 
·    Joseph wrapped the body of Jesus in linen clothes, assisted by Nicodemus, using a special mixture of spices and ointments (John 19.39-40).
 
·    They put the body in Joseph’s own, new tomb which had a large stone across the entrance (Matt. 27.59-60).
 
·    The tomb had no other occupant other than the body of Jesus (Luke 23.53; John 19.41).
 
·    Two of the women disciples were there at the tomb when Jesus was buried there (Matt. 27.61).
 
·    These women knew the location of the tomb and were prepared to return and honor Jesus with more spices and ointments (Luke 23.55-56).
 
·    The Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have a detachment of soldiers placed to guard the tomb and keep the disciples from stealing the body and claiming a resurrection. They also sealed the tomb with the official stamp of the Roman government (Matt. 27.62-66).

The burial of Jesus was really in preparation for His resurrection, though the disciples did not know this at the time. How the disciples handled the body of Jesus shows their love and devotion for Him. They had more love and devotion toward a dead Jesus than many people today show toward a resurrected Jesus!

The record of these details about how Jesus died and was buried is so that we will believe (John 20.31). But if we reject God’s record about His Son we are calling God a liar (1 John 5.10).

The death and burial of Jesus was the last time He was seen until the Second Coming. Then every eye will see Him (Rev. 1.7). The World cannot “bury” Jesus and get rid of Him, although it has tried and is still trying today to make sure Jesus stays dead and buried.

Christ was raised in Fulfillment of Scripture

There is no text in the Old Testament that says the Messiah would rise from the dead. And yet, when the Gospel was first preached by the Apostles, the pointed out certain texts of Scripture that were fulfilled in the Resurrection. When the Gospel was preached for the first time on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter quoted from Psalm 16 as being fulfilled in the Resurrection (See Acts 2.25-28). And the Apostle Paul quoted from Psalms 2, 16, and Isaiah 55 as pointing to the Resurrection of Jesus. When the Apostles quoted from the Scripture this was from what we now call the Old Testament. This was God’s revelation to the people of Israel. When the Apostles preached Christ they were saying that He is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. The entire Biblical revelation is summed up in Jesus. Someone has correctly stated that “the Old Testament is Christ concealed and the New Testament is Christ revealed.”

Interpreting the Scriptures

The Apostles and the other writers of the New Testament Scriptures all interpreted what was written in the Old Testament Scriptures in the light of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. It all points to Christ and is fulfilled in Christ. The Gospel is the key to the entire Bible. This means that Jesus illuminates the Scriptures and without Jesus we will miss the meaning of what God is saying. The very leaders who killed Jesus were themselves experts in Scripture yet hated Jesus and refused to believe in Him (John 5.39-40). Simply knowing the text of Scripture is not enough to bring a person into the Kingdom of God. The Bible is not to be read or understood apart from Gospel preaching, as if the Bible were something like an evangelistic tract that can be simply passed around to unbelievers. The Church is supposed to preach the Gospel to the World, which saves those who believe (1 Cor. 1.21).

The Bible is not about how to live a successful life in the world, how to find a spouse, raise children, save for retirement, or start a mega-church. The Bible is not really about us at all, it is about Jesus. Our lives only begin to matter when we become connected to what God is doing in Christ. The Apostles did not interpret the Bible scientifically. They interpreted it according to the light of the Gospel of Christ. And we should do the same if we really want to know the Scriptures. Unfortunately, many people interpret the Bible just like the Constitution. That is, they get out of it what they want to in order to implement their own agenda. Reading the Scriptures should be like focusing a camera. The subject-matter of the picture should be brought into sharp focus. I am afraid that a lot of preaching has no focus at all. Many Churches just end up talking about themselves. But we are not the message. We are here to bring focus to the message, which is Christ.

Everything comes into focus in Christ and the Gospel. The Gospel fulfills, or fills out, the meaning of Scripture. It is not enough to just study the Bible.We must know Christ and the Gospel. When we know the risen Lord everything else will become clear.

The Function of Scripture

The Scriptures have a specific function for the believer. We are not to read the Bible as some kind of rule-book, pattern, or principle. These approaches always end in legalism, self-righteousness, sectarianism, and bondage. Scripture is to bring us to Christ and the freedom of the Gospel. Scripture undergirds and confirms our faith in Christ. The way Scripture performs this work is by showing us the consistency or faithfulness of God and His purpose. It gives us hope and confidence when we see that God has always kept His promises (Rom. 15.4). The resurrection of Christ is perhaps the ultimate confirmation of the faithfulness of God and the veracity of His Word.

The Scriptures are always there underneath our feet, supporting us like a firm foundation. Our faith is based on the unchanging fact of God’s Word and not on our feelings or on our performance. “On Christ the solid Rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.” The Resurrection of Christ is a fact on which I can stand, even when everything else around me is falling to pieces. Whatever life brings our way we can always hold on to the fact that Christ has risen. Nothing can change that fact.

The Scriptures come alive to us because the risen Christ is walking with us along the way, just like He did for those disciples on the road to Emmaus (See Luke 24.25-27). He is our guide and teacher and He speaks to us through the Scriptures. He is Himself the message of Scripture (See Rev. 19.10).

Christ Appeared to Chosen Witnesses

The final fact to consider about the Resurrection is that Jesus appeared. There were people who actually witnessed Christ being alive and well after He was dead and buried. To be Christians we must believe the testimony of these witnesses or we must choose to believe that they were liars or perhaps just incredibly foolish. Now it might prove difficult to believe a single witness. But when you have witness after witness all giving the same testimony that is a powerful pile of evidence that no reasonable person could ignore! The people who actually saw the resurrected Christ were not prepared for what they witnessed. And some even doubted it. There is no attempt in the Gospels to make the disciples look better. All we have are the facts. 

Disciples became Witnesses

Jesus did not appear publicly in Jerusalem. He did not make an appearance in a meeting of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Jesus only appeared to certain, chosen witnesses. We would probably have had Jesus appear to His enemies just to shock them! We all probably know some people today who need the same kind of thing. But that is not how the Gospel would go out to the world. The Gospel is about faith, not brute force. There will come a time when every eye will see Him and every knee will be forced to bow. But now when the Gospel is preached God is offering peace.

There is a Biblical record of post-resurrection appearances… 

• To Mary Magdalene (John 20.11-12)
• To certain women as they returned to the tomb (Matt. 28.1-10)
• To Peter (Luke 24.34)
• To two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24.13-15)
• To 10 Apostles (Thomas absent) (John 20.19-23)
• To 11 Apostles (Thomas present) (John 20.26-28)
• To several disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21.1-23)
• To the Apostles and 500 brethren on a mountain in Galilee (Matt 28.16-20)
• To James (1 Cor. 15.7)
• To the Apostles at Jerusalem immediately before the Ascension (Acts 1.3-9)
• To Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9.1-2)

(We can also add Christ’s appearance to John on the Isle of Patmos in the book of Revelation.)

These appearances of Jesus should be viewed as transitional in nature. The physical presence of Jesus would be gone because He was preparing to ascend into Heaven and reign at the Father’s right hand. The whole point of the Resurrection was not for Jesus to remain on the earth but to return to Heaven. This would mark the beginning of the Age of the Spirit and the Church’s witness to the World before the End of the Age and the Second Coming of Christ. But the lesson for disciples is that we have to learn to live by faith without the physical presence of Christ. Discipleship is about believing, not seeing (John 20. 29). Some people say “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But that is not faith.

God’s people have always had to live by faith, not by sight. Faith is absolutely necessary (Heb. 11.6). God has made faith necessary because it involves trust. You can’t have a relationship without trust. Faith involves becoming like children who are humble enough to depend on our heavenly Father and obey Him without pride or suspicion.

Perhaps the greatest piece of evidence for the Resurrection was the change in the disciples. How do you explain their boldness? How do you explain the change in Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul? It is still true that the greatest proof of the Resurrection is the changed lives of believers themselves. We are proof of the power of the Resurrection!

The Witnesses were sent out into the World

The Resurrection marked the beginning of a New Age in salvation history. It was the beginning of the Age of the Spirit and the witness of the Church. The Gospel will be preached to all the nations and then the End will come. We are a part of this great Enterprise. The primary work of the Church in the world is to be a witness of the Resurrection. This requires the power and presence of the Holy Spirit if we are to be effective witnesses (See Acts 1.8). Every believer is a witness with a testimony of Christ. All you have to do is tell people what Christ has done for you in your life if you want to be a witness of the Resurrection.

Of course, this witness will not be popular with the World. Not everyone will believe our witness. Nearly all of the original witnesses became martyrs. The Church should always be prepared to suffer in this world because of its witness. But if the Resurrection is a fact, then not even death can really hurt us. We overcome the World by the word of our testimony (Rev. 12.11). So if we find that we are afraid of what is going on in the world today, we need to remember that Christ is risen.

If Christ is risen then we always have hope!