Easter sermon on Luke 24:1-8: Answers to questions about resurrection?

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Text: Luke 24:1-8

Introduction

The Easter is the most important day in the Christian calendar. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As Christians, we take the fact of the resurrection without question.

However, unbelievers sometimes want more explanation before they will believe. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

If you have friends who do not understand your faith, you may want to take notes this morning so you can answer their questions.

1. Why is the resurrection so important, (1 Corinthians 15:1-19)

A. It validates everything Jesus taught

I. He told us He would rise from the dead; if He did not, we would have no reason to believe anything else He told us.

II. Our salvation would be a lie

III. He would not be the Son of God, but an imposter

IV. There would be no eternal life and the grave would be the end for us.

V. It gives us hope for our own resurrection; since Christ is risen, we will also rise from the grave

VI. It is the one thing that sets us apart from ALL other world religions; WE HAVE A LIVING SAVIOR!

2. Can’t the resurrection be explained in natural means?

A. Skeptics claim that Jesus was not really dead, he was just unconscious on the cross.

B. Would suggest that the Romans could not tell a dead man when they saw one (crucifixions were common)

C. Not a single historical or biblical record even suggests that Jesus did not actually die on the cross.

D. How could an unconscious man survive in the tomb for three days without food, water or medical care?

E. How could a weak, unconscious man, with no help from anyone, roll the stone away and overcome the Roman guards at the tomb?

F. The nature of His treatment was too severe for anyone to have lived through it.

I. Agony began in Gethsemene (bloody sweat is a documented medical condition caused by great stress)

II. Beaten at Caiaphas’ House

III. No food, no sleep, no rest, no water

G. Then, there was the matter of the beating He took

I. Legal requirement in a crucifixion

II. Short whip with metal barbs

III. Experts called Lictors whipped victim

IV. Lacerated belly, sides, back Weakens victim, hastens death

V. The cross experience was the final phase

VI. Weakened, He carried his own cross

VII. When He fell, Simon was forced to carry it

VIII. Wrists and feet were nailed to the cross

IX. Weight of his body compressed his lungs

X. Could only breathe by pushing upward with His feet

XI. The broiling sun, the severe damage to his back and belly, and His inability to breathe took its toll on Jesus…DIED!

XII. To think that any mortal man could have survived such inhumane treatment is INSANE!

XIII. The body they took down from the cross and placed in the tomb was VERY DEAD without any doubt!

3. Couldn’t it have been a conspiracy?

A. Suggests that the authorities hid the body so His disciples could not get to it.

I. If they intended to do that, why would they have placed guards at the tomb? II. If they had the body of Jesus, when stories of resurrection were told, the authorities would have paraded His body through the streets to disprove the resurrection story.

III. By displaying the dead body of Jesus they could have stamped out Christianity with a single act.

IV. The fact that they did not do that indicates that they did not have the body.

B. Suggests that Jesus was dead, but His disciples stole His body to make people believe He had risen.

I. The Jewish leaders first suggested this theory! (Matthew 28:13)

II. How could the guards have known what happened if they were asleep?

III. Eleven of the twelve disciples died because they refused to renounce their faith in the resurrected Christ!

IV. The disciples would not have suffered martyrdom for what they knew to be a lie!

V. In either case, the conspiracy would have involved so many people that it would have collapsed under its own weight! Somebody would have broken the silence and told the truth.