Imagine with me, if you will, a world where Jesus of Nazareth is dead. Consider with me what the world and everything in it and about it would be like if Jesus said and did everything written about Him (all happened exactly as it is written in the gospels), except for His resurrection. This blog post is not meant to cause you to doubt the historical truth of our Savior. I am writing to you, my reader, that you would join me in this exercise of our minds; that we would grow in love and appreciation for the work of our Lord, by considering what the world would be like if it had not happened. Take this time with me to ponder if the resurrection truly matters.
First, let us consider if the resurrection matters to unbelievers. It appears to matter a lot to them, because when they usually talk about the great teacher Jesus, they omit anything about Him being raised from the dead. Martin Scorcese's film "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988) ends with Jesus' dead body on a cross, without any mention of Jesus coming back to life. Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" (premiered in 1970) is narrated by an unbelieving Judas, who does not live to see the Sunday after Jesus' death. The religion of Islam teaches that Jesus managed to avoid death and therefore did not rise from the dead. In the Quran (which features manuscripts possibly dating back to 500 years after Jesus' life) in sura 4 verse 157 it reads, "but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not." One more group of unbelievers worth noting are the Roman soldiers who guarded Jesus' tomb. When they discovered that the tomb was empty, they went to the chief priests. The chief priests gave the soldiers a large sum of money and told them, "You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep,'" (Matthew 28:12-13). For centuries the unbelieving world has had little trouble talking about most of the events of Jesus' life, except for His resurrection. If the resurrection did not matter to them, then they perhaps would not be so insistent on downplaying it or ignoring it.
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The unbelieving world portrays "the historical Jesus"
as being simply a human, yet Jesus said of Himself
He was the Messiah, the chosen one from God
of which all the prophets spoke (Luke 24:25-27). |
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, it would make choosing to follow Him above all other previous prophets questionable. Jesus said He would come back to life on the third day after His death, (John 2:19,21). If this prophecy did not occur, then Jesus would be a false prophet and it would have been right to put Him to death like any other false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20). It is written, "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken," (Deuteronomy 18:22). If Jesus spoke what God did not say, and yet claimed He spoke in exact accordance with what God had told Him (John 12:49), then we would do well to join in with the crowds wanting to kill Him for blasphemy, saying, "You, a mere man, claim to be God,” (John 10:33). In this way Jesus' blaspheming would out right denounce what He proclaims when He says His blood would be poured out of Him to make a new covenant with God and His people for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). If Jesus preached falsely about the forgiveness of sins, which comes by God in heaven alone, then his lack of knowledge of heavenly things would show that He also lacked knowledge concerning earthly things, (John 3:12). If all of this were the case, then everyone would be smart to ignore all of His preachings, because the truth is not found in someone who is a liar (John 8:44). All of this man's preaching would be either useless or so open to great stretches of interpretation that the message could mean what anyone wants it to mean. At best it would likely leave followers of this false Messiah nothing more than an example for the healing of the sick by way to astonish crowds, the caring of the poor for one's own benefit, and the wishing to perform miracles in order to live abundantly. Pragmatically speaking, this would be the most good worth imitating from the life of a false teacher, who lived an exemplary life yet lied, blasphemed and pointlessly died.
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Many false preachers claim that Jesus' life and message
was only about one's health, wealth and prosperity, but
Paul writes that with Jesus who strengthens us we don't need
all these things and we can be content (Philippians 4:12-13). |
If Jesus were a false teacher and a false prophet, then what would one's belief matter? There would be no need or reason to put one's belief in a false savior, because a false savior has no power to save anyone from anything; certainly not death. Paul writes, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep [died] in Christ are lost," (1 Corinthians 15:17-18). Since there is no reason to believe in this false savior who cannot save, then everyone who dies for this faith dies in vain. Paul wrote that for his ministry of following Christ, he faced death every day (1 Corinthians 15:31), and surely he would not have continued in such a dangerous ministry, if his death would have been pointless. Wisely, Paul writes, "If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,' (1 Corinthians 15:32). Why would anyone knowingly die for such a foolish lie, when they could have easily kept their life by renouncing the lie or even by downplaying it the slightest bit? Paul would not have risked his life for a liar he did not believe to be a good person, because "very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die," (Romans 5:7). Why would anyone die for a bad person, if the first person who ever laid down their life for the wicked and the hopeless did so in vain (Romans 5:8)?
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The world would have you believe that those who died
for Jesus' name did so out of foolish misgivings, but
Jesus says one day He will avenge all those who
have died for His glory (Revelation 6:9-11). |
Without the resurrection any movie, musical, religious text or eye witness account can teach us just as much about the importance of Jesus as the four gospels could. Without the resurrection, Jesus is a liar, a blasphemer, and at best lived a life ministry only about health, wealth and prosperity. Without the resurrection, believers would have no reason to believe, because there would be nothing beyond death for those who have sinned. In truth: Without the resurrection, everything would be meaningless (Ecclesiastes 12:8).
A world without the resurrection is indeed a dark world.
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"The people walking in darkness have seen a great Light; on those living
in the land of deep darkness a Light has dawned," (Isaiah 9:2).
"In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The Light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it," (John 1:4-5). |
Praise God that Jesus the Messiah our Savior is not dead, but is alive!
He is alive, and it is assured! The four gospels of Jesus' life have been the most scrutinized writings of all of history, and they have been found to be historically accurate. John wrote his gospel as an eyewitness account of Jesus' life, death and resurrection "that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name," (John 20:31). Paul wrote this magnificent creed (which was written less than three years, after Jesus' resurrection) in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 from verses 3 to 8:
That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom 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.
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"You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.
He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you
into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you,’" (mark 16:6-7). |
Since Jesus is alive, the dead can be raised to life (1 Corinthians 15:20-21). Since Jesus is alive, God's words are assured when He says, "I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?" (Hosea 13:14). Since Jesus is alive, everything He spoke about Himself and God is true and is useful for building us up to be righteous people (2 Timothy 3:16). Since Jesus is alive, we know that God has come down from heaven to us and He is with us (Matthew 1:23). Since Jesus is alive our sins are forgiven, (Matthew 9:6-7). Since Jesus is alive, we know that we have a Father in heaven who will provide for everything we will ever need (Matthew 6:8). Since Jesus is alive, He has fulfilled prophecies (Luke 4:21), and will one day fulfill all the Scriptures and wipe away every tear from those who believe in Him (Revelation 21:4). Since Jesus is alive, we know that as Children of God we are holy, righteous and redeemed (1 Corinthians 1:30). Since Jesus is alive, "praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope," (1 Peter 1:3). Since Jesus is alive, all believers who will ever live have a destiny to be adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:5). Since Jesus is alive, everyone who believes in Him "will not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16).
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He is risen (Matthew 28:6), and "Jesus said, 'Do not hold
on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead
to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father
and your Father, to My God and your God,’" (John 20:17). |
The resurrection matters, because through it life has meaning. We know what our purpose in life is, because Jesus told us this in the gospel of Matthew in chapter 28 from verses 18 to 20:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me
will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing
in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). |
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