RisenSample

Resurrection: Myth or Miracle?

Things don't normally come back to life, but a couple of thousand years ago on what was the first Easter, something happened that had never happened before.

A few brokenhearted people went to the tomb of a man they loved, a man who had just recently died, a man who they had watched soldiers crucify and pierce. They were told by a shining angel that He wasn’t there. The tomb was empty. “He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:6).

That one fact, that single piece of news, that first Easter, is much more important than anything else that has ever happened in the history of the world.

The reason for that is not simply that the tomb was empty. It wasn’t so much about where Jesus wasn’t. It was about where Jesus was (see John 20:19).

All of a sudden He was with Mary. He was communicating to her, “You don’t have to go through life being afraid anymore. Not of anything. Not even death.”

All of a sudden, He was with Peter, saying in essence, “You don’t have to go through life feeling guilty anymore because you failed so often. Not even because you failed Me by denying Me before I died, because I’m restoring you.”

Then He was with Thomas. His message was, “You don’t have to go through life doubting anymore. Not about God. Not about Me. You can live with faith and hope and joy.”

Now, that’s good news! But is it true news?

If it’s true, then the resurrection means that your past is not unforgivable, no matter what you’ve done. So, if you need an injection of hope—and this is true news—then this is very good news.

As seen in the movie Risen, some say Jesus couldn’t possibly have risen from the dead. There’s not a chance. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen. The body had to have been stolen.

All right then, the question is, who stole it? (See Matthew 28:12-15)

Some theorize that the disciples stole the body.

When you think about it, they have absolutely no motive. They were not highly motivated to have the unspeakable privilege of living as penniless evangelists, wandering around for the rest of their lives, being beaten, whipped, thrown in jail, and put to death.

People die for their faith all the time, right? What’s the difference? It’s this. People will die for their faith if they believe that it is true. But people will not die for their faith if they know that it is false.

Nobody knowingly dies for a lie. The disciples were so certain of it that they staked their lives on it. And they lost their lives for it.