1. They misunderstood it (Mark 8:31-32; 9:31-32; 10:33-34; Luke 24:19-21).
2. They doubted it (Luke 24:22-24, 36-49).
3. They witnessed it (Acts 1-13).
4. They preached it (Acts 1-24).

This Easter morning, I would obviously like to focus our attention upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have entitled my message this morning, "The Apostles and The Resurrection of Jesus Christ." I want us to think about how the apostles heard about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, comprehended it, experienced it, and proclaimed it.

The resurrection is a difficult doctrine to believe. In our experience, we simply don't see dead people come to life. It was no easier for the apostles to believe either. In fact, it took much convincing for them to come to believe it. My message this morning will be encouraging to us, in that we will see the failures of the apostles to grasp what Jesus was saying about the resurrection. We will realize that they were people with weak faith, just like we are. Their struggle in believing is our struggle in believing as well.

The resurrection is also a central doctrine to be proclaimed. As we will see this morning, the apostles spoke much about the resurrection. It saturated their preaching. My message this morning will be challenging to us, in that the resurrection doesn't seem to have the prominence in preaching today as it did in the days of the apostles. The message the apostles preached ought to be the message the we preach.

1. They misunderstood it (Mark 8:31-32; 9:31-32; 10:33-34; Luke 24:19-21).

Turn with me to Mark 8:31. This verse come right after Peter had received the revelation from God and had said, "Thou art the Christ" (verse 29). As soon as the disciples heard this, Jesus began to teach them what it means that He is the Christ. It meant that He would suffer and die and rise again! Verse 31 puts it this way, "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again."

We know from the history of what happened soon after Jesus was crucified. There was confusion in the minds of the disciples. Rather than believing that Jesus was going to rise again to lead them, they hid themselves away, scared and directionless. If they had understood what Jesus was telling them, I believe that they would have anticipated the resurrection of Jesus and would have acted differently. Their fear would have vanished. But, they were fearful. Why? Because they didn't understand the resurrection and didn't anticipate it. This is really quite amazing in light of the next verse in Mark 8.

It says in Mark 8:31 that "He was stating the matter plainly." Jesus' words were clear. Jesus wasn't speaking in hard to understand parables. He didn't make up some story of a statue that was knocked down and destroyed, but miraculously put together and placed upon a pedestal, which the apostles were supposed to connect to the life of Jesus. Jesus wasn't speaking with vague generalities, "Bad things are coming for me. But know that good things will follow the bad things." Jesus wasn't speaking using big words that are only understood by those who have the highest I. Q.'s: "The anthropomorphic theophany of the celestial infinitude will be ostracized and castigated and fettered to an organic carbonic growth, where he will be asphyxiated and mortalized for a triplet of global rotations, after which he will upsurge the sepulcher."

Jesus wasn't using many, many words, which confused his disciples. "The Son of Man, the one who came from heaven, who was displayed with awe and majesty, who is God Himself, whom you have seen, whom you know, who has going about doing good and teaching in the synagogues, is to be delivered, that is handed over, and given up, though He, Himself, has no ground on which to be accused, because you all know that he is righteous and holy and pure and blameless, into the hands of men, sinful men, wicked men, men who seek their own good, men who lack all theological discernment, those who set themselves up to be teachers and leaders, but are actually blind guides and hypocritical liars, and they will kill him, just as happened to many of the righteous prophets down through the ages, though there is no reason for it, though He doesn't deserve it, which continues to speak more and more of the wickedness of these men, who hate righteousness and love lawlessness, just because someone comes and points out there faults, and three days later, he will rise, he will come back to prove that He was who He said He was, in which He will come and judge the world and rule the earth and establish a kingdom for Himself. The eternal, omnipotent, holy Triune God, has spoken." Rather, we are told that Jesus was "stating the matter plainly."

It appears as if Peter understood something of what Jesus was saying. Verse 32 continues, "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." Matthew tells us exactly what Peter said. He said, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You" (Matt. 16:22). Peter didn't like the plan at all. He didn't want Jesus to experience these things. Peter understood what Jesus was saying, because He was "stating the matter plainly" (verse 32).

In Mark 9:31, we find Jesus telling His disciples the exact same thing. In this verse, we have recorded Jesus' actual words, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later" (Mark 9:31). I don't know how much clearer this could possibly be. Even the children in our church could tell you who "The Son of Man" is. Even children know what it means "to be delivered into the hands of men" and "they will kill Him" and "when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." Yet, we read in verse 32, "They did not understand this statement."

This simply, straightforward instructions of Jesus didn't compute with them. They couldn't foresee Jesus being put to death. They couldn't foresee Jesus rising from the dead. After the resurrection, John tells us that "they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9) until they saw the linen wrappings in the empty tomb. The apostles must have been particularly confused when the witnessed Jesus riding into Jerusalem amid the tremendous crowd. There must have been tremendous excitement and anticipation. Yet, when Jesus was crucified upon the cross, their hope was shattered.

Not only did Jesus tell them clearly, but He told them repeatedly. He told them in Mark 8:31. He told them again in Mark 9:31. He told them again in Mark 10:33-34, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit upon Him, and scourge Him, and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again." Though Jesus had told them clearly and repeatedly of what would take place, they simply didn't understand Him. They didn't believe Him. They didn't anticipate Him rising from the dead.

It is an interesting to note how clear Jesus was in His prediction that He would rise from the dead. Even the unbelieving religious leaders understood Jesus' claim. They anticipated what Jesus had predicted earlier. They sought to do what they could do to make sure that it would never happen. After he was buried, the chief priests and Pharisees went as a group to Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.' Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first" (Matt. 27:64). Pilate gave them permission, and "they went and made the grave secure" (Matt. 27:65-66).

Jesus was clear in what He said, but the disciples were slow of heart to believe. We have a testimony of their lack of understanding when a few of Jesus' disciples were on the road to Emmaus, when everybody in town was talking about Jesus. The disciples on the road to Emmaus marveled when Jesus asked them about their conversation. They said, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?" (Luke 24:18). In verse 19, Jesus said, "What things?" These two disciples replied, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened" (Luke 24:19-21). I find it shocking that they recollection of the events of the last week of Jesus, were almost verbatim to what Jesus had told them would happen. They even mentioned the third day, as if something special was going to happen that day, but didn't. All they needed to do was finish the sentence, "He will rise three days later" (Mark 9:31). Had the apostles understood the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they would have been expecting Jesus, rather than walking dejectedly to Emmaus, feeling like they had just been blind-sided by the One in whom they had placed their hopes. It caught them complete off guard. What they should have known, they failed to understand. As a result, they were in great despair.

At this point, I find great comfort in the disciples. They weren't perfect men. They didn't have a perfect faith. Their theology wasn't perfectly correct, though taught by Jesus, Himself. Yet, God, in His patience, helped them along to see the truth of Jesus, the Messiah. And later, they would get their theology absolutely correct, as they would go about writing the epistles (which are interpretations of the life of Jesus). If you are here this morning, and have little faith in God, you ought to be encouraged by these disciples. God is not our hard task master, who demands that we all have perfect faith. Rather, He is patient with us in our weakness. He is patient with us when we don't understand. We simply need to trust Him with a child-like faith. We simply need to seek help in our weaknesses.

2. They doubted it (Luke 24:22-24, 36-49).

Let's continue on in Luke's account of the road to Emmaus. These disciples told Jesus, "But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see" (Luke 24:22-24). They could have finished Jesus' repeated admonition to them, "He will rise three days later" (Mark 9:31). They could have said to Jesus, "Yes, they didn't find Him, because He told us that He would be raised from the dead. Surely, He is risen from the dead! O that we might see Him. We are disappointed that we haven't seen him yet." But these disciples were far from perfect. Jesus chastises them in verse 25-26, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! What is not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things to enter into His glory?" Jesus then opened the Scriptures and "explained to them the things concerning Himself" (verse 27). Eventually in verse 31, we find that "their eyes were opened and they recognized Him."

When they finally recognized Him, they must have been thoroughly surprised. Yesterday we enjoyed a Passover Seder meal with the church. At the beginning of the Jewish meal, the father takes three pieces of Matzot (special unleavened bread), which have been wrapped in a napkin, forming a unity (and representing the God-head). He takes the middle one (representing the Son) and breaks it in two. The larger of these pieces are placed back in the napkin, while the others are eaten as part of the meal. This napkin and larger piece is called the Afikomen (a Greek word meaning, "He came"). At some point in the meal, the father of the house takes the Afikomen and hides it somewhere in the house. This is symbolic of Jesus in the tomb. Near the end of the meal, the children are charged with the task of finding the Afikomen. When they find it, they are allowed to demand a ransom for it (reminiscent of the ransom that Jesus demanded for our sins). This Afikomen is then broken and distributed among everyone at the feast (which is what Jesus did, when He broke bread and said, "This is my body, broken for you). Anyway, when I sent the children to find the Afikomen, there were about ten children who were actively looking for it. However, my youngest daughter, Hanna, who is three and a half, didn't quite understand what was going on. She saw the commotion as the other children were actively opening cabinets and drawers in seeking for the Afikomen. My wife explained to her what was happening. She didn't seem much to care and went on her way. Well, she happened to stumble upon the Afikomen and found it! There was much surprise and joy among the adults as they realized what Hanna had found. Such excitement and joy the disciples must have experienced as they "stumbled upon" the resurrected Jesus.

In their excitement, they went and found the eleven apostles, who were also convinced of the resurrection of Jesus. The apostles told these two travelers, "The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon" (verse 34). It appears as if they were all convinced that Jesus had risen! But, their hearts were still filled with doubts. Beginning in verse 36, we read, "And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?'" This is amazing! Even with everything that Jesus had spoken to them, even with Jesus standing right there in their midst, even with their own eyes seeing Jesus, even with their own ears hearing the voice of Jesus, ...they doubted His resurrection.

Often, when we think of this word, "Doubt," we are led to think of one particular disciple, whose name was Thomas. He has come to be known as "the doubter." His words are famous, "Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side I will not believe" (John 20:25). Where do you think that Thomas got this idea? He got it from Jesus, who told these apostles, "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet" (Luke 24:39-40). Poor Thomas wasn't with the disciples on this occasion. Certainly, the disciples related to Thomas how they had seen Jesus. They would have told him of how they saw the wounds in His hands and side. I believe that Thomas doubted until he placed his fingers into the place of the nails and his hand into His side, because the other apostles doubted until they saw Jesus' hands and side as well. But, even with this amazing proof, the apostles still had doubts in their own minds, "And while they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling" (Luke 24:41).

I believe that their doubt was only overcome when Jesus opened their minds to understand. "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day'" (Luke 24:45-46). Does Jesus' list of things in this verse sound familiar? It is almost identical to what He had been telling His disciples while He was on earth. But now that Jesus had opened their minds to the resurrection, their doubts disappeared.

The obvious implication here is for us to depend upon God for our faith. Think about how these disciples had been told again and again and again of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead. Think about how they still didn't understand and didn't believe what He had told them about Himself. He poured out His heart to them. He spent three precious years with them teaching them and training them. He spoke clearly of what was going to happen to Him. Yet, they still didn't believe, until Jesus opened their minds to believe the resurrection.

Perhaps if all of you were honest, you might feel the same way about your own faith. I have enough proof. I have read through the Bible on several occasions. I have listened to a many sermons and tapes. I have attended church for years. Why am I so timid? Why do I doubt?

What was the turning point for the disciples? I believe that it was divine intervention. It was only when "their eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (verse 31), that they believed that they were speaking with Jesus. It was only when Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures" (verse 45) that they finally understood everything that Jesus had instructed them and finally believed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

When Jesus opened their minds, they started thinking about everything that Jesus had taught them. They remembered back to when Jesus told the Jews, "Destroy this temple, and in tree days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). Then, they were equally as confused as the Jews, who said that it took 46 years to build the temple. But now they understood that Jesus spoke of the temple of His body. This is the testimony of Scripture "When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believe the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken" (John 2:22). Likewise, the apostles certainly would have remembered how Jesus had spoken about "the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:39-40). Now they would have understood the clear An obvious allusion to the resurrection. Suddenly, there are many things that began to make sense, because the Lord opened their minds to understand.

The only way for people to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is for God to open their minds to understand. Our family has just begun to read the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. We are only in about 50 pages or so. He was a brilliant man! He invented many, many things. He was a good writer. He wrote many, many common proverbs, such as ...

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
"Lost time is never found."
"Fish and visitors both stink in three days."
"Don't throw stones at your neighbors if your windows are made of glass."

Yet, with all of this wisdom he didn't embrace the gospel of Christ. And it isn't because he didn't know about it. He grew up under the preaching of a famous non-conformist pastor, Cotton Mather. His father had originally set him on the course of receiving a theological education to become a pastor. Yet, through finances, he couldn't continue. As a child, his favorite book was Pilgrim's Progress. His favorite uncle (also named Benjamin), was a devout non-conformist, who communicated the gospel clearly to him. In his later years, he was good friends with George Whitefield. He loved listening to him preach. But, he didn't embrace the gospel of Christ. Why? Because believing the resurrection and the gospel doesn't come through intellectual ability. It isn't the wise and the brilliant who believe. It is the ones whom God enables to believe, who believe.

Charles Spurgeon once said it this way, "Many can bring the Scriptures to the mind, but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures" (Morning and Evening - 01/19 PM). It is important to focus on the Scriptures. It is important to read the Bible for yourself. It is important for you to speak with others about them. But remember, the Scriptures don't contain eternal life. They bear witness to Jesus, who alone can give eternal life (John 5:39). I don't care how much you read the Bible, you won't understand it, unless God opens your minds to understand it. The one you speak to about the truths of the gospel won't understand it, unless God opens their eyes to understand. So, pray when you read your Bible. So, pray when you speak with others about the Scriptures and trust that God will open your minds to see and understand and believe the truths of God's word.

Paul said that the godless live "in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding" (Eph. 4:17-18). It is God, and God alone who can open the blinded minds to "see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:4).

These Apostles misunderstood and doubted the resurrection. But Jesus opened their minds to understand the resurrection. He removed their doubts. It helped that ...

3. They witnessed it (Acts 1-13).

In the book of Acts, we will see these apostles changed and transformed, because they came to understand the resurrection and no longer doubted that Jesus had actually, bodily risen from the dead. Much of this has to do with the fact that they saw Jesus on numerous occasions after His resurrection. They talked with Him and learned from Him. Look at verse 3, "To these [apostles] He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).

Forty days is a long time. Yet, during this time, the disciples were with Jesus. They continued their seminary education with Him. As they interacted with Him, it became manifestly obvious that Jesus was alive and well. The one who taught them concerning the kingdom of God wasn't an imposter. His mannerisms were the mannerisms of Jesus. He spoke with the same accent as Jesus did. He had the same sort of compassion that Jesus had. Perhaps in their times of instruction, Jesus would refer to incidents that happened, that only Jesus knew about. "Remember when I fed the five thousand and then the four thousand, but you worried that you didn't take but one loaf into the boat as we left? Believe now in my power!" (Mark 8:14) "Remember when I told the parables and you were confused, but asked me in private about their meaning? Learn from what you now see. " (Matt. 13:36). "Peter, James, and John, you all remember when we went up onto the mountain and I has transfigured before your sight? It was just us four. You had a glimpse of my glory then. That is what I will be like forever in heaven. I have risen from the dead now, so you can tell it to the world" (Matt. 17:9). "Remember when I went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane and you all were so tired that you fell asleep. You didn't realize the importance of the moment, but now you do" (Matt. 26:44-46). Jesus was the only one who would have known about all of these things.

Furthermore, they could have touched Him and embraced Him. John said, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life" (John 1:1). For forty days they would have seen these things and known them. As a result, they became convinced of them.

To be a witness of the resurrection was important for the apostles. When choosing a replacement for Judas, they made place great importance on being an eye-witness to the resurrected Jesus. In Acts 1:21, we read, "It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us --- beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us -- one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection." It was necessary for the next apostle to have been with the apostles from the beginning, experienced His death, experienced His resurrection, and experienced his ascension. Even Paul was careful to point out that he was an apostle, who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ personally, "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord" (1 Cor. 9:1).

The importance for this is because these apostles saw themselves as witnesses of the resurrection. Let's step through some of their sermons and see how often the apostles referred the fact that they had seen Jesus alive after His death.

"This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32).
"but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15).
"And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:33).
"And we are witnesses of these things" (i.e. back to Jesus' life and exaltation) (Acts 5:32).
"God raised Him up on the third day, and granted that He should become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead" (Acts 10:40-41).
"But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people" (Acts 13:30-31). The sense is here that you can even speak to these people right now if you want.

See how important it was to the apostles that they witnessed the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? They were people who had seen what had happened and were reporting what they saw and experienced. Today, some event occurs in the world someplace, which only a few people actually saw. The television reporters go to them to get all of the information that they can. A typical news report goes something like this, ... "A Sports Utility Vehicle heading south on I-39 overturned this afternoon in the high winds. The truck caught on fire and killed the driver and his passenger. Witnesses say that the SUV was travelling at very high speeds, then began to swerve, before it flipped over and rolled a few times, and immediately caught fire. Lisa Abramson is on the scene. Lisa? ...." Another one might go like this, ... "A man and his 6 year old daughter were found dead in their house this morning. Witnesses say that they heard gunshots in the home about 6:30 in the morning and saw a man in dark clothes flee the scene of the crime in a pick-up truck. Ted Franks has the story...." The testimony of witnesses is so important in news broadcasts today, that one particular network calls it's news, "Eye-witness News."

These apostles were no different. They considered themselves as giving straight-forward, factual testimony to what they experienced in the events surrounding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were able to tell people that they were with Jesus before He was crucified. They were able to tell people that they were with Jesus after He rose from the dead. A news reporter might have said, ..."Our next story comes from Jerusalem. A band of followers of a certain Jewish teacher, named Jesus, claim that their teacher, who was recently crucified by Roman soldiers, is now alive and well. There are witnesses who have seen Him alive. Marshall Jenkins has the story ..."

This tells us that our faith is rooted in the time and space events of history. The apostles didn't consider themselves to be inventors of truth or philosophers that solved the intellectual arguments of the world. The Bible calls these apostles "uneducated and untrained men" (Acts 4:13). Realize that you don't have to be well educated and able to speak well to be a witness. Suppose some tornado rips through some town in podunkville. The television cameras are placed upon a man with a long, unkempt beard, who is shirtless and wearing overalls. When he speaks, you notice that he has only a few teeth in his mouth and that his English is thoroughly laced with a southern slang. He says something to the effect of, "Why, I'se sitten here upon my rockin' chair that I always enjoy upon my porch with my pipe. I noticed that it was a gettin' mighty windy out there. I says to my wife, 'Martha, it's gettin' mighty windy outs here!' She says, 'Yeah Marvin?' and she came to a-join me in a watchin' this there wind blow. We saw this beeeg thing in the sky, which looked like the funnel Martha uses to make her world-famous grits from. Anyways, it looked like the sky fell to the ground! I'd never a seen anything like it before, but it blew and blew and blew. The next thing I knew, the trees blew over (like 'coons do when I shoot 'em) and the house across the hill was gone! I mean a no more! I asked Martha is she knew where it went. She didn't know either!" When someone gives such a testimony, you don't care what his appearance may look like, you will gladly receive his testimony as a first-hand witness to the scene of the disaster. Straight-forward, eye-witness testimony doesn't require a Ph. D. The apostles simply considered themselves as eye-witnesses to Jesus Christ. "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also" (1 John 1:3).

The importance of this to us is that none of us have actually seen Jesus risen from the dead. The Bible acknowledges this. Just after Thomas reached his fingers into the hands of Jesus and reached his hands into Jesus' side, He said, "My Lord and my God!" -- A profession of faith based upon first-hand experience. Yet, immediately after this, Jesus said, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (John 20:29). In these words, Jesus was talking about us, who haven't seen.. He was talking for our encouragement. If you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ today, you are blessed -- not because you have had the opportunity to see and touch like Thomas did, but because you have heard the apostolic testimony and have embraced it as true. This is what the next verses say, "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (verses 30-31).

Jesus performed many signs in His lifetime. Many are recorded for us, but many aren't. There are many things that could be told of Jesus, that were experienced by a few, but were never passed down to us. But the things in the scriptures that we hold in our laps have been passed down to us. We are to embrace them and believe them. As the apostles went out and preached, they could say, "I saw Jesus alive." Their exhortation to others is that you ought to believe what they said. We don't hear the apostles preach today, but we do have their writings. We are to believe their writings, which are sufficient to teach you about Jesus. Then, upon hearing of Him, you can place your faith in Him. By believing in Him, "you may have life in His name" (John 20:31). Peter said, "though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet. 1:8-9). There were people who did see Jesus rise from the dead! They told all about it. They wrote it down for us to read. Their testimony is sufficient for us.

Luke 16 contains a tragic story of a rich man who had squandered his life with rich living in comfort. Yet, He found himself in Hades, where he was experiencing great torment. He longed to have the tip of a finger dipped in water to cool off his burning tongue (Luke 16:24). He had five brothers and wanted to warn them of the torments that await them in hell if they didn't repent. Abraham told them, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them" (Luke 16:29). But he said, "No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!" (Luke 16:30). Then comes the amazing indictment, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead!" (Luke 16:31). We haven't witnessed the resurrection. But, we have the book that is sufficient to persuade us of the resurrection. Jesus tells us this morning that if Moses and the Prophets don't persuade you of believing in Him, neither would you be persuaded if you saw Jesus face to face resurrected from the dead. Yet today, we have more than Moses and the Prophets, we have the gospels, which give tremendously clear testimony to His resurrection, as well as the epistles, which interpret the life of Jesus for us and explain the meaning of the resurrection for us. We have no excuse not to believe.

It is important to note that when the apostles were initially spreading the gospel of Christ, they spoke much about the resurrection. Which leads us to our final point ...

4. They preached it (Acts 1-24).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a primary portion of their message.

In Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, he spent the first portion talking about the sign of the tongues that were a fulfilment of Joel 2. Then, beginning in verse 22, he gets to Jesus.
He says, "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know -- this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For David says of Him, 'I WAS ALWAYS BEHOLDING THE LORD IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, THAT I MAY NOT BE SHAKEN. THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL ABIDE IN HOPE; BECAUSE THOU WILT NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW THY HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. THOU HAST MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; THOU WILT MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH THY PRESENCE.' Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT ONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS UPON HIS THRONE,he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:22-32). The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a prominent theme in Peter's message at Pentecost. There are 2 verses speaking about the life of Jesus (verses 22-23). And there are 9 verses speaking about the resurrection of Jesus (verses 24-32), quoting from Psalm 16 and Psalm 132).

In Peter's next message in the book of Acts, the resurrection is mentioned again. Peter had healed a man, "lame from his mother's womb" (Acts 3:2). Peter said, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses" (Acts 3:12-15).

Notice that the thing that disturbed the religious leaders was precisely the part about the resurrection of Jesus, "The priests and the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:1-2). When Peter and John were placed before the religious counsel they said, "let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead -- by this name this mans stands here before you in good health" (Acts 4:10).

When Peter preached to Cornelius' household, he said, "they also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day, and granted that He should become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead" (Acts 10:39b-41).

Paul preached to the church in Pisidian Antioch a message about Jesus. He said, "And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. And when they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this [promise] to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, 'THOU ART MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE.' And as for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: 'I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.' Therefore He also says in another Psalm, 'THOU WILT NOT ALLOW THY HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.' For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses." (Acts 13:28-39). In Paul's sermon, the resurrection of Jesus was a recurring theme. He mentions it four times in this one sermon! He quotes Isaiah 55, Psalm 2 and Psalm 16. Jesus fulfilled these scriptures.

In Acts 17, Paul encountered the philosophers at the Areopagus heard Paul speaking and was interesting in hearing him. Paul's message is summarized in Acts 17:18. "He was preaching Jesus and the Resurrection." The men of the Areopagus thought that Paul was proclaim some strange, new deity, Jesus and "Anastasis" (the Greek word for the resurrection). They had never heard of this "Anastasis" god before, so they were curious. After all, the "Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new" (Acts 17:21). At the end of Paul's message in verse 31, he was saying that "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." When the Athenians heard that Jesus was talking about someone rising from the dead, they didn't want anything more to do with this (Acts 17:32). Note, however that Paul didn't mention anything about the life of Jesus in his message. He went straight to the resurrection of Jesus as God's proof to the world that He will come and judge the world in righteousness through Him.

When Paul stood before the council (which consisted of Pharisees and Sadducees), Paul said in Acts 23:6, "I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" In Acts 24, Paul was speaking to Felix about the charges against him. In verse 21, he told Felix how he stood and shouted among the Council, "For the resurrection of the dead I am on trail before you today." If the resurrection of Jesus were not core to His message, I don't think that Paul would have stood so firmly upon it. He didn't consider it as a secondary issue, such as eating meat sacrificed to idols or keeping a special, Sabbath day (see Romans 14, 15). Rather, Paul centered the controversy of his preaching upon the fact of Jesus rising from the dead. Paul made it the core issue, because it is a core issue in the gospel! If Jesus did rise from the dead, it demonstrates that everything that He said was true. And if everything that Jesus said was true, the religious leaders were in a heap of trouble, as they strongly resisted Him.

At this point, I do think that it is fair to ask you what part the resurrection of Jesus Christ holds in your thinking. Do you cherish it as a doctrine that is precious to you because it is core to the gospel itself? Do you think that it is secondary and of non-importance? The apostles of Jesus Christ didn't think that it was secondary. They held to it as core to their beliefs.

I would like for you to consider one more passage of Scripture that outlines this for us. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wanted to make clear what the message of the gospel was. He boils all of its elements down to a few simple statements at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15. He says, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain" (verses 1, 2). In the following verses, Paul will spell out this gospel clearly that the Corinthians received and embraced and ought to continue to embrace. He wrote, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that

(a) Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
(b) and that He was buried,
(c) and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
(d) and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also" (1 Cor. 15:3-8).

You can count the elements to this gospel that was proclaim:

1. Christ's death.
2. Christ's burial.
3. Christ's resurrection.
4. Christ's appearances.

The fulness of the gospel contains all of these elements. You can't simply focus your message upon one aspect of the life of Christ. It was His complete life that atoned for our sins. "He was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Today, we may not be able to bear witness like the apostles, that we have seen Jesus, risen from the dead. But, we can proclaim, like the apostles did that Jesus has risen from the dead.

To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe in His resurrection. If you believe in a Jesus Christ, who was not crucified and raised from the dead, through the sovereign power of God, then you don't believe in the Jesus Christ of history. You believe in a made up Jesus Christ. Such a person doesn't exist. Such a person cannot save anybody from their sins. To believe in a Jesus who wasn't raised from the dead is like placing your faith in Wile E. Coyote. In his never-ending quest to catch Road Runner, I have seen Wile E. Coyote die hundreds of deaths. I have seen him fall thousands of feet from a cliff into a ravine and smashed to be only two inches thick. Yet, he has lived to see another day. I have seen him been steamrolled to be as flat as paper. Yet, he has come back to seek Road Runner. I have seen him blown to smithereenes by explosives which accidentally detonated to soon. But, somehow, the Coyote continues his question. Believing in a Jesus who never resurrected is like believing in Wile E. Coyote's resurrection. It is fictitious and cannot save.

People need to be confronted by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, because the resurrection is the historical event that confirms our faith. If the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead never happened, then Jesus was a liar. If Jesus was a liar, then He was a sinner. If Jesus was a sinner, then His sacrificed was tarnished. If the sacrifice of Jesus was tarnished, God didn't accept it. If God didn't accept Jesus' sacrifice for our sins, we aren't forgiven. If we aren't forgiven, we are ultimately to be condemned to an eternity in hell. Praise be to God that Jesus Christ was "declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead" (Rom. 1:4).

Perhaps you are here this morning and you don't understand the resurrection. You are in good company. The disciples at one time didn't understand it. But God was patient with them and showed them from the Scriptures how it must take place. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained to the two confused disciples "the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27), by explaining Moses and all the prophets. Jesus said, "It is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations" (Luke 24:46-47). Study the scriptures and you will see that they foretold of His death, burial, and resurrection. Cry out to God for understanding in these matters.

Perhaps you are here this morning and you have doubted the resurrection. You are in good company. The disciples doubted the resurrection of Jesus. Perhaps you are thinking on the simple physical realm. Once a body dies, the organs all shut down. How would you ever get them all started again. If you think this way, I would encourage you to get your eyes off of the physical realm and put them upon the one who created the physical realm. Do you believe that the God who spoke the world into existence doesn't have the power and authority to raise a dead body to life again? He created life. Yvonne and I were pondering the question of why Jesus still had marks in His hands and His side after His resurrection. God could have healed the wounds. After all, He healed everything else in His body. He simply chose not to. He was able to do it, that is for sure. If you are a doubter of the resurrection, pray for God to open your mind to believe.

Perhaps you are here this morning and you haven't witnessed the resurrection. You are in good company. None of us have seen the risen Christ. But, the Scriptures testify of Him. You don't need to see Him today. You need to believe His word, which is entirely sufficient for you to believe, "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30-31). Pray for God to convince you of the resurrection, "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (John 20:29). Pray for God to help you in your unbelief.

Perhaps you are here this morning and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead has no part of your gospel message. You think that people don't need to believe the resurrection to be saved from their sins. Let me ask you, "If Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, how will He come back again?" Jesus is alive and well, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. He is alive because He has been resurrected. You ought to tell others that your faith to stand before God as a blameless rests on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But, you say, "People won't believe me! The scientific, naturalistic people of today are too sophisticated to believe this type of thing." Of course they won't believe you, unless God opens their minds to believe! The message of the cross (which includes the resurrection) is "foolishness" to those who are perishing. "But to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Don't hide truth from people. Clearly speak to others about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and trust God to persuade sinners to turn from their sins to trust in Christ alone. "My preaching and my message were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God" (1 Cor. 2:4, 5).

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on April 20, 2003 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.