A Case for the Resurrection

Author and pastor Tim Keller on why Christ's Resurrection is more than just a story.

In the decades before and after Jesus’ life and death, there were dozens of messianic movements in Israel. In almost every case the messianic leader was killed, in many cases by execution, and after the leader’s death each of these movements invariably collapsed. Everybody went home, and that was it. Of all those dozens of movements, only one did not collapse after the death of the leader. Not only did it not collapse, it exploded: In the course of about 300 years it had spread through the entire Roman empire.

Out of all those messianic movements, what made the Christian faith different? Christians would say it is because of what happened after the leader of this movement was killed. So what did happen to cause explosive growth in Christianity after its founder’s death?

Jesus died in mid-afternoon and the Sabbath began at sunset. The Jewish law permitted no work on the Sabbath, which meant they could not bury the body of Jesus that night or the next day. So Joseph goes to Pilate, hoping to be able to bury the body in time. Joseph, though a Pharisee, shows enormous courage and independence of thought by asking for Jesus’ body. Mark reports:

Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. (Mark 15:44–47)

The way Mark reports the burial is significant: He is “certifying” that Jesus was really dead. Joseph of Arimathea is named here as an identified witness who actually had Jesus’ body wrapped up and sealed it in a tomb. A Roman centurion (who would be an expert) bore witness of Jesus’ death to Pilate (who would be the legal authority on the matter). Finally, two women are cited as eyewitnesses to the burial. So multiple experts and witnesses prove He was really dead.

The resurrection was as inconceivable for the first disciples, as impossible for them to believe, as it is for many of us today. Granted, their reasons would have been different from ours. The Greeks did not believe in resurrection; in the Greek worldview, the afterlife was liberation of the soul from the body. For them, resurrection would never be part of life after death. As for the Jews, some of them believed in a future general resurrection when the entire world would be renewed, but they had no concept of an individual rising from the dead. The people of Jesus’ day were not predisposed to believe in resurrection any more than we are.

Celsus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the second century A.D., was highly antagonistic to Christianity and wrote a number of works listing arguments against it. One of the arguments he believed most telling went like this: Christianity can’t be true, because the written accounts of the resurrection are based on the testimony of women—and we all know women are hysterical. And many of Celsus’ readers agreed: For them, that was a major problem. In ancient societies, as you know, women were marginalized, and the testimony of women was never given much credence.

Do you see what that means? If Mark and the Christians were making up these stories to get their movement off the ground, they would never have written women into the story as the first eyewitnesses to Jesus’ empty tomb. The only possible reason for the presence of women in these accounts is that they really were present and reported what they saw. The stone has been rolled away, the tomb is empty and an angel declares that Jesus is risen.

What was the resurrected Jesus like? Well, Jesus’ resurrection body had “flesh and bones.” He was not a ghost. The disciples were able to recognize Him and to touch Him. He spoke with them. But could they all have been having a group hallucination?

No, because the disciples were not the only ones who saw and touched Jesus. Paul makes a long list of people who claimed to have seen the risen Christ personally, and notes that “most of them are still living” (1 Corinthians 15:6).

Moreover, there has to be some explanation for how the cowardly group of disciples was transformed into a group of leaders. Many of them went on to live sacrificial lives, and many of them were killed for teaching that Jesus had been resurrected.

Jesus had risen, just as He told them He would. After a criminal does his time in jail and fully satisfies the sentence, the law has no more claim on him and he walks out free. Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for our sins. That was an infinite sentence, but He must have satisfied it fully, because on Easter Sunday He walked out free. The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it.

On the Day of the Lord—the day that God makes everything right, the day that everything sad comes untrue—on that day the same thing will happen to your own hurts and sadness. You will find that the worst things that have ever happened to you will in the end only enhance your eternal delight. On that day, all of it will be turned inside out and you will know joy beyond the walls of the world. The joy of your glory will be that much greater for every scar you bear. So live in the light of the resurrection and renewal of this world, and of yourself, in a glorious, never-ending, joyful dance of grace.

Excerpt from King's Cross by Timothy Keller © 2011. Excerpted with permission from Dutton, Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

http://www.saintsandsceptics.org/q-why-should-i-believe-jesus-rose-from-the-dead-part-1/

http://www.gospelproject.com/2013/11/2036/

http://www.thegoodbookblog.com/2016/mar/26/the-resurrection-answers-three-big-questions

http://adam4d.com/jesus-rose-from-dead/#

http://www.reasons.org/blogs/reflections/12-evidences-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus--part-1

https://winteryknight.com/2017/04/02/william-lane-craig-explains-the-resurrection-of-jesus-in-ireland/

http://darryleyb.net/believe-jesus-resurrection/

http://www.travisdickinson.com/?p=182

http://www.faithgateway.com/5-surprising-things-jesus-followers-easter

http://www.christ4all.com/p/blog-page_5.html

http://www.equip.org/defending-the-resurrection/

https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-just-prove-resurrection-talk-matters/

https://www.reasons.org/explore/blogs/reflections/read/reflections/2018/03/27/a-dozen-evidences-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8fKZ9QyHH4

https://reasonsforjesus.com/risen-historical-evidence-jesus-rose-dead/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u52eRZ6S5Yw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5mcrOpGJcs

https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/is-the-resurrection-hypothesis-improbable

Labor in Prayer

I needed this tonight...

Complete and Effective Decision About Sin

I will admit that I have yet to completely do this...

. . . our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin — Romans 6:6

Co-Crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sin — that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you - not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified — just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.

Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, “Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.

This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life — to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin — that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (Romans 6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God.

Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . .” (Galatians 2:20).

(From Oswald Chambers)

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming." - Colossians 3:5-6

The Gospel Presented Anew

Oh my, do I ever love this. I will have more to say on it in coming days. For now, just watch and listen.

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Caught in the Middle

On the way home from work tonight, this song came on. I think it is a good follow up to the last post as well as the post entitled "Stop Playing Christian."

Will you trade your dreams for His?

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle you'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who you're making me
Somewhere in the middle you'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender
'Cause I'm losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence
Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep-water faith in the shallow end
We are caught in the middle

With eyes wide open to the differences
The God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His
Or are we caught in the middle?
Are we caught in the middle?

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves
Somewhere between a whisper and the Lord

Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle you'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender
'Cause I'm losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence
Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep-water faith in the shallow end
We are caught in the middle

With eyes wide open to the differences
The God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His
Or are we caught in the middle?

Fearless warriors in a picket fence
Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep-water faith in the shallow end
We are caught in the middle

With eyes wide open to the differences
The God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His
Or are we caught in the middle?
Are we caught in the middle?

Lord, I feel You in this place
And I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights
When I am caught in the the middle
Caught in the middle



"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." - Revelation 3:15-17 (ESV)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2012/summer/transformedchristian.html?paging=off

It's Not About Me

Oh, but how I wish it were sometimes...

"After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).

Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3:22-30 (ESV)

One reason that I know the Bible is divinely inspired and not merely based on the whims and thoughts of man is because the idea of life not being about us is simply not a human thought. It is natural for us to base our decisions on what we want, on what we think will work out best for us and what we believe will serve our ultimate good. We like to be the center of the story. And even if we have matured to the point where we no longer have to be the absolute center of the story, we still have a strong desire to influence the narrative so the story goes the way we think it should.

In the passage above, John the Baptist is expressing his joy that he gets to step aside. There is no sadness that he isn't the center of the story. In fact, he has known all along that the story wasn't about him and so he now has complete peace that the center of the larger story has arrived. John gladly says that his role in this story must now decrease as the role of Christ increases.

Does the story you are living in belong to you or God? The answer to that question will also reveal the main character. I have often been reluctant to put my story aside and join God in the story of His restoration of creation and the advancement of His Kingdom. That seems like a very odd hesitation as I type it now but at times it seemed much more normal to want to have my say as to how my life should unfold. After all, no one could possibly care more about me than me, right?

Do you have a desire to decrease so that the glory of God may increase? Your answer may very well rest on what you believe about your life and purpose here on earth. If you believe this is your home or that what you do here defines who you are then you will want to increase in importance and attempt to control your own destiny. If you believe your true home is an eternal destination in heaven and that this life is meant to be lived within the context of a relationship with the Creator of the universe then you will be more than satisfied to live your life in service to God and others around you.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 talks about a thorn in the flesh that God has given him in order to combat any spiritual pride he may be experiencing after seeing divine revelations. Paul does plead with God numerous times for this messenger of Satan to be removed. Yet, God assures Paul that His grace is sufficient in the midst of this trial of suffering as His power is made perfect in our weakness. Paul agrees and testifies, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It doesn't work the other way. God's weakness doesn't result in our strength although we often implicitly wish it would.

The toughest lesson for any human being to learn is that it isn't about them. As a Christian, I must die to self every day, which is to say that I must recommit my life to God and submit to His plans and His agenda rather than my own. It's far from easy and I do it far from perfectly. The good news is that the closer I walk with my Lord and the more sanctified I become through the working of the Holy Spirit, the more my desires and God's plans overlap. Then it becomes more natural.

As John Piper would say..."God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Find your satisfaction and joy in lifting God up rather than yourself.

I was listening to the seventh sermon in Matt Chandler's Habakkuk sermon series last weekend when I heard this...

"If God gave me the script to my life I wanted but didn't give me Himself...if we are looking at this eternally...isn't He cruel? Like if God gives me long life and a beautiful wife and great kids and tons of cash and fame and friends and joy but He doesn't give me Himself...isn't He cruel? And if He gives me nothing but blood and tears here but I have Him, hasn't He been merciful? The answer is yes. And that's why throughout the Scriptures, people who are undergoing horrific suffering are rejoicing."

Do you see why it's not about us? Because if it is ultimately about us there is no meaning beyond whatever we have found to replace God with on this planet. To supercede God's position with our own is to substitute the eternal for the temporal, the strong for the weak, the holy for the wicked, the perfect for the sinful, the right for the wrong, the hope for the hopeless. If I understand who I am and understand who God is, I won't want to be first in my life because I know God's plan for my life is better than anything I could dream up on my own. His beauty and magnificence begin to naturally take precedence when it comes to my thoughts and emotions.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

"When we become the centerpiece of our own story, life becomes a tragedy." - Pastor Tullian

"There's nothing that makes you more miserable (or less interesting) than self-absorption." - Tim Keller

Rob Bell "Love Wins" Follow Up

This is a link to an interview with Martin Bashir that took place after his interview with Rob Bell. I think it is worth your time:

http://networkedblogs.com/fxXwm

As you can see from the video, Rob's immediate answers are quickly undermined by his explanations. I think Rob is a man who is stuck in the middle - between what he wants the answers to be and what they actually are. It is difficult to present coherent points when you are being internally pulled in two different directions.

I understand Rob's dilemma. The thought of God's judgment and the existence of a physical hell where some are sent to endure eternal, conscious torment offends our 21st century Western ideas of justice. I have had talks with my best friend, also a Christian, about this very idea. We are both Bible-believing Christians and yet we both "feel" that this punishment just seems so extraordinary as to dwarf any crime. Rob obviously has had similar thoughts, exemplified by the idea of Gandhi in hell, which have caused him to twist Biblical truth in pursuit of finding inner peace for himself and a more pleasing message for his followers.

God is love. The Bible makes that clear. But what we don't like to talk about is the Bible also makes God's holiness explicitly clear. We are sinners. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have been offered the gift to stand holy and blameless in front of God. But we can not be holy by ourselves. Thus, our understanding of what it means to be holy and of God's holiness is non-existent. We see the works of Gandhi or the generosity of Oprah and we say to one another, "These are great people doing great things." However, we are looking at them through our sin-stained prism. We see their "goodness" in the context of an existence marred by sin and imperfection. It's moral relativism at its finest. God sees us through the eyes of a holy and just Creator.

God's love and mercy are ultimately on display through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But they are also on display due to the very fact that you are breathing right this very minute.

"The wages of the righteous is life,
but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death." - Proverbs 10:16

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:22-23

As soon as you sinned your life should have ended. Our idea of being "good people" is far removed from God's idea of good. We use some sort of human scale (which is different for everyone) to determine whether or not someone is a better person than another, and as such, is in someway deserving of a greater reward. God's scale is "holy" and "sin". All have fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) That doesn't seem fair to us. Again, we don't understand God's holiness. We mock the fact He is just by arguing that we can in some way live up to His perfect standard. Do you see why we so desperately need Jesus?

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

As a pastor, Rob cannot disassociate himself from the idea that God and Jesus are in control of our eternal destiny. But it is also apparent that he cannot disassociate himself from the human idea that our morality and goodness play a defining role in our eternal destiny. So, he is left with this odd mix of the two that is long on questions and short on answers.

"To the Jews (and all of us) who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" - John 8:31-32

Rob is letting go of God's teaching. As a popular pastor this tragic fact has influence over tens of thousands. This is why this situation is of such importance. I have great love and concern for Rob. He needs to be admonished. He needs to be held accountable to the truth. He needs our prayers. Most of all, Rob needs Jesus who is our only hope. Without Jesus there is no hope.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." - Romans 8:1-2

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." - Hebrews 11:6



Here is the latest related article (from 4/21):

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1333688

Rob Bell debate with Adrian Warnock:

http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/57af5a35-8b49-4c58-b283-fe25e4fe2d97.mp3

http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2011/06/22/why-should-i-let-you-into-heaven-because-im-dead/

http://journeyon.net/hell#haventheardthegospel

http://sbcvoices.com/7-steps-to-becoming-a-heretic/

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/david-platt-on-the-doctrine-of-hell