(#20) There Would Have Been an Early Resurrection Polemic

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If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#20) There Would Have Been an Early Resurrection Polemic [audio]

There are two key formal elements in the argument concerning the resurrection of Jesus. The first is the “resurrection polemic” and the second is the “early resurrection creed”. Both had been fully developed in the very early days of Christianity. And both must be understood by the Christian seeking to defend the resurrection of Christ and understood well enough to articulate them. 

Today, we want to examine the first of these two: the “resurrection polemic[1]”. If you are unfamiliar with the word “polemic”, it would be fair to think of it as a verbal attack upon someone or something. It is usually used in the context of a verbal assault upon a particular group of people and often concerns a religious or political position. It comes from the Greek word polemikos (po’-lay-me-kos), which means “warlike, belligerent” and it gives you a sense that there is some strong emotion behind it. A polemic often involves not only the verbal attack, but the countering position, somewhat of a “point/counterpoint” as in a debate, except this is not a friendly debate. In the case of the resurrection polemic, we find that it was not just a temporary attack, but it had become cemented in the culture: “this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day” (Matthew 28:15)

The historical record, therefore, informs us that this polemic regarding the resurrection of Jesus had formed extremely early. This is very important in our apologetic, for this polemic precludes the time necessary for a legend to arise. Legends can only form well after all of the eye-witnesses, and even secondary or tertiary generations, can provide a true account of what really happened. Plus, legends and myths don’t arise overnight, they need time to marinate, evolve and solidify.

There are a numerous passages of Scripture that we need to look at together. I encourage you to read them and begin to see them in the “point/counterpoint”, or better yet, a "point/attack" framework. 

Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with 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, otherwise His disciples may 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.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (Matthew 27:62-66)

Here we see a portion of the polemic: the Jewish authorities are concerned that the disciples would formulate an argument that Jesus was the Messiah because He predicted His resurrection and had indeed risen. And, they would solidify their argument by stealing the body. The authorities moved to block that argument by posting the guard at the tomb.

But, things didn’t go as planned and three days later the soldiers appeared with, no doubt, strange stories about strange things happening at the tomb. And, they confessed, the tomb was, in fact,  empty.

 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day. (Matthew 28:11-15)

Here is the next stage of the polemic under construction. The authorities feared the disciples could now argue that Jesus had risen and point to the empty tomb, so they created a counterpoint that the disciples had stolen the body. And, then, if the disciples pointed out that a guard had been put in place to keep that from happening, they could counter that the guards had fallen asleep.

And so, we now have the heart of the polemic before us. 

However, it seems to me that the polemic really starts earlier than all of this:

Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. (Mark 14:61-64)

The true beginning of the argument is found in the claim of Jesus that He was the Messiah. His claims are much broader and deeper than that, but we will focus on this one for it is the key point in the passage above and in the polemic. The counterpoint/attack we see under development here from the Jewish authorities is that He is not the Messiah and to prove their counterpoint they would put Him to death. Which, of course, they did.

Summarizing the first point/counterpoint:

Point: Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God!

  • Counterpoint: He is not. He was crucified and is now dead. End of story.

And, if three days later nothing had happened, it would have most certainly been the end of the argument. But, of course, something earthshaking happened instead. And now there was a new line in the polemic:

Point: Jesus rose from the dead!

  • Counterpoint: His body is in the tomb.

Point: The tomb is empty.

  • Counterpoint: The disciples stole the body.

Point: Soldiers were guarding the tomb.

  • Counterpoint: They fell asleep.

Point: They were bribed to say that.

  • Counterpoint: <silence>

The importance of going through all of this is to see that the attack and verbal argument began right at the time of the events of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And, maybe even more importantly, that it was recorded so near to the actual occurrences that the existence of the argument could have been refuted by anyone at the time they were written. This, again, is a grave blow to the notion that the resurrection of Jesus was a later mythical, legendary development.

What should be interesting to us, as well, is that this polemic is still with us today. For to declare: “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, risen from the dead!” raises all of the counterpoints that we see from day one, plus many more that have been crafted over the years. We will look at those counterpoint theories soon, but first we need to understand the key importance of the early resurrection creed. We will do that next time.

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[1] No one has presented the polemic argument better than William Lane Craig and I commend to you his book, Reasonable Faith

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(#2) The Seal Was Broken
 If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#2) The Seal Was Broken [audio] We don’t spend much time talking about the seal that was placed upon the tomb, but I think it is significant. Here is the historical record: The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27:62-66) The account states that the chief priests and the Pharisees “made the tomb secure by sealing the stone…”.  This seal was most likely several ropes that were drawn across the stone and then affixed to the tomb walls with a soft clay imprinted with some symbol of authority. It was also likely that the ropes were sealed at their juncture in front of the stone. In this way, no one could move the stone or the ropes without breaking the dried clay and destroying the “seal” affixed upon the clay.  The seal was there to “put on notice” that no one was to mess with the tomb. Rome could deal quite nastily with those who did so. Now, this doesn’t mean much to us today, for we are long past the norm of using “seals” as they were utilized in ancient times. but in those days, a seal was inviolable[1]. It represented authority, authenticity, and finality. No one messed with a seal. In the book of Esther, when King Ahasuerus issued the order to save the Jews, he commanded them to “seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.” (Esther 8:8) When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, “… a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel." (Daniel 6:17) In the vision concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Scripture says: And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” (Isaiah 29:11) The permanence of a seal against all who were unauthorized to break it was an inviolable part of their world.  It becomes even more apparent when John is caught up to heaven and there beholds the scroll with seven seals. John weeps because there was “no one worthy to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:4). Of course, we find that the Lamb, “standing as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6), was worthy to break the seals. And when each of those seals were broken, great calamity came upon the earth. Seals in the Scripture mean something. And John had wept, because the seal represented an inviolable wall to anyone who did not have the authority to break it. Seals show authority. They show authenticity. And they show finality for all except the one who had the authority to break them. And so, we now come back to the tomb. The seal, whether it was a Roman seal or the High Priest’s seal, represented a fixed closure that no one was allowed to breach. When it was set upon the tomb, there was a finality, a stamp of ultimate authority, that said, “This tomb is closed.” Ah, but God is not subject to the laws or seals of man. I can imagine that when the earth began to shake and the stone was rolled aside, that those clay seals with the authority of man impressed upon them broke into a thousand pieces and lay as trash littering the ground. If Jesus rose from the dead, then the seal of man, meant to keep Him in the grave, had been utterly and completely destroyed. But there is one more thing that must be mentioned regarding “seals”. It is important to note that God has given us this detail in the record to help substantiate the reality of the accounts of the empty tomb and the risen Lord Jesus. But it also brings our minds to something quite wonderful. In John 6:27, Jesus said: Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” If God seals something, it is sealed! In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) “… it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21) This is God’s seal of authority, authenticity, and finality. You are His, sealed with His guarantee. Oh, my, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! How deep is the steadfast love of God that He should do such mighty things to secure us to Himself and then tell us that He has put His own seal upon you and me? As David writes: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:6) [previous] [next]     [1]Inviolable /ĭn-vī′ə-lə-bəl/: never to be broken, infringed or dishonored; unassailable; secure from violation or assault or trespass
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If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then... (#0)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important truth claim in a biblical worldview. It is the key apologetic for Christianity. It is the most important event in history. The implications of the Resurrection are so deeply woven into the fabric of our Christian faith that it is important for us to continually embed its truths into our heart and mind such that it becomes an ever-present reality. To do this, I would like for us to ponder fifty compelling arguments and implications that are true if Jesus, indeed, “rose from the dead.” We will look at these, one a day, over the next seven weeks. This will take us through Ascension Day and Pentecost. The latter two are important days of remembrance following the Resurrection and we will highlight them. But more importantly, I want to help people contemplate, on a daily basis, over a sustained period of time, the tremendous significance of the Resurrection. We will do this by considering not only the many proofs, but also the many deep implications. I would encourage you to do this as devotions with your spouse or as a study for your small group and then engage in a healthy discussion (suggested questions will be provided in the daily email). My prayer is that God will use these days to increase faith within the Body of Christ and our ability to provide a "neighborly apologetic" to those who are open to hear as the result of the relationships we are building with them. Paul states that without the resurrection, our faith would be in vain and we would still be lost.  “… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”      1 Corinthians 15:17 This is not a minor statement, and it should cause us pause, for it puts this unique historical event into sharp perspective. Without the Resurrection, we are hopelessly lost. We are without a true faith and we are unforgiven, still condemned in our sins. We should probably read that verse over several times before plowing forward. It is easy for me, and possibly you, to treat Easter as another Christian holiday marked by multiple, and possibly extensive, preparations. Church choirs rehearse diligently and on overtime, special services are prepared (think Good Friday and sometimes Sunrise Services), thousands of lilies are tended and provoked to bloom at the right time and are purchased to line sanctuary rails, special meals are planned and prepared and joyously consumed, treasure hunts are created, painted eggs are hidden and Easter baskets are filled with chocolate bunnies, peeps, and who knows what else the market has, and will, come up with.  The point here is that just like Christmas and Thanksgiving and every other holiday, including birthdays, anniversaries, and the multitude of “take-your-boss-to-lunch” kind of days, they are preceded with much preparation, happy execution, and then forgotten except to toss the wrappings into the trash and press on with life as usual. When I was at the White House, the annual “Easter Egg Roll” on the south lawn was a big deal with weeks of preparation, followed immediately by a massive clean-up and the Secret Service hustling folks out of the “compound”. The next day, it was impossible to find any evidence that there had been anything going on. For the Resurrection, however, Paul implies that it is something so critical to our faith that it should be an ever present reality. The astounding cry, “He lives!” should be ongoing, not a one-and-done holiday. Certainly, "We serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today," as the famous hymn states, is an astounding, continual reality. I believe it is important for us to frequently ponder and meditate upon the deep implications that the tomb was really, truly empty and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is absolutely true. So, we will look at not only these implications, but also the apologetic propositions and the incredible truths that logically follow this unmatched historical assertion. We will generally lay down the apologetic arguments first and then deal with the implications. And hopefully, after working your way through all of this, you will have imprinted these implications and truths deep in your heart such that they will help you with your walk into the darkness we call future. Because it is the Resurrection of Christ that stands not only at the forefront in the apologetic reality of who Jesus is and what God has done for us, but also the enduring hope we have in Christ. As another famous hymn states: "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow." [Next: It Would Have Shaken Everything]