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(#23) Jesus Was and Is Alive

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If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#23) Jesus Was and Is Alive [audio]

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:27-28)

One of the fundamental and critical aspects of the resurrection of Jesus is that it was a real, physical resurrection. It wasn’t a sham. It wasn’t a hoax. It wasn’t the evil plotting of a devious conspiracy. It wasn’t a vision or hallucination. Nor was it merely a spiritual resurrection. 

The physical body of Jesus was truly raised from the dead.

We now come to the last of the most significant charges in our day—that Jesus didn’t “physically” rise from the dead. We've looked at a lot of evidence so far that points to the reality of the resurrection. but it is the appearances of a risen Jesus that truly cements it. Although we have mentioned those appearances before, it is now time to detail them and their significance. Jesus didn’t just appear to one or two and therefore leave us with some credible doubt, He appeared to many:

  • To Magdalene at the tomb
  • To the other women
  • To Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus
  • To Peter
  • To ten of the disciples in a locked room that first night
  • To all the disciples in a locked room eight days later
  • To seven of the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias
  • To all the disciples on a mountain in Galilee
  • To over 500 at one time
  • To James
  • To all the disciples in Jerusalem/Bethany
  • To all the disciples on Olivet

And these are just the appearances that are recorded for us. Luke states that Jesus appeared to the disciples over a forty-day period, which implies it was many more than the handful of times in our list. 

Let’s now look at the accusations concerning the appearances of Jesus after His resurrection. There are four that are prominent:

1. The appearances were merely hallucinations.

When my dad began having strokes near the end of his life, he would sit in our dining room and, on occasion, ask who was walking around in the forest behind our house. Of course, in the beginning, we would look as well, and find no one. This happened enough that we eventually came to realize he was suffering from some form of hallucination. But only my dad experienced them. I loved him dearly, and I longed to look outside and see someone, so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the reality of what was happening to him. But I never saw anyone. Never.

Hallucinations, by nature, are confined to an individual. And, by nature, they are not perceived by others. You may have a hallucination and might be able to tell me about it, but I wouldn’t be able to see it with you nor personally experience it with you. There is no such thing as “group” hallucinations that we are, by this charge, led to believe happened to the disciples and to over 500 at one time. I remember when I first heard this theory and was struck by how irrational it was. Nevertheless, it still floats around.

Another answer to this charge is that not all who saw Jesus were “believers” and subject to the accusation that this was some "wish fulfillment" . Thomas was a skeptic; James was a brother who for his whole life had rejected Jesus as anything but a mere mortal; Paul was a persecutor of the Way when He met Jesus on the road to Damascus. They saw the risen Jesus and were radically and dramatically changed.

2. The appearances were mistaken identity.

Hugh Schoenfeld, in his Passover Plot, asserts that the disciples were simply mistaken about the appearances. They were so yearning for this to be true that they misinterpreted regular folks as being Jesus. He points to Magdalene thinking He was a gardener and especially the strange thing we find with Cleopas and his companion on the way to Emmaus when they didn’t recognize Jesus until He broke the bread. For Magdalene, she was sobbing, and had therefore not recognized the angels as such, and it wasn’t until she finally turned toward Jesus and heard Him speak "...that she recognized Him."

It is true that the Emmaus incident seems strange, and we will deal with it separately. But let's do this first. Look at the totality of the evidence in all the other appearances again. If all of these were mistaken identity, then a lot of people had to, somehow, be fully complicit. Revisit the clarity of the record: the person Magdalene encountered at the tomb surely acted and spoke as if He were Jesus, telling her He was ascending to His father. So, too, the person the other women encountered. They grasped His feet and worshipped Him and He told them to go tell His brothers that He would meet them in Galilee. Neither these encounters, nor the others, meet the criteria for a “mistaken identity.” It is possible that I might see a woman across the street and mistake her for my wife. But if I then crossed the street and put my arm around her and she told me she was in town to get presents for our grandchildren and then named them, it would be crazy to think I was still mistaken.

Is it in any way possible or reasonable to think that not only Magdalene and the other women were mistakenly interacting with an unknown, complicit phony, but Peter and the Eleven and over 500 were also fooled? What about His brother, James? Are we to believe that James, who grew up with Jesus, mistook him for someone else? James' life was radically changed by this encounter. We are surely way beyond common sense to think they were all mistaken or deceived. 

Plus, in some cases, they had to “appear” out of nowhere. The disciples were huddled behind locked doors, twice, when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. What common complicit Joe could do that? What “mistaken identity” could also have holes in His hands and side and be touched by disciples who had lived with Him for three years and somehow not see that it was somebody else?

Maybe, returning to something more rational and plausible, it was just as the record declares: those who saw Him were convinced, even to their deaths, that they really saw Jesus alive. They heard Him. They touched Him. They ate with Him.

So, let’s talk about the strangeness of the Emmaus event. Do we let this trump all the other evidence? No. We simply try to understand it in light of that evidence. Does Jesus, in His resurrected body, have the power to enter a locked room? Sure. It appears He most certainly did. He had the power to walk on water even before the resurrection. Could He, for His own purposes, hide His identity from Cleopas until He had gone through the Old Testament with him? Sure. Is it possible God could blind the two men to His identity for a short time? Surely that is possible. It is even possible Jesus hid His face from them... deep within a hood. Any of this is reasonable.

So, in the face of the overwhelming evidence in all the other appearances where Jesus was clearly seen, the Emmaus event is not hard to reconcile. The bottom line, however, is that in the end, even Cleopas recognized Him as Jesus. And then, He “vanished from their sight.” This is hard to pull off by a “mistaken identity” person. In fact, this encounter caused them to immediately drop their plans and hustle seven miles back to Jerusalem.

Seeing the risen Jesus has changed many a person’s plans. 

3. The resurrection was spiritual and therefore the appearances were only spiritual.

This is the notion that Jesus didn’t physically rise, but instead, was raised spiritually. This theory has lots of tentacles and various forms. When it was first offered, some began to ask the reasonable question about the empty tomb. If Jesus were raised spiritually, then the body would have to still be there. Therefore, in later forms, the theory necessarily evolved to include God destroying the physical body while raising the "spiritual" Jesus. Jehovah’s Witnesses follow a theory like this. I personally know several who do as well. In their case, Jesus has become more of a “force” or a “thought” or a "divine presence" than a real person. This is what often happens because of this theory. The reality of Jesus fades into something metaphysical, something found more in our spiritual contemplations and meditations than in the reality of a risen Lord.

It seems as if Jesus were specifically destroying this notion when He asked the disciples that first night for some fish. He ate it in their presence, possibly not because He was hungry, but to assure them He was not a ghost or a figment of their combined imaginations. Luke even begins that encounter by saying that the disciples “thought they were seeing a spirit”. Jesus made sure they knew He was physically present with them. The physical body of Jesus has risen from the dead... the physical body of Jesus was fully alive again before their very eyes.

4. The appearances are all part of the resurrection myth/legend.

We’ve dealt with this charge multiple times. A. N. Sherwin-White, professor at Oxford University and famous historian, declared that even after two generations there is still too much historical truth embedded in people for a legend to commence forming. In 1844, theologian Julius Muller issued a challenge for anyone to find a legend that had developed within this time frame and to this day his challenge still stands unmet. Declaring that the resurrection appearances are nothing more than legend is an easy charge to make, but it has no valid basis. This, again, is why understanding the early nature of the resurrection polemic and creed is so very important in our defense for the reason for the hope that is in us. (1 Peter 3:15)  

We have seen a number of desperate attempts to explain away the resurrection, from “the disciples stole the body” to “the disciples were hallucinating”. All of them are found deeply wanting. Keep this in mind, however... we are not dealing with a lack of evidence for the resurrection of Christ here, we are dealing with a lack of “want to” in the heart. 

So, what does the physical resurrection of Jesus mean for us believers? Well, the answers to that are plentiful and we will deal with those in the coming days. However, for now, contemplate that the physical resurrection of Jesus, as the first-fruits, is the basis for our hope that one day, you and I will be physically resurrected as well. Second, contemplate that Jesus was not only alive on that first day, but He is alive today. He hears you, just as He heard Magdalene. He sees you just as He saw Thomas and Thomas saw Him and touched Him. He is just alive today as He was when he cooked fish by the sea after His resurrection. And third, recognize that when Jesus makes Himself known to people, they are radically and forever changed. As Thomas cried, "My Lord, and my God!", and as in one of my favorite musicals "Then Came the Morning", Magdalene sings, "I've just seen Jesus, and I'll never be the same again!", so, too, you and I are changed people. For, by faith, we have also seen the risen Savior.

And we will never be the same again. 

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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]
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