Faith: Confidence Rooted in Evidence and Truth
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Now you might wonder, in what did she have so much faith? Well, she had a tremendous amount of faith in the publisher's clearinghouse sweepstakes. Anybody remember that? And she kept telling me, you just have to have faith. Like this is somehow the magic trick. This is the key that will unlock the lock that nobody else has figured out. And she was like, I have faith. And she would even like practice her surprised face like, oh me, I can't believe it. Ed McMahon in a van in front of my house with a giant check for a million dollars. And Alice had so much faith. And I remember thinking, lady, you bought a subscription to Cat Fancy. I don't think this is how you get your first million dollars. I don't think that's how this works. But also, I don't think that's how faith works. You know, faith isn't just like a rabbit's foot. It's not a lucky charm. It's not enough to just have faith in faith itself. [00:00:26] (54 seconds)
I think that it's okay to ask questions. In fact, I think more of us should ask more questions. So if you're here today and you have some questions about this whole Easter thing, and you have questions about the resurrection, and you have questions about what maybe happened in the Middle East 2,000 years ago, I am so glad you're here, because I think your questions are important. In fact, I think you're asking the most important questions that can be asked. But some of your misunderstanding about this book is because you have a misconception about how we got this book. [00:04:19] (35 seconds)
You see, the reason I'm so passionate about this is because some of you, I know you, I love you, and I've heard you say to me, I just don't think I can believe blindly. I just don't think I can have blind faith. And I want to say, what if? What if God's not asking you to believe blindly? What if we as Christians don't believe the resurrection because the Bible told me so? What if we believe the resurrection because Matthew, who was a first century tax collector and a follower of Jesus and an eyewitness of these events, carefully recorded this and wrote it down for his Jewish audience to understand that the Messiah had come and been fulfilled? [00:09:43] (52 seconds)
Paul, if you don't like Christians, you would love Paul. Paul didn't like Christians either. In fact, he thought the world would be better off without them. He got permission from the Jewish leadership to go around the known world and to extinguish all of the Christians. Paul was responsible for the murder of Christians in the years after Jesus' death and resurrection. And then Paul saw the risen Jesus and it changed his life and it changed the story that he told. [00:14:01] (34 seconds)
Because we all move forward every day with faith. Your wife serves you up a meal. Your husband smokes something on the grill. He brings it in. He puts it in front of you. Probably not a lot of you are like, I'm gonna let the kids eat it first. See if they drop dead. Right? I mean, it's possible that you've been poisoned, but you move forward with confidence. You move forward with faith because you have good data. And we have excellent data to believe that Jesus Christ was a historical figure, that he lived, that he claimed to be the son of God, that he was crucified, and that he rose again. [00:15:18] (43 seconds)
You see, our faith is not rooted in a book. Our faith is rooted in an event. And that event gave way to a movement. And then that movement created documents that were gathered together and bound together for you and I to enjoy today. The people who went to their death for what they believed they saw, they didn't go to their death because they believed what was in a book. They didn't have the book yet. They went to their death because of what they said they saw. They saw their friend, their rabbi, crucified and risen again. [00:17:10] (48 seconds)
You see, what's fascinating about these accounts that we can trust is that none of the New Testament authors write themselves into the story as the hero. None of them were like, well, everyone else, they doubted, but I believed, I knew Jesus would keep his word. In fact, I stood outside the tomb on Sunday morning, and as the sun was about to break over the horizon, I began the countdown, 10, 9, 8, cue the sun, here comes Jesus, everybody get ready. No. If you're a skeptic, if you have a difficult time believing in the resurrection, I want to tell you something. [00:23:55] (39 seconds)
Now, there are so many reasons to believe the early accounts. And I just want to run through a few of them because I think they're helpful for us to know. But you should know that one of the reasons that textual critics look at these early accounts that are in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, and they look at these early accounts of the life and death and the resurrection of Jesus. One of the reasons that textual critics hold these accounts up as reliable is just a few of these. First of all, women were the first witnesses. [00:27:35] (28 seconds)
So I'd invite you to make a decision today. C.S. Lewis put it this way, Christianity, if it's false, is of no importance. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, as Paul said, our faith is meaningless. However, if it's true, it's of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. Faith isn't the absence of doubt. I'm not asking you to not have doubts. I'm not asking you to not wonder. I'm not asking you to not ask questions. You should ask questions. But faith is the courage to trust the evidence. [00:30:29] (58 seconds)
I want to encourage you today to take that step, not blind faith, not blind trust, but take a step of faith, of confidence that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and that he has conquered death on your behalf. Imagine today, anchoring your life on a real moment in history. When Peter believed that Jesus had risen, when Thomas believed that Jesus had risen, when Mary believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, they didn't just believe again. They lived again. They had life that was given to them in the fullest. [00:34:13] (57 seconds)
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I think that it's okay to ask questions. In fact, I think more of us should ask more questions. So if you're here today and you have some questions about this whole Easter thing, and you have questions about the resurrection, and you have questions about what maybe happened in the Middle East 2,000 years ago, I am so glad you're here, because I think your questions are important. In fact, I think you're asking the most important questions that can be asked. But some of your misunderstanding about this book is because you have a misconception about how we got this book. [00:04:19] (35 seconds)
You see, the reason I'm so passionate about this is because some of you, I know you, I love you, and I've heard you say to me, I just don't think I can believe blindly. I just don't think I can have blind faith. And I want to say, what if? What if God's not asking you to believe blindly? What if we as Christians don't believe the resurrection because the Bible told me so? What if we believe the resurrection because Matthew, who was a first century tax collector and a follower of Jesus and an eyewitness of these events, carefully recorded this and wrote it down for his Jewish audience to understand that the Messiah had come and been fulfilled? [00:09:43] (52 seconds)
Paul, if you don't like Christians, you would love Paul. Paul didn't like Christians either. In fact, he thought the world would be better off without them. He got permission from the Jewish leadership to go around the known world and to extinguish all of the Christians. Paul was responsible for the murder of Christians in the years after Jesus' death and resurrection. And then Paul saw the risen Jesus and it changed his life and it changed the story that he told. [00:14:01] (34 seconds)
Because we all move forward every day with faith. Your wife serves you up a meal. Your husband smokes something on the grill. He brings it in. He puts it in front of you. Probably not a lot of you are like, I'm gonna let the kids eat it first. See if they drop dead. Right? I mean, it's possible that you've been poisoned, but you move forward with confidence. You move forward with faith because you have good data. And we have excellent data to believe that Jesus Christ was a historical figure, that he lived, that he claimed to be the son of God, that he was crucified, and that he rose again. [00:15:18] (43 seconds)
You see, our faith is not rooted in a book. Our faith is rooted in an event. And that event gave way to a movement. And then that movement created documents that were gathered together and bound together for you and I to enjoy today. The people who went to their death for what they believed they saw, they didn't go to their death because they believed what was in a book. They didn't have the book yet. They went to their death because of what they said they saw. They saw their friend, their rabbi, crucified and risen again. [00:17:10] (48 seconds)
You see, what's fascinating about these accounts that we can trust is that none of the New Testament authors write themselves into the story as the hero. None of them were like, well, everyone else, they doubted, but I believed, I knew Jesus would keep his word. In fact, I stood outside the tomb on Sunday morning, and as the sun was about to break over the horizon, I began the countdown, 10, 9, 8, cue the sun, here comes Jesus, everybody get ready. No. If you're a skeptic, if you have a difficult time believing in the resurrection, I want to tell you something. [00:23:55] (39 seconds)
Now, there are so many reasons to believe the early accounts. And I just want to run through a few of them because I think they're helpful for us to know. But you should know that one of the reasons that textual critics look at these early accounts that are in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, and they look at these early accounts of the life and death and the resurrection of Jesus. One of the reasons that textual critics hold these accounts up as reliable is just a few of these. First of all, women were the first witnesses. [00:27:35] (28 seconds)
So I'd invite you to make a decision today. C.S. Lewis put it this way, Christianity, if it's false, is of no importance. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, as Paul said, our faith is meaningless. However, if it's true, it's of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. Faith isn't the absence of doubt. I'm not asking you to not have doubts. I'm not asking you to not wonder. I'm not asking you to not ask questions. You should ask questions. But faith is the courage to trust the evidence. [00:30:29] (58 seconds)
I want to encourage you today to take that step, not blind faith, not blind trust, but take a step of faith, of confidence that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and that he has conquered death on your behalf. Imagine today, anchoring your life on a real moment in history. When Peter believed that Jesus had risen, when Thomas believed that Jesus had risen, when Mary believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, they didn't just believe again. They lived again. They had life that was given to them in the fullest. [00:34:13] (57 seconds)
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