Resurrection: The Cornerstone of Christian Faith
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
We believe Jesus rose from the dead because a first century follower of Jesus named Matthew documented the life of Jesus and documented the resurrection. And we believe because a Greek named Mark who was a friend of Peter got Peter's story out of Peter and concluded in the first century that Peter was telling the truth and that Jesus actually rose from the dead. [00:01:38]
And we believe because the apostle Paul who stepped onto the pages of history as someone who was committed to doing away with the church concluded that Jesus was in fact the Jewish messiah, he was the son of God, and that he actually rose from the dead, and he knew this because of a personal revelation and because he spent so much time with Peter and Andrew and James and John and James, the brother of Jesus. [00:03:23]
Apart from the resurrection, Jesus was just another Jewish rabbi that went off the rails. Apart from the resurrection, Jesus is just another wannabe messiah executed by Rome. They come and they go. And the people who were closest to Jesus are so excruciatingly honest, in fact it's one of the reasons you should take their account seriously. They do not write themselves into the story as heroes in the story. [00:04:21]
Nobody, nobody, even his closest followers, even the most committed among them, nobody expected no body. Nobody was standing outside the tomb counting down from 10 backwards on Easter morning, 10, nine, eight, cue the sun, seven, six, nobody was out there because every single person who loved and was devoted to Jesus determined they had been fooled, they had been tricked, he was not who he claimed to be. [00:04:58]
And John, who was there for all of this says, at that point the soldiers took charge of Jesus. And carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull. Again, John is writing this as an old man thinking back. He's dictating this probably, because he's too old to see. He probably can't write by this time. He's dictating this and someone is taking this down in Greek because Greek is the language of the Empire, that part of the Empire, and this is a story for the whole world about simply a part of the world. [00:12:11]
And John said, I was there and I heard him utter his last word when he said, "It is finished." And then he said I watched as he bowed his head and died. And then John does the most unusual thing. These are words that if you are reading the gospel on your own you would get to these words and skip right by because they don't seem significant. They don't seem to carry any meaning and they are extraordinarily, extraordinarily important. [00:13:45]
And John said, speaking of himself, he saw and when he saw, he put two and two together. And he believed. And his world changed. Because the resurrection of Jesus reframed his entire life. It reframed everything about his life. Suddenly it dawned on him, everything Jesus taught was true. Everything Jesus said about God the father was true. [00:22:29]
And Thomas answered and said to him, my lord, wow, my God. And then Jesus told him, Thomas I understand why you doubted. Thomas, I understand why you didn't believe. Thomas, you're just like the rest of these guys. Don't let 'em fool you, don't let them give you a nickname like Doubting Thomas, because none of the believed. All of them doubted, not one single guy in this room believed I was risen from the dead until they saw me, even when they looked into that empty tomb. [00:28:04]
And then John closes his account with this, he closes it with an invitation for all of us. And his invitation is simple. It's what he has said throughout his gospel. John would say, I just want you to believe that. And then I want you to trust in. I want you to believe that my testimony is true and I want you to believe that Jesus is who Jesus claimed to be. [00:29:25]
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. I want you to believe that. But I want you to personally trust in. And why? If we were to ask John why, these would be our words, not his, but this would be his message. He would say, I'll tell you why. Because there came that morning, that sealed, that punctuated, that authenticated the promise. [00:30:35]
For God so loved the whole world, John concluded after being with Jesus, that he gave us his only son, the light of the world, the word became flesh, that whoever, here it is, believes in him, would not be lost to God, would not perish, but have, John says don't ask me to explain it, I'm just telling you, would have eternal life. That was Jesus' invitation to John. [00:31:27]
And our hope this Easter season is that that would become personal for you. That based on John's account you would believe that. And then you would trust in. [00:32:00]
Ask a question about this sermon
And we believe because the apostle Paul who stepped onto the pages of history as someone who was committed to doing away with the church concluded that Jesus was in fact the Jewish messiah, he was the son of God, and that he actually rose from the dead, and he knew this because of a personal revelation and because he spent so much time with Peter and Andrew and James and John and James, the brother of Jesus. [00:03:23]
Apart from the resurrection, Jesus was just another Jewish rabbi that went off the rails. Apart from the resurrection, Jesus is just another wannabe messiah executed by Rome. They come and they go. And the people who were closest to Jesus are so excruciatingly honest, in fact it's one of the reasons you should take their account seriously. They do not write themselves into the story as heroes in the story. [00:04:21]
Nobody, nobody, even his closest followers, even the most committed among them, nobody expected no body. Nobody was standing outside the tomb counting down from 10 backwards on Easter morning, 10, nine, eight, cue the sun, seven, six, nobody was out there because every single person who loved and was devoted to Jesus determined they had been fooled, they had been tricked, he was not who he claimed to be. [00:04:58]
And John, who was there for all of this says, at that point the soldiers took charge of Jesus. And carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull. Again, John is writing this as an old man thinking back. He's dictating this probably, because he's too old to see. He probably can't write by this time. He's dictating this and someone is taking this down in Greek because Greek is the language of the Empire, that part of the Empire, and this is a story for the whole world about simply a part of the world. [00:12:11]
And John said, I was there and I heard him utter his last word when he said, "It is finished." And then he said I watched as he bowed his head and died. And then John does the most unusual thing. These are words that if you are reading the gospel on your own you would get to these words and skip right by because they don't seem significant. They don't seem to carry any meaning and they are extraordinarily, extraordinarily important. [00:13:45]
And John said, speaking of himself, he saw and when he saw, he put two and two together. And he believed. And his world changed. Because the resurrection of Jesus reframed his entire life. It reframed everything about his life. Suddenly it dawned on him, everything Jesus taught was true. Everything Jesus said about God the father was true. [00:22:29]
And Thomas answered and said to him, my lord, wow, my God. And then Jesus told him, Thomas I understand why you doubted. Thomas, I understand why you didn't believe. Thomas, you're just like the rest of these guys. Don't let 'em fool you, don't let them give you a nickname like Doubting Thomas, because none of the believed. All of them doubted, not one single guy in this room believed I was risen from the dead until they saw me, even when they looked into that empty tomb. [00:28:04]
And then John closes his account with this, he closes it with an invitation for all of us. And his invitation is simple. It's what he has said throughout his gospel. John would say, I just want you to believe that. And then I want you to trust in. I want you to believe that my testimony is true and I want you to believe that Jesus is who Jesus claimed to be. [00:29:25]
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. I want you to believe that. But I want you to personally trust in. And why? If we were to ask John why, these would be our words, not his, but this would be his message. He would say, I'll tell you why. Because there came that morning, that sealed, that punctuated, that authenticated the promise. [00:30:35]
For God so loved the whole world, John concluded after being with Jesus, that he gave us his only son, the light of the world, the word became flesh, that whoever, here it is, believes in him, would not be lost to God, would not perish, but have, John says don't ask me to explain it, I'm just telling you, would have eternal life. That was Jesus' invitation to John. [00:31:27]
And our hope this Easter season is that that would become personal for you. That based on John's account you would believe that. And then you would trust in. [00:32:00]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Apr 21, 2019. Do you have any questions about it?