WEBVTT 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:27.280 If you are new with us, my name's Clayton. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.480 I'm the lead pastor here. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.039 I'm so, so grateful that you joined us today. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:33.920 We are in a series called Investigating Easter. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:40.719 This is a very different series because as Christians, we hold a lot of assumptions, just these core beliefs. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:45.679 And in a typical sermon, we carry those assumptions into our message. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:58.719 But every once in a while we step into a series like this and we try to eliminate any assumptions and instead make reasoned arguments for the faith that we have, because that's the kind of series that we're in. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:02.000 This may be a very different Easter message than you've heard before. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.359 We built this as a series for skeptics. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:21.040 Now, if today piqued your interest, we've been building a cumulative case for our faith over the last three weeks, and I'd encourage you to get caught up by going to youtube.com/slash metachurch, and you can see the full picture that we've been painting over the course of this series. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:22.879 Today is Easter. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:32.239 This is the day that Christians around the world celebrate Jesus overcoming death itself to walk out of a grave almost 2,000 years ago. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.599 This is the moment that our faith hinges on. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:43.359 And yet, at the same time, it is the moment that for many skeptics is a massive impediment to their faith. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:49.040 The idea that miraculously someone could actually be dead for multiple days and then come back to life. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:54.159 So today we're gonna be asking the question: is the resurrection reasonable? 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:55.439 Would you pray with me? 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:56.640 Jesus, we love you. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:01.599 Holy Spirit, I believe you're here, that you're moving among us, that you're wanting to speak to us. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:11.199 So, God, I pray we would just be humble enough to lay down our own ideas and preconceptions, that we would seek you, God, and I believe that we will find you. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:11.759 We love you. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:13.280 We pray these things in your name. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.199 And everyone who's ready say, Amen. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:16.240 Amen. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:22.719 What Easter does in part is it forces the church to focus on the essential of our faith. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:36.240 If you grew up in church or maybe unchurched or dechurched or whatever your faith background is, you're probably aware at some level that there are different arguments and debates, even within the church and within Christianity. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.960 Easter pushes us past all of that and gets us to the core of our belief. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:44.960 We're gonna spend most of our time in 1 Corinthians 15, written by the Apostle Paul. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:59.199 Here's what he says in verse 14 if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation, all the traveling and preaching that they were doing, our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:09.919 In other words, whatever else there is to argue over or debate about, the bottom line is that either Jesus walked out of that grave 2,000 years ago, or he didn't. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:23.199 Now, if he did, in fact, resurrect from the dead, then you should take seriously the claims that he made, that he is in fact God, that he paid the price of your sins, and that he is the only way into a relationship with God. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:33.520 If he did not walk out of the grave, then Scripture says our faith is in vain, meaning it's worthless, meaning the church is worthless. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.800 This movement that we're all a part of is all for naught. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:41.199 These are the incredible high stakes that Easter represents. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:45.919 And so we're gonna wrestle with whether or not the resurrection is reasonable. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:52.960 An author named Gary Habermas, he wanted to know the historical facts surrounding the Easter story. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:04:00.159 And so he put together the most comprehensive look into what historians and scholars believe about the resurrection. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:17.360 He studied over 1,400 of the most critically upheld works on the New Testament, and he didn't just sample from Christians, these 1,400 works cover a broad spectrum from believers to skeptics, all the way to hardened atheists. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:23.600 Now, as you can imagine, there is incredible debate about almost endless topics around the resurrection story. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:36.879 However, virtually every scholar agreed on these 10 facts because the historical data, both from scripture and extra-biblical sources, is just simply so overwhelming. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:42.720 So here are the 10 facts that everyone, from believers to atheist scholars, agree on. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.920 Number one, Jesus died by Roman crucifixion. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:49.199 Number two, he was buried, most likely in a private tomb. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.800 Number three, soon afterwards, the disciples were discouraged, bereaved, and despondent, having lost hope. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:59.680 Number four, Jesus' tomb was found empty very soon after his burial. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:05.680 Number five, the disciples had experiences that they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:11.040 Number six, due to those experiences, the disciples' lives were thoroughly transformed. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:12.959 They even died for their belief. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:18.160 Number seven, the proclamation of the resurrection took place very early from the beginning of church history. 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:26.800 Number eight, the early public testimony and preaching of the resurrection took place in the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified and buried just shortly before. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.879 Number nine, the gospel message centered on the preaching of the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:39.680 And number ten, James, the brother of Jesus and Paul, who persecuted Christians, came to belief in Jesus after experiencing an appearance of him. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:45.040 Now these stand as consensus historical facts among scholars. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:52.399 Now notice the list obviously doesn't say that Jesus actually rose again from the dead or that God miraculously brought him back to life. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:06:00.639 A huge percentage of the scholars would not have agreed with that because they're atheists or skeptics, many of them don't even believe that miracles are possible. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:05.120 And yet they do agree on these ten facts. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:13.439 And so the question should be for us given this list, what makes best sense of these ten historical facts? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.040 We're gonna go through today. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:30.000 And what I want to do is take these ten facts and categorize them into three groups that I believe makes an argument for the most reasonable, most plausible explanation of the data that Jesus actually rose from the dead. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.759 Let's look at our first four facts. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.800 Number one, Jesus died by Roman crucifixion. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:35.839 That's a fact of history. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.720 Number two, he was buried, most likely in a private tomb. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:43.759 Three, soon afterwards, the disciples were discouraged, bereaved, and despondent, having lost hope. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.680 And number four, Jesus' tomb was found empty soon after his burial. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:56.800 Here's where we see the first problem that everyone has to contend with in the historical facts of the Easter story, and that is a missing body. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:05.360 We first have to talk about the fact that Jesus was dead, put in a tomb, and shortly afterwards his body was found missing. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:16.879 If one of your loved ones was put in a tomb, deceased, and soon after that body came up missing, the only thing you would be worried about is what happened to the body. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:18.800 Where did it go? 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:30.160 This is a mystery, and it remains a mystery of history, with the only credible historical data is that many people believe Jesus came back to life. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.759 Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.399 This was a rich man, he was part of the Jewish Sanhedrin. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:45.839 In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul quotes a creed that originated just years after the resurrection supposedly took place. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.920 This is the oldest historical creed of Christianity. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:51.360 Here's how it goes. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:55.519 Paul says, I passed on to you as most important what I also received. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:56.480 Here's the creed. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:04.399 That Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:09.519 The empty tomb is corroborated not only in the Gospels, but in many extra biblical sources. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:17.519 Even the Jewish Talmud, and of course, Orthodox Jewish people do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and still it records the empty tomb. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:26.079 Josephus, who is the most famous of Jewish historians during that time, also a non-Christian, wrote about the resurrection of Jesus. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:30.560 He said, in part, in the time of Pilate, there was a wise man who was called Jesus. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:37.200 They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:48.480 Early and eyewitness accounts, including those from non-Christian sources, support the empty tomb narrative, leading many New Testament and other scholars to affirm its authenticity. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:54.240 Remember, this is one of our ten consensus facts that the tomb of Jesus was found empty. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:03.279 Now, atheist scholars, if you're going to make the claim that there is no God and Jesus did not rise from the grave, they have to contend with the reality of an empty tomb. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:12.240 And they've gone to great lengths to push theories for the incredibly inconvenient historical fact that the body of Jesus was missing from its grave. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:17.360 Now, to be honest, most of these theories are so far-fetched, they're not really worth our time today. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:24.639 But I want us to look at the two most prominent theories that try to explain why his tomb might have been emptied. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.000 They are the stolen body theory and the swoon theory. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:34.159 The stolen body theory began almost immediately after the resurrection, and it's propagated through the years. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:51.360 Still today, many famous atheists hold to the idea that the disciples of Jesus went and stole his body from his tomb and then put together a massive conspiracy about his resurrection in order to start a new religious movement. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:10:02.799 In Matthew 28, it says, After the priest had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money and told them, Say this, his disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.480 If this reaches the governor's ears, we will deal with him and keep you out of trouble. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:12.159 They took the money and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread among the Jewish people to this day. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:19.919 Now, once you start digging into the theories, trying to explain away the resurrection of Jesus, you find that they ring very hollow very quickly. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.200 Number one, we know the state that the disciples were in. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:27.759 One of our ten historical facts is that they were absolutely despondent and bereaved. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:35.120 They had lost all hope because their leader had died and they had every single belief that he would stay dead. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:39.919 In the Jewish mindset, there was also no category for a bodily resurrection. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:46.559 To the Jewish people, resurrection takes place at the end of time when God institutes a new heavens and new earth. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:52.879 They didn't even have a mental categorization for Jesus physically coming back to life. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:57.759 Also, we knew that at this point the disciples were a bunch of cowards. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:02.879 We see the night that Jesus is arrested to be killed, they all run away in shame. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:12.960 In Mark's gospel, it even adds the embarrassing detail that one of the disciples was caught by his shirt, slipped out of his clothes, and ran away naked. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:17.039 Okay, like they were getting out of there and they stayed at a distance. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.919 They betrayed Jesus, they denied Jesus. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:33.519 So for this conspiracy to work, all of a sudden the cowardly disciples had to become brave enough to try and sneak past the Roman assassins who were guarding that grave, steal the body of Jesus, and then put together a conspiracy. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:38.720 Now, if they did this, they are the worst conspiracy theorists of all time. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:44.639 The first thing they did is document that the people who discovered the empty tomb were all women. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.879 Now, at that place and at that time in history, women were not credible witnesses. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:53.279 In fact, their testimony could not even be admitted in a court of law. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:59.840 If you wanted a believable conspiracy, the last people on earth you would have discover an empty tomb would be women. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:06.399 Not only that, but as soon as their new movement started, they were persecuted by both Israel and Rome immediately. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:12.480 This conspiracy ended up costing every single one of these disciples their lives. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:25.440 Once you start digging into the conspiracy of the cowardly disciples stealing a body and starting a conspiracy that caused nothing but hell on earth for them, you start to realize that maybe this is quite a stretch. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:31.679 The other theory that many people hold to in a desperate attempt to try and explain away the empty tomb is called the swoon theory. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:41.759 This theory states that Jesus didn't actually die on the cross, he just appeared to be dead and then later was able to get himself out of his own tomb. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.679 Now, let me explain a little bit about the historical record of how Jesus died. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:48.320 Number one, we know that he died by Roman crucifixion. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:54.240 The Roman centurions were some of the greatest, most skilled killers in all of human history. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:13:04.399 What they would do on a cross, you would end up filling your lungs with your own body fluid and, in a real sense, drowning in dry air, is perhaps the most excruciating way to die. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:18.000 But the Roman soldiers would almost always, at the end of the crucifixion, take a long spear, thrust it through your side, past your ribs, puncture a lung, and into your heart to just make sure that you were dead. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:22.879 Eyewitness testimony says this is the last thing that happened to Christ as well. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:34.000 Now, if somehow Jesus survived all that, we also have to remember that before he was sentenced to death on a cross, he first was sentenced to be beaten by a cat of nine tails. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:45.039 Now the Romans, who were experts in uh assassination and execution, they knew that 40 lashes from a cat of nine tails would kill the average sized man. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.240 And so if you remember in scripture, Jesus was sentenced to 40 minus one. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:57.600 In other words, before Jesus even got to the cross, he was beaten to within an inch of his life. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:04.240 Scripture says that he was unrecognizable as a human before they ever nailed him to the cross. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:25.039 Then he hung on a cross for hours, and then his lung and heart were punctured with a spear, and then he bled out for almost 24 hours, and then he was embalmed in about 75 pounds of wrapping, basically a full body cast, and laid in a tomb with a stone that one man could not move alone. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:38.399 The swoon theory would have you believe that Jesus bled out for close to 24 hours, after going through all that, somehow took off his own full body cast, somehow moved his own stone, and then somehow made his way back to his disciples. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:51.840 You see, when you just start looking at the theories that people are desperately trying to posit to get around the inconvenient historical fact that the tomb was empty, you find that the arguments themselves come up empty. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.720 Now, the body of Jesus being missing does not by itself prove the resurrection. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:01.120 It is a problem for those who want to say Jesus did not rise again. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:06.159 And there have been no realistic arguments posited for this historical fact. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:07.679 Let's look at our next set of facts. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:13.360 Fact number five, the disciples had experiences they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:18.399 Number six, due to these experiences, the disciples' lives were thoroughly transformed. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.320 They even died for their belief. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:29.679 And then fact number 10, James, who was the brother of Jesus and Paul, who persecuted the Christians, came to belief in Jesus after experiencing an appearance of him. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:35.279 This adds another layer, not only a missing body, but reports of meetings. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:45.519 The second fact that the vast majority of scholars agree on is that many, many people claimed to have seen real post-mortem appearances of Jesus. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:49.679 Again, in 1 Corinthians, Paul says it this way: I passed on to you what's most important. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:16:06.799 Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and raised on the third day, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of them still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:08.559 In other words, some have passed on. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.240 Now look at how Paul records this event. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:18.799 We know that the church started quickly and it began right in the same city where Jesus had been crucified in Jerusalem. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:28.240 Paul is saying to the Corinthians that there are over 500 people who have experienced post-mortem interaction with Jesus. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:39.200 They were in Jerusalem, they saw him crucified, they watched him die, and then later that week they hung out with him and talked with him and interacted with him and ate with him. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:44.399 You see, Paul isn't writing this 300 years later when all the eyewitnesses were dead. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.679 Like if you guys don't believe me, that's fine. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:16.480 You can easily charter a boat, go right across the tip of the Mediterranean Sea, go to Jerusalem, and you will find hundreds of people who believe that they experienced a risen Jesus so much that they are willing to give their lives for it. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:20.720 We're living in an age, it's really interesting. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:24.079 Kind of post-COVID, it's like everyone's become a conspiracy theorist. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.519 Have y'all noticed this? 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:30.319 We spend way too much time on YouTube, and you know, these YouTubers, man, they're good, bro. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:36.559 You, I mean, all of a sudden, you're like two hours on YouTube, you think the whole world's made out of cheese somehow, and you like you believe it. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:45.039 They're so they'll take these narratives and video clips, you know, and little tidbits, and you're like, oh my gosh, the earth is flat and the moon is fake, and I'm living in a simulation. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.279 Like, YouTube will ruin your life real fast, right? 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:52.480 And so we're we're casting doubt on all these historical events, even recent ones. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:58.799 And so you guys know I'm a huge NBA fan, and recently I found there's a new NBA conspiracy. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:08.799 You see, in 1962, Will Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game, but the only evidence that we have for it is one picture of him holding a little sign that says 100 points. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:11.119 And we have the stat sheet, which could easily have been fabricated. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:13.039 And no one filmed that game that night, right? 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:16.720 Which actually wasn't all that odd because most of the games weren't filmed because the NBA wasn't very popular. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:22.000 And of course, no one had an iPhone, so they couldn't pull it out and record the game, and we have no real evidence whether or not it happened. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:25.839 There's these YouTube conspiracies that say Will never did it. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.279 It never happened. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:28.640 It was made up. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:41.440 And they say the conspiracy behind it is that the NBA was struggling and people weren't coming to the games, and so they just they made this up out of whole cloth and they put it in the papers to try and draw attention and get him to the game. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:46.160 So you could go on YouTube and become very convinced very quickly. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.319 Wilt never did it. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:50.799 No such thing as the hundred-point game. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.400 But this wasn't that long ago. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.640 What if your parent was there? 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:02.079 What if your grandpa was at the game and told you about all 100 buckets? 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:05.440 Or what if you didn't know an eyewitness there? 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:09.759 But what if someone knew 500 individuals who had been at that game? 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:15.519 They said, I can get 500 people in front of you, independent of each other, they'll tell you the same story. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:35.200 What if in this wild hypothetical, there became a law in the United States that anyone who believed in the Wilt 100-point game would be imprisoned and possibly executed for that belief, and still everyone at that game held to their faith because they know what they saw, you might start to think, maybe Wilt really did it. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.400 You see, this is the point that Paul's making. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:47.839 Remember points five and six, the disciples had experiences they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus, and due to these experiences, the disciples' lives were thoroughly transformed. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:54.240 These cowards who ran away the night he was arrested become the boldest, wisest men who ever walked the earth other than Jesus. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.480 They even died for their belief. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:58.000 This is what Paul is saying. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:00.160 He's like, I know these men and women. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.279 If you can't trust me, go and ask them. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:11.839 Not only that, but they are being imprisoned and persecuted and disowned and even killed for their belief. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:20.240 And they will not recant because they watched a man die and then walk out of a grave three days later. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:28.160 Now, the 500 people who experienced Jesus is impressive, but it's also incredibly noteworthy that two specific people put their faith in Jesus. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:29.440 Remember fact 10. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:36.160 James, the brother of Jesus, and Paul, who persecuted the Christians, came to belief in Jesus after experiencing an appearance of him. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:40.079 Paul recounts this as well in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.599 He says he appeared to over 500 at one time, most of them still alive. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:52.880 Verse 7, then he appeared to James, that's the brother of Jesus, then the apostles, and Paul writes, last of all, he appeared to me. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:59.119 Now for me, one of the most convincing proofs of the appearance of Jesus is the conversion of James. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.440 James is the baby brother of Jesus. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.119 And we know that the brothers of Jesus did not believe in him. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:13.359 As a matter of fact, we see in John's gospel, his brothers are rebuking him, trash talking him, almost making fun of them. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:28.559 I have to imagine this is conjecture, it's not in scripture, let me say that clearly, but I have to imagine that when Jesus died, James as his brother was heartbroken, but there was also a part of him that was like, What did you think was gonna happen? 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:31.599 We tried to tell you. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:37.519 You're stirring the pot, all this I and the Father are one, and I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:40.079 Like, what did you think was gonna happen? 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:41.759 James was not a believer. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:43.920 And of course he wasn't. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.759 Jesus was his brother. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:58.079 I have a sister, I love her very dearly, we're very close, and I'm letting you know right now my sister could walk on water right in front of me, and I still do not believe she's God. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.279 I'm just gonna tell you. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.599 She's my sister, okay? 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.279 I'm not buying it. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:14.799 Like, what would it take for you to believe that your sibling, not that they are made in the image of God, not that they're a godly man or woman, that they are G-O-D in the flesh. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:16.400 That's a high bar. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.759 But Jesus said, I'm going to Jerusalem, they're gonna kill me. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:21.920 And three days later, I'm gonna walk out of a grave. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.160 You wanna know how you can trust that I'm actually God? 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.839 I'm going to call my shot and pull it off, and he did. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:39.359 And when Jesus appeared to James, risen from the grave, James put his faith in his brother as the God of the universe. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.440 James became one of the lead apostles, the men who started the church. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.400 He became the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.720 He wrote one of the books of the New Testament. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:49.759 He went all in. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:51.440 And what about Paul? 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:54.240 Paul hated Jesus. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.240 And that is not an overstatement. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:03.039 Paul made it his life's sole mission to stomp out the movement that Jesus had started. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:10.960 He traveled the known world, finding, arresting, imprisoning, and persecuting every Christian he could get a hold of. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:12.720 That was his life's mission. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.599 And then he met Jesus. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:34.400 And when he experienced an appearance of the risen Jesus, he turned from his name was actually Saul, the persecutor, into Paul, the apostle, the lead apostle, and the most prominent church planter who changed our world as we know it. 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:36.319 So how do we explain all this? 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:45.039 How can someone explain away hundreds of people who believed they had seen Jesus in a post-mortem appearance, including his own family and his own enemies? 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:49.599 If the resurrection is true, then we know exactly why those appearances happen. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:55.279 If you do not believe in the resurrection, then you need some kind of reasonable answer. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:00.319 So far, we have a missing body and reports of meetings, but there are three more facts we haven't dealt with. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:06.000 Number seven, the proclamation of the resurrection took place very early from the very beginning of church history. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:14.559 Number eight, the early public testimony and preaching of the resurrection took place in the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified and buried shortly before. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:20.480 And number nine, the gospel message centered on the preaching of the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:25.839 We have a missing body and reports of meetings and a brand new movement. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:30.480 Now these are facts from ancient history, but they also bring us to today. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:41.119 The movement of Jesus, what came to be called the church over time, started in the same city where they had just murdered Jesus and buried him in a tomb. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:43.839 And it started to grow. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:52.640 Immediately it came under persecution, both from the leaders of Israel and from the leaders of the Roman Empire who occupied Israel at that time. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:56.480 Everyone wanted to do something with this movement. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:00.559 One of the most dangerous things you could be was a follower of Jesus. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:04.160 And yet, the more it was persecuted, the more it grew. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:13.680 As a matter of fact, even some of the civic and religious leaders put their faith in the crucified carpenter from Nazareth and became a part of the church movement. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:18.960 It grew and it grew in Jerusalem where Jesus was buried. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:37.359 And with every leader who held all the power, wanting desperately to end this, if Jesus' body was still decaying in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, they could have just dragged the dead body into the center of town and stopped the church in its tracks. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:39.119 But they couldn't do that. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.480 Because the body wasn't there. 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:48.480 And they couldn't stop the movement because people knew that they had seen him. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:58.559 And Jesus' last instructions were to go into all of the world and tell people the good news of what Jesus has done and the salvation that he offers us. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:00.400 And his followers began to do that. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:04.160 And the movement began to spread, and virtually everywhere it spread, it continued to be persecuted. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:14.799 And the more it was persecuted, the more Christians responded in love, and the brighter their light shone, and the more people were attracted, and the more people believed, and the more the movement grew. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:19.359 And this is not a religion that grew because of a book. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:24.640 The New Testament was not compiled until 300 years later. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:30.720 This isn't a movement that grew because of force or fear or manipulation or military might. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.200 It grew under persecution. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:41.519 This is a movement that started from people who genuinely believe that Jesus walked out of a grave and now offered them eternal life. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:51.519 You see, there are a lot of convincing arguments that make the resurrection reasonable, but for me, the most convincing argument is you. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:27:09.279 And we take it for granted, but it's mind-blowing to me that we are still here, a part of a movement that started 2,000 years ago, because one man died on a cross, was buried, and rose again. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.160 This is the same movement. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:16.640 And we are still connected through the same faith. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:27.920 You see, something that's interesting about Western culture is we were built on the foundation of the resurrection and the movement that it started. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:42.319 Our ethics, our morality, our worldview, our system of law, our ideas of justice and equality, all of those find their historical catalyst at the tomb of Christ. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:43.519 All of them. 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:55.680 And even though we are a society built on the resurrection, we continue as a culture to walk further and further away from the one who resurrected. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:03.359 To understand the power of this movement, I want to talk about what our world would look like if Jesus had not risen from his grave. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.400 Now, I I'm gonna actually read this, okay? 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:16.799 I read a manuscript for every sermon, but if you read my manuscript, I would be embarrassed because the grammar is like really bad because I write it not to be read, and I don't really follow it, so I have to apologize to my production team all the time. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:20.799 It's more kind of a suggestion of where I might go during my time up here on stage. 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:38.319 But this actually matters, and I wanna read it because if we could understand how different the world would look if Jesus had not walked out of a grave, we might begin to understand its power and implication for our life as individuals as well. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:48.079 Imagine a world where hospitals, orphanages, and universities did not emerge from the drive of early Christian communities to care for the sick and the vulnerable. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:54.799 Consider a reality where the scientific process was not nurtured within the fertile soil of Christian philosophy. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:29:04.240 Without the belief that the pursuit of knowledge was a means of understanding God's creation, scientific inquiry would have been stifled and progress all but impossible. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:11.599 Picture a world where moral and ethical frameworks, as well as our modern legal systems, were not influenced by the teachings of Jesus. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:21.200 Christian principles of justice and equality were the guiding light, reshaping the world's understandings of right and wrong, justice and mercy, and the sanctity of human life. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:31.200 Without the foundation of human rights, rooted in the belief that all people are created in the image of God, oppression and injustice would have continued to reign unchecked. 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:38.480 Prior to the revolution brought by the teachings of Jesus, every culture was divided by race and class and gender. 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:44.880 It stands as a fact of history that it was Jesus and his movement alone that reshaped that understanding. 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:51.519 Imagine a world where literature and language were not enriched by the timeless stories and profound truths of the Bible. 00:29:51.680 --> 00:30:03.119 Without the inspiration drawn from biblical narratives, our literacy landscape would lack the depth and meaning, and our languages might lack the richness of expression that comes from centuries of religious influence. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:09.039 Consider a reality where the education systems were not shaped by the belief in the value of knowledge and learning. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:16.799 Without the legacy of Christian scholarship and the establishment of educational institutions, our intellectual pursuits would lack purpose and direction. 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:24.559 Reflect on a world where social welfare systems were not shaped by the belief in the value of in the teachings of Jesus. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:33.920 Without the imperative to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the marginalized, our communities would lack the spirit of generosity and service that binds us together. 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:37.200 The historical reality is undeniable. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:31:03.279 The reason that we have hospitals, orphanages, universities, the scientific process, the enlightenment, human rights, ethical frameworks of justice, diversity and equality, charities and health ministries, women's and minority rights, they all trace back to a movement of people who genuinely believe that a Jewish carpenter named Jesus walked out of a grave 2,000 years ago and offered us life and freedom. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:14.480 The question today is whether or not the resurrection is reasonable. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:24.640 What we have as a consensus across both believers and atheistic scholars are ten historical facts. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:28.160 These facts must be explained somehow. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:50.559 You see, everyone is looking for something that they can put their faith in. 00:31:51.519 --> 00:32:00.960 And maybe you have bought the lie at some level that you don't need faith, faith is for religious people who are not self-sufficient enough to just navigate life on their own. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:06.400 And religion is just the opium of the masses, it's just keeping people in line and trying to control them. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:10.400 Here's what's real you cannot live without faith. 00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:15.359 You will have something that is the highest thing you believe in. 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:18.000 You will have some kind of ideal. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:21.920 If not, you literally cannot organize your life. 00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:24.880 You can't find purpose, you can't get out of bed. 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:26.799 You will believe in something. 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:34.640 The question is whether or not that thing can hold the weight of your hope, your faith, and your future. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:44.799 If you live long enough, you will try different paths that the world offers you with the promise of purpose and fulfillment and hope. 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:49.279 And those things, given enough time, will let you down. 00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:55.519 There is nothing in this world that can hold the weight of your hope or your future. 00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:03.519 Jesus stepped out of heaven and into our world because we all need something to believe in. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:22.880 Because Jesus had lived perfectly, he was the perfect sacrifice, the one sacrifice that could cover the price of our sin forever. 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:34.000 Jesus went to a cross to demonstrate how valuable you are to God, how deeply you are loved, and how much purpose you could experience if you would submit your life to God. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:48.720 And then he walked out of a grave three days later to demonstrate that he was not bluffing when he said, Anyone that believes in me will never die, but will have eternal life. 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:53.119 Don't believe me, watch me walk out of a grave. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:57.359 We all need something to believe in, and God is transcendent. 00:33:57.519 --> 00:33:58.960 He's bigger than big. 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:09.920 He can hold the weight of your hope and your faith and your future because he exists outside of us, outside of our reality, outside of this world. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:24.400 And yet, the God who is transcendent, who is bigger than big, came down to us, got smaller than small, lived in the midst of our brokenness, and the creator of all allowed the creation to nail him to a cross. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:28.880 And this is how you know how much God loves you. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:39.920 That while we were still sinners, still in rebellion, still trying to live as our own gods, Christ died for us. 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:45.280 He was put in a tomb, and that tomb is empty to this day. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:55.039 You can try to put your faith in another religion, but you can go to the graves of those religions' founders, and their bodies are in those graves. 00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:59.039 You can go today to the grave of Christ and you will find it empty. 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:06.159 And there are men and women who experienced Jesus, and they said, I will put my life on it, and a movement started. 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:14.239 And the more the movement was persecuted, the more it grew just like Jesus said it would. 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:15.760 You can live with hope. 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:22.719 You can come under all the suffering that this world brings our way and still live with peace. 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:26.079 You can experience true purpose and true fulfillment. 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:29.440 It starts with putting your faith in Christ. 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.119 This is how much God loved you. 00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:36.639 That he sent his one and only Son Jesus to do for you what you could not do for yourself. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:41.360 And all he asks is for your faith. 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:48.559 He is not the gods of false religions who sit at arm's length, drop down a ladder, and dare you to try and climb it. 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:55.199 He's a God who loves you so much that he came down to you, died for you, and just wants you to believe. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:56.239 Would you pray with me? 00:35:56.400 --> 00:36:02.239 Wherever you're at, you could close your eyes and bow your head, just create some space for reflection. 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:19.519 And perhaps you've just always found it so unreasonable to believe in an ancient carpenter, beaten within an inch of his life, nailed to a cross, spear through his side, obviously dead. 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:26.400 Maybe you found it unreasonable to believe that he could miraculously come back to life. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:36.239 Maybe you haven't made room in your worldview for miracles, and yet nothing in this world ultimately can satisfy. 00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:46.480 And the more you try to pursue the prescriptions of the culture around you, the more hollow and empty you feel. 00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:54.079 Perhaps even today you have felt the Holy Spirit of God pressing in on you. 00:36:56.239 --> 00:36:59.599 Jesus said, I stand at the door and I knock. 00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:03.119 And I knock and I knock and I knock. 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:04.639 But he won't kick the door down. 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:06.400 He could, he's God. 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:10.239 He's patient, presses in on you. 00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:12.880 When you pay attention, he presses in on you. 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:16.000 When you seek him, he presses in on you. 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:24.239 And he just knocks and knocks and knocks, hoping that you might let him in. 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:41.119 I wonder if there's anyone who is here today or who's watching online who has never had a moment in their life where they have put their faith in Jesus, where they have recognized, I do believe you're God. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:43.840 I believe you're my only hope. 00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:47.760 You are the answer to what comes after this life. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:51.360 I believe you died for me and rose again. 00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:58.480 If you've never had a moment where you've put your faith in Jesus, then scripture tells us you are spiritually dead. 00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:05.840 You're separated from your Heavenly Father, who loves you so much that he would give his life for you. 00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:11.920 If you're here today and you are ready to make the decision, I want to put my faith in Jesus. 00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:19.360 With everyone's eyes closed around the room, I'm gonna ask you for a moment of courage right now to just lift your hand up where I can see it. 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:22.559 Just a signal that today is my day, amen. 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:25.280 I am ready to put my faith in Jesus. 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:25.920 Amen. 00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:26.880 Amen. 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:28.480 Praise God. 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:29.760 Amen. 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:37.440 With hands up all over the room, I want you to know that God sees your faith. 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:41.760 That Jesus sees your faith and receives it. 00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:52.960 That you, just like me, that you're covered in sin, and yet now you have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 00:38:53.199 --> 00:38:56.880 Your sins, past, present, and future, have been forgiven. 00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:03.280 You've been given eternal life, and that is a promise that you will have forever and ever. 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:04.239 Amen. 00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:07.119 And God does not break his promises. 00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:08.559 Here's what I want to do. 00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:12.480 For those of you who raised a hand, I want to help you acknowledge this moment of faith. 00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:18.000 I want you to pray this prayer with me, and I'm gonna ask every believer in the room to pray it with me as well. 00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:18.880 Let's pray this. 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:24.480 Jesus, today I choose to put my faith in you. 00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:30.880 I thank you for loving me, for giving my sins. 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:43.360 I believe you are God that you came to earth, died for my sins, and I believe you rose again. 00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:47.840 I thank you for a new eternal life. 00:39:49.599 --> 00:39:51.039 Now let me pray over you. 00:39:51.280 --> 00:40:00.079 Heavenly Father, I try to even imagine the celebration that happens in heaven when your children come home. 00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:06.719 You are the God who said, I will leave the 99 sheep who are found to go after the one who is lost. 00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:11.440 You are the one who stepped from heaven to earth to bring us back in relationship with you. 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:15.920 You are the one who took the nails for us to give us new life. 00:40:16.159 --> 00:40:20.320 And so, God, I thank you for spiritual death becoming a new creation. 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:30.719 I pray that today is not just the end of something, but the beginning of a new life, following you, Jesus, and finding out what it means to live on purpose and with purpose. 00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:35.679 God, I pray they'd stay close to their church, your body, your movement. 00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:51.440 That you'd be with them in the seasons of suffering, that they would find you in it, that you'd be with them in the times where they stumble and trip and fall, that their spiritual community would help pick them up and set them on the path. 00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:54.639 Right back into following you and all that you have for them. 00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:55.599 We love you. 00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:57.119 We celebrate you, Jesus. 00:40:57.280 --> 00:41:01.280 We pray it all in your name, and everyone say, Amen, and give the Lord a hand. 00:41:01.440 --> 00:41:03.039 Yeah, God's doing something. 00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:04.960 God is doing something. 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:11.039 Thanks so much for listening to the message today. 00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:16.480 If this was helpful to you and you want to help us get the word out, you can subscribe to this podcast. 00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:19.599 You can rate and review or share it with your friends. 00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:26.320 If you want to get connected further with what MetaCurch is doing, you can go online to metachurch.tv. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:28.960 There you can learn how to take next steps. 00:41:29.119 --> 00:41:36.880 You can learn where our different venues are at if you ever wanted to visit, and you can also give financially to help push this movement forward. 00:41:37.119 --> 00:41:40.559 Man, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.