"Unbelievably Believable"
Andy Stanley
North Point Community Church
Easter April 5, 2015
Full message: http://northpoint.org/messages/easter-2015/
We do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead because the Bible tells us so. We believe the Easter narrative because of what Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Paul and hundreds of people said they saw, a resurrected Savior. But, the end of the story comes as a complete surprise to everyone.
The Easter Story:
John the Baptist came first and told everyone to get ready. He told people to get ready for what God is going to do. He told them he was not a Messiah but was paving the way for the One to come. Then when Jesus came he healed hundreds of people, fed thousands, taught and made disciples. He continued to raise the standards so everyone knew they were sinners and needed a Savior. Then Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and the "crowds went wild."
"If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” (John 11:48 NIV). Which was bad for them because then their religion and politics came together to undermine the biggest event in history. They would lose their authority. "So from that day on they plotted to take his life." (John 11:53 NIV)
If it was made up Matthew, Mark, Luke and John would have written themselves into the story as heroes. If they made up the stories they would have Spin: courageous, faithful led, sweet skills. Instead they were Real: real scared, real insecure, real concerned... for themselves.
If you were making it up you would have written them as standing by Jesus when He was persecuted, if he goes I'll go. But it is unbelievably believable. They all denied him and ran off. They were cowards. After he was crucified, none of them stick around even for his funeral. Jesus loses, Rome wins. A fearful believer and a Pharisee buried him and none of his friends were even there!
Jesus' enemies had more confidence in the Jesus movement than Jesus' followers. Then the chief priest and temple leaders went to Pilate. Pilate let them take Jesus' body and they buried it, instead of the custom of letting crucified bodies rot on the cross. So the religious leaders asked Pilate to give them the authority and soldiers to guard the body.
"So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” (Matthew 27:64-65 NIV)
There was no way the Jesus followers would have stolen the body. Stealing the body was dangerous and pointless. Since they weren't willing to die for him when he was alive, there is no way they would risk their lives when he is dead. Why die for a dead man whose death disproved everything he asked you to believe while he was alive? If Jesus could not save himself, how could they save themselves? If he didn't want to save himself why should they? Jesus' message was all about himself. His death undermined everything he had taught. They last thing they were thinking about was stealing his body.
Now you have: nervous religious leaders, terrified Apostles, despondent women, and confused Roman soldiers. You don't have anyone anticipating a resurrection. You have exactly what you would expect if this really happened.
We're not here because: someone stole a body, someone died on a cross, someone gave a series of lectures. We're here because despondent women to came to re-embalm the body of their precious Savior. They got there and the tomb was empty and Jesus was raised from the dead. Then he lived on the Earth again and hundreds of people saw him as he was resurrected and apostles wrote it all down 30-40 years later.
"Nobody was expecting no body."
In this same the city, where the cowards and women who were not expecting no body now had a very different message. They went into the streets yelling: You killed him. God raised him from the dead. We've seen Him. Now say you're sorry!
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV)
It was not 100 years later like a fable or fairy tale. Believers during that time, could meet with men and women who saw them. Paul was least of them because he had persecuted Christians, had them arrested, tortured, and killed. How humble he felt now after he believed.
Your faith is not in vain. Your faithfulness is not in vain. When you volunteer and support your local church or in your market place, your faithfulness is not in vain. Your curiosity is not in vain. Your consideration not in vain. Your belief is not in vain.
From a distance it seems unbelievable but when you look at what happened next and through thousands of years it is unbelievably believable. Not because of the Bible. It is because they saw a resurrected Savior. Your your confidence is not in vain.
A prayer: I believe when Jesus died he died for me. I believe he died on a cross and was buried. Jesus rose from the dead and was seen.
