Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: John 20: 24-31 March 31, 2024

Message: Evidence for the Resurrection

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. J. Warner Wallace wrote a book called: “Cold-Case Christianity”. He is a homicide detective who solves crimes committed many years earlier. He was also an atheist who heard a minister speak of the unique life of Jesus and felt led to read the gospels for himself.

a.. As he read the Gospels, he automatically found himself applying all the principles he used to solve other cold-cases where all the eye witnesses were already dead, making it hard to prove what actually happened.  

b. To his surprise, he found the gospels to be accurate eye witness accounts of what happened to Jesus. This resulted in an even more in depth study in which he was finally convicted by the evidence to become a Christian.

2. Most of what he wrote was not new to me, but it certainly helped to confirm what I already believed. While the evidence in favor of the resurrection was very helpful, what I appreciated the most was the way he researched and pointed out the most common reasons given to deny the resurrection. He explained why he rejected those claims. Let me share some of the evidence with you,

A. To begin with, there is plenty of evidence that Jesus actually lived over 2000 years ago.  Christians and non-Christians affirm this.

1. There are also historical references to the manner of death in which Jesus died. The Romans often used crucifixion to discourage others from rebelling against them.

a. But among those who want to disprove the resurrection are those who simply deny Jesus ever died. They would have us believe Jesus survived the cross.

b. Now there are four gospels which all affirm the cruel way in which Jesus died. But it is very difficult to blend all the details together.

2. The world at large likes to point out the differences and use this as proof that Jesus didn’t die and rise again as the writers explain it. 

a. But Detective Wallace points out that this actually is one of the best reasons to believe the Bible. The differences in how each Gospel writer chose to present the material is exactly what you would expect.

b. Witnesses always remember different details and explain what they saw in their own way. None of that changes the cumulative evidence that Jesus really died on the cross or their testimony that He also rose from the dead.

3. The Gospel of John provides one of the best proofs of Jesus’ death.

a. His gospel was written last, providing some details not mentioned by others. This is what you would expect if it was written last.

b. John tells us how water and blood poured out of Jesus’ wound when a soldier pierced His side. Of course you would expect blood, but only in our day have doctors and scientist affirmed that the presence of water is a clear proof that Jesus died before He was taken down off the cross. 

c. John claims he was there. He claims he was an eye witness. This is what he saw. He would not have had any reason to add this. He didn’t know what we know. 

4. At any rate, let us accept the fact that Jesus died on the cross.

B. The burial of Jesus was witnessed by Jews and Romans. 

1. Pilot even gave permission to guard the tomb because some feared Jesus’ body might be stolen. 

a. What is interesting is that they feared it might be stolen because they heard a rumor about a possible resurrection and wanted to make sure it wasn’t faked.

b. Instead it actually made the guards eyewitnesses of the angel that came and rolled away the stone. That is why their lives were spared, as long as they kept their mouths shut about the truth.

2. Otherwise they most certainly would have been put to death (See Acts 12:1-19 as a good example).

C. Accepting His death and burial, let us now consider the resurrection.

1. I already mentioned that the differences in the details  actually help to affirm the accuracy of the Gospel stories.

2. If someone had smoothed it all out and removed the difference it would reflect what people do when they are trying to cover up the truth.

a. In real life, we tend to remember events that make an impression on us. Clearly the miracles and resurrection of Jesus made an impression on the disciples and His followers.

b. The Bible shares story after story of people who saw the Lord after His resurrection.  This included individuals as well as groups. This went on for 40 days.

3. Some claim all these appearances were hallucinations.

a. Individuals who want someone to come back after a death often have hallucinations. But groups of people don’t usually have this happen to them. 

b. When someone has an hallucination, he doesn’t touch him or eat with him or carry on a long discussion with him. Jesus deliberately made sure they did these things with Him to prove His resurrection was true.

4. Some disciples saw Jesus multiple times and talked to Him about the Bible. In Luke 24, Jesus explained from the Scriptures all the prophecies that were fulfilled so the apostles would realize Jesus always knew what would happen to Him, yet did not stop them because He came to die for us.  He knew He would be raised from the dead.  Ghosts don’t do or have discussions like that.

5. It is one thing to fool someone who wants to deny the death of a friend. How do you fool someone who doesn’t even believe what others tell him? In John 20, Thomas was not present the first time Jesus appeared and talked to the other disciples. 

a. He said: “Unless I can put my fingers into the nail prints in His hands, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe you.”

b. When Jesus appeared again, and repeated Thomas’ own words to him, and asked him to do the things he insisted on doing, only then did he bow before Him and proclaim: “My Lord and my God.”

6. Probably the best reason to believe in the resurrection is because all of His apostles and key leaders, like His brother James and the Apostle Paul, all died a martyr’s death. These deaths were cruel and vicious. Yet not one retracted what he was teaching and preaching and said he was lying and admitted Jesus’ death and resurrection was a fabrication.

In Conclusion: 1. Luke said it the best in Acts 1:3. He wrote: “After His sufferings, Jesus showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them for 40 days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God.”

2. May God use this message to remove all doubt from your minds and affirm in your hearts that Jesus truly is the Son of God who lived and died and was raised from the dead just so those who will believe in Him can be saved.