The Empty Tomb: Does It Necessitate Resurrection?

Introduction: Why Resurrection?

Why believe that an empty tomb in Jerusalem means that a carpenter from Nazareth resurrected from the dead?

Empty graves are not that novel of a concept. Unsettling? Yes. Unheard of? No. In terms of history, the discovery of empty graves doesn’t lead to the claims of resurrected bodies—not even if it’s a well-known tomb.

Consider the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. These are rock-cut tombs (sound familiar?). Here are the title and subtitle of a 1996 article in the LA Times: “The Case of the Empty Egyptian Tomb: Where Are the Mummies?” When discussing the archaeologist’s discovery of “the largest tomb in the ancient Valley of the Kings,” the article states that he “dug up more mysteries than he solved.” The question is quickly asked, “Where … are the bodies?”¹ But what no one is saying is that missing mummies means resurrection from the dead and that everyone should now worship Ra (an Egyptian god).

An empty tomb in itself only logically confers one thing: the body is not there. Resurrection is a possibility unlikely to be entertained by individuals either now or thousands of years ago.

Resurrection scholar N.T. Wright writes this: “Proposing that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead was just as controversial nineteen hundred years ago as it is today. The discovery that dead people stayed dead was not first made by the philosophers of the Enlightenment.”²

Proposing that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead was just as controversial nineteen hundred years ago as it is today. ~N.T. Wright

When it comes to the empty tomb of Jesus, we’ve considered alternative explanations over the past few weeks. Those alternatives, we’ve seen, are poor explanations for the empty tomb. Now we consider two reasons that Christ’s empty tomb points toward resurrection from the dead.

Even if you already believe in the resurrection, this sermon is for you, because you should know why you believe it—that’s one of the main points of this sermon series. You may learn reasons you’ve never thought of before as to why you should believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I hope you will sharpen your knowledge in a way that makes you a more skillful defender of the faith. I pray that all who hear or read this sermon will worship God in the truth of the Scriptures, and exercise their spiritual muscles in a way that strengthens faith and bolsters confidence.

Here are the two reasons why resurrection must be entertained as a possibility:

Pre-crucifixion prophecies
Post-death appearances

If resurrection was prophesied prior to His death and if Jesus subsequently appeared to credible witnesses after His death, then these two factors—prophecy and appearances—posit resurrection as not only an alternative that must be addressed, but the position against which all other positions must defend.

Let’s look at some of these resurrection prophecies in the four Gospels.

Resurrection Prophecies in the Gospels

The first objection to resurrection is going to be that these prophecies in the Gospels are recorded by the people who are trying to convince others of the resurrection. Perhaps they are just made-up.

As we’ve already addressed, it’s the height of insanity to suggest that this group stood to gain anything from such a claim. It cost them their livelihood; it cost them their lives. They would have known the claim to be a lie, and no one dies for something known to be a lie.

Secondly, the claim that the Gospel writers were making up the resurrection fails to take into account Jewish expectations of who the Messiah was.

Another objection to these prophecies is this: If the prophecies are so impressive, then why didn’t the disciples immediately understand that a resurrection had taken place? Why weren’t they camping out at the tomb on day 3 in expectation of what would occur?

As you’ll see, the Scriptures will explain all these things, and honestly, it’s something of an embarrassing account of the disciples. That fact, too, further casts doubt upon the idea that this is some contrived tale. Can you imagine trying to convince your friend of this kind of event? Hey, buddy, I followed this Rabbi for three years and didn’t understand His chief teaching, and then Rome killed him. Would you like to follow in His footsteps, too?

Matthew 12:38–40

Let’s look at a resurrection prophecy in Matthew first:

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38–40)

This passage has all the markers of good prophecy: it is both specific and mysterious (“three days and three nights”). Yet, let’s see why the disciples might’ve missed the fact that this was definitely about the resurrection:

The mention of 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth certainly foreshadows Jesus’s burial. But without the benefit of hindsight, the disciples probably aren’t jumping to the conclusion of death and resurrection.
Besides that, the prophecy was directed at an “evil and adulterous generation,” so the disciples wouldn’t have considered themselves to be the audience.
This sign also is, to some extent, a sign of punishment—Jonah is in the fish belly because of his disobedience. Today, we connect punishment for disobedience to the power of forgiveness displayed upon the cross, but this wasn’t a connection they would have easily made in that moment in history; the more likely conclusion is that Jesus is talking about someone else.³
In addition, Jesus attributes this event to the “Son of Man.” Although this is a frequent way of referencing Himself, it’s a term that has some ambiguity—it could simply mean a human being, or it could be a reference to a prophet of God.⁴ We’ll take up other possible meanings later.

Matthew 16:21–23 (cf. Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22)

Let’s look at another prophecy about the resurrection. This one is found in the three Synoptic Gospels,⁵ but we’ll read the version in Matthew.

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:21–23)

This prophecy is both more specific and straightforward. In spite of that, it was met with consternation on Peter’s part.

The irony of Matthew 16:22 is overwhelming. Peter takes God Himself to the side and says, “God forbid, God. You’re wrong on this one.” So even in this moment when Jesus is as clear as He can be about what’s going to take place, the disciples are in denial. I think Peter’s response indicates that perhaps he understood “kill” more than “raised up”—he understood the death aspect more than resurrection.

Let’s look at more of Peter’s speaking problem in our next resurrection prophecy.

Even in [a] moment when Jesus is as clear as He can be about what’s going to take place, the disciples are in denial.

Matthew 17:1–9 (cf. Mark 9:9)

Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;⁶ and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” (Matthew 17:1–9)

It’s very clear in this passage that “the Son of Man [Jesus] will rise from the dead,” but notice that the entire group is not present for this prophecy—it’s only three disciples who are there. And assuming they obeyed Him in this matter, the rest of the group didn’t know about this account until later, after the resurrection.

But look at what further insight we get from another Gospel:

As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. (Mark 9:9–10)

Matthew 17:22–23 (cf. Mark 9:31)

Back in Matthew 17 again, we have another resurrection prophecy:

And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved. (vv. 22–23)

This time, Jesus tells the prophecy to the whole group of disciples, not only a select group. But look at their reaction: The effect is one of deep grief, showing that their fixation was upon death (just as Peter’s was earlier), not on resurrection.

Mark is, once again, embarrassingly honest:

For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him. (Mark 9:31–32)

Luke 18:31–33 (cf. Matthew 20:17–19; Mark 10:33–34)

Let’s see what the Gospel of Luke has to say (note the cross references above for this story, which is found in Matthew and Mark as well):

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” (Luke 18:31–33)

Again, Jesus is speaking to the 12 apostles (the full group), and He’s very specific. But again, verse 34 tells us they didn’t get it:

But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. (Luke 18:34)

I don’t think this means God was hiding the meaning from them. I think they just didn’t know or understand. Matthew says something similar an embarrassing a number of times—which takes us to our next prophecy.

Matthew 26:31–35 (cf. Mark 14:28)

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too. (Matthew 26:31–35)

Yet again, death and resurrection are prophesied. And what do the Twelve say? “We’ll die, too!” But notice, none of them are saying, “And we’ll rise up, too!”

Matthew 27:62–63

Not only was the prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus known by His followers, but it was well-known by His enemies, who, embarrassingly enough, thought that the disciples would have had enough understanding of the prophecy to be hanging out at the grave:

Now on the next day, the day after the preparation,⁷ the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure …” (Matthew 27:62–64a)

Even Jesus’s enemies understood something about the resurrection from the dead!

We’ve seen prophecies of the resurrection in the Synoptic Gospels. Now let’s look at some from the Gospel of John.

John 2:18–22

Jesus is cleansing the temple in John 2, when the Jews engage Him:

The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. (John 2:18–21)

This passage tells a very bold prediction by Jesus (Kill me and I’ll be back in three days), but it also has a hidden meaning, and we see in the next verse that it’s something the disciples didn’t understand until later:

So after He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. (John 2:22)

You might be thinking, “But the disciples heard Him say it—what could they have thought He meant?!”

It’s possible they thought it was somehow related to His profession. We’re taught that Jesus was a carpenter, and He may well have been. But some have pointed out that Jesus and His father could have been what we’d think of as “handymen,” or more general or specific craftsmen or artisans, perhaps working with stone.⁸ If that’s the case, the disciples were less likely to think, “Oh yeah, He’s talking about His body,” than they were to think, “He’s talking about His profession.”

That, of course, is just one speculation, but there’s another passage in John that gives us clear insight into the thinking of the people of that time; it also further speaks against the idea of a made-up Messiah who dies.

John 12:31–34

[Jesus said,] “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.⁹ And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ [the Messiah] is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” (John 12:31–34)

Notice what the crowd is implying:

The Messiah (the Christ) will live forever.
The Son of Man and the Messiah are one and the same.
Therefore, the Son of Man will live forever.
Jesus says that He will die.
Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man.

Therefore, the crowd will conclude either (1) Jesus is not the Messiah or the Son of Man; or (2) the “Son of Man” as used by Jesus refers to something different from what is commonly understood.

You see, those looking forward to the coming Messiah expected various things of Him, but death was not one of them.

Those looking forward to the coming Messiah expected various things of Him, but death was not one of them.

So what did the disciples expect?

Remember the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus? It comes at the end of Luke’s Gospel. Cleopas and another disciple are walking along the road, and they’re unknowingly talking to Jesus:

One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to [Jesus], “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.” (Luke 24:18–21)

Notice the last verse—particularly Luke’s use of past-tense verbs: “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.” From there, Jesus goes on to explain the Old Testament prophecies to them: “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).

Let’s take a look at some of those Old Testament prophecies so we can better understand the disciples’ pre-resurrection mindset.

OT Scriptures Indicating the Christ Is to Remain Forever

Isaiah 9:7

We often read Isaiah 9:6 at Christmastime (“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us,” it begins). But look at the subsequent verse:

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of armies¹⁰ will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:7)

This verse tells the promise held on to by the Jews about the coming Messiah. It’s the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. This is going to be brought about by the Lord of armies, and the disciples didn’t understand the resurrection because of their Jewish presuppositions about the Messiah. They were hoping for a military/political leader to grant freedom to Israel and rule over all the nations perpetually.

If there’s one word that encapsulates who the Messiah was to be it is this: King.¹¹

If there’s one word that encapsulates who the Messiah was to be it is this: King.

2 Samuel 7:12–13, 16

Consider God’s words to David:

When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers,¹² I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. … Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:12–13, 16)

Notice the repetition of the word “forever”—three times.

Daniel 7:13–14

Look at one more Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah in the book of Daniel—notice the use of the term “Son of Man,” as Jesus often referred to Himself:

I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13–14)

After Jesus’s crucifixion, it would appear that Jesus of Nazareth’s attempts to stand up to the power of the world (Rome)—to face down that military might—had failed. Understandably, this looked nothing like the establishing of a kingdom of any sort. Quite the contrary, it looked like the validation of the current ruling power.

Understandably, this looked nothing like the establishing of a kingdom of any sort.

Some historical context—again, from N.T. Wright:

The varied pictures of a coming Anointed One in the varied Judaisms of the time do not conform to what Jesus did and said, still less to what happened to him. … [T]he Messiah was supposed to win the decisive victory over the pagans, to rebuild or cleanse the Temple, and in some way or other to bring true, god-given justice and peace to the whole world. What nobody expected the Messiah to do was to die at the hands of the pagans instead of defeating them; to mount a symbolic attack on the Temple, warning it of imminent judgment, instead of rebuilding or cleansing it; and to suffer unjust violence at the hands of the pagans instead of bring them justice and peace. The crucifixion of Jesus, understood from the point of view of any onlooker, whether sympathetic or not, was bound to have appeared as the complete destruction of any messianic pretensions or possibilities he or his followers might have hinted at. The violent execution of a prophet (which, uncontroversially, was how Jesus was regarded by many), still more of a would-be Messiah, did not say to any Jewish onlooker that he really was the Messiah after all, or that YHWH’s kingdom had come through his work. It said, powerfully and irresistibly, that he wasn’t and that it hadn’t.¹³

Thus, the disciples were unlikely to make up a story of a Messiah that died (as evidenced by their own misunderstanding), and they would have known the difficulty of convincing anyone else of a dead Messiah.

Consider the cases of other “Messiahs.” Jesus wasn’t the first person in history to come along and claim to be the Messiah, nor was He the last. Here’s N.T. Wright again:

… imagine for a moment the situation after the death of two of the most famous would-be messiahs of the period, Simon bar-Giora during the first revolt (AD 66-70)¹⁴ and Simeon ben Kosiba (i.e., Bar-Kochba) during the second (AD 132-5). Simon was killed at the climax of Vespasian’s triumph in Rome; Simeon, we assume, died as the Romans crushed his movement and with it all prospect of Jewish liberation. … Roman victory; Roman justice; Roman empire; Roman peace; all because the Jewish leader had been killed. An interesting parallel to the Christian claim, that salvation had come to the world because of the death of the Messiah; but we will let that pass for the moment. Instead, as our immediate task, imagine two or three of Simon’s supporters—if there were any of them left, hiding in caves or secret cellars—a few days later. Supposing one said to another, “Actually, I think Simon really was the Messiah.” The kindest view the other might take would be that the speaker had gone mad. Alternatively, the statement might be understood as heavily ironic: he really was our Messiah—in other words, our god has forgotten us, this is the best we can expect, we may as well admit there is no more hope! But if the case were pressed: Simon really was the Messiah, so we should now launch a movement which hails him as such, which declares to our fellow Jews that YHWH’s anointed has been in their midst and has established the kingdom (at the very moment when Caesar’s kingdom seems more firmly established than ever!), and which may then go out into the world to declare that Simon, as the king of the Jews, is really the lord of the whole world … then the verdict of madness, of a kind of criminal lunacy which turns reality upside down and inside out, seems inevitable. And if … the speaker, realizing his companions’ horror at his proposal, were to explain it all by saying that he had received a vision of Simon being with him; that he had a strong sense that Israel’s god had forgiven them for their failure to support him properly; that he had enjoyed a wonderful and heartwarming spiritual experience as he thought about the death of Simon; then his companions would have shaken their heads sorrowfully. None of this would remotely mean that Simon was the Messiah after all. None of it would mean that the long-awaited kingdom of Israel’s god had come. None of it would mean, either, that Simon had been “raised from the dead.”

… Jewish beliefs about a coming Messiah, and about the deeds such a figure would be expected to accomplish, came in various shapes and sizes, but they did not include a shameful death which left the Roman empire celebrating its usual victory.¹⁵

How, then, would the disciples have come to believe in such a far-fetched truth? Because Jesus appeared to them after He died, and after He was raised from the dead.

Post-Death Appearances

Proclaimed by Peter the Denier

In Acts 2, we see a different Simon Peter—a man who himself now understands prophecy, and who appeals to this Jewish crowd through the Psalms of King David. Peter is speaking in this passage:

Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For David says of Him,

“I saw the Lord always in my presence;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
“Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;
Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;
Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades,
Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
“You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.”

Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.¹⁶ Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:

“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at My right hand,
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’”

Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2:22–36)

Peter’s sermons—given by Peter the denier—grow in boldness and focus on his eyewitness testimony of the appearance of the once-dead, but now-resurrected Jesus. Here are a few more excerpts of those messages to various audiences:

[You] put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. (Acts 3:15; Peter’s second sermon, spoken to a largely Jewish audience)

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. (Acts 5:30–32; Peter speaking with the apostles to the Sanhedrin—the Jewish ruling council)

I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins. (Acts 10:34–43; Peter speaking to Cornelius, a Gentile/Roman centurion)

Proclaimed by Paul, the Late-Comer and Former Enemy

Not only was Peter the denier preaching this message, but so too was the late-comer Paul. Once an enemy of those proclaiming the name of Jesus, Paul, too, claimed the pre-crucifixion prophecy of the Scripture and the post-death appearances of the risen Christ. In Acts 13, he, like Peter, is addressing the Jews of the day and challenging their presuppositions about the Messiah:

Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: … When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.” (Acts 13:16, 29–37)

Paul gives further detail on post-resurrection appearances in his first letter to the Corinthians:

And that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me (Paul) also. (1 Corinthians 15:4–8; parentheses mine)

Peter and Paul—Peter who denied Jesus, Paul who sought to kill those who did not deny Jesus. What can we conclude about the evidence?

Conclusions About the Evidence

The evidence for or against the resurrection of Jesus should be taken as a whole. No one part should stand alone as the deciding factor of whether there was a resurrection. One must consider all of the evidence—both from Scripture and from outside of Scripture: from history, including the nature of prophecies and of the reported sightings of the resurrected Jesus; from archaeology; from medicine.

We should also consider the context in which Christianity grew. Why did this small group of people—some enemies and deniers, like Paul, Peter, and Jesus’s brother James—risk and, ultimately, give their lives to spread a message about a man crucified at the hands of the Romans? The answer has everything to do with the fact that they believed that this Man had died but was no longer dead.

No one has raised an alternative theory that can better explain the events surrounding the death of Jesus Christ and His subsequent empty tomb.

No one has raised an alternative theory that can better explain the events surrounding the death of Jesus Christ and His subsequent empty tomb, especially when considering pre-crucifixion prophecies; post-death appearances of Jesus; and the manner in which a small group of people were able to change the world. The same group that, as a whole, did not originally understand and did not ask for clarification. The same group whose individuals expressed consternation or confusion about Jesus’s specific prophecies—you have Peter saying, “This won’t happen, Lord,” and Thomas saying, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”¹⁷—was a group of people who, honestly, didn’t even know what resurrection meant. Only hindsight revealed the mystery behind what Jesus had said. Angels had to tell them:

“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words. (Luke 24:6–8)

Or He Himself had to remind them:

Now [Jesus] said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.” (Luke 24:44–46)

Conclusion and Application

Why didn’t the disciples understand? It’s a common question, and I find irony in this great wonder as to why the disciples didn’t understand that a resurrection was going to take place—in light of both the things that were already written and the things that had been said by Jesus while walking the earth.

I find it ironic because we’re just like them—we’re ignorant of the many verses that explain to us why they were ignorant of the resurrection that was to take place.

We’re just like them—we’re ignorant of the many verses that explain to us why they were ignorant of the resurrection that was to take place.

Here’s one more for good measure:

They did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. (John 20:9)

The Scriptures tell us over and over why they didn’t understand. So I conclude with these questions for you to apply to your own life:

What presuppositions about God are causing you to not understand Him or His Word? (What narrow view of your Messiah is causing you to miss knowing Him?)
What presuppositions are causing you not to love the people of God well? It’s hard to fulfill the Great Commands if your presuppositions about God and neighbor (especially wrong presuppositions) keep getting in the way.
What clarifying questions are you not asking? Fear and ignorance keep us silent at the wrong time. Or, fear and ignorance might cause us to deny clear instructions, just like Peter or Thomas did. (Not going to happen, Lord. Nope, Lord, you didn’t tell us.)
What clear instruction are you denying?
What do you not know about resurrection? Do you even know what it means to rise from the dead?

We will answer that last question, for sure, in the next sermon.

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