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The Message of the Gospel,

Part 7:
The Vindication of the
Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:5-8
May 23, 2004

Introduction

One of the most crucial pieces of evidence against a

defendant in the court of law is an eyewitness to the
crime. Without an actual eyewitness who, with their own
eyes and ears, saw and heard the crime as it was being
committed, the rest of the evidence is considered
circumstantial. Other evidences may point to the
defendant, but none seals the case like the person who
saw him do it.

But what happens when the defense attorney begins a

line of questioning that leaves both the eye-witness and
jury only thinking he saw or heard the defendant?
Perhaps it was dark that night. Perhaps the defendant
was far enough away that any number of other men in a
lineup could have matched the description. Perhaps the
eyewitness was tired or under the influence of alcohol or
some other intoxicating substance. That’s the job of the
defense attorney…to counter-examine the eyewitness
and hopefully unravel their story, to the end that, at
best, the jury themselves are left questioning whether or
not the eyewitness really saw what he thought he saw.
Any good defense attorney knows the damage that an
eyewitness can cause his case. And he knows that the
undoing of their testimony means the greater chance
that his client may be given a ‘not guilty’ vote.
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But what happens to the defense’s case when more than
one eyewitness is produced? What do you think would
happen if you had two or three or maybe even five
different persons who all saw the defendant commit the
crime in question? What happens then? Each
eyewitness will obviously only strengthen the case of the
prosecution against the defendant. And though I’m not
a lawyer, I have been seated before on jury duty for a
murder case. There were several eyewitnesses. And
each time an eyewitness spoke, the defendant was in
more and more trouble. One day we were called in and
seated, only to be told by assistant district attorney that
the defendant had changed his plea to guilty. There
were simply too many eyewitnesses. His case was
crushed underneath the weight of the evidence.

That was the case with a man who had three or possibly
more eyewitnesses to his crime. It at least made it to
court where the testimony could be told and heard. But
would such a case even make it to court if there were,
say, over 500 eyewitnesses to the crime? I’m not sure.
But I would bet that it would probably not, for the
defendant would simply enter a plea of guilty and
sentencing would be the only thing to take place in the
court of law. Why even think about entering a plea of
“not guilty” or hear a case at all when a perpetrator has
over 500 eyewitnesses ready to testify against him?

Yet this is the case today when our Lord Jesus is put on
trial as the defendant by the world. To many the simple
idea that a person could actually rise from the dead after
three days is preposterous. How much more then the
idea that a person would actually raise himself from the
dead after three days of being buried in a tomb! But as
we read in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8, there were over five
hundred witnesses who saw Him alive after He was
crucified and buried.
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Yet there are still billions of people who would
counter such a claim of His resurrection despite
irrefutable eyewitness testimony to the contrary. Why, I
ask you, would someone choose to believe what is
opposite the truth despite so much evidence to the
contrary? The answer is simple: their hearts are
desperately wicked and utterly deceitful; they refuse to
believe the truth; they are incapable of bowing to it and
its implications. In short, the lost hate the truth and
therefore they do not give their ear to it. But the
eyewitness testimony of over 500 people to a Jesus
Christ who was in fact crucified and is now in fact
resurrected is validation of the resurrection.

Now, while this is the case of the unsaved, what of the

saved. It is possible to be so use to the incontrovertible
evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead that even those who affirm its truth have grown
numb toward it. If the lost man hates and rejects this
truth, many saved persons ignore it and think hardly
anything of it, except during the Easter Sunday sermon.
For many it is a fleeting thought that Jesus rose from the
dead and that He was seen by over 500 people. For
them it is simply a passing “wow!” and then they turn
back to their business.

But can we do that with such a text as this! Can we

simply read the fact that over 500 people saw Jesus after
He was risen from the dead and go on with our lives as
we always have? Can we merely acknowledge this truth,
its evidences, and the conclusion without experiencing
the impact it must have on our moment-by-moment
thinking and living?

What is usually one’s reaction to the eyewitness

testimony of a person or persons who saw the defendant
murder a person? It is usually a ghastly horror
expressed outwardly by the covering of the face or the
dropping of the head or the gaping of the mouth.
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Perhaps it is expressed inwardly by the churning of
anger or sadness. Either way, there is a certain “shock”
value in testimony like this. It holds the jury and the
audience captive in shock and terror. It is many times
an awe-filled moment.

Transition

Why is it any different then with the evidence regarding

the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection? Where’s the
shock value? Where’s the awe? Where’s the outward
and inward expressions that are produced in the wake of
such evidence? Simply put, why has the eyewitness
testimony to the resurrection of Christ lost its impact on
Christians today?

1. How do I know it has lost its impact on

people today?

A. Consider the Reaction of the

Eyewitnesses

The resurrection left Peter in disbelief. It left John

bewildered. Both Peter and John left the tomb and went
back home marveling (John 20:10; Luke 24:12). It left
Mary Magdalene in awe and wonder (vv. 16,18). Later
on, it left Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome trembling and astonished (Mark
16:8). It left Thomas doubting (John 20:25). But the
disciples eventually rejoiced (v. 20).

They enjoyed meals with Jesus. Once when He just

appeared in the middle of a group of believers, He ate a
piece of broiled fish to prove that He was the real deal
(Luke 24). Once again in John 21 Jesus appeared at the
seashore, orchestrated another miraculous catch of fish,
and then had a fish-fry with them (John 21).
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B. Now, Consider our Reaction to the
Eyewitnesses

Mark’s record is interesting. Of the women who saw

Him, Mark records that they “said nothing to anyone, for
they were afraid” (16:8). Later on, after Mary
Magdalene had told the disciples that she herself had
seen the resurrected Christ, “they refused to believe it”
(16:11). Then, when the two disciples who were on the
way to Emmaus saw Jesus, they returned to tell the
disciples, yet “they did not believe them either” (16:13).
And these were His own disciples! Think of it! Everyone
seemed to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead
except for His own apostles. Mark then records that
when Jesus finally did appear to the disciples, “He
reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of
heart, because they had not believed those who had
seen Him after He had risen” (16:14).

What followed this reproach was a command to go and

preach the gospel to all creation (16:15). The
implication is that (1) it is a reproach on a believer to not
truly believe in the resurrection of Christ, and (2) it is an
obligation on a believer to go into all the world and
preach the gospel since Christ has risen from the dead.

The point I will make here as well as several more times

this morning is that missions and evangelism is
inseparably connected to the truth of the resurrection,
and that your involvement in missions and evangelism is
a reflection of your belief in the resurrection. You simply
will not be able to help yourself if you believe this truth.
It will compel and propel you to win others to Him. But if
you do not win others to Him, it is primarily because the
truth of His resurrection and power has evidently not yet
captured your heart and mind. And if this is true, then
take the same reproach on yourself that Jesus gave to
the disciples. If they heard all the reports and yet still
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didn’t believe, you’ve heard more reports than they did,
and yet will you still not believe?

And if you’re asking yourself if I’m implying that missions

and evangelism are the true reflections of your
profession of Christ, you’re right! That’s the clear
implication and application of Mark 16:14-15. If a
Christian is one who has been truly impacted and
gripped by the resurrection of Christ, then that Christian
will make it his or her aim to get that gospel to the
world, no matter what the cost. In other words, one
cannot profess to be a Christian and yet not be winning
the lost, because in not winning the lost, they show they
have not yet believed in the resurrection of Christ from
the dead!

C. Consider the Impact of the

Eyewitnesses on the
World.

It was said of some of the apostles that they turned the

world upside down (Acts 17:6). Everything that was dear
to the religious leaders of that day was turned upside
down on its head and it was crashing down around them.
All the religious practices of wood, hay and stubble
which they had constructed in the lives and hearts of the
people was burning up before their very eyes. And it
was all because twelve men had been so impacted by
the resurrected Jesus Christ that they couldn’t help
themselves! It was such a magnificent act, a miracle
above all miracles, that the whole world simply had to
know about it, no matter what the cost!

For most of the apostles, it did cost them their lives. But
that didn’t matter. They all knew the implication and
promise of Christ’s resurrection. If He rose from the
dead, then they would too! So what difference does it
make what people might do to us? As I have told you
before, “Fear not! You can only be killed!” They may kill
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you, but that is the very worst they can do. They cannot
take away what Christ has promised to do to you if you
follow Him. That’s why they had the impact on the world
that they did at that time, and that’s why modern
missions has had such an impact on the world in the last
two and a half hundred years or so. Men and women
have firmly believed in the truth of the resurrection such
that they were compelled to tell others about the power
of God. And they told that truth in such a way that also
showed the world that it didn’t matter what happened to
them – the truth they had to tell was worth the price of
their very lives.

D. Now, Consider Your Impact on the

World.

Is it possible that the reason we have so little impact is

because we hold so little regard for the irrefutable
evidence of the resurrection? Is it possible that we have
little impact on the world because the resurrection has
had so little impact upon us? If it seems to you that this
gospel is held and told by you with so little power, it is
because its power has not gripped you completely. If it
did, you would go. If it did, you could not help but
impact the world around you.

2. How Should the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the Dead Impact You as Christians
Today?

A. It must return to the center stage of

evangelistic efforts.

1. We must constantly preach this part of

the gospel to ourselves.

We act like Peter who saw the empty tomb yet still did
not believe (Luke 24). We act like Thomas who didn’t
believe despite the testimony of three godly women
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(John 20). We hear about it, and we read it. But it
simply does not seem to have an impact on us. Some
will argue that it is because we were not there, and
therefore it could not impact us as much as it did them.
Perhaps. But Jesus told Thomas in John 20:29 that those
who worshiped Him and believed in Him without ever
having seen Him are more blessed and satisfied and
joyful than those who did actually see Him. So Jesus’
argument here runs contrary to normal human
understanding. Yet because He said it, it must be so.
Hence, it is our duty and delight to figure out how we are
more blessed and satisfied and joyful and happy having
not see Him, and further how we can be more blessed
and satisfied and joyful and happy day by day, as we
serve a resurrected Jesus we’ve never seen.

• This means we must not and cannot be like those

disciples who, despite so much testimony to the
opposite, continued to disbelieve that Jesus had
risen from the dead. How terrible! Work with all
your might to read the gospels and meditate on
His resurrection. Pray with all your might that God
might be pleased to deeply impact you with these
truths so that you would be changed forever!

• Yet how comforting was their unbelief! What do I

mean by this? Simply that despite their unbelief,
Jesus made Himself known to them and then used
them to impact the world! And He can use you!
No matter how deep your unbelief, He can use
you. Pray what the father of the handicapped
child prayed, “I believe Lord. Help my unbelief!”
Confess it for what it is, ask Him to make you
believe it, and then ask Him to use you where He
desires. If He could use unbelieving disciples, He
can use you beloved!
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2. We must boldly preach this as part of
the gospel to others.

It is interesting to take note of some of the gospel

sermons in the book of Acts by a couple of the apostles.
And by comparison it is interesting to note how many
gospel presentations and sermons today seem to be
void of something the apostles considered absolutely
essential to the gospel message, namely the
resurrection.

• Acts 2:32. Peter preached his first sermon. And in

transitioning to his conclusion he drives home the
truth of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
He preaches, “This Jesus God raised up again, to
which we are all witnesses.” It was important for
Peter to emphasize to this huge crowd that Jesus’
resurrection was not a matter of hearsay. He and
the apostles and others who were in the upper
room praying were actually witnesses to the fact
that Jesus rose from the dead.

• Acts 3:15. In Peter’s second sermon, he preached

about “the one whom God raised from the dead, a
fact to which we are witnesses.’

• Acts 5:32. In Peter’s third sermon, a fundamental

argument in his sermon is the testimony: “we are
witnesses of these things…”

• Acts 10:39-41. In Peter’s sermon to Cornelius, the

resurrection was a central fact. He preached, “And
we are witneses of all the things He did both in the
land of the Jews and in Jerusalem…God raised Him
up on the third day, and granted that He should
become visible, not to all the people, but to
witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God,
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that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after He
arose from the dead.”

• Acts 13:30-31. In one of Paul’s sermons during his

first missionary journey, he preached, “But God
raised Him up 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.” Evidently, then, the
witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were a central
truth in his understanding and preaching of the
gospel.

One more passage that warrants our attention on this

point is Acts 17:31. In Paul’s sermon to the crowd at
Mars Hill, he preached, “He has fixed a day in which He
will judge the world in unrighteousness through a Man
whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all
men by raising Him from the dead.” The reason this
warrants our attention is that Paul explains that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead becomes your
evangelistic proof that Christ is going to judge them for
their unrighteousness. In other words, if they want proof
for the fact that they should fear and bow to this Christ,
His own resurrection from the dead is enough. But if
they reject that, what hope is there left for them?

Consider the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke

16:19 and following. Remember what he asked
Abraham for? First he wanted Abraham to send
someone to his five brothers so they wouldn’t have to
endure such hell. Abraham responded by telling him
that they had the OT and with that they should be able
to escape it. Yet then the rich man asked if he could go
back and tell them, for surely they would believe if
someone rose from the dead. Yet Abraham concluded
that if they wouldn’t believe the Scriptures, they won’t
believe even if someone rose from the dead.
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Transition

Moving back to the beginning of Acts, we read some of

Jesus’ last words to the upper room group. He told them
in 1:8 that they would be His witnesses. As
eyewitnesses, they were to bear their testimony
everywhere they could to the most remote parts of the
earth. And that testimony continues to spread through
those who witnessed the apostles and first believers. A
second generation of Christians were then born who
simply took what they heard and believed to others, who
then became the third generation of believers, and so on
and so forth. The point here is that the witness to the
resurrection didn’t die just because the eyewitnesses
did. It is our responsibility to continue to testify to that
witness even though we are not eyewitnesses. And in so
doing, we too become part of the witnesses of Jesus in
Acts 1:8 who are to take His death, burial and
resurrection to the most remote regions of the earth.

I recall the problem with Israel throughout their history.

Several times over they were rebuked and condemned
by God because they did not do one simple thing. They
did not pass down the greatest historical facet of their
nation – the deliverance from Egypt at the Red Sea. This
was the single most important event in Israel’s history,
and they were to pass it down to their children so that
even though their children were not eyewitnesses to that
wondrous event, they too would grow to love and know
the God of the Red Sea. But it was the failure to pass
this down and make much of this event that resulted in
generation after generation rising up in Israel who did
not know God nor the ways of God. And this should
serve as an example to us regarding our children and
our sharing with them of the greatest single event in all
of history – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead.
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Therefore, missions will always wane when witnesses to
the resurrected Christ wane either in number or belief.
So if we call ourselves by His name, let us rise up and
muster up whatever energy we may possess in order to
affirm this truth to our hearts so that we can again be
effective witnesses to our city, county, community and
our world. Therefore the pursuit of our lives should be to
recapture and maintain the wonder and awe of the
resurrection of Christ.

B. It must return worship and awe to the

center stage of the Christian life.

1. What was John’s response in

Revelation 1?

John records his own response for us: “When I saw him,
I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right
hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last,
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forever
more, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (1:17-
18).

That is real worship. Worship is not the raising of the

hands while singing a moving song. That is praise.
Biblical worship is the prostration of a person’s body
before God when they have encountered the living God.

And in keeping with Jesus’ philosophy that we are more

blessed and happier without having seen the resurrected
Christ, then in some sense our worship and belief in Him,
it seems to me, must somehow be affected to a greater
degree by truly worshiping this Christ we cannot see.
And how does this occur since we cannot see Him?

Simply put, He has given us an account of these things

in the Scriptures and it is our obligation and delight to do
whatever we can to impress these things on our hearts
until He is pleased to appear to us in our minds. In other
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words, while we may never see Him with our eyes, we
can certainly see Him with our minds, and we should
diligently seek to see Him this way.

In the thought of Jonathan Edwards, who is considered

the greatest theologian in the history of America, God
appears to our understanding and He communicates
Himself to our hearts. This comes by a constant
exposure to God’s truth and a constant appeal to the
Spirit to make that truth impact us in a lasting way.
That’s how we must seek the resurrected Jesus Christ
today. We must spare no effort to place ourselves in a
position where God will make Himself appear to us in our
minds and hearts, and do it often enough so that we will
be lastingly changed. This is worship, and when we
worship long enough, we will become changed. Then
and only then will we really have something to say to the
world, and then and only then will the world be more
likely to listen to us. They will say of us as it was said of
the Apostles that we have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

Transition: It is this act of Jesus Christ appearing to us in

our minds and hearts that reminds me of the two
disciples’ response after they had walked and talked
with the resurrected Christ.

2. What was the response of the two

disciples who walked with Jesus on the
road to Emmaus on the afternoon of
the resurrection day?

Luke records for us in 24:32, “And they said to one

another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He
was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining
the Scriptures to us?’” Christ appeared not only to them
physically, but also to them mentally and spiritually.
That appearance to their mind caused their hearts to
burn. There was a moment of worship which occurred in
their hearts. And this moment of worship produced an
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immediate reaction: “And they rose that same hour and
returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and
those who were with them gathered together, saying,
‘The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to
Simon!’” (Luke 24:33-34).

The moment Christ invaded their hearts and minds with

the truth of His resurrection they left immediately for
Jerusalem to go back and tell others. Once again, when
this truth suddenly and lastingly invades and permeates
your soul, you will not be able to help but immediately
tell others. That is the way of the resurrection, and each
time this occurred in Scripture, and every time it occurs
today it is simply further vindication of the resurrection
of Christ.

Conclusion

You may not have seen the resurrected Christ with your
eyes, but has He appeared to your heart, your mind,
your understanding, your soul? You will know for sure
whether or not He has by whether or not you have made
it your aim in life to tell others about this amazing work
of salvation.

Further, you will know how well His resurrection has

permeated your heart and mind and soul by how you
evangelize. Is the resurrection a central component of
your thinking? Is it therefore a central component of
your witnessing and evangelizing? Is it a central
component of your moment-by-moment living.

A local church is validated by Christ when it validates the

resurrection through real worship and true evangelism.
This is the direction I desire for this local church. I want
it to be validated by Christ Himself. So let each of us
commit our time to think, meditate, read, study and pray
for the Spirit to penetrate the numbness and rebellion of
heart with the explosive power of the resurrection.
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When we are changed individually, our church will be
changed corporately. When the resurrection enraptures
our hearts, our little flock will not help but be launched
into the community in a new, effective and lasting way.

This is what I pray for. This is what Jesus died for. And
this is what He rose again for. Let’s pray diligently to
that end.