April 2nd Update
Tonight we celebrate Good Friday. The day when Jesus laid down his life for us, to serve as our substitutionary atonement. And on Sunday we will celebrate Easter, the day when Jesus rose from the dead.
When you stop to think about it, our entire faith hinges on the resurrection. If that is not true, if Jesus died and simply stayed dead, then everything is a lie and we’re wasting our time. BUT, if he did rise from the dead, then that also verifies the validity of everything recorded by the eyewitnesses who wrote the Gospels.
This week, Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill church, has been using Twitter to ask the question, “If Jesus stayed dead…then why____.” I’ve found them interesting so I’ve included them here, along with some of my thoughts on each one.
- “If Jesus is dead, why do we not know where he is buried as dozens of “holy men” had enshrined tombs in that day?”
-In the ancient world, religious leaders were always venerated after their death, and their gravesites became the location of pilgrimages from all around the world. If Jesus stayed in his tomb, everyone would have known it, and it would have instantly become a site of similar trips by his followers. Instead, there is no grave site for Jesus.
- “If Jesus is dead, why did his followers no longer fear death & suffer martyrdom?”
-Almost every single one of Jesus’ closest followers suffered martyrdom for their faith in him, with the option of recanting their devotion to save their life. Not a single follower of Jesus took this option. Surely if they knew the resurrection was a fake, at least 1 person would have come out with it instead of going to an early grave.
- “If Jesus is dead, how can we explain why the first Christians starting practicing baptism to show death, burial, & resurrection?”
-Baptism was not a typical practice of the Jewish people. They would not have adopted such a radical practice had they not fully believed what it symbolized.
- “If Jesus is dead, how can we explain why early Christians stopped worshiping on the Saturday Sabbath & instead changed to Sunday?”
-Again, Jesus’ followers completely abandoned a key element of their Jewish faith and nationality. They wouldn’t have done this if Sunday didn’t have a new, powerful meaning.
- “If Jesus is dead, how do we explain the conversion of his most bitter enemies like Saul who became Paul?”
-Saul had spent his life becoming educated on, and advancing through, the ranks of Judaism. He oversaw the arrest and death sentence of Christ followers, trying to put an end to this division in the Jewish faith. Until, that is, he encountered Jesus post resurrection while traveling to Damascus. Paul then spent the rest of his life planting Christian churches all around the world, sacrificing every other thing for the sake of the Gospel message.
- “If Jesus is dead, how can we account for his own mother & brothers worshiping him as God?”
-Surely if anyone knew the “true” Jesus, it would have been his mother and brothers. If Jesus wasn’t really who he said he was, these people would have known it from the very beginning. But that isn’t the case. Even Jesus’ half brothers were leaders in the early Christian church, giving their life for the truth that Jesus rose from the dead.
Posted: April 2, 2010
Jon's Blog
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Upward and onward!!!
Lead Pastor
Heartland Sun Prairie
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