Why I Believe In The Resurrection Of Jesus - Internal Evidence
EVIDENCE FOR JESUS
EVIDENCE FOR RESURRECTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION TO “EVIDENCE FOR EASTER” 2
1. CONSIDER IN THREE PARTS: 2
2. IN MULTIPLE SESSIONS 2
II. ESTABLISH FIRST THE NEED FOR RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST 2
A. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RESURRECTION 2
1. AUTHENTICATES CHRIST AS THE SON OF GOD. ROM. 1:4. 2
2. PROVES THE ATONING VALUE OF CHRIST'S WORK. ROM. 4:25. 3
3. ENSURES OUR SALVATION. 1 COR. 15:17-19. 3
4. BASIS OF OUR SANCTIFICATION. ROM. 6:4 3
5. GUARANTEE OF OUR OWN RESURRECTION. PHIL. 3:20-21. 3
6. GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD ONE DAY. Acts 17:31 3
7. ESTABLISHES THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE 4
8. DETERMINES THE CLAIMS OF CHRISTIANITY 4
III. INTERNAL EVIDENCE 4
A. NOT JUST “BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE SAYS SO…” 4
1. BUT BECAUSE THE BIBLE HAS LEARNED THE RIGHT TO SAY SO 4
B. RULES OF THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST 5
1. AUTHOR CREDIBILITY: 5
2. ARISTOTLE'S DICTUM: 5
3. THE PAROLE EVIDENCE RULE 5
4. THE HEARSAY RULE 5
5. THE CROSS-EXAMINATION PRINCIPLE 6
IV. APPLICATION OF THE “INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST” 6
A. CREDIBILITY OF THE AUTHORS 6
1. INTEGRITY OF DR. LUKE AS AN AUTHOR: 6
2. INTEGRITY OF PAUL AS AN AUTHOR 7
3. INTEGRITY OF THE DISCIPLES 7
B. THE HEARSAY RULE 9
1. PREACHING IN JERUSALEM (Acts 2-4) 9
2. NEARNESS OF THE WRITING TO THE EVENTS: Comment on Mark 14 10
C. THE CROSS-EXAMINATION PRINCIPLE 10
1. CONVERSIONS OF THE “OPPOSITION” 10
2. WITNESS OF THE WOMAN: 11
V. TAKE AWAY [ END OF FIRST SESSION] 11
I. INTRODUCTION TO “EVIDENCE FOR EASTER”
1. CONSIDER IN THREE PARTS:
i. Internal Evidence
ii. Legal-Historical Evidence, and
iii. Consider the claims of Lord Jesus Christ.
2. IN MULTIPLE SESSIONS
• As the session progresses I pray that your confidence in understanding and defending the resurrection increases.
• TODAY, we will look at the first part – the internal evidence.
II. ESTABLISH FIRST THE NEED FOR RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Why is it important to the Christian?
Q: Why is resurrection important to the Christian faith?
• The Resurrection is the central event of Christianity, on which the whole religion hangs.
1 Cor 15:17. “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile…”
1 Peter 1:3. “…we are begotten unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
A. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RESURRECTION
1. AUTHENTICATES CHRIST AS THE SON OF GOD. ROM. 1:4.
• The resurrection proves that the claims Jesus made about himself are true.
• What did Jesus claim?
• He claimed to be God.
2. PROVES THE ATONING VALUE OF CHRIST'S WORK. ROM. 4:25.
• "Raised because of" means it proves the sufficiency of His atonement for our justification.
• The resurrection did not provide our justification, it proved Christ's death was sufficient to bring justification by faith.
• Therefore, having been justified (as proven by the resurrection) we have peace (Rom. 5:1).
3. ENSURES OUR SALVATION. 1 COR. 15:17-19.
• The theology of the resurrection is vitally important to the Christian for it affects his salvation and his sanctification.
• It provides assurance for the fact of our salvation and affords comfort with regard to our deceased loved ones (I Thess 4:13f ).
4. BASIS OF OUR SANCTIFICATION. ROM. 6:4
• As Christ was victorious over sin and death, so we may be victorious by our identification with him.
5. GUARANTEE OF OUR OWN RESURRECTION. PHIL. 3:20-21.
• The Bible says that Christ's resurrection is the pattern that those who believe in Him will follow. In other words, those who believe in Christ will one day be resurrected by God just as He was.
• Believers will one day experience, forever, the freedom of having a glorified soul and body.
• There is an inscription found in Thessalonica which reads, "After death, no reviving, after the grave no meeting again." The resurrection guarantees such a belief is false.
6. GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD ONE DAY. Acts 17:31
• The resurrection of Christ proves something very personal and significant to each of us--we will have to give an account of ourselves to a holy God.
Acts 17:31. "God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
7. ESTABLISHES THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE
• If Jesus rose from the dead, then we have seen this validates His claim to be God.
• If He is God, He speaks with absolute certainty and final authority.
• Therefore, what Jesus said about the Bible must be true.
8. DETERMINES THE CLAIMS OF CHRISTIANITY
• Christianity claims that Jesus Christ is both God and man.
• All other religions say that he was a good man only-and not God. Clearly, both claims cannot be right!
• A simple test: which religion gives the best evidence for its truth? In light of Christ's resurrection, I think that Christianity has the best reasons behind it.
III. INTERNAL EVIDENCE
• Evidence derived from the contents of the thing discussed.
• Our major methodology is applicable to this agnostic position.
A. NOT JUST “BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE SAYS SO…”
• We are often tempted or coerced to discard the evidence of the Scriptures –
• Because, they claim it is “circular logic”.
1. BUT BECAUSE THE BIBLE HAS LEARNED THE RIGHT TO SAY SO
• For those who apply the rules of “The Internal Evidence Test”
B. RULES OF THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST
1. AUTHOR CREDIBILITY:
• Did the authors of the documents disqualify themselves by contradictions or known factual inaccuracies?
2. ARISTOTLE'S DICTUM :
• "The benefit of the doubt is to be given to the document itself, and not arrogated by the critic to himself."
• OR, the document under analysis is not assumed to be fraud or in error unless the authors disqualify themselves by contradictions or known factual inaccuracies.
3. THE PAROLE EVIDENCE RULE
a. LANGUAGE USED IN A WILL:
• “External, oral testimony or tradition will not be received in evidence to add to, subtract from, vary, or contradict an executed written instrument such as a will.”
• Documents should be allowed to 'interpret itself' and not be twisted to external, data.
b. FOR EXAMPLE:
• We should not simply dismiss the New Testament as unreliable because we feel that miracles cannot happen. We should not make up our minds before we have examined the evidence.
4. THE HEARSAY RULE
• "A witness must testify 'of his own knowledge'.
• Not on the basis of what has come to him indirectly from others i.e. hearsay.
• Q: Were the writers of the documents eyewitnesses of the events that they recorded?
5. THE CROSS-EXAMINATION PRINCIPLE
• The more a witness holds up under close and searching cross examination, the more confidence we can place in their testimony.
• Were there hostile cross-examiners who would destroy the case of the authenticity of the documents.
• Are the testimonies contradicted by known facts?
IV. APPLICATION OF THE “INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST”
• How do the Scriptures fare when put to the test?
A. CREDIBILITY OF THE AUTHORS
1. INTEGRITY OF DR. LUKE AS AN AUTHOR:
Q: What confidence do we have in the integrity of Luke as an author?
a. LUKE 1: 3. "MANY CONVINCING PROOFS".
• Dr. Luke, who lived in the time of Jesus Christ and who had personally talked to many eye witnesses, tells us there were many demonstrable and incontrovertible proofs, not merely one or two, but many. (Cf. Luke 1:1-2)
b. “MANY”
• Multiple references.
• Luke tells us that he had carefully examined the evidence.
c. “TEKMERION”
• Luke, the historical physician, one practiced in gathering evidence, chooses this special word for sure historical proof, the strongest type of legal evidence.
• "a fixed and sure sign, evidence, or proof."
• Used of demonstrable proof and evidence.
2. INTEGRITY OF PAUL AS AN AUTHOR
a. ANCIENT CREED [1 COR 15:1-2]
• Paul records an ancient oral tradition(s) that summarizes the content of the Christian gospel.
• He had passed on to his listener’s years before (1 Cor 15:1-2) what he had received from others (1 Cor 15:3).
• Resurrection was integral to the earliest Christians.
b. PAUL CONFIRMS HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE MESSAGE
• Paul in desiring to confirm the truth of the Gospel asks his questions of the proper authorities-- the Apostles.
• First, with Peter and James, the half-brother of Jesus [Gal 1:18-20].
• Again, with Peter, James and John [Gal 2:9].
c. READ: MALTIN HENGEL:
• "…evidently the tradition of I Cor. 15.3 had been subjected to many tests" by Paul. It is easy to overlook the significance of these meetings. The four men who met together on the latter occasion were certainly the chief apostles in the early church, and each one had been an eyewitness of Jesus' resurrection appearances (1 Cor 15:5-7)…Paul received their confirmation that his gospel was correct (Gal 2:9; cf. Acts 15:23-35).
3. INTEGRITY OF THE DISCIPLES
a. THEY WERE EYE WITNESSES AND MADE REFERENCES TO THE RESURRECTION
2 Peter 1:16.
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
John 20:30.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;”
• The disciples had seen their master die. And because of this, they had lost all hope. Christ had told them he would die and be raised.
• In fact, it was an integral part of His claims. Yet they were down-trodden, utterly disheartened, and meeting in obscure places. But after the resurrection, we find the disciples joyous, fearless, and bearing public testimony. They were even willing to die--and it is not likely they would be willing to die for a lie. (Cf. Schaff, Vol. I, p. 173f.)
b. THEY WERE CONVINCED
• Disciples taught honesty and condemned lying.
• To be lying themselves about the whole thing would be extremely hypocritical and difficult to sustain.
HISTORIAN EDWARD GIBBON:
[The History of the decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]
“..purer but austere morality of the first Christians” as one of the five reasons for the rapid success of Christianity.
J.P. MORELAND:
“When Jesus was crucified, his followers were discouraged and depressed. They no longer had confidence that Jesus had been sent by God because they believed anyone crucified was accursed by God.”
c. THEY WERE COURAGEOUS
• The central theme of the disciples was the deity and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• Resurrection “was the belief that turned heartbroken followers of a crucified rabbi into the courageous witnesses and martyrs of the early church.”
NONE BROKE DOWN UNDER PRESSURE.
• They willingly gave their lives precisely because they were absolutely convinced that they had seen the risen Jesus.
• In fact 11 out of 12 were martyred.
• Did they die believing in a lie.
Q: WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO FOR YOUR CONVICTION?
B. THE HEARSAY RULE
1. PREACHING IN JERUSALEM (Acts 2-4)
• In the same city where Jesus was crucified.
• Jerusalem is absolutely the last place on earth for Jesus' followers to proclaim that he had been raised, unless his grave was empty.
• Galilee would more likely be the place where Jesus had His ministry.
a. PREACHED THE DOCTRINE OF RESURRECTION
• Only 50 days following the death and resurrection, Peter preached the doctrine of the resurrection and thousands gathered to hear him.
b. NO REBUTTAL
• But the important point is he was preaching to people who had access to the tomb.
• No one offered him a rebuttal.
• The Jews were silent--a silence which is as significant as the boldness of the speech of the disciples.
c. SERMONS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
JOHN DRANE [Theologian]:
• The sermons in Acts are our "earliest evidence" for Jesus' resurrection and that this material "almost certainly goes back to the time immediately after the resurrection event is alleged to have taken place ....”
d. AFFIRMATION OF THE OT PROPHECY
• The resurrection was not a new fact, and he was preaching its meaning from the Old Testament Scriptures (Ps. 16:8-10).
• Three thousand people who were in a position to know the facts about the resurrection of Christ believed and were saved. (Acts 2:41; 4:2-14).
2. NEARNESS OF THE WRITING TO THE EVENTS: Comment on Mark 14
• 7 references to the High Priest, but not by name.
a. RUDOLF PESCH [A GERMAN COMMENTATOR ON MARK 14]
• The pre-Markan source never mentions the high priest by name.
"This implies that Caiaphas, who we know was high priest at that time, was still high priest when the story began circulating. If it had been written after Caiaphas' term of office, his name would have had to have been used to distinguish him from the next high priest. But since Caiaphas was high priest from A.D. 18 to 37, this story began circulating no later than A.D. 37, within the first seven years after the events,…”
C. THE CROSS-EXAMINATION PRINCIPLE
1. CONVERSIONS OF THE “OPPOSITION”
• Classic example of the two convinced against their will was James, the brother of Jesus and Saul of Tarsus.
a. PAUL’S CONVERSION:
• Evidences of Paul's conversion from being an enemy of the church are recognized by all. (1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13-14; Phil 3:4-7).
b. JAMES’ CONVERSION
1 Cor 15:7.
• The majority of scholars, including many sceptics, agree that James was converted by Jesus' appearance to him.
• He was probably a sceptic during his brother's public ministry (Mk 3:21-35; Jn 7:5).
• In between, the early pre-Pauline creed in 1 Corinthians 15:7 states that James met the risen Jesus. One can only imagine what transpired there!
• The sight of the resurrected Christ changed him into a bond slave of Christ. [James 1:1]
• Then, just a few years later, James is the pastor of the Jerusalem church, where Paul finds him when he went for his two visits (Gal 1:18-19; 2:1-10; cf. Acts 15:13-21).
THE RAW TRUTH OF THE SCRIPTURE
• FULLER: “The criterion of embarrassment probably provides the strongest reason here, since it is highly unlikely that early church authors would make such potentially "deeply offensive" comments regarding both an esteemed leader as well as Jesus' own brother, unless they thought they were reporting facts.”
• Scripture adds the good, the bad and the ugly of its characters without signs of “legendary” story-telling.
• Any “claim to the contrary” would be repudiated by the hostile Jewish eye-witnesses.
• Fuller concludes that even if the pre-Pauline creed in 1 Corinthians 15:7 had never been recorded, "we should have to invent" an appearance to James to justify both his conversion as well as his promotion to the pastorate in Jerusalem, the largest of the early churches!
JOSEPHUS RECORDS
• “James the brother of Jesus, who was the leader of Jerusalem church, was stoned to death because of his belief in his brother.”
2. WITNESS OF THE WOMAN:
• The Gospels are in complete agreement that women were the earliest witnesses to the empty tomb. a simply remarkable report since female testimony was generally disallowed in a law court for declarations on crucial topics.
a. TO “FABRICATE” WITH WOMEN AS CENTRAL WITNESSES IS EDITORIAL SUICIDE
• It most likely would serve only to have the case dismissed without a hearing.
V. TAKE AWAY [ END OF FIRST SESSION]
• HOW DOES THE INTEGRITY OF THE SCRIPTURE DRIVE OUR BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR?