Witnesses to the Resurrection

Sermon Easter 2

Witnesses to the Resurrection

John 19: 20-31

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  It is by hearing the Apostle’s witness in the Gospels through the power of the Holy Spirit that you can make this confession.  It is through this hearing of the Apostles’ witness that you, over 2000 years removed from this event, can have confidence that Jesus of Nazareth will raise you from the dead on the last day. 

But still people today doubt this world changing message. The culture does its best to refute the evidence, deny it even to mock it.  The words of Christ as recorded by the Apostles are on trial and God’s Word has its defense ready.

The skeptics cast doubt that the Apostles writings are authentic.  One way this is done by pointing out that we do not have the original writings and that in the process of copying the scriptures the church made mistakes or intentionally made edits and added words that were not in the original.  The problem with this claim is that there is consistency with in the existing ancient copies of scripture. We have over 5000.

The idea that it is in impossible to maintain the integrity by copying the scriptures over period of time was shattered by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Until the scrolls were discovered the oldest complete copy of the Old Testament scriptures in existence was the Codex Leningradensis.  This codex or book is dated around 1000 AD.  With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls we have scriptures that date back before the birth of Christ. What scholars have found is that there is very little difference between what is written in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex, a copy made 1000 years later.  

Another objection presumed by the skeptics is that the Apostles or later church officials added things too what Jesus originally said or claimed.  if the church were editing to add we would have earlier versions of the Gospels that would be smaller or their content would be very different from the earlier copies. Although there are parts of Mark and John that some have said are later editions those editions are clearly indicated and they do not if they were removed present a change in Christian doctrine.  Some have suggested that Mark is the copy of the Gospel that the other synoptic Gospels simply because it is smaller and contains fewer words. Matthew and Luke are based upon even though the church maintains and scholarly evidence suggests that Matthew is the first Gospel written.

The other thing these skeptics point out is the number of variants in the text. This they say proves that the scriptures are fallible but in actuality the variants mainly consist of spelling errors, or the words may be in a different order. The thing is with Greek grammar the word order in a sentence can vary without changing the meaning of the sentence. 

If this is not enough the critics will say Jesus never wrote a word. How do we know Jesus meant to say what the Apostles later had written? The fact remains that there is a strong oral tradition in the culture of the time. Because of the expense and the effort required to make papyrus scrolls, everyone possessing a set of scrolls was not as practical as sharing the stories orally.  As long as the eye witnesses were alive and stories could be corroborated then there was no point to it.  As the eye witnesses started to go to sleep in the Lord the church found it necessary to record these eyewitness accounts.  Very rarely would it be acceptable for the on one trial to answer or witness for himself. To establish what another said or did it requires another. In fact the old Hebrew legal maxim  is that it requires 2 to 5 witnesses to establish a fact.

So why bring this up?  You have probably heard it said, “You can’t argue someone into believing the Gospel.” This is true only the Holy Spirit can create trust in what is being heard. But we also hear from the scriptures faith does come by hearing.  Hearing what? The eye witness testimony and teachings of the Apostles. The Evangelist and Apostle John writes in our gospel text this morning, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John here gives us the purpose of his writing His eyewitness testimony of Jesus, “that you may believe in him and have life in his name.”  The point is, is that the content of our faith is based in a historical reality. John says this again in his first epistle to the churches where he writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— “

I can’t help to think that John was referring back to the experience he recorded in the Gospel, Jesus post resurrection appearance to the disciples and then to Thomas. John was there and so were others. He saw Jesus. Heard Jesus speak and touched Him.  He saw him eat. Jesus was not some spirit in the appearance of a man. No He is a man, a man who suffered and died and then raised Himself from the dead. This is true. it is historical. There were over 500 witnesses in addition to the disciples of the resurrection.

Our faith is not based on fantasies or myths it is not based one man’s testimony of his own experiences. This is the the trouble with Mohammed the founder of Islam or Joseph Smith the founder of The church of Latter Day Saints or Mormans. 

They cannot be proved or disproved. They are the sole witnesses to the revelations they claimed to receive from God.   One could say, what about the revelations that the Old Testament prophets received or from John himself as he writes of his visions in his Apocalypse what we know as the Book of Revelation? The legitimacy of these texts is based on whether there prophecies come true. The texts are also compared with the teachings found in other scriptural texts to see if they are consistent and do not contradict. 

The Koran and the Book of Morman do contradict the other revelations found in the scriptures and so we Christians deem them to be false teachings.  The other aspect since there is a single witness to the events recorded they cannot be proved or disproved.  We cannot prove or disprove that both men were visited by Angels, that Mohammed ascended into the heavens, that God the Father and God the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in a woods.  If it is true, “Where is Joseph Smith’s golden tablets with reformed Egyptian written on it?  Can the Mormons present to us some other examples in the history of the world where there is reformed Egyptian? If they had the evidence why would their church not produce it for the public to see, to scrutinize. The issue is that in both cases and in the case of the wild claims of other man made religions they cannot be proved or disproved.

However this is not the case with the claims of the resurrection. We have not just Jesus claims about his own experience but in his divine wisdom he appears before his disciples over the next forty days where numerous witnesses see him, hear him, touch him.  He is no longer where they laid him. He is not in the tomb.  If the skeptics and opponents to the church can produce a body, then it’s all over, the church falls and all Christians have nothing to base their faith upon. The Christian religion would then be simply a set of teachings to live by perhaps helpful for civilized living but no different than in other religion of man. Plus we would still be lost in our sins and headed to eternal damnation after we die.

But this is not the case. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And because he lives you who are baptized and believe we receive the promise of his righteousness before God. And so death has no claim on you. You too will be raised from the death to eternal life.  This is what made the Apostles glad, the peace that comes from Jesus forgiveness.

It was the preaching of the resurrection, the eye witness testimony that motivated the early church to sell their goods and place them in a common treasury as we have from reading in Acts. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold  and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.  

Note the apostles did not preach a stewardship sermon. They did not preach a sermon on tithing. They preached the resurrection. They preached the forgiveness of sins. The power of the Holy Spirit through this eye witness testimony caused such great joy in the people’s hearts that they responded with generosity.

We of all people have a religion a faith grounded in truth, in history. The gospels are written and established as eye witness accounts in the Gospels we have the first three Matthew, Luke and Mark. These are the synoptic Gospels they are like three witnesses recounting virtually the same events.  John was written later and provides additional commentary and eye witness testimony for further explanation and clarification of the church. These witnesses are written to go before a court so one can defend the faith. That is what apologetics is, a defense of the faith. It may not cause someone to trust in Jesus but it does rationally defend the faith against irrational assertions. And it shows that we Christians do not have to put our brains on the shelf to substitute emotion and feelings for knowledge. We do not need to be ashamed of the Gospel for it is rooted in historical and the statements are made by a man the Son of God who rose from the dead who defeated death. That seems to me to be someone worth listening too.

If he rose from the dead as he said he would do then what he says about our forgiveness in Him our righteousness before the Father because of him. His keeping of the law for us is also trustworthy and true.

If someone doubts then let him put the scriptures up to the same scrutiny as a judge would in a trial. Compare the witness testimonies. Then have them use the same scrutiny on the other texts that claim divine revelation. It is no contest. There is nothing else like it and there should not be for it is God’s inspired Word.

And it is the same Word that bids you come to Christ’s altar and receive from this resurrected Christ His very body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.      Amen