“Check It Out”
John 19:31-20:10
Sermon Series: “Getting Acquainted With Jesus”
Introduction: I am asking us this weekend to seriously check out the Bible’s claims regarding Christ’s resurrection and what they mean to our lives. In our Scripture text, Mary Magdalene and the other women went to Christ’s tomb early in morning to finish the burial preparations, but Jesus was not in the tomb. Angels told them that Jesus was raised from the dead. Mary Magdalene went and got Peter and John. They came and checked out the tomb. The truth they discovered changed their lives forever. The same thing can happen to you today!
1. Are the Bible’s claims regarding the resurrection factual?
Fact #1-Jesus was really dead.
Fact #2-Jesus was really buried in a known tomb.
Fact #3-The body was no longer in the tomb on the Sunday after the crucifixion.
Fact #4-The only thing left in the tomb was the undisturbed graveclothes.
Fact #5-Jesus bodily appeared to people after His resurrection.
2. What are the possible options to explain the resurrection of Jesus?
Option #1-Jesus did not really rise from the dead and there is a natural explanation for the facts.
Option #2-Jesus rose from the dead and the only explanation is a supernatural one.
3. What is the significance of the resurrection of Jesus? If the resurrection really is a fact, it means:
There is salvation through Jesus (forgiveness of sin) [Romans 4:25].
There is transformation through Jesus (life change) [Romans 8:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17].
There is resurrection for us through Jesus (His resurrection guarantees the resurrection of those who believe in Him) [2 Corinthians 4:14, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22].
There is glorification through Jesus (being perfected
forever in heaven) [Philippians 3:20-21].
4. Do you really believe in Jesus as the God-man, crucified for our sins and bodily raised from the dead? Real faith is life-giving and life-changing. How can we believe in something like the resurrection and it not make a difference in our lives? The 16th Psalm predicted that the Messiah would rise from the dead. Jesus predicted His death and resurrection on several occasions. The disciples knew the Scriptures and they knew what Jesus said, but they did not know that He would rise from the dead. They heard, but they had not really gotten it and believed yet. John believed when he checked out the tomb. Other disciples believed when they encountered the risen Christ. Their lives were never the same. What about us? We have heard about the resurrection, but have we really believed? Have our lives changed because we cannot really believe in the risen Christ and be the same? Jesus won’t leave us the same. This is a radical idea that demands a radical faith that produces a radical commitment.
Conclusion: The Bible makes astounding claims when it claims that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh who died for all of our sins and bodily rose from the dead. I do not see how there can be much middle ground with a claim like that. It must be completely rejected as a crazy lie or fully embraced as the greatest truth ever proclaimed. Where do you stand in regard to this claim? If you are not sure, please be wise and check it out. If you say that you believe, give yourself fully to Jesus. However, we need to get off the fence of casual religious activity and go in one direction or the other. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
