Evidence for the Resurrection
Today we celebrate Easter. The
resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is the core Christian belief. If we read
the Book of Acts carefully, the essence of the Good News is the resurrection of
Christ Jesus: “Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!” Then, what is the evidence for the resurrection?
And why resurrection matters to us today?
There would be several lines of
convincing evidence for the resurrection, but perhaps the greatest, unavoidable
evidence of all is the transformation of
the disciples of Jesus. The four gospels tell us about how each disciple
saw the risen Christ at different times and how they were transformed: the
story of Mary Magdalene, the story of Peter and John, the story of Thomas, the
story of two disciples walking to Emmaus, and so forth. And today’s passage is
one of the stories. In today’s scripture Jesus says to his disciples three
things. In fact, these three words of Jesus are the answer to this question: “Why
resurrection matters to us?”
Peace
The first reason why resurrection
matters to us is because his resurrection
enables us to have “peace” – peace with
God and peace of God. When Jesus
appeared to his disciples, the very first word he said was, “Peace be with you!” (v. 19b) At that
time the disciples had gathered together, not for fellowship or worship, but
for fearful of the Jews. They had locked all the doors in the house. Suddenly,
Jesus was standing among them and said, “Peace
to you!”
The world needs peace. We need
peace today. The peace that Jesus gives is different from comfort. We feel
comfortable when things are favorable on our side. In this regard, comfort is
external and conditional, whereas peace is internal and unshakable. Jesus’
peace is not something that comes and goes. Jesus’ peace is always there,
because it’s deeply rooted in his relationship with God. On the night he was
arrested, Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give to
you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:27). The disciples really
wanted to have that peace, but they couldn’t. Instead, they were troubled,
afraid, depressed. But after the
resurrection of Jesus, through the
death and resurrection of Jesus, the peace of Jesus became a reality to his disciples
and to us. How could it be possible to say, “It is well, it is well with my
soul,” after having lost all his possessions due to the Great Chicago Fire and
after having lost his four daughters due to the accident aboard ship? How could
it be possible to say, “I give thanks for my sons becoming martyrs,” when
Pastor Sohn’s two oldest sons had been killed by Korean communists? The peace of Christ! The Bible says, “The peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil
4:7). The resurrection of Jesus enables us to have this surpassing peace!
Purpose
The second word of Jesus is this:
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (v. 21). The
risen Christ gives us “purpose” – the purpose of life. In John 21the risen
Christ appeared to seven disciples. At that time Peter and the other six
disciples were so saddened, discouraged, lost their hope, and went back to
their old life for living – fishermen. So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing. But, the risen Christ already was there
ahead of them, waiting for them and saying to them, “Cast the net to the right
side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were
not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. This reminded them of
how Jesus had called them for the first time, saying, “Follow me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll
show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass” (Matt 4:19 MSG).
From a fisher to a fisher of people!
I would like to share the
conversion story of E. Stanley Jones, Methodist missionary to India. The reason
why I share his story, because he articulates well what happens when we encounter
the risen Christ. So when I read his conversion, I was so amazed because that
was exactly what I experienced. When he was seventeen years old, he attended a
3-day revival meeting. On the third day night he felt like he got to go to the
alter. And when he bent his knees, he felt like the seven colors of the light
pierced his darkness. In his diary he described what had really happened:[1]
- A sense of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, with life, with my brothers, with myself. The universe seemed to open its arms and take me in.
- A sense of being at home in my homeland. I did not try to make myself at home in my new condition and position – I was at home.
- A sense of purpose, direction, and goal. I had been a raft, tossed by storms and waves of meaningless emotion. Now I had been taken aboard a great liner that was going somewhere, with some goal, with power to move on to that goal.
- A sense of not being alone. I had Another who knew and understood me perfectly and was always with me.
- A sense of being a person. My total being was awakened and coordinated and fulfilled.
- A sense of wholeness. Fragmentation was over. Life was pulled into central meanings and purposes around a single Center.
- As sense of grace. How did this happened to me? I felt so undeserving and so unworthy, and yet it was mine!
This is his story. This is our
story, every Christian’s story. When
we encounter the risen Christ, we find our God-given purpose in life.
Power
The third reason why the
resurrection of Jesus matters to us is because the risen Christ gives us power – the power of His Holy Spirit.
The third word of Jesus to his disciples was this: “Receive the Holy Spirit”
(v. 22b). The disciples in the pages of the Gospels were timid, afraid, and
powerless. But the same disciples in the Book of Acts are bold, courageous, and
powerful. They are new and different people. What made the difference? The
Holy Spirit! Peter is a great example. He said to Jesus, “Even if all fall
away, I will not!” (Mk 14:29). He did mean it. But he didn’t have power. So
when the hour had come, he denied his Master three times. He even cursed and
sworn. And after Jesus was dead, he was completely in despair. But when we turn
over few pages in the Bible, we see him standing in front of thousands of
people, preaching so boldly and so powerfully. We see him defying the Jewish
leaders who had condemned Jesus to death just a few weeks earlier. Now we watch
him risk his life for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What made the
difference? The power of the Holy Spirit!
William Temple used to describe
this mystery in this way. “It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a new play just like it.
Shakespeare could do it; I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the
life of Jesus and telling me to live a life just like it. Jesus could do it; I
can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live inside me, I would
then be able to write plays like he did. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come
and live inside me, I would then be able to live a life like he did.”[2]
Jesus promised to send his disciples the Holy Spirit, saying, “This is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:17).
Decision Time
The resurrection of Jesus is real
because we see the disciples changed, and we still see people transformed today.
The resurrection of Jesus matters to us, because when we encounter the risen
Christ, we find 3 P’s – peace, purpose, and power in him.
In Revelation 3:20 the risen Christ
says to us, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me.” [*Showing the picture] This well-known
picture The Light of the World was
painted by Holman Hunt inspired by this verse. Notice that he is standing at the door, not pushing it; speaking to us, not shouting. The house
is his. He designed it. He made it. He bought it with his own blood. But he is
standing, knocking, speaking from outside. Notice that there is no handle or
latch on the door in this picture. It is said that Holman Hunt deliberately
left them out, to show that the handle was on the inside. Christ knocks; but we
must open.
A young soldier knelt down by his
camp bed one night in the barrack. He did a very simple praye in this way: “Jesus,
have mercy on me. I am a sinner. I confess my sins. I turn away from my sins
and turn to you. Come into my heart. Be my Lord and Savior. And I will humbly
serve you all my life. Amen.” Actually, this was my own prayer about 20 years
ago. And I can tell you that since that day, though it’s a journey and I am still
a work in progress, I did find peace, purpose, and power through the risen
Christ living in me!
Before we leave this service, let
us ask ourselves. Am I a Christian? A real
Christian? Do I have surpassing peace? Do I have my God-given purpose in
life? Do I have power given by the Holy Spirit? In a word, on which side of the
door is Jesus Christ? Is he inside or outside? Is he standing and knocking, or
living and dining with me 24/7? Now is the right time. Now is the day of
salvation. So now let us open the door and say, “Come in, come in, Lord Jesus;
come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart, Lord Jesus!” Amen.
[1]
E. Stanley Jones, A Song of Ascents: a
spiritual autobiography (Abingdon Press, 1968) 28-29.
[2] John Stott, Basic Christianity (The IVP Signature Collection) (p. 123).
InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
Wonderful! This was so moving :)
ReplyDelete