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And Death Shall Have No Dominion - 2

ALL CRAZY IN THE SAME WAY?

In 1994, a well-known physicist named Frank J. Tipler wrote a book called The Physics of Immortality. Dr. Tipler--Professor of Mathematical Physics at Tulane University--began his work with these words:

“This book is a description of the Omega Point Principle, which is a testable theory for an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God who will one day in the far future resurrect ever single one of us to live forever in an abode which is in all essentials the Judeo-Christian heaven. . . . In this book I shall make no appeal, anywhere, to revelation. I shall appeal instead to the solid results of modern physical science; the only appeal will be to the reader’s reason . . . . If any reader has lost a loved one, or is afraid of death, modern physics says: ‘Be comforted, you and they will live again.’”

How well Dr. Tipler proved his point—that there will one day be a resurrection of the dead through the working of natural scientific laws alone--is a conclusion that I’ll have to leave up to scientists. I have to admit, though, a little bit of skepticism about any theory which claims it can prove the resurrection of the dead based on science and theory alone.

What Dr. Tipler’s book does show, however, is that science today is dealing with the question of death with a little more sophistication than seen in the experiment we looked at yesterday, in which a scientist in the 1800s tried to revive a corpse back by zapping it with electricity.

Fortunately, I don’t have to wade through the difficult equations and convoluted metaphysics of The Physics of Immorality in order to believe in the resurrection of the dead. I have something much more solid to rest this hope on, and that is--the resurrection of Jesus.

“I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said. “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25). Or, as Paul wrote: “Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence” (2 Co 4:14).

The great hope of Christians everywhere exists not in science but in the supernatural act of God, who two thousand years ago raised Jesus from the grave, and this wonderful manifestation of God’s power offers to everyone who believes the hope that death doesn’t have the last word in their lives. On the contrary, thanks to Jesus, death can be reduced to the first chapter only.

The question, though, for our discussion is, Why should someone believe in the resurrection of Jesus? What evidence exists for it? Why should we believe in this incredible event to begin with? After all, when was the list time you saw anyone—or anything—raised from the dead?

The first and immediate answer is that we should believe it because the Bible tells us it happened, and if you believe the Bible, you will believe in the resurrection of Christ.

And this point leads directly to one of the great things about being a Christian, namely--God doesn’t ask us to believe blindly. Sure, the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith,” (Rom 1:17), but this doesn’t mean a blind faith. God gave humans the ability to reason. He gave us the capacity to look at things and analyze them. We don’t have to have a faith that is reckless, or irrational. We have reasons, good reasons for our beliefs, including our belief in what is perhaps the greatest event in all history--the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

And that’s what we want to look at over the next few days, evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.

Let’s begin.

Have you ever read Victor Hugo’s massive novel, Les Miserables? We have referenced it here before on our broadcast. It’s the story of Jean Valjean, who steals some bread to feed his hungry siblings and for that “crime,” as well as some escape attempts, spends 19 years in prison. After being released, he steals again, but through the incredible kindness of the man he stole from, he’s not arrested. That single act of grace and mercy toward him completely changed Jean Valjean, who took on a new name and an entirely new life in which he lived only to help others. Unfortunately, due to a minor parole violation, he was hounded by Inspector Javert, who was fanatically determined to send Jean Valjean back to jail. The book covers the many years of Jean Valjean’s new life, especially his care for a young orphan girl whom he raises to adulthood, all while fleeing the indomitable Javert.

Suppose, however, that Victor Hugo insisted that the story was true? Not that he might have based it on a true story, but that all 1400 pages--including every word of dialogue, every emotion of every character, every action, even the most secret ones—-all happened in real life just as he wrote it. You’d think Mr. Hugo was a little warped, right?

Even worse, suppose he was so adamant it was all true that he faced jail, exile, beating, even death rather than admit it was made up? Again, you’d have to think something was wrong with Hugo mentally. Why suffer like that for a story you made up? Or, let’s get even more bizarre: suppose not only Hugo but his publisher and editor insisted that Les Miserables wasn’t fiction but fact, and they too were ready to face beatings, exile, even death for that position?

It doesn’t make sense.

Of course, neither Hugo or his associates ever made such claims. But centuries earlier, the writers of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all insisted upon something even more implausible than Hugo’s novel being real: and that was--the resurrection of Jesus Christ after His death on the cross.

Some people flat out reject this idea--the idea that someone could be raised from the dead after three days. It’s crazy, they say, the product of a sick mind, a mind deranged with hallucinations or something.

Now that might be a reasonable assumption if there were only one person making the claim that Jesus rose from the dead. Problem is, in this case--there were four! It's one thing for all four Gospel writers to be crazy. But for all four to be crazy in the same way?

Have you ever talked with someone who was a little, well, off kilter? It’s hard enough keeping them focused on the immediate conversation, right? How, then, could four men, each in their own personal insanity, come up with one common delusion, the same bizarre idea? That's hardly a rational explanation for their account of Christ's resurrection, to be sure.

The only other explanation, then, would have to be the conspiracy-theory. They conspired together to make up the story.

That’s logical, except for one problem: motive. What was their motive? Money? Power? Prestige?

Please! Everything we know about the disciples reveals that far from gaining any worldly power, or money, or prestige--they lost everything on account of their belief in the resurrection of Jesus. Shunned by their own people, rejected by the religious leaders, and mercilessly persecuted by just about everyone, they never gained worldly power, influence, or money as a result of the resurrection. On the contrary! They lost everything the world had to offer because of their insistence on it.

Thus, the question we ask conspiracy-theorists is: Why conspire to fabricate a story that, in the end, led to persecution, exile, and death?

Realizing this problem, some have argued that though Matthew, Mark, Luke and John conspired in hopes of personal advantage, things went awry concerning their plans with Jesus. But because they had already committed themselves to the story of the resurrection, they had no choice but to keep promoting it. In other words, the resurrection of Jesus was nothing but a face-saving device by those whose machinations had failed them.

Again, there’s a certain logic here, except it misses one crucial point: the Gospels were not written until many years after the resurrection. The Gospels have been dated 20 years, 30 years, maybe even more after the event. John was around 90 when he wrote some of this writings. So, if the disciples had hopes that, through the fabricated story of Jesus' resurrection, they were going to get rich, or powerful, they learned early that this was a vain hope.

Instead, they faced persecution, hatred and rejection from the start, and things went downhill from there. Why, then, decades later, long after they had plenty of time to disassociate themselves from the whole failed endeavor, did they cling to it anyway--even at the such a great personal cost?

In short, the conspiracy theory makes no sense, either.

What does make sense, friend, is this--that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, exactly as all four Gospel accounts tell. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, each in their way, each from their own perspective, all recount that incredible Sunday morning when their beloved Teacher, so ignominiously executed by the Romans, rose from the grave. And, even more importantly, through this incredible act, God can offer the world the hope that our greatest nemesis, death, won’t be the last act in our lives. Because just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so will we--we who claim Him and His life and His riches for ourselves as our Lord and Savoir.

The poet Dylan Thomas wrote a poem called “And Death Shall Have No Dominion.” That’s right. Though for now, the grave swallows us all, the Lord promises us that death shall, indeed, have no dominion of over us because of the resurrection of Jesus.

What a promise! Good news! Thank God that He has given us good reasons to believe in that resurrection, which offers us a hope that’s so much surer than Dr. Tipler’s far-fetched scientific theories. And He offers that hope to you, today, right now.