Dr. Richard L. Strauss
April 19, 1992
Back before the televangelist scandals, one of the evangelist's wives was interviewing a new believer on the show, a person with a rather exciting testimony. And when the interview was finished, the lady gushed, "Oh, the Christian life is just so great. I think I would become a Christian even if it weren't true!"
Now that may sound good at first hearing, but I don't think it's exactly how the Apostle Paul felt about it. He said that if it isn't true, then our faith is vain. We are still in our sins. We are worthy to be pitied above all people on earth for being so completely beguiled and deceived, and we might as well go out and live it up. The only reason it makes sense to be a Christian is because the Christian faith is true.
There is no other plausible explanation for the facts as they exist. And the truth of the Christian faith rests on the reality of one historic event above all others. And that is the one we celebrate today: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus had to rise from the grave. The choir sang it so beautifully.
He must rise. He must rise. The promise demands it. God's Word contains His holy vow. He must rise. God's power commands it and death can never hold Christ now. He must rise.
Reject the resurrection truth and every hope is dead. Without His victory, there is no salvation. But the Lord is risen, proving He meant what He said. His empty grave means joy and celebration.
God's written Word testifies, and in my heart my faith replies, He must rise.
So let's explore that a bit this morning. Let me suggest to you three reasons why Jesus had to rise.
The Old Testament Predicted Jesus' Resurrection
The first one is the Old Testament predicted it. And we're here in Psalm 2. There are more than 300 distinct prophecies of the Jewish Messiah in the Old Testament. It would seem inconceivable that even a few of them might be fulfilled in one person. But the mathematical probability that all of them might be fulfilled in one person is absolutely astronomical. And yet they were, in the person of Jesus Christ. Another link in the long chain of evidence that the Bible is in fact God's truth.
Some of those 300 prophecies relate to the resurrection of Christ. Now, if you're looking for an Old Testament verse that says Messiah will be crucified and in three days rise from the grave, then you're going to be disappointed. It isn't stated quite that clearly, but it is there a number of times, as New Testament writers point out to us.
Let me show you the first time we see it is in Psalm 2. The Psalmist says:
"I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
'You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You'"
(Psalm 2:7).
Now some of you are saying, "Wait a minute. What has that got to do with the resurrection? 'Begotten' sounds more like His birth than His resurrection."
But if you read and examine that psalm, you'll find out it has nothing to do with the origin of the Son. It deals with His enthronement and His rule. The resurrection was God's seal of approval on His ministry and the beginning of His exaltation and reign after the humiliation of the cross.
Paul said it in Romans.
"[Christ was] declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).
That's what this begetting is all about.
I want you to hold on to the Psalms and turn over to the book of Acts. I'm going to be flitting back and forth between Psalms and Acts for a few minutes. I'd like you to turn to chapter 13 of the book of Acts. Follow Paul into the synagogue in the city of Antioch and listen to his sermon. He reviews some of the Old Testament Jewish history. Then he mentions the ministry of John the Baptizer. And then he begins to talk about Jesus, particularly His death and His burial.
But then he says in verse 30:
"But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are My Son. Today I have begotten You'" (Acts 13:30-33).
Could there be any question about it? This great Old Testament scholar saw in Psalm 2, a clear reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He had to rise. God's authentic, inspired Word predicted it.
Now hold on to Acts and go back to the Psalms, please. Chapter 16 this time.
"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption"
(Psalm 16:9-10).
"Sheol" can refer simply to the grave. And it's obvious that that's what the psalmist has in mind here, since he talks about corruption. That's where our bodies corrupt and decay, in the grave. But the objection immediately comes: "Isn't David talking about himself here? What has this got to do with the Messiah?"
Hold on to the Psalms and go back, please, to Acts chapter 2 this time. Peter's preaching the great sermon at Pentecost. And the theme of his sermon is Jesus and His resurrection, naturally. You'll see it in verses 22 through 24. Jesus is the theme of the sermon. Then he goes on to quote Psalm 16, beginning in Acts 2:25—the very same verses we just read. Does it refer to David? Look at verse 29.
"'Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.'" (Acts 2:29).
Actually, it's still with us 2,000 years later. I've seen it. Some of you have, too. His bones are there, decayed, but he's dead.
"'Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses'" (Acts 2:30-32).
You get the point? That Psalm couldn't refer to David. His body is still in the grave. It had to refer to Jesus, the Messiah. He must rise. God's authentic, inspired Word predicted it.
Go back to the Psalms again, please. Psalm 118 this time.
"The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone"
(Psalm 118:22).
You say, "Now wait a minute. What's that got to do with the resurrection?"
Well, just follow it through for a moment and think it through. The picture here is that of a building under construction. And the cornerstone was not the stone with an inscription on it, with some trinkets in it as we think of it today. It was the keystone of the highest arch, the capstone of the dome. And it was an odd shape, and it would not fit into any other part of the building except the place for which it was designed.
And it was Peter once again who told us who this cornerstone was. We're back in Acts chapter 4 this time. Peter is speaking to the highest religious tribunal, the Supreme Court of Israel, who called him on the carpet for healing a man. Peter says:
"Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone'" (Acts 4:10-11).
Jesus didn't fit into the Jews' theological system or their political scheme of things. He wasn't politically correct in His day, so they rejected him and crucified Him. But His resurrection made Him the keystone of their national destiny. That verse predicts the resurrection. He had to rise. God's authentic, inspired Word predicted it.
I want you to see one more Old Testament prophecy, this time in the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. The prophet is describing in graphic detail the substitutionary sacrifice and death of the Lord's servant, who most Bible scholars agree is the Messiah. It's one of the most powerful Gospel passages in the entire Bible. Just get a little flavor of it in verse 5.
"But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all"
(Isaiah 53:5-6).
He was wounded, He was beaten, and He died. Those wounds led to death. Look at it in verse 9.
"And they made His grave with the wicked"
(Isaiah 53:9a).
He was buried, but that's not the end. Drop down to the middle of verse 10 where we read these astounding words.
"He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand"
(Isaiah 53:10b).
Wait a minute, I thought He just died. Somehow this dead Person is going to live again to see His own descendants. That's us, folks, His spiritual descendants. And it says He shall prolong His days. Somehow this dead Person is going to live again and not be permanently terminated by this sacrifice that's been just described here.
"And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." This resurrected Servant of Jehovah is going to live again to complete His divinely appointed task. Why, there's no question about it. This Servant of Jehovah is going to die and be raised again. And there's no question about the fact that this mysterious Servant was none other than Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel.
You remember when Philip was traveling through the desert, met this Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza (Acts 8:26-40)? The man was sitting in his chariot reading from this very passage of Scripture. But he didn't understand of whom the prophet was speaking. And the record tells us that Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
Does the Old Testament predict the resurrection of Jesus Christ? It most certainly does. He had to rise. God's authentic inspired Word predicted it.
But there's a second reason I want to show you why Jesus had to rise.
The Lord Promised Jesus' Resurrection
For this we turn to the New Testament, the Gospel of John to begin with, chapter 2. The Lord Himself promised His resurrection. No other religious leader in history would have dared to assert that he would die and on a given day, rise again. But Jesus did. And then He made good on His promise. He actually predicted His death and resurrection at the very outset of His ministry.
As you remember here in John 2, He's in Jerusalem for the Passover, and He found the temple being desecrated by commercialism. So after He drove the merchants out of the temple, the religious leaders demanded a sign from Him showing them why He had the right to take on Himself that authority and do that. And His answer was in verse 19.
"Jesus answered and said to them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'" (John 2:19).
They didn't know what He was talking about. They thought He meant the building of stone and mortar that was standing there before them that had been under construction by Herod the Great for the last 46 years. And He's going to raise it up in three days.
But you see, in verse 21 we read He was speaking of the temple of His body.
"But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said" (John 2:21-22).
It was a prediction of His resurrection.
The next time He mentioned it was at a very critical point in His ministry. And it's described in Matthew 12. And I'd like you to turn back there because we're just going to walk right through the Gospel of Matthew from this point on. And it will be good to have your Bible open.
The religious leaders of Israel had rejected Jesus and had attributed His power for miracles to the power of Satan. And in chapter 12 and verse 38, Jesus begins to talk to them. They had been demanding another sign.
"But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here'" (Matthew 12:39-41).
Get the point? As astounding as Jonah's experience was, Christ would be even more amazing. He would actually die and be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, and come forth, not just in the belly of a great fish. And that would establish beyond all doubt His divine nature and His divine mission. He had put His integrity and His credibility on the line.
It all depended on His resurrection. Without it, He was nothing. He was nobody. He had to rise. He had to rise.
Let your fingers do the walking through the Gospel of Matthew and keep moving over to chapter 16, where Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. And Peter came through famously with that marvelous declaration of Christ's deity.
"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (Matthew 16:16).
It was a moment of triumph in Jesus dealings with His disciples, a moment He longed to see. But it was followed by this awesome and solemn note in verse 21.
"From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day" (Matthew 16:21).
As clear as that was, they didn't understand it, much less accept it. But He kept repeating it over and over again. It was about a week later when He took Peter and James and John into a high mountain and showed them His divine glory.
"Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, 'Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead'" (Matthew 17:9).
Mark adds in his account that they kept this word to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant. They didn't understand it, they didn't grasp. But He kept telling them over and over again. The next time it was in Galilee.
"Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.' And they were exceedingly sorrowful" (Matthew 17:22-23).
Now, their sorrow would indicate that they're beginning to comprehend what the Lord is saying. At least they're beginning to feel a little bit of the emotional tension and the growing seriousness of the situation. But they still don't fully comprehend the extent of its implications. Mark tells us that in his account of this one, too. They still don't get it. But Jesus keeps trying.
In chapter 20 of Matthew, they're on their way to Jerusalem now. The time of His death is drawing near.
"Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again'" (Matthew 20:17-19).
Could it be any clearer? His claim to be God the Son has been put on the line. If He is whom He claimed to be, He must rise.
He says it one more time in chapter 26. They had just finished eating the last Passover together, and they were on their way to the Mount of Olives in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus would be betrayed.
"Then Jesus said to them, 'All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: "I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee'" (Matthew 26:31-32).
"After I've been raised." Unfortunately, it's still going in one ear and out the other. Peter, rather than probe the implications of what he just heard, which he surely should have done, wants to argue about whether or not he really will fall away before that night is over. But despite their lack of spiritual sensitivity, the promise has been made, and our Lord's reputation is on the line. He must rise.
If He doesn't rise, He's nobody. He's a liar or a lunatic. The evidence is overwhelming and indisputable.
Our Salvation Requires Jesus' Resurrection
It remains for the Apostle Paul to give us the final and supreme reason why Jesus' resurrection had to happen. And it's in 1 Corinthians 15. So let's turn there. Our salvation requires it. The Old Testament predicted it. The Lord Himself promised it. But it has to be, if we have any hope.
It's 26 years after the fact now and Saul of Tarsus, a fanatical Jew and persecutor of Christians, has met personally the resurrected Christ. He's become His devoted follower and has dedicated his entire life to telling other people about Jesus. He recognizes the crucial nature of the resurrection, and he devotes an entire chapter in his First Corinthian letter to the subject. He begins by defining the Gospel.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand" (1 Corinthians 15:1).
What is this gospel?
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential ingredient of the Gospel message of the Good News. And that's why the apostle Paul goes on to substantiate it with an impressive parade of witnesses. In the next few verses, hundreds of them saw the risen Christ. But drop down to verse 12, where he begins to make the point that I want you to see here.
"Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty" (1 Corinthians 15:12-14).
Now think about that for a moment. Your faith is empty, hollow, meaningless, worthless. He says the faith you've expressed in Jesus Christ is without any value whatsoever if He did not emerge bodily from that tomb on that resurrection morning. Empty.
"Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" (1 Corinthians 15:15-17).
"Futile" is a different word from "empty," but it's a synonym. It means fruitless, without any useful or beneficial results whatsoever. Your faith in Jesus Christ has not accomplished one single thing of any value whatsoever if Jesus did not rise from the dead. As a matter of fact, you are still in your sins. You have no hope beyond the grave. You have no chance of ever entering heaven. Life is futile, and there's no hope for the future. Why is that?
Well, simply because Jesus had to be God in order to be qualified to pay the penalty for the world's sins and not have to pay for sins of His own. Only God could do that. And triumph over death was the only adequate and acceptable proof that He was really God. Without it, His deity could not be verified, and we consequently could not be saved. And Christianity would be nothing more than another religious hoax perpetrated by another religious charlatan, of which the world is full already. We certainly don't need another one. He had to rise.
"Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" (1 Corinthians 15:18).
Not only is our future hopeless, but all of our believing loved ones who have gone on before us would be suffering eternal ruin.
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable" (1 Corinthians 15:19).
To cap it all off, he says the whole world ought to feel sorry for us for accepting this if it isn't true. I can understand that, can't you? I mean, if this life is all there is, then life itself is nothing more than a bad joke.
The choir sang about that this morning too, in that beautiful song called After All.
I heard there'll be another war today.
This child, so hungry, has no place to stay.
In my worried life I've almost lost my way.
How can tomorrow be better than today?
I mean, if in this life alone we have hope, it isn't very much hope, folks. It's a bad joke. And the only sensible philosophy of life is cynicism and absurdity. But don't stop in verse 19.
"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).
In other words, the guarantee that we too, who are in Him, as Paul goes on to describe, who are rightly related to Him, we too shall overcome death and live forever in God's wonderful presence. That's what the resurrection assures. We too shall live. We shall overcome. After the night the dawn will finally come, as after the cross was the rising of God's Son. So after all, when our tomorrow finally comes, we'll stand with Him as those who've overcome. That's the hope of the resurrection.
Maybe you've seen or heard of the painting called Game of Death, in which a young man is represented as playing chess with the devil. And the devil, apparently, by the position of the chessmen, has won the game. One day a famous chess player went in to look at this painting, and he stood there for a few moments and he cried out, "I can save that fellow!" And he explained how the chessmen could be moved to win the game.
That's what Christ has done for us. In one bold, magnificent move, He snatched us from eternal ruin and forever checkmated the devil and assured us of eternal life. By His resurrection from the grave, He's given us victory over death and the assurance of eternal salvation. Eternity in God's heaven. He had to rise, and we have to believe that He rose. Believing it is one condition for salvation. Remember, it's part of the gospel, which we must believe to be saved.
Paul made that so clear in Romans 10:9.
"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
Do you believe it?
Trusting Jesus as Your Savior
Do you believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God's eternal Son, who came to earth and lived a sinless life and died in your place, and paid for your sin and rose again to give you His life? Not just believe the facts, but commit yourself to Him in faith, resting entirely upon Him for your eternal salvation, entering into a personal relationship with Him by faith. Have you done that? If you're not sure, we invite you to settle it right now, right here, today.
Let's bow our heads prayerfully in His presence. When we were preparing for this morning's service, our elders were praying, and one of them said, "Thank you, Lord, that 25 years ago on Easter Sunday morning, you brought me into a right relationship with you."
Maybe this Easter Sunday morning, 1992, is the day that you're going to enter a right relationship with God by faith in His risen Son. What a wonderful time to make that decision right here, right now.
I'm not going to ask you to come forward. I'm going to ask you to settle this in your own heart, right where you sit. But don't put it off. If you've not settled this, would you, in these moments, express your faith to God in prayer, just in the silence and solitude of your own soul?
God, I'm a sinner. I believe Jesus died in my place and paid for my sin. Come into my heart and save me, Lord Jesus, and give me that gift of eternal life. And give me the strength to walk with You and please You.
Will you settle it right now? The Bible teaches that you will be made alive spiritually if you put your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation. It teaches that He and the person of His spirit will come into your life and be your friend and companion and your guide and your helper. The Bible teaches that He'll give you meaning and purpose in life and peace in the trials and storms of life. And when you exit this life, you'll enter the presence of the Savior in heaven.
Why would anyone pass all that up? Would you settle it now and put your faith in Christ?
Closing Prayer
Oh, God, I pray that this may be a resurrection day in the lives of many. I pray that those who have come to the service today without the assurance of their personal salvation will put their faith in the Lord Jesus and be saved from sin. And we who know Him will be thrilled anew that we can walk daily with a living Savior. And may the manner of life that we live please and honor Him. For it's in His name we pray. Amen.