Easter Sunday

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Upon asking if GOD exists, I doubt that responding with François-Marie Arouet’s quip would satisfy a curious child on the matter. Better known as the French Enlightenment philosopher, Voltaire, François-Marie is best known for his doubt of GOD’s existence. Once, when someone asked him the question, does GOD exist, he said: ‘Well, if GOD does not exist, mankind would need to invent Him.’ — One might understand Voltaire’s statement as implying a cynical and biased notion of GOD as a fairy tale, either to blame when things go awry, like the boogey-man, or credit when things go well, like a fairy godmother. Yet, to come to such a conclusion, one wonders if Voltaire had ever read, honestly, and with an open mind, the Gospels’ message about the life and times of JESUS of Nazareth. — One wonders if he sought, with intellectual honesty and a truthful heart, the proofs that the Holy Bible provides concerning GOD, faith, salvation, and JESUS. — Perhaps he felt there were not enough proofs. — Proofs – people want proofs, and who can blame them? Blind faith is not honest faith, and blind faith does not satisfy. — So, when someone asks you a tough question about GOD, the Bible, and the afterlife, how should you inform and equip yourself to respond to that person with the proper and respectful proofs? I mean, if a child asks you, ‘If GOD exists, why did He let it rain on my birthday party, or if GOD is so good, why does He let chocolate cause your teeth to fall out?’ Of course, these are less difficult questions than most people will challenge a Christian to prove, but we should be prepared to answer queries about faith and the unseen. Indeed, the Holy Scriptures require of us to be ready to give an answer of the hope that we have in us with meekness and humility. (cf. 1 Ptr. 3.15) — Let’s practice, shall we? I’ll ask you a question about a faith-claim, and you let me know your answer. How can you prove that JESUS Christ rose from the dead? 

One thing that will never convince anyone (especially a child whose birthday was rained out on the same day she was told she has a cavity), is to simply say, “Because, I said so.” — People want evidence, and why not, they deserve it. Being created in the image and likeness of GOD, we need to inform each and every person about the Creator. Even JESUS, when asked by His disciples to show them the evidence of the Father, respectfully and cheerfully provided it to them – He said: “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father” (John 14.9). — JESUS offers a very important criteria to make His claims and to present His evidence. — JESUS is concerned with reliable, consistent, and trustworthy sources to make His truth-claims. In this case, He uses Himself – ‘He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.’ Similarly, to prove how JESUS rose from the dead, we need a reliable source of information – one that is consistent, harmonious, historically verifiable, and universally accepted. To prove our truth-claim about JESUS and His resurrection, we shall also use JESUS as our source, but first we need to identify the most reliable and verifiable source of information about Him. We need not look to sources that never knew JESUS, heard Him teach, or observed His life. We would be wise to turn to eyewitness accounts and contemporaries that lived and walked with the Preacher from Nazareth. We should look, then, to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.   

The Gospels, books referred to as The Good News, are hallmark accounts of the life and times of JESUS of Nazareth recorded in the Holy Bible. But before we can trust the truth-claims of the Gospels, we must ask if the Bible is reliable? — For the record, the Bible contains historical and eyewitness testimonies, which have all been scrutinized and studied, literally, for thousands of years. — We can find the Bible reliable, because of the historical record recorded within its sixty-six individual books. Within those books, we find a host of data points and geographical markers pointing to specific civilizations and histories, all of which help us authenticate the Bible’s testimony. The Bible tells a particular story about GOD’s creation of the world, a nation, and His Church.  All of these, the Bible tells us, GOD uses to bring about His purposes of salvation and to reveal His glory. The story begins at the beginning, the Creation, and it concludes with events surrounding the ancient text’s principal protagonist – JESUS of Nazareth. The canon of the Bible (Old and New Testaments), were written over approximately 1,500 years, covering the histories and circumstances of many civilizations, but primarily of the Jewish people and their Messiah, or Anointed One.  

The first clear qualifier that the Bible is reliable, is that it makes statements about the depiction, location, and description of cities, kingdoms, rulers, and particular artifacts. Among many others, we read stories in the Bible that include cities like Raamses in Egypt, Shushan in Persia, Bethany in Jerusalem, Colosse in Asia Minor, and Rome in Italy. All data points that can be verified as authentic against the broader civilizational record. We also have stories in Holy Scripture that name artifacts from biblical times that either continue to exist today, or through archeological science, have been rediscovered. Some of these are, the Dead Sea scrolls found in 1947 in the Qumran Caves, which verify the colony of the Essenes and their writings; the Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993, which is a 9th century B.C. inscription that verifies the existence of the House of David; and the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, discovered in 2004 which provides site evidence for some of the miracles of JESUS. This is a brief list of named artifacts in the Bible, but there are many more. As many as 25,000 archeological findings help to anchor the Bible and its many historical accounts in the seabed of reliability.  

Another important data point is that the Bible was written by over forty authors; all different sorts of people. Some prophets, kings, noble men, shepherds, doctors, fishermen, and rabbis. Hardly the academy’s preferred rostrum of Nobel laureates, but reliable, nonetheless. This point cannot be underscored too much, as the internal consistency of the books of the Bible is nothing short of miraculous. Quite an amazing claim, considering that those authors came from different backgrounds, historical points of view, and each held their different biases about GOD and His salvation story. Over forty authors each “influenced by the cultural assumptions of their age … having their views and perspectives shaped by the peculiar situations in which they lived and wrote … Nonetheless, GOD is the ultimate, not the immediate, cause behind the writing of Holy Scripture.”¹ The Bible’s flavor and character is distinctly human, yet maintains a high degree of internal consistency across its authorship. We could even say it was divinely inspired; a claim the Bible makes of itself. We read from the pen of Saint Peter: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of GOD spake [as they were moved] by the Holy Ghost” (2Peter 1.20-21).  

Considering the many different authors of the books of the Bible, we cannot overlook the styles in which they wrote. They Bible’s contributors wrote their narratives in prose, but also, poetry, philosophy, theology, and apocalyptic styles to communicate GOD’s message. If the Bible used language like ‘once upon a time,’ or, ‘Having nothing to do, Alice peeped into her sister’s book which had no pictures or conversations in it,’ we would wonder at the Bible’s messaging.  Instead, the Bible claims to be historical in its narrative history, as well as it philosophical and theological assertions. The Bible boldly stands on such foundational statements as these: In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD; and, It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered … this census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. — The Bible is a serious book because it makes serious claims. This is why the formularies of the Christian Faith in the Anglican Tradition state that in the Bible, “both the Old and New Testaments, everlasting life is offered to Mankind.”² 

Now, of the Old and New Testaments, we notice that the Old Testament is a canon of ancient texts originated and articulated by the Jewish people. It has been noted that “the Hebrew Bible has come down to us through the scrupulous care of ancient scribes who copied the original text in successive generations.”³ Manuscript evidence is a vital characteristic when we are talking about the reliability a text’s proof-claims. We already mentioned the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Qumran Caves, and their witness of the Old Testament is significant.  These ancient documents contain fragments of every book in the Old Testament, save Esther. The Qumran Scrolls date from the 3rd century B.C., but there are older still, like the Ketef Hinnom Scrolls of 7th century B.C., found in 1979, and these scrolls possess excerpts from the Book of Numbers.  

Perhaps more reliably impressive is the number of extant (existing) fragments and copies of the New Testament, especially the Gospels. Of the ancient manuscripts possessed in repositories of antiquity around the world, the cache of New Testament manuscripts have no equal. “There are over 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition, there are 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in other languages of the New Testament.”⁴ Many of these manuscripts date back to the second century A.D., and not only are they ancient, but they are also very close in relevant time to the events they record.  

Finally, as it pertains to the reliability of the truth claims of the Bible, we must look at those who made the claims, not just the authors that recorded the history. We said that we would look to JESUS as the source of our proof of the Empty Tomb, and it is time we do so. — Why JESUS? Well, because of the claims He made, the theology and philosophy He taught, and the life He lived. In a word, He is reliable, trustworthy, and honorable in every regard. – Consider what He said, and how and how He lived His life. — JESUS’ moral teaching about love for GOD and one’s neighbor come in at the top of the list when we consider history’s moral teachers. The Sermon on the Mount is the quintessential teaching on morality and religion, and the precepts that JESUS taught there have had more impact on western culture and lifestyle than any other religious figure. — He said: “You have heard it said, ‘You love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies; bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven … Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 5.43-45; 7.1) And then push came to shove and JESUS was pressed to live out His own teachings, we read of Him saying the following when He hung, suffering and dying on the Cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23.34). 

JESUS’ claims were no less profound than His teachings! He claimed at one point that, “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except [Me] who is from GOD; I have seen the Father” (John 6.46). And while praying in the presence of His disciples, JESUS said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true GOD, and JESUS the Christ whom You have sent” (John 17.3). And most importantly, concerning the matter at hand, JESUS said on three separate occasions: “The Son of Man, [who I am], must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day” (Luke 7.22). — In saying such things, JESUS was either, as C.S. Lewis described Him, a lunatic, liar, or LORD. We cannot presume Him to be anything else – by His claims, He does not leave us that luxury. 

Some will say that personal claims are one thing, but what did other people say about JESUS – how did they sum up His character and purpose? — John the Baptist, JESUS’ older cousin said of Him: “Behold! The Lamb of GOD who takes away the sins of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me come a Man which is preferred before me, and He was before me’ (John 1.29-30). — When asked who they thought JESUS was, His disciples answered: “We believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living GOD” (John 6.69). And of Him other followers of JESUS said, “Concerning the Son of GOD, JESUS Christ our LORD, He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1.3). 

Yes, these are friendly witnesses, but what of JESUS’ enemies – what did they say of Him? When on trial for His life for the crime of blasphemy, that is stating He was the Christ, the Son of GOD, the Sanhedrin (High Jewish Court) asked Him: “‘Are you the Son of GOD?’ So He said to them: ‘You rightly say that I am.’ And they said, ‘What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth'” (Luke 22.70-71). And at the foot of the Cross, after JESUS suffered and died, resulting in a great earthquake, one of the Roman soldiers acting as His executioner, fearing greatly, said of JESUS: “Truly this was the Son of GOD!” (Matthew 27.54). 

Now, even though the Holy Bible can successfully pass all this historical and literary criticism proving its reliability, and even though its acceptance throughout history is unparalleled and its message (especially about JESUS and His claims to deity and to rising from the dead) is consistent, there is yet one more proof of reliability we have yet to discuss. — Those who followed JESUS, who ate with Him, walked with Him for three years, and who witnessed His life and His teaching, these all, save one, laid down their lives for what they said they witnessed about Him. St. John in his first epistle said: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, the Word of Life, [Who is JESUS] … That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye may also have fellowship with us” (1 John 1.1,3). And for this testimony, each of JESUS’ closest friends willingly died, rather than deny Him – who He said He was –  or what they saw Him do.   

Without a doubt, the principal claim of this most reliable Book is about its principal character, JESUS Christ, who came into the world to save sinners. The Bible claims that He was able to do so, because He overcame sin and death and was raised to life on the third day, seen by over 500 witnesses for forty-days after His resurrection, and then He ascended visibly into Heaven to sit at the Right Hand of the Father until the Day of Judgment comes. — So, how can we prove that JESUS rose from the dead on the third day as the Church proclaims every Easter? We can do so, because of the claims of the reliable and historical witness of the Holy Bible, the Person of JESUS Christ, and those who were eyewitnesses to His life, teaching, and resurrection, most of which were martyred for their claims about Him.   

People want proof, and they will not tolerate a God who is made up to be a bogey-man or fairy godmother. People particularly want and deserve proof when we make significant claims about faith, GOD, salvation, and the afterlife. Without a doubt, the Holy Scriptures are reliable, consistent, and trustworthy, and so with them, dear brothers and sisters, we should equip ourselves to respond. — On Easter Day, some people will demand evidence of the Empty Tomb, and we should point them to JESUS Christ Himself, and the Holy Scriptures that principally speak about Him. They want proof, and I am certain you do too. Thus, hear what Saint John says concerning his Gospel, or Good News about JESUS Christ: “And many other signs truly did JESUS in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that JESUS is the Christ, the Son of GOD; and that believing ye might have life through His Name” (John 20.30-31).   

Proof – people want proof. — The tomb is empty! How do I know? I read about it in the Bible. 

Alleluia, Alleluia, the LORD is risen…Happy Easter! Amen. 

 — 

1 Sykes, Stephen, Booty, John, and Jonathan Knight, The Study of Anglicanism, (London: SPCK, 1988), 87-88.  

2 1928 Book of Common Prayer, “Article VII of the Articles of Religion,” 604.  

3 New King James Study Bible, (Grand Rapids: Harper Collins, 2018), xiii.   

4 Houston Christian University, “Biblical Manuscripts: Where is the Original Bible?”, https://hc.edu/museums/dunham-bible-museum/tour-of-the-museum/past-exhibits/biblical-manuscripts