Acts 17:16-18 & 26:22-29

Good News About Jesus and the Resurrection

by James Lincoln on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2006

 

Have you ever noticed how the popular images of Easter don't require much of your mind or your heart? Easter as a metaphor for renewal, springtime, the circle of life, new clothes and Easter eggs really doesn't require any deep personal commitment. If this is what Easter has become it is now weightless in comparison to the historic reality of the resurrection. This week the talking heads on television spoke about the resurrection as the Easter story or as religious history, which is code for myth. The Oregonian called it a "tale". They say the apostles made up the stories of Jesus' resurrection to give the church inspiration. They say things like, "The gospel stories aren't factual but that doesn't mean they aren't true." When you hear that you know something odd is afoot. Thank God the first Christians weren't that obscure. Today some say that in those days people were really naive and easily believed such things. Now, they say 'We've grown up and we now know better. "

One of the things you notice when you see Paul preaching the gospel is that wherever he went from Judea to Rome there was lots of skepticism about the resurrection. When Paul preached the resurrection in Athens what did the philosophers say in vs. 18? "What's this babbler trying to say?" In vs. 31 as soon as Paul mentions the resurrection, "They sneered at him." People weren't gullible back then. They were just as skeptical of a resurrection in those days as they are today. All the evidence reveals this. They didn't believe it easily. So, don't ever get this idea that in those days people were just really gullible to such things and so they accepted it without any real evidence. It just isn't true.

Yet, in spite of the serious skepticism, the Greco/Roman world was absolutely swept up by Christianity and the message of the resurrection. People took all their questions and all their skepticism and they threw their tests of credibility at the idea of the resurrection. And on a wide scale basis those who sneered and mocked became convinced the resurrection was true and the whole world was turned upside down. Why? Because not only did the resurrection meet the test of credibility; it also met the test or needs of the human heart. We know that millions believed in Jesus Christ and by 313AD Constantine didn't make the empire Christian; he acknowledged what had already happened.

This morning I want to show how Paul shows that the resurrection of Jesus met both the test of credibility and the test of the human heart at Athens and before Agrippa. As long as the age lasts Christianity will meet these two tests.

First, the Test of Credibility

When Paul preached the resurrection in Athens notice what he didn't say. He didn't say,

"Well, you men just have to believe it by blind faith. You can't question these things. They're matters of faith and you don't question matters of faith. You have to just close your eyes and make a blind leap into the dark and just believe it." Or "Jesus rose and he lives in my heart and therefore you ought to believe me." Paul never did such a thing.

On Mars Hill he said (17:30) "Repent, because God has fixed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus and He has assured us of this by raising Him from the dead." He said, "Look, bring your test of credibility and throw your best arguments at it and you'll find that the resurrection stands up just fine."

Acts 26

There's an astonishing and fascinating example of how Paul preached the resurrection in Acts 26. At the time Paul had been in prison two years for disturbing the peace in Jerusalem. He gained somewhat of a celebrity status and so he was brought before two politicians: Festus and Agrippa. Festus was a Roman consul (governor). Agrippa was the king of Judea. Agrippa was Jewish and steeped in the OT scriptures and Jewish tradition. But he was raised in Rome along with the royal family. So, while Paul is talking to these two statesmen about the gospel, they're following him as he mentioned the O.T., the prophets and his own encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus. But as soon as he says in v. 23 "Jesus was raised from the dead", Festus interrupts him and he yells out, "Come on Paul... your great learning has driven you mad. You're crazy! You can't expect me to believe that." What does Paul say? Does he say, "Festus, you just need to close your eyes and have faith regardless of what is true or reasonable"? No, he turns to Agrippa who lives in Judea and who knows what's been going on and he says one of the most remarkable statements in the New Testament. He says,

"No Festus... I'm not mad... I'm speaking true and reasonable words. And Agrippa knows these things. None of these things has escaped his notice because these things were not done in a corner. They are out there for all to examine."

Now, that comment is remarkable both for its vulnerability and for its confidence. First, its vulnerability: Paul's inviting Agrippa to prove him wrong. Paul's saying what no other religion claims. Christianity is completely and totally contingent on the historical fact of the resurrection. No other religion does this. If the resurrection didn't happen in real time and space everything significant about our faith falls apart. In 1 Co. 15:14-19. Paul says that if the resurrection isn't true...if Jesus didn't defeat death... then there is no way He could be or do what He claimed. Everything was a lie. His claim to be God with us couldn't be true if He wasn't raised. If Jesus wasn't raised Paul says that you're still in your sins, your faith is a joke and those you planned to meet in heaven are lost. And you should be pitied for your foolish commitments.

Paul makes himself utterly vulnerable at this point. He says if the resurrection of Jesus Christ can be proven false everything about our faith falls apart. Why? Because the Christian message claims that God Himself came to earth in the person of Christ. Jesus claimed to be the exact imprint or representation of God's being in the flesh. He lived and died on the cross and claimed to pay the penalty for our sins that sinners like us could come to the Father.

Now, Christianity says that a person can't just make a claim of that magnitude and expect people to believe it without any historical evidence. The Word says that God verified and validated Jesus' claim by raising Him from the dead. How do you know that you aren't fooling yourself? How do you know that Jesus is the unique Son of God? You know it because of the resurrection. Paul says this in Acts 17:31 "God has given us the assurance or furnished proof to all men...of this by raising Jesus from the dead." No religious leader in history has ever made such a claim and then proved it by being raised from the dead. The claim is so demanding and exclusive that those who reject Jesus have had to find ways to deny its reality. Islam makes up a scenario that some of the disciples switched bodies and that Jesus never died or was crucified. The new Jesus Papers (which are really the old Passover Plot) claim that Jesus swooned but that he didn't really die. Liberal theologians like to say it was religious history or myth. These are all attempts to get out from under the exclusive demand and claims of the gospel.

It's popular today to hear people say that every religion is valid if it gives you something or if it's of some value to you. Christianity says that if the resurrection happened then it's of infinite value. Other religions aren't vulnerable like this. They don't claim their founder was God in the flesh. They claim that their founders were prophets. And, you can't argue with that or disprove that. However, Christianity says that Jesus was the only Son of God - the supreme manifestation of God and the resurrection proves it! Other religions say that the way to God is through giving God the record of your good life. Christianity says, "No." You get to heaven or find peace with God through faith in Jesus' good record who lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died on our behalf, as our substitute. Yes, of course Jesus calls us to live a good life but it isn't the record of our good life that grants us God's peace. Instead, it's the record of His good life and sacrifice that grants us peace. Our founder doesn't just point the way to God HE CLAIMS TO BE GOD! Christianity doesn't tell you how to find God by your religious efforts. It declares that God came and found us and saves us by Jesus' efforts. No other religion claims such a wonder and offers such grace and hope. Nothing will make your heart dance and sing like this gospel. If the resurrection is true then Christianity is of infinite value because you have God Himself come in the flesh opening the way freely for us to come into a relationship with Him by receiving His gift of eternal life. And it's also true ...that if the resurrection isn't true... then Christianity is of no real value. But the one thing it can't be is of some value. It's either of infinite value or it's of no real value. What real value is a religion based on a lie or a myth?

Paul makes himself incredibly vulnerable at this point. All anyone had to do was disprove it. Christianity offers God Himself come in the flesh so that you can know Him personally. It offers a way into the Father with all your sins totally and completely forgiven. Paul says that all of this hangs on the resurrection. Paul is begging for it to be disproved.

But now, look at how confident Paul was before Agrippa. It makes your hair stand on end. He says to Agrippa 25ff.:

"You know these things. I'm speaking true and reasonable words. You know these facts. I can be bold because what I'm saying about the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ can't be disproved." (26:25-26)

Now remember, Paul's talking only fifteen years after the fact. There was plenty of time and motivation to prove the resurrection false. The witnesses were still alive. They could have been cross examined and interviewed.

Look, we know that the religious leaders did everything they could to disprove the resurrection. After the soldiers (the ones who were guarding the tomb saw the angel, the earthquake and the stone rolled away) went to the chief priests and told them what happened the chief priest paid them off and told them to say that the disciples stole the body while they were asleep (Mtt. 28:12-15).

No one was more motivated to stop this thing than the religious and secular leaders of Judea. But they didn't. Why? They couldn't. So, Paul's challenging Agrippa to show him the body. He's challenging Agrippa to cross examine the eye witnesses. What are you going to do with over five hundred people who engaged the resurrected Jesus over a forty day period? This is the way the Apostles preached the gospel. Paul's saying that these people are still alive. So, go talk to them go check it out. It's easy enough to do. People don't hallucinate in groups of five hundred for six weeks! Agrippa, be reasonable look at the facts and the witnesses. There was nothing the people who wanted to stop it the most could do. Paul had that kind of confidence. He says, "These things were not done in a corner. And Agrippa you know it."

Even the way the witnesses tell the accounts rings true. If you were starting a religion this isn't the way you would report the accounts. They freely admitted that none of them believed Jesus would really rise from the dead. Not one of them hung around the tomb and said, "Let's wait until the third day and see if what He said would come true." They left town after the crucifixion. And if you were trying to sell people on the story you would have never reported that Jesus first revealed Himself to women. Women couldn't testify in a court of law. If they were trying to persuade people the resurrection happened this is not the way they would have done it. Why do they report the accounts this way? They did so because that's the way things happened.

Now here's what I find absolutely extraordinary! This sophisticated and educated king of Judea says nothing in response. He doesn't offer one objection to Paul's claim. That's Amazing! Why didn't Agrippa raise one objection? Why did he not believe Paul's declaration that Jesus rose from the dead?

Why did people persist in their unbelief today? Agrippa's response helps us. Paul says, "Agrippa this is reasonable, it's true and you know all about it. This wasn't done in a corner." And Agrippa says,

"Do you expect me to become a Christian? Or...Do you think in such a short time you can make me become a Christian? How could you possibly think that I would become a follower of Christ?"

Now, what kind of answer is that? How did it answer the historical fact Paul pointed to? It doesn't at all. But we understand it. Because, beloved, if the resurrection is true then you have to give up control of your life. If it's true you can't live any way you want to live. If it is true then Jesus is Lord! And He deserves your obedience. Agrippa knows this.

Agrippa is saying, "Paul, I can't refute your point, but Paul, do you really expect me to follow Jesus Christ as Lord? He just asserts how absurd it would be for him to become a Christian. If the resurrection is true you lose control of what you do with your money, your sexuality, your plans, what you watch on TV and don't watch, what you consider as fun, how you prepare your income tax returns, what you do with your weekends, how you treat your wife or husband and children and a thousand more things. If the resurrection is true then Jesus is Lord and he lays legitimate claim on your life.

And that makes it difficult for people to be objective with the evidence. Therefore be careful about your skepticism. If a judge were to try a case that would affect him personally he would rescue himself. Why? If your judgment affects you too personally, you may not be objective. With the resurrection we can't avoid it. But it does tell us that you should be skeptical about your skepticism and skeptical of your doubts. There's a deep personal motivation to disbelieve it. It will cost you. No one is a disinterested observer when they come to it. The reasonableness of it is there. But, be cautious of your skepticism. The resurrection took all the tests of credibility. They threw all their arguments at it and it passed.

The resurrection not only meets the tests of credibility it also satisfies the deepest needs of the human heart. And our hearts have several needs.

First, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the solution for the problem of death.

Death is a big problem for us. The fact that we live in so much denial of it should tip us off. In Acts 17:18, Paul addressed the Stoics and the Epicureans (17:18). These two philosophies had captured the intellectual class of the day. And they both believed that when you die you rot and that's it. Death, they said, is the end of consciousness and personal existence. The Epicureans said, "Well then, if this is true you should have all the fun you can squeeze out of life. Because when you die, that's it. Live for pleasure and selfishness." The Stoics said, "Be strong, courageous, self disciplined, sublimate your emotions and do what is right." Notice in Acts 17:16-17 that the more irreligious the intellectuals got the more hyper religious the populace got. The place was filled with idols and cults and temples everywhere. Why? Well, the populace has always been smarter than the academics about this. When the intellectuals say, "Death is the end and there is no God and no solution." the populace knows that's just not true. They know intuitively that if death is the end then you can't have great joy. Albert Camus said, "Look, tell me what you enjoy the most? Sports, music, entertainment? "OK," Camus says, "What if I could assure you that you were going to die in an hour. But I said, "Go ahead and enjoy those things fully for that hour?" He says you can't. Death hangs over you and influences your joy. Earnest Becker in the Denial of Death says the same thing. You can say death doesn't trouble your joy but most people know better. The Stoics said, "Be strong even though death is coming." and the Epicureans said, "Be happy even though death is coming." but the people knew you couldn't live without arranging for life after death. The resurrection meets this fundamental need of our hearts.

Interesting enough Epicurus said, "My biggest fear is not that death is the end...but perhaps the thought that death is not the end." Do you think that affected his joy?

Into this beloved, comes the gospel of the resurrection. Christianity says that because Jesus rose from the dead that when you put your hope and trust in the resurrected Jesus Christ who forgives our sins and promises us eternal fellowship with God, the uncertainty of that fear is gone. Because Jesus rose from the dead I know that aging, sickness or death isn't the end of myself. Whatever comes our way can only make us stronger. Death will only set us free to be with Jesus.

God is going to redeem this physical world. When we die we're not going to go off in some kind of ocean of being. We're going to have friends, eat, drink, and hug and be hugged in the kingdom of God. Your feet won't float in the streets of heaven; they'll march with joy. That's why Jesus ate fish sticks with His disciples in his resurrected body. He promises a palpable future. It's a promise of permanent personal and physical love with God and loved ones in the faith. Not something nebulous and uncertain.

I think it was C.S. Lewis who said,

"When a Christian understands the resurrection, the Christian says, "I know that the worst thing that can happen to me - when death itself comes upon me - all it can do is make me into a blindingly, radiant, immortal person who actually pulsates out with such energy and love, nobility and joy that no one can now imagine. It's to become a bright stainless mirror reflecting back to God His own boundless power, love goodness and delight."

That's what a Christian has in front of her.

A Christian who trusts in the resurrected Jesus can smile at her future, even when that future includes death. The resurrection meets the deepest needs of the human heart. And God has put eternity in everyone's heart. It was only until the twentieth century that a society tried to live out the idea that we don't have to arrange for life after death. And that society only survived fifty years.¹

The resurrection meets our deepest needs for assurance about life after death and what will happen to us after death. It meets our deepest need for a personal loving and eternal relationship with our Creator. This resurrection also meets our deepest need to be forgiven for our sins. In Acts 26:18, Paul says that those "who believe this gospel of the resurrection will turn from darkness to receive the forgiveness of sins and receive an eternal inheritance by faith in Christ..." We all need to be forgiven. All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures us that if we transfer our trust in Jesus' death for our sins we can be forgiven.

Finally, the resurrection tells us what to do. Acts 17:30-31

"...now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

So, flee the judgment that will come. You don't want to be judged without the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. Be skeptical of your skepticism. Believe the gospel of the resurrection. Turn to Jesus and Trust Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Rejoice in the assurance and the great hope His resurrection promises.

And know this, "if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it's with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (Rom 10:9-11) No one can love you like Jesus. So, believe in the risen Lord!