The Reality of the Resurrection

REFLECTION QUOTES

“If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die.”

~Stephen King (1947-present), American novelist and short-story writer

“…[Jesus’s] disciples…devoted themselves to the teaching of a doctrine which was attended with danger to human life—a doctrine which they would not have taught with such courage had they invented the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; and who also, at the same time, not only prepared others to despise death, but were themselves the first to manifest their disregard for its terrors.”

~Origen (c. 185-254) in Contra Celsus

“The founders of all other religions said basically this: ‘I am a prophet come to help you find God.’ Jesus is the only one who came and said: ‘I’m God come to find you.’”

~Tim Keller (1950-present), pastor in Manhattan

“Christianity is the only major faith built entirely around a single historical claim. It is, however, a claim quite unlike any other ever made, as any perceptive and scrupulous historian must recognize. Certainly it bears no resemblance to the vague fantasies of witless enthusiasts or to the cunning machinations of opportunistic charlatans. It is the report of men and women who had suffered the devastating defeat of their beloved master’s death, but who in a very short time were proclaiming an immediate experience of his living presence beyond the tomb, and who were…willing to suffer privation, imprisonment, torture, and death rather than deny that experience.”

~David B. Hart, contemporary theologian, philosopher, and cultural commentator

“The Resurrection…is not a redemption from the creation but the redemption of the creation.”

~Ken Myers, former NPR producer

“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”

~C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

SERMON PASSAGE

Mark 16:1-8

1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.