re:think hope - our hope is real

REVIEW FROM LAST WEEK…

- The UNIQUE Hope of Our Faith Is Called “Resurrection”

- Because of Resurrection, We Have Victory Over Death

- Resurrection ≠ Life After Death, But Life AFTER Life-After-Death- Resurrection Isn’t JUST About My Salvation, But So Much More!

JOHN 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb…

He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that He had said these things to her.

A FEW QUICK OBSERVATIONS…- Grave robbery was a common practice of the day…

A FEW QUICK OBSERVATIONS…

- It’s ASTOUNDING that Jesus first chose to reveal Himself to a woman & that it was reported that way

- Grave robbery was a common practice of the day…

A FEW QUICK OBSERVATIONS…

- Jesus being seen as a “gardener” magnifies His resurrection as an act of New Creation, walking with humanity in the Garden again…

- It’s ASTOUNDING that Jesus first chose to reveal Himself to a woman & that it was reported that way

- Grave robbery was a common practice of the day…

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence…”

“What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.”

“…far better to grasp theuniverse as it really is than to persist in delusion, however…reassuring.”

Immanuel Kant(The Two-Tier Universe:

Faith & Reason)

Rene Descartes(Reject All That Is

Possible To Doubt)

:: CIRCLE B ::Science/Reason

or the NaturalWorld

:: CIRCLE A ::Faith or the

SupernaturalWorld

Intangible, Invisible, Metaphysical, Spiritual;

Ideas, Opinions & Values;Artistic Expression &

Interpretation

Facts, Material, Observable Through

Our Five Senses,Physical, Tangible,

Visible


or the NaturalWorld


SupernaturalWorld

Dawkins, Hitchens & Sagan Like CIRCLE BAnd Criticize “Believers” Of

Forcing Things From CIRCLE A Into & Ignoring “Evidence” From CIRCLE B


or the NaturalWorld


SupernaturalWorld

Unfortunately Dawkins, Hitchens & SaganDo The Very Same Thing,

Trying To Use “Evidence” From CIRCLE B To “Disprove” CIRCLE A


or the NaturalWorld


SupernaturalWorld

The Truth, However, Is ThatYou Cannot Use “Evidence” From CIRCLE B

To “Disprove” Anything From CIRCLE A(Observations, yes; definitive scientific proof, no…)

No Matter What You Believe,FAITHIs Not OPTIONAL –It Is REQUIRED

There IS Evidence To Consider,And It CAN Help You,To A Point…

EVIDENCE FOR JESUS’ RESURRECTION


EVIDENCE of MEDICAL REALITYJesus WASN’T just “resuscitated”



EVIDENCE of THE EMPTY TOMBJesus WAS there, then He WASN’T



EVIDENCE of THE EMPTY TOMBJesus WAS there, then He WASN’TEVIDENCE of EYEWITNESSESJesus WAS seen after his death



EVIDENCE of THE EMPTY TOMBJesus WAS there, then He WASN’TEVIDENCE of EYEWITNESSESJesus WAS seen after his death

EVIDENCE of NEW LIVES/IDEASThe disciples WERE radically changed

7 NEW MODIFICATIONS ON THE JEWISHVIEW of RESURRECTION

1. Resurrection wasn’t just “center stage” among many other beliefs – it WAS THE stage


1. Resurrection wasn’t just “center stage among many other beliefs – it WAS THE stage


2. The belief in a bodily resurrection became inseparable w/Christian thought/practice



2. The belief in a bodily resurrection became inseparable w/Christian thought/practice3. A new clarity about the new body, a physical one animated by the Spirit, not the human soul



2. The belief in a bodily resurrection became inseparable w/Christian thought/practice3. A new clarity about the new body, a physical one animated by the Spirit, not the human soul4. No one expected anything other than a large- scale resurrection for all God’s people at once

5. A new sense of purpose arose in terms of transforming the present in light of the future




6. Resurrection was no longer “return from exile” for Jews only, but the renewal of all of creation & of all God’s people – Jews & Gentiles alike



6. Resurrection was no longer “return from exile” for Jews only, but the renewal of all of creation & of all God’s people – Jews & Gentiles alike

7. Jews didn’t think the Messiah would die at all, but defeat God’s enemies; Jesus’ victory over sin & death, however, affirmed Him as Messiah

ARGUMENTS & RESPONSESRE: JESUS’ RESURRECTION


COGNITIVE DISSONANCEThe disciples WANTED it to be true…

The disciples weren’t EXPECTING Jesus’ Resurrection AT ALL!



The disciples weren’t EXPECTING Jesus’ Resurrection AT ALL!


This doesn’t explain the RADICAL Modifications to Jewish belief…



A NEW EXPERIENCE of GRACEThey FELT a new level of faith, forgiveness & conviction…

A NEW EXPERIENCE of GRACEThey FELT a new level of faith, forgiveness & conviction…

Doesn’t take you one STEP closer to saying your leader had been raised from the dead!



JESUS DIDN’T REALLY DIEHe’d been drugged & LOOKED dead…

JESUS DIDN’T REALLY DIEHe’d been drugged & LOOKED dead…Roman soldiers KNEW how to KILL someone & the disciples weren’t going to be easily fooled!


JESUS DIDN’T REALLY DIEHe’d been drugged & LOOKED dead…Roman soldiers KNEW how to KILL someone & the disciples weren’t going to be easily fooled!


There’s no way Jesus could have revived or appeared “normal,” given the physical trauma involved


THE WOMEN MET SOMEONE ELSEPerhaps James, Jesus’ brother…

THE WOMEN MET SOMEONE ELSEPerhaps James, Jesus’ brother…They certainly would have noticed soon enough!



JESUS’ LIMITED RE-APPEARANCEHe only appeared to those who had BELIEVED in Him…

JESUS’ LIMITED RE-APPEARANCEHe only appeared to those who had BELIEVED in Him…After he died, it’s likely NONE of His disciples believed He was the Messiah, much less Divine! And what about Thomas or Paul?!


OUR ACCOUNTS ARE BIASEDWe can’t trust their veracity or authenticity – they’re too subjective…


OUR ACCOUNTS ARE BIASEDWe can’t trust their veracity or authenticity – they’re too subjective…ALL history, ALL journalism is biased in one way or another, because it generates from someone’s perspective – that doesn’t negate it outright!


LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE VISIONSEspecially of loved ones who’ve died…


LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE VISIONSEspecially of loved ones who’ve died…They knew of such things & had language for it (“angel,” “spirit” or “ghost”) – they would NOT have said “He’s risen from the dead!”



THEY JUST HAD A RICH SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCEJesus WAS still “alive,” they just felt “in touch” with Him spiritually…


THEY JUST HAD A RICH SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCEJesus WAS still “alive,” they just felt “in touch” with Him spiritually…That’s a Greek/Platonic notion,

not a Jewish one; Resurrection = the DEFEAT of death, not simply a re-description of it!

The Question Becomes:What Are YOU Going To Do With The EVIDENCE?