Easter 2023

Easter 2023

I. Introduction

A. Christianity began with something that happened in !

B. No one followed a “Messiah”!

C. “Jesus was, and is, the Messiah! And He died on a cross. He was buried in a tomb. And on the day, He rose from the dead!”

D. I Corinthians 15:3-8 (NLT) ³I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me—that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. ⁴He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said. ⁵He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. ⁶After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. ⁷Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, I saw him, too, long after the others, as though I had been born at the wrong time.

II. Objections to the Resurrection

A. The women went to the .

B. Jesus did not really on the cross.

C. The disciples the body, and then made up the story about the resurrection.

1. The witnesses to the empty tomb were !

2. Women were not even allowed to in a Jewish court of law!

D. The “resurrection” is a , not a fact.

1. The last thing you would do is make up a story that he has come back to life, and then to defend a story that you know is not !

2. Nobody dies for what they KNOW IS A !

3. We are not the first generation of human beings to observe that dead people have a tendency to !

4. Hebrews 9:27 (NLT) Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.

5. I John 5:11-12 (NAS) ¹¹And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹²He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

6. John 1:12 (NAS) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

III. Conclusion