And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
At least once a year I like to start a story with my Volleyball Team like this, “when I was in prison I played middle hitter and got one of the best blocks of my life.” Every time I say that, the reactions are priceless. “You were in prison?” “What were you in for?”
Of course, I left out a few details for the setup to make it shocking. I was on a ministry volleyball team while attending the Word of Life Bible Institute. We went to Lake Placid Medium security prison to do sports ministry. It’s not as shocking when you hear the explanation, but it does lead to funny joke from time to time.
We played against the inmates in a best of 3 match, students vs prisoners. A few of the inmates took the refereeing positions and we began to play. Every time the ref made a questionable call, the inmates in the bleachers took our teams side and cheered us on. It was an amazing experience.
After the game, I had the opportunity to talk with an inmate and share the Gospel with him. He looked at me with a futile, hopeless gaze and said, “God won’t forgive me, I killed two people.”
My heart broke for his hopelessness. How sad it is to believe that you’re an irredeemable person. I began to show him in the Scriptures that Jesus died to offer him forgiveness, and that there is hope. He didn’t want to believe that could be possible.
Prison is a hopeless place. Many were in for life and had given up hope. Prison, being a place for hardened criminals and murders, just has a depressing feel that is palpable even as we drove on to the premises.
As depressed as it felt at Lake Placid Prison, how much more would the feeling have been for the apostle Paul as he spent time in a 1st century Roman prison? Although Paul faced shipwreck, flogging, stoning and prison, he never lost hope. Why do you think that is?
He had hope, not in himself, or his present circumstance, but in the risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:3–4
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
(Read John 19:31-42 for more context.)
In his statement here, Paul wants us to know and be sure of three things when it comes to the passion of Jesus Christ: Jesus really died, Jesus was really buried, and Jesus really rose from the dead.
Jesus really died. (cf. Mark 15:42-46)
There are theories about the life and death of Jesus that are spread from time to time. Theories that Jesus is a fictional character, that he never really lived in Jerusalem, that he didn’t really die, that the disciples stole his body, and so many others. People want to deny historical facts that attest to the truth about Jesus.
The evidence that Jesus of Nazareth being a real historical figure is overwhelming and no serious scholar, Christian or atheist, would deny it. However, some want to deny the biblical account of his death. Here are a few reasons we believe he really died the way the Gospel accounts tell it.
Rome was in charge of the crucifixion. Roman soldiers were trained in death, they knew the signs of death. Chronological snobbery is often employed to make it sound like people in the first century didn’t really know what death looks like and so they were mistaken. Sorry to break it to you, but humans have been dying since Cain killed Abel, and the signs of death are pretty obvious.
When the soldiers went to break Jesus’ legs, they noticed that he was already dead. Just to be sure, they drove a spear into his side and punctured his heart, causing blood and water to flow. This is known as pericardial effusion, a sign that the heart was punctured ensuring death.
All four of the Gospel writers tell us that Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Christ and buried in his own tomb. J. Warner Wallace points out that Joseph and the others attending the dead body of Jesus would have had extended contact with the corpse. In order to take him off the cross, transport him, clean him, prepare the body and place the body in the tomb, it would have taken time.
A dead body begins to display signs of death rather quickly, unlike someone who fainted. These signs are loss of temperature, the body gets cold. Rigidity, the corpse stiffens up. Lividity, the discoloration of the body as blood settles from not being pumped. (See J. Warner Wallace for more)
One of the significant things about mentioning Joseph of Arimathea by name is that he was still alive at the time of the writings. Sometimes, we as modern readers, struggle with names in the Bible, but they are very significant, especially for the first readers of the books. Every time a name is written in, that name directs the reader to a person alive at the time of the writings. The reader could go and check the story with the individual.
Not only did Jesus really die on the cross, but he was buried in a borrowed tomb.
Jesus was buried.
Joseph took Jesus off the cross, prepared his body and quickly buried him in his own tomb. Why would someone do this for a crucified person?
Josephus, the most important Jewish historian of the period, wrote: “The Jews are so careful about funeral rites that even malefactors (criminals) who have been sentenced to crucifixion are taken down and buried before sunset.”
Not only was Joseph a righteous Jew, he was also a follower of Christ and wanted to treat Jesus with respect.
If you ever get a chance to visit Israel, you will realize that there are often 2 or 3 sites for each event in Scripture. The tomb of Jesus is no exception. There is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, inside the old city walls of Jerusalem, where some believe Jesus was buried. But just outside the city is a garden tomb, where he could have been buried.
When I visited the garden tomb, it seemed like the place Jesus could have been buried. It was evident that it was a rich man’s tomb. It was in a beautiful garden that they have uncovered. It was in the side of a hill that has evidence of a severe earthquake. And one evidence that stood out to me, the tomb was very precisely carved out, with one exception, at the head of the tomb an area was quickly chiseled out to make the tomb a few inches longer. This could be explained by Jesus being taller than Joseph and being a borrowed tomb, he had to make it a little larger. I think that is a pretty cool detail.
Being buried is another sign that Jesus died. His death was complete and Jesus tasted death for our sins.
Jesus really died, Jesus was really buried, and Jesus rose from the dead!
Jesus rose from the dead.
This is the source of our hope, that Jesus overcame death. For a summary of this, check out this video: HERE if it doesn't display below.
Everything changes when we believe that Jesus rose again. He is not just another fairytale, He is the risen Lord. He offers hope, forgiveness and justification for those who follow Him.
One of my professors in Seminary, Dr. Gary Habermas, is a leading scholar on the resurrection. When he went through his darkest times, he came to the conclusion that if Jesus really rose from the dead, he truly is the source of our hope and he has overcome the darkness. (see more here)
The resurrection is something to be celebrated, not just on Easter, but every day of our lives. We can live victoriously over sin because of the risen Lord. We can be hopeful, even in the darkest places of this world, like prison, we can have hope because of Jesus.
Remember the inmate I talked to you about, that one who didn’t believe God would forgive him? When our time came to an end, a Christian inmate came up to me and told me he would follow up with the inmate. That’s when I found out that many of the inmates had received Jesus through the prison ministry and they had a discipleship group that was thriving. They had the hope of Christ in the eyes and were excited that we brought an opportunity through volleyball to share Christ with others.
The Good News of the resurrected Lord is hope and light to all who believe. It shines brightly in the darkness. Let us be ambassadors of hope this Easter and share the Good News with others.
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