(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
How does the resurrection answer life's big questions?
Intro:
The last chapter of Matthew closes with what is known as The Great Commission — Jesus’ instructions for His disciples to go make other disciples. And that, friends, is you and me…disciples making disciples making disciples. Interestingly, this also is community in the image of God…He is creative, pro-creative, and we, made in His image and called to be like Jesus, are likewise to image his creative, pro-creativeness.
Given this, today’s closing segment should be particularly inspiring and useful as we go do that.
Today we’re just going to finish off Matthew, read our customary OT and Wisdom segments, and then close out with answering today’s focus question…How does the resurrection answer life’s big questions?
New Testament segment:
Passage: Matthew 28
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 20
Words: ~423
Old Testament segment:
Passage: Isaiah 30-32
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 62
Words: ~1691
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Proverbs 14:1-3
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 3
Words: ~48
The bottom line:
Answering today’s question should fill us with hope…so much so that it spills out in our lives: How does the resurrection answer life’s big questions?
Credit where credit’s due, I took this question from my class notes when I spent a year studying the resurrection with Sean McDowell. Completely separately, what I learned most from Sean was the utter graciousness with which he models defending the truths of Christianity. So please check out a related blog post of his and give him your support.
I want you to remember three phrases: supernatural explanation, miraculous confirmation, historical corroboration. Let me share why by way of three questions.
Does God exist? The resurrection isn’t just some philosophical idea…it was an actual event in time-space history. We know that dead men don’t naturally come back to life. If Jesus did, then there must be some supernatural explanation.
Which religion is true? To be sure, even false worldviews and religions have truths. Sometimes even a lot of them. But as I heard Tim Keller once say, every other religion is involves some prophet saying, “I’m the wise man, let me help you find God,” whereas in Christianity, Jesus said, “I’m God, and I’ve come to find you.” On the biggest questions of life – the nature of God, salvation, and the afterlife, if Jesus rose from the dead, we have miraculous confirmation of Christianity’s uniqueness.
Is there life after death? This is pretty straightforward…if Jesus rose from the dead, then we have unique historical corroboration that there is life after death.
There you go. Does God exist? Which religion is true? Is there life after death? The resurrection provides the supernatural explanation, miraculous confirmation, and historical corroboration that you can trust Jesus. Because it’s either true — and that changes everything. Or it’s not — and that changes everything. The only thing it cannot be is just one of many possibilities.
Love you!
Roger
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Leslie T. Hardin and Derek Brown, “Son of Man,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
(2) Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2022.
(3) Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1883.
(4) D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1757.