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Howdy. Pastor Mark here
at the Garden Tomb.

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Just behind me,
you will see a small entry point

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that is an ancient tomb.

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This entire area
has been built around it.

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Some quarter million people
a year arrive at this place

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to remember and to celebrate
and investigate

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the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead.

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The truth is we don't know
exactly where Jesus was buried.

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Why?

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Because he's not there.

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That's the big idea.

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We do know, however,
that it was either this place

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or a place much like it,
for ten reasons.

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Number one, we read in
the gospel accounts that Jesus

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was led outside
of the city walls.

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This place qualifies.

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Number two,
it was outside of a gate—

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we're told that in Hebrews—
the place where Jesus

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was buried, and this fits
that requirement, as well.

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Number three,
we are told that it was along

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a busy thoroughfare.

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And as you entered in,
you experience that

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to this day.

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Number four, it was
a public place of execution

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that Jesus was
ultimately put to death.

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Number five, we are told that
he was laid in a stone tomb,

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and so that is most
assuredly the case here.

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Number six, in fulfillment to
the prophecy at the second half

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of Isaiah 52
through Isaiah 53,

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that chunk on the
resurrection of Jesus

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given 500-plus years
in advance,

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we were told that he
would be buried with the rich

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in his death, though he
was a poor, homeless man.

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Following his death,
he was buried in the tomb

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of Joseph of Arimathea,
a wealthy, affluent follower

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and disciple who gifted
Jesus' tomb post-mortem.

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And so all of this would fit
those prophetic requirements.

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Number seven, we are told
that it is in Golgotha,

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the place of the skull, and this
fits that requirement as well.

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Number eight, we are told in the
gospels that the burial chamber

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would have been
to the right of the entrance,

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and this also fits
that requirement.

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Number nine, we are told
in the gospel accounts

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that upon entering,
after the resurrection of Jesus,

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that the disciples
had to stoop.

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The entryway here has been
enlarged over the years

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and it would've been even
shorter in the days of Jesus,

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and so it meets
that requirement.

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And number ten, the main
requirement for the potentiality

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of the resurrection tomb
of Jesus is that there would be

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no body in it,
and that is the case here.

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Subsequently, it is believed
by some that this is the place

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of Jesus' burial
and resurrection.

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If not this place, it gives us
insight into the kind of place

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that Jesus' body
laid temporarily.

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That being said,
we'll read the account

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as it is recorded in Luke 23,
beginning in verse 50.

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"Now there was
a man named Joseph,

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"from the Jewish town
of Arimathea.

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"He was a member of the council,
a good and righteous man,

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"who had not consented
to their decision and action;

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"and he was looking
for the kingdom of God.

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This man went to Pilate and
asked for the body of Jesus."

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This is after his crucifixion.

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"Then he took it down
and wrapped it in a linen shroud

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"and laid him in
a tomb cut in stone,

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"where no one
had ever yet been laid.

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"It was the day of Preparation,
and the Sabbath was beginning.

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"The women who had come
with him from Galilee followed

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"and saw the tomb
and how his body was laid.

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"Then they returned and
prepared spices and ointments.

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On the Sabbath they rested
according to the commandment."

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Chapter 24 of Luke,
"But on the first day

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of the week," Sunday,
"at early dawn,

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"they went to the tomb, taking
the spices they had prepared.

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"And they found the stone
rolled away from the tomb,

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"but when they went in
they did not find the body

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"of the Lord Jesus.

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"While they were
perplexed about this,

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behold, two men stood
by them," perhaps angels,

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"in dazzling apparel.

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"And as they were frightened and
bowed their faces to the ground,

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"the men said to them,
'Why do you seek the living

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'among the dead?

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'He is not here,
but he has risen.

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'Remember how he told you,
while he was still in Galilee,

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'that the Son of Man must
be delivered into the hands

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'of sinful men
and be crucified

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and on the third day rise.'

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"And they remembered his words,
and returning from the tomb

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"they told all these things to
the eleven and to all the rest.

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"Now it was
Mary Magdalene and Joanna

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"and Mary the mother of James
and the other women with them

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"who told these things
to the apostles,

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"but these words seemed
to them an idle tale,

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"and they did not believe them.

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"But Peter rose
and ran to the tomb;

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"stooping and looking in,
he saw the linen cloths

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"by themselves;
and he went home marveling

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at what had happened."

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Let me explain this to you.

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Jesus Christ was crucified.

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He very much died.

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I'll give you
seven points that, together,

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culminate to tell
the story of the death,

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burial,
resurrection of Jesus.

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It begins
hundreds of years in advance,

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where the prophets
in the Old Testament

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foreshadowed and predicted
that Jesus would live,

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that he would die,
that he would rise,

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conquering our enemies
of Satan, sin, and death

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as our Lord, Savior, God,
Christ, and Messiah.

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You see this at the end of
Isaiah 52 through Isaiah 53,

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that he would come
from humble circumstances,

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that he would live
a simple life,

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that he would be put
to death, not for his sin,

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but the sins of others,
that he would be numbered

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with the transgressors,
that he would be buried

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in a rich man's tomb.

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And after the
suffering of his soul,

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he would see the light
of life and be satisfied.

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And as the sun shines on us,
it is to help us to remember

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that Jesus is not laying
in a dark, cold, empty tomb.

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He rose.

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He did see the light of life.

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He was and is satisfied.
And in the new heavens,

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the new earth,
the New Jerusalem,

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we are told that it is
his glory that will illuminate

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all of the new creation,
that there will be no night

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and there will be no sun,
that it will be his glory

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that overtakes all.

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Number two, we know as well
that Jesus, himself, repeatedly,

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emphatically, clearly said that
he would die by crucifixion,

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that he would be buried,
and that on the third day

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he would rise again.

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This was a repeated
claim of Jesus.

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Number three, we know as well
that he, in fact, did die.

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He went through
the most horrendous treatment.

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There was, in fact,
a word created,

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"excruciating," that literally
means "from the cross,"

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to explain the horror
of crucifixion.

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It was perfected by the Romans
in the days of Jesus.

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It was reserved for those
guilty of the worst of crimes.

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It was not generally
practiced on those who were,

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in fact, Jewish.

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Jesus was undertaken
to a series of trials.

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There were false witnesses
who did not agree.

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Nonetheless, they sentenced
him to death under the cover

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of darkness at night.

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This was not a trial.

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This was a murder.

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The Bible says they took
him and had him flogged.

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His arms would've been
placed above his head.

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An executioner,
perhaps even two,

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would've held in their hand
a cat o' nine tails,

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a handle from which would
proceed lengthy straps

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of leather, at the end of which
would have been rock, stone,

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or metal balls that
would have tenderized

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the flesh of the victim.

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At the end, there would've been
hooks out of metal or bone

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that would have
sunk into a man's flesh,

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and the executioners would
give it a tug to ensure

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that the man's exposed neck
and back and buttocks and legs

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were absolutely captured
by the hooks,

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and they would literally rip
the flesh off of the man's body.

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It was not uncommon for a rib
to actually leave a man's body.

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This would go down
to the deep tissue.

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This would create
massive heart trauma.

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This, in and of itself,
killed many men.

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That's why we're told in Isaiah
that his form was marred

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beyond human likeness,

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that you couldn't have
even recognized Jesus

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in that horrid state.

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He was a young,
healthy man.

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He was then
given his cross to bear,

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to literally carry
to his place of execution.

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He was so beaten
and so tired and so bloodied

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and so traumatized
that the cross that was

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on his shoulders--
weighing perhaps 100 pounds,

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recycled timber that had
the tears and the sweat

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and the blood
of previous victims upon it--

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he fell, and it would've
crushed his chest cavity,

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likely giving him deep, deep
contusion in the heart.

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You're now seeing the body
work very hard to pump blood

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from the heart
out to the extremities.

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He is in shock,
dehydrated, and in trauma.

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Now his heart is traumatized.

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The medical examiners
tell us that the falling

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and the crossbar would've
been the equivalent

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of a high-speed crash
with no airbag

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into a steering wheel.

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You need
to go to the hospital.

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Jesus didn't go
to the hospital.

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He continued, with assistance,
to his place of crucifixion.

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There the carpenter
had the equivalent

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of small railroad spikes
driven through

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the most sensitive
nerve centers of the body:

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the hands and the feet.

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He was stripped.

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He was mocked.

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His beard had been
plucked out in disrespect.

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A crown of thorns
was laid upon his head.

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He was mocked
as King of the Jews.

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They lifted him up
on a cross.

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He is near death
at this point.

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And they did something that
is most shameful to Jesus.

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I didn't learn it until I was
recently in Ephesus and Turkey

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at an archaeological dig.

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There was an open area
with some 40-plus toilets.

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It was one of the first
ancient public restrooms.

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There were no stalls.

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Everyone sat out in the open
on these marble slabs: toilets.

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The aqueducts would deliver
the water underneath.

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They didn't use toilet paper,
and so there would be

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a trough of water that
would proceed in front

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of the person who
was using the toilet,

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and they would use it
to clean themselves.

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What happened then
is that some of the peasants

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and the poorer slaves
realized that there was

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potential income here,
so they got one of the many

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sea sponges,
put it on a long stick.

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They would slop it in the water
and they would use it

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to clean the person who
was using the public restroom.

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These sponges could be used
for hundreds of people in a day.

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And the Bible tells us that when
Jesus was hanging on a cross,

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they offered him what?

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A sponge.

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It was that sponge.

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It was that sponge.

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Jesus speaks from
the cross words of love.

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"Father, forgive them.

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They know
not what they do."

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"John, look after
my mother, Mary."

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To the man who was
crucified next to him,

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"Today, you'll be with me
in Paradise."

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The Bible says that Jesus,
in a loud, triumphant voice,

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shouted,
"It is finished!"

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And in doing so, it is likely
that that was his last breath.

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Generally speaking,
men died from asphyxiation

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through crucifixion.

242
00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:24,083
Their bodies would slouch.

243
00:11:24,167 --> 00:11:25,792
Their lungs
could not fill with air.

244
00:11:25,833 --> 00:11:29,125
I believe, in the case of Jesus,
because he was able to proclaim

245
00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:32,833
with great boldness, that he
did not die by asphyxiation,

246
00:11:32,875 --> 00:11:34,833
but rather
he had a heart contusion

247
00:11:34,875 --> 00:11:38,000
from the crossbar
that crushed his chest cavity.

248
00:11:38,083 --> 00:11:41,292
And as the body was working
and laboring to pump blood

249
00:11:41,333 --> 00:11:45,083
to his extremities
in his traumatized body,

250
00:11:45,167 --> 00:11:49,625
he ultimately died literally and
figuratively of a broken heart.

251
00:11:49,667 --> 00:11:52,625
And the Bible says
that Jesus breathed his last.

252
00:11:52,667 --> 00:11:57,500
And, "Father, into your hands,"
he said, "I commit my spirit."

253
00:11:57,542 --> 00:12:00,167
And that was the atoning
of the sin of the world.

254
00:12:00,250 --> 00:12:03,625
To ensure his death,
an executioner took a spear,

255
00:12:03,667 --> 00:12:06,833
ran it underneath the rib cage
of Jesus into his heart sac,

256
00:12:06,875 --> 00:12:09,208
so that water
and blood proceeded forth.

257
00:12:09,292 --> 00:12:11,792
That shows that
he did have, likely,

258
00:12:11,833 --> 00:12:14,500
a considerable amount
of blood in his heart cavity,

259
00:12:14,542 --> 00:12:16,625
showing that he
had a chest contusion

260
00:12:16,667 --> 00:12:22,000
and died
of a heart attack.

261
00:12:22,042 --> 00:12:25,333
Number four,
Jesus was then wrapped

262
00:12:25,375 --> 00:12:29,292
in upwards of 100 pounds
of burial linens and spices.

263
00:12:29,333 --> 00:12:32,500
Number five, he was buried
in a rich man's tomb:

264
00:12:32,583 --> 00:12:37,583
cold, dark, hewn out of rock,
no food, water, or

265
00:12:37,667 --> 00:12:39,500
medical attention.

266
00:12:39,542 --> 00:12:41,917
Those who would say
he merely swooned on the cross

267
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,625
and did not die,
as some of the Muslims do,

268
00:12:44,667 --> 00:12:46,625
they could not be
more wrong.

269
00:12:46,667 --> 00:12:50,208
This man died.

270
00:12:50,292 --> 00:12:57,083
We then find that
3 days later, number 6,

271
00:12:57,167 --> 00:12:58,500
he was alive.

272
00:12:59,667 --> 00:13:01,500
He was alive.

273
00:13:01,542 --> 00:13:04,417
He appeared to crowds
upwards of 500.

274
00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:06,000
He appeared
to enemies.

275
00:13:06,042 --> 00:13:07,333
He appeared
to friends.

276
00:13:07,375 --> 00:13:08,625
He appeared
to family.

277
00:13:08,667 --> 00:13:10,000
He appeared
to strangers.

278
00:13:10,042 --> 00:13:13,417
He appeared over the course of
40 days in multiple locations.

279
00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:15,167
People held him.

280
00:13:15,250 --> 00:13:16,833
People ate with him.

281
00:13:16,875 --> 00:13:18,125
People conversed with him.

282
00:13:18,167 --> 00:13:20,125
He was very much alive.

283
00:13:20,167 --> 00:13:25,417
And this fact is--it is the
bedrock of the Christian faith.

284
00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:28,083
At the center of Christianity
is not a place,

285
00:13:28,167 --> 00:13:29,917
not a wailing wall,
not a temple,

286
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,167
not a mosque,
not a holy mount,

287
00:13:32,250 --> 00:13:36,792
not a holy place,
not a dome of some rock,

288
00:13:36,833 --> 00:13:41,708
but a man who walked away,
himself moving a rock,

289
00:13:41,792 --> 00:13:43,917
into his own
triumphant victory.

290
00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,917
And without
the resurrection of Jesus,

291
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,417
Christianity does not exist.

292
00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:51,417
Paul says this
in 1 Corinthians 15:17,

293
00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:53,625
"And if Christ
has not been raised,

294
00:13:53,667 --> 00:13:55,625
"your faith is futile and

295
00:13:55,667 --> 00:13:58,708
you are still in your sins."

296
00:13:58,792 --> 00:14:02,417
If Jesus is dead,
we are dead spiritually,

297
00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:05,708
we will die physically,
and we will do nothing

298
00:14:05,792 --> 00:14:09,417
but gnaw on the stench
of death forever.

299
00:14:09,500 --> 00:14:12,333
And if Jesus is alive,
we are alive.

300
00:14:12,375 --> 00:14:15,792
And if Jesus rose from death,
we'll rise from death.

301
00:14:15,833 --> 00:14:18,583
He is our firstfruits.

302
00:14:18,667 --> 00:14:21,083
He goes before us.

303
00:14:21,167 --> 00:14:24,292
And so everything
comes down to this fact.

304
00:14:24,333 --> 00:14:27,292
Christianity is not
a philosophical system.

305
00:14:27,333 --> 00:14:29,625
It is a historical fact.

306
00:14:29,667 --> 00:14:33,292
It is not based on a place;
it is based on a person.

307
00:14:33,333 --> 00:14:37,125
It is not about an ideology;
It is about an event:

308
00:14:37,167 --> 00:14:42,125
the death, burial, resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead.

309
00:14:42,167 --> 00:14:46,417
So let me explain this to you,
what resurrection is and is not.

310
00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:48,917
Number one,
it is not revivification,

311
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:50,917
where someone dies,
comes back to life,

312
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,292
and dies again.

313
00:14:52,333 --> 00:14:53,625
That happened to Lazarus.

314
00:14:53,667 --> 00:14:54,917
He died.

315
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,917
Jesus went to visit him,
said, "Lazarus come forth."

316
00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:59,292
Lazarus came out.

317
00:14:59,333 --> 00:15:01,333
The King James Bible
says, "He stinketh."

318
00:15:01,375 --> 00:15:03,167
He was very dead.

319
00:15:03,250 --> 00:15:05,417
He lived for a while
and then died again.

320
00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:07,333
That's not what
happened to Jesus.

321
00:15:07,375 --> 00:15:09,417
Number two,
it's not reincarnation.

322
00:15:09,500 --> 00:15:12,208
You die and then your soul
migrates into another state

323
00:15:12,292 --> 00:15:16,833
of being through endless cycles
of karmic progress or regress,

324
00:15:16,875 --> 00:15:19,333
until at one point
you become nothing

325
00:15:19,375 --> 00:15:21,292
and at one with the divine.

326
00:15:21,333 --> 00:15:23,125
It's not reincarnation.

327
00:15:23,167 --> 00:15:25,333
Number three,
it is not annihilation,

328
00:15:25,375 --> 00:15:28,125
where you die
and cease to exist.

329
00:15:28,167 --> 00:15:30,833
Number four,
it is not universalism,

330
00:15:30,875 --> 00:15:33,208
where everyone dies
and goes to be with God.

331
00:15:33,292 --> 00:15:34,625
Jesus died.

332
00:15:34,667 --> 00:15:38,625
He went into a place
to pronounce his victory

333
00:15:38,667 --> 00:15:42,625
and then led with him the
captives who belonged to God,

334
00:15:42,667 --> 00:15:46,125
Ephesians says, the children
of God who were, by faith,

335
00:15:46,167 --> 00:15:48,833
awaiting the resurrection
of the Son of God.

336
00:15:48,875 --> 00:15:51,625
But resurrection does not
mean that everyone resurrects.

337
00:15:51,667 --> 00:15:53,500
Only those
who are in Christ.

338
00:15:53,542 --> 00:15:56,125
We died in Christ,
we rise in Christ,

339
00:15:56,167 --> 00:15:59,000
we rise like Christ,
we rise through Christ,

340
00:15:59,083 --> 00:16:01,417
we rise for Christ.

341
00:16:01,500 --> 00:16:04,000
And if you're not in Christ,
there is no resurrection

342
00:16:04,083 --> 00:16:05,333
to eternal life.

343
00:16:05,375 --> 00:16:06,917
There is resurrection
to eternal death.

344
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,125
Daniel says this
in Daniel 12:2,

345
00:16:09,167 --> 00:16:11,417
in that day,
the day of our resurrection,

346
00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:14,083
all the "multitudes who
sleep in the dust of the earth

347
00:16:14,167 --> 00:16:16,625
"will arise:
some to everlasting life,

348
00:16:16,667 --> 00:16:19,625
others to everlasting
shame and contempt."

349
00:16:19,667 --> 00:16:22,625
Shame on any teacher
of the Scriptures who would say

350
00:16:22,667 --> 00:16:25,208
that once you die,
we all go to a better place.

351
00:16:25,292 --> 00:16:26,917
We all go
to be with God.

352
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:28,667
We all live
happily ever after.

353
00:16:28,750 --> 00:16:31,167
Only those
who are in Christ.

354
00:16:31,250 --> 00:16:36,125
Also, resurrection
literally means life,

355
00:16:36,167 --> 00:16:39,125
after life, after death.

356
00:16:39,167 --> 00:16:40,417
You die.

357
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:42,375
Paul says,
"To be absent from the body

358
00:16:42,458 --> 00:16:45,292
is to be present with the Lord,"
that the soul, the spirit,

359
00:16:45,333 --> 00:16:47,000
the immaterial aspect
of our being goes

360
00:16:47,042 --> 00:16:49,917
to be with the Father, and
our body goes into the grave.

361
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,000
And one day, the day
that Jesus has appointed,

362
00:16:53,083 --> 00:16:58,333
and we all yearn for,
the soul rejoins the body

363
00:16:58,375 --> 00:17:01,417
and we rise in
a glorified, perfected,

364
00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:06,292
completely saved state
to be with Jesus forever.

365
00:17:06,333 --> 00:17:09,083
And as we're here in Jerusalem,
what's interesting is it says

366
00:17:09,167 --> 00:17:11,125
that he will return,
in Zechariah 14--

367
00:17:11,167 --> 00:17:12,625
you saw it this morning--

368
00:17:12,667 --> 00:17:13,917
to where?

369
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:15,292
The Mount of Olives.

370
00:17:15,333 --> 00:17:18,167
His feet will stand upon it,
and he will split the mountain

371
00:17:18,250 --> 00:17:20,125
from east to west.

372
00:17:20,167 --> 00:17:26,500
You saw the Dome of the Rock,
that hideous idol lined up

373
00:17:26,583 --> 00:17:28,125
right over
the Mount of Olives.

374
00:17:28,167 --> 00:17:30,125
He will split
the Mount of Olives

375
00:17:30,167 --> 00:17:32,292
right along
the Dome of the Rock,

376
00:17:32,333 --> 00:17:35,208
and he will create
a large valley;

377
00:17:35,292 --> 00:17:37,167
that all of this
will be laid waste

378
00:17:37,250 --> 00:17:39,125
and that the new heaven,
the new earth,

379
00:17:39,167 --> 00:17:41,000
the New Jerusalem,
Revelation says,

380
00:17:41,083 --> 00:17:43,792
will come down out of heaven.
And it will not be

381
00:17:43,833 --> 00:17:45,917
the restoration
of this Jerusalem;

382
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,667
it'll be a New Jerusalem
built by God

383
00:17:48,750 --> 00:17:51,792
because in heaven
there's nothing made by man.

384
00:17:51,833 --> 00:17:54,333
It is all by God,
for God, to God,

385
00:17:54,375 --> 00:17:56,417
gifted to us to enjoy.

386
00:17:56,500 --> 00:18:00,625
There's not one portion
that we will chisel or create,

387
00:18:00,667 --> 00:18:03,625
so that we might
contribute to the glorious

388
00:18:03,667 --> 00:18:08,500
inhabitance of the people of
God in the presence of Jesus.

389
00:18:08,583 --> 00:18:11,000
God, Jesus, makes heaven.

390
00:18:11,042 --> 00:18:12,625
He makes the kingdom.

391
00:18:12,667 --> 00:18:15,208
He makes the great city
of the New Jerusalem,

392
00:18:15,292 --> 00:18:18,625
and he will lay waste
to this whole area,

393
00:18:18,667 --> 00:18:20,792
and down the
New Jerusalem will come

394
00:18:20,833 --> 00:18:23,167
and the children of God
who rise from their graves

395
00:18:23,250 --> 00:18:27,917
will be with him in that
glorious place forever.

396
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,167
Let me explain to you why
we believe in the resurrection

397
00:18:31,250 --> 00:18:34,917
of Jesus, and we don't believe
it's a borrowed ideology

398
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,292
from ancient religions
and pagan practices.

399
00:18:38,333 --> 00:18:40,417
Some of you may have
heard this in college:

400
00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:43,333
"The whole concept of Jesus'
resurrection was borrowed

401
00:18:43,375 --> 00:18:45,083
from pagan mythology."

402
00:18:45,167 --> 00:18:46,417
It is not true.

403
00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:47,833
There is zero evidence.

404
00:18:47,875 --> 00:18:54,417
It is unsubstantiated
fallacy and myth and folly.

405
00:18:54,500 --> 00:18:55,917
I'll give you a few reasons.

406
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,833
I'll start with a quote
from N.T. Wright.

407
00:18:57,875 --> 00:18:59,583
He's a bishop
in the Anglican church.

408
00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:02,833
He wrote one of the most
amazing modern-day tomes

409
00:19:02,875 --> 00:19:04,625
on the resurrection of Jesus.

410
00:19:04,667 --> 00:19:06,083
He says this, quote:

411
00:19:06,167 --> 00:19:09,125
"Christianity was born into a
world where its central claim,

412
00:19:09,167 --> 00:19:12,792
"the resurrection of Jesus,
was known to be false.

413
00:19:12,833 --> 00:19:14,917
"Many believed that
the dead were nonexistent

414
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,000
"[annihilationism].

415
00:19:17,042 --> 00:19:21,333
Outside Judaism,
nobody believed in
resurrection."

416
00:19:21,375 --> 00:19:24,292
The only people
in the history of the world,

417
00:19:24,333 --> 00:19:26,792
until the coming of Jesus,
who even believed

418
00:19:26,833 --> 00:19:29,125
in a resurrection
were those who were reading

419
00:19:29,167 --> 00:19:32,292
the Old Testament and, by faith,
awaiting the coming

420
00:19:32,333 --> 00:19:36,167
of Messiah Jesus.

421
00:19:36,250 --> 00:19:39,833
The Greeks--we'll take them
in succession.

422
00:19:39,875 --> 00:19:44,167
They had no concept
of a physical resurrection

423
00:19:44,250 --> 00:19:47,083
because they were what we
would call Platonic dualists.

424
00:19:47,167 --> 00:19:51,208
They saw us as matter—
meat, flesh, body—and spirit

425
00:19:51,292 --> 00:19:53,625
or soul, the material
and immaterial aspects

426
00:19:53,667 --> 00:19:55,125
of our being.

427
00:19:55,167 --> 00:19:57,292
And the world of the forms,
the perfect world

428
00:19:57,333 --> 00:19:59,292
of spirituality,
the netherworld,

429
00:19:59,333 --> 00:20:02,000
where we leave our physical
body and its constraints

430
00:20:02,083 --> 00:20:03,417
and restraints—

431
00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:07,208
that was the great goal
of all of Greek mythology.

432
00:20:07,292 --> 00:20:11,625
So the last thing they wanted
was a resurrected body.

433
00:20:11,667 --> 00:20:13,917
I was in Greece.
I was in Turkey.

434
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,625
I can assure you
it's all true.

435
00:20:15,667 --> 00:20:17,083
I visited the holy sites.

436
00:20:17,167 --> 00:20:18,417
I visited the temples.

437
00:20:18,500 --> 00:20:20,125
There's not
a word of resurrection.

438
00:20:20,167 --> 00:20:24,583
The whole goal is to die and
to discard the husk of the body

439
00:20:24,667 --> 00:20:27,708
and then let the soul
flourish in the afterlife.

440
00:20:27,792 --> 00:20:29,417
There was no concept
of a resurrection.

441
00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:32,333
We didn't borrow it from them,
because they didn't even have

442
00:20:32,375 --> 00:20:36,208
an ideology of
a physical resurrection.

443
00:20:36,292 --> 00:20:37,625
How about this?

444
00:20:37,667 --> 00:20:39,833
Some would say, "Well,
we borrowed the idea

445
00:20:39,875 --> 00:20:41,792
from ancient
mystery religions."

446
00:20:41,833 --> 00:20:43,292
There were certain
pagan religions.

447
00:20:43,333 --> 00:20:44,917
You may have heard of them.

448
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,500
And they would say, "Well, this
particular god or goddess had

449
00:20:47,583 --> 00:20:50,625
an ideology and mythology that
there would be a resurrection."

450
00:20:50,667 --> 00:20:52,417
Two things I would say.

451
00:20:52,500 --> 00:20:54,833
No one ever believed that
these gods and goddesses

452
00:20:54,875 --> 00:20:56,625
actually walked
the earth in human flesh.

453
00:20:56,667 --> 00:20:58,083
These are mythology.

454
00:20:58,167 --> 00:20:59,417
These are superheroes.

455
00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:00,833
These are invented myths.

456
00:21:00,875 --> 00:21:04,292
And secondly, there is not
a shred of historical evidence

457
00:21:04,333 --> 00:21:06,292
that any of the
mystery religions,

458
00:21:06,333 --> 00:21:09,500
any of the small
pagan cults and ideologies,

459
00:21:09,542 --> 00:21:12,500
had any concept of
a physical resurrection

460
00:21:12,542 --> 00:21:16,500
until the 2nd century AD.

461
00:21:16,542 --> 00:21:20,333
They stole
the idea from Christians.

462
00:21:20,375 --> 00:21:23,208
We didn't steal the idea
of a physical resurrection

463
00:21:23,292 --> 00:21:25,708
of a dead man
from the pagans.

464
00:21:25,792 --> 00:21:27,292
They stole it from us.

465
00:21:29,167 --> 00:21:30,500
They stole it from us.

466
00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:33,500
They stole it from us.

467
00:21:33,583 --> 00:21:37,083
Number three,
the Jews did not have a concept

468
00:21:37,167 --> 00:21:40,708
of an individual person rising
in the middle of history.

469
00:21:40,792 --> 00:21:45,417
Their whole ideology was that
the nation would rise together

470
00:21:45,500 --> 00:21:49,333
on the last day
at the coming of Messiah.

471
00:21:49,375 --> 00:21:50,917
They had no concept.

472
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:56,167
There is no record anywhere
that any Jewish scholar,

473
00:21:56,250 --> 00:21:59,708
rabbi, teacher ever said
that one man would rise

474
00:21:59,792 --> 00:22:01,333
in the middle of history.

475
00:22:01,375 --> 00:22:03,208
They all taught that
the nation would rise

476
00:22:03,292 --> 00:22:04,708
at the end of history.

477
00:22:04,792 --> 00:22:06,417
Again, back to Daniel 12:2.

478
00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:09,333
"The multitudes who sleep in the
dust of the earth will arise."

479
00:22:09,375 --> 00:22:11,208
It's the nation.
It's the multitudes.

480
00:22:11,292 --> 00:22:13,208
It's the collectives,
not one man.

481
00:22:13,292 --> 00:22:15,000
The point is, well,
why did Jesus?

482
00:22:15,042 --> 00:22:16,708
Jesus is Israel.

483
00:22:16,792 --> 00:22:19,333
Jesus is the fulfillment
of all Israel.

484
00:22:19,375 --> 00:22:21,333
The temple, it's Jesus.

485
00:22:21,375 --> 00:22:23,208
He's the presence
of God on the earth.

486
00:22:23,292 --> 00:22:25,208
The priest who mediates
and intercedes,

487
00:22:25,292 --> 00:22:27,917
well, that's Jesus,
our great High Priest.

488
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:29,833
The prophets who
call us to repentance,

489
00:22:29,875 --> 00:22:32,667
well, that's Jesus who
comes to call us to repentance

490
00:22:32,750 --> 00:22:35,208
and make our
repentance possible.

491
00:22:35,292 --> 00:22:37,833
The shepherds all were
to remind us of Jesus,

492
00:22:37,875 --> 00:22:39,708
the Good Shepherd.

493
00:22:39,792 --> 00:22:41,500
It was all about Jesus.

494
00:22:41,583 --> 00:22:45,208
Everything was sign and
foreshadowing and symbolism

495
00:22:45,292 --> 00:22:46,833
about the coming of Jesus.

496
00:22:46,875 --> 00:22:48,917
And so when Jesus
rose from death,

497
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,125
it shows that he is
the hope of Israel,

498
00:22:51,167 --> 00:22:54,333
that he is the fulfillment
of Old Testament prophecy,

499
00:22:54,375 --> 00:22:57,917
that he is the one in whom
our faith is to rest.

500
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,625
And so it was
a signpost for the nation.

501
00:23:00,667 --> 00:23:04,125
It was a signpost for all
nations that God has vindicated,

502
00:23:04,167 --> 00:23:07,167
the Scriptures say elsewhere,
this man Jesus,

503
00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:09,917
through his resurrection
from death.

504
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,583
The one thing that no one
has ever done is conquered

505
00:23:12,667 --> 00:23:15,333
our enemy, Paul says,
rightly, in 1 Corinthians 15.

506
00:23:15,375 --> 00:23:17,125
It's our great enemy.

507
00:23:17,167 --> 00:23:21,417
We can't beat death,
and Jesus did;

508
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:24,208
and in Christ,
we do as well.

509
00:23:24,292 --> 00:23:26,417
And so any concept that
the resurrection

510
00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:29,708
was a borrowed idea,
that the resurrection of one man

511
00:23:29,792 --> 00:23:33,333
was a borrowed idea--
it was a revolutionary idea.

512
00:23:33,375 --> 00:23:39,292
No one considered,
debated, wrote, articulated

513
00:23:39,333 --> 00:23:42,000
the resurrection of one man
until Jesus walked away

514
00:23:42,042 --> 00:23:43,333
from his tomb.

515
00:23:43,375 --> 00:23:46,083
It was the first time
in the history of the world

516
00:23:46,167 --> 00:23:50,917
that this idea
was even considered.

517
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,583
I'll give you some
circumstantial evidence

518
00:23:52,667 --> 00:23:54,125
for Jesus' resurrection.

519
00:23:54,167 --> 00:23:57,625
I want you all to believe
this deep down in the gut

520
00:23:57,667 --> 00:23:59,708
and the heart!

521
00:23:59,792 --> 00:24:01,125
This isn't just a fact.

522
00:24:01,167 --> 00:24:02,625
This isn't an
archeological dig.

523
00:24:02,667 --> 00:24:04,500
This isn't an
interesting anecdote.

524
00:24:04,542 --> 00:24:06,833
This is everything!

525
00:24:06,875 --> 00:24:08,917
The resurrection
of Jesus is everything,

526
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,083
and I want you all to believe it
with all of your heart,

527
00:24:12,167 --> 00:24:14,083
all of your soul,
all of your mind,

528
00:24:14,167 --> 00:24:16,708
all of your strength,
for all of your days,

529
00:24:16,792 --> 00:24:20,208
and to serve that cause
with all of your might.

530
00:24:20,292 --> 00:24:22,417
I'll give you some
reasons why I want you--

531
00:24:22,500 --> 00:24:25,417
if you're not a Christian,
right now is a really good time

532
00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:28,000
to give your life to Jesus,
and I'll give you some

533
00:24:28,083 --> 00:24:31,000
circumstantial
reasons for that.

534
00:24:31,042 --> 00:24:32,917
First of all, we'll start
with this ideology

535
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:34,208
of cause and effect.

536
00:24:34,292 --> 00:24:37,333
Anything that happens
has a cause.

537
00:24:37,375 --> 00:24:39,917
As we look at the changes
that come into the world

538
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,333
after the
resurrection of Jesus,

539
00:24:41,375 --> 00:24:43,708
the burden of proof
is on those who would say

540
00:24:43,792 --> 00:24:45,500
that he is still dead.

541
00:24:45,583 --> 00:24:48,417
How could we explain the changes
that I will share with you

542
00:24:48,500 --> 00:24:51,083
momentarily, apart from the
resurrection of Jesus?

543
00:24:51,167 --> 00:24:54,083
I would say the burden
of proof is on the critics,

544
00:24:54,167 --> 00:24:55,417
not on the believers.

545
00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:58,333
Number one, we read in Luke's
account that the women

546
00:24:58,375 --> 00:25:00,208
were the first
to the empty tomb.

547
00:25:00,292 --> 00:25:03,417
If the resurrection of Jesus
was a fabricated tale,

548
00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:08,708
if it was told that the women
went to the empty tomb of Jesus,

549
00:25:08,792 --> 00:25:11,917
you can rest assured that it is,
in fact, historically accurate

550
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,417
and true, and it is not a myth,
it is not a lie,

551
00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:19,417
it is not a
fraudulently conceived myth.

552
00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:20,708
Why?

553
00:25:20,792 --> 00:25:23,167
The women couldn't
testify in court.

554
00:25:23,250 --> 00:25:27,917
So if you're going to make up
a story about a resurrected man,

555
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,500
at least you have
men be the liars

556
00:25:31,542 --> 00:25:34,625
so that when they go to court,
they could testify.

557
00:25:34,667 --> 00:25:37,917
This shows Jesus'
love for women

558
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,417
and women's love for Jesus,
and that the Bible is not a lie

559
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:44,625
because a lie
wouldn't be told like that.

560
00:25:44,667 --> 00:25:48,167
Number two, additional
circumstantial resurrection.

561
00:25:48,250 --> 00:25:51,792
Before Jesus' resurrection,
the disciples were cowards.

562
00:25:51,833 --> 00:25:54,625
We find them
in the book of Acts.

563
00:25:54,667 --> 00:26:00,625
There's about 120 followers
of Jesus hiding, terrified.

564
00:26:00,667 --> 00:26:04,667
And Jesus seemingly
walks through the wall,

565
00:26:04,750 --> 00:26:09,583
resurrected and alive
in his glorified revelation,

566
00:26:09,667 --> 00:26:12,167
no longer
constrained by matter.

567
00:26:12,250 --> 00:26:14,333
And all of a sudden
after seeing Jesus alive,

568
00:26:14,375 --> 00:26:17,667
they didn't
fear death anymore.

569
00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:22,125
See, previously, men like Peter,
they'd been total cowards.

570
00:26:22,167 --> 00:26:24,625
They'd been total cowards.

571
00:26:24,667 --> 00:26:27,208
Jesus is going to be crucified,
and a young woman

572
00:26:27,292 --> 00:26:29,167
comes up to Peter,
"Aren't you with Jesus?"

573
00:26:29,250 --> 00:26:31,333
"No, I never met him.
I don't know him."

574
00:26:31,375 --> 00:26:34,000
He even cursed, "I have
no idea who that man is."

575
00:26:34,042 --> 00:26:35,917
And after the resurrection,
Peter gets crucified how?

576
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,208
Upside down.

577
00:26:37,292 --> 00:26:39,875
They go to crucify him, he says,
"Hang me upside down.

578
00:26:39,958 --> 00:26:41,833
I'm not worthy to be
crucified like Jesus."

579
00:26:41,875 --> 00:26:44,417
How do you get a coward
to be crucified upside down?

580
00:26:44,500 --> 00:26:45,792
The resurrection.

581
00:26:45,833 --> 00:26:47,917
Peter's idea was,
"I know what's going to happen.

582
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,208
"I'll see you in a little bit.

583
00:26:50,292 --> 00:26:51,917
"I'll be back.

584
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,708
"Kill me.
I don't care.

585
00:26:53,792 --> 00:26:55,208
"What are you going to do?

586
00:26:55,292 --> 00:26:57,125
"You're just going
to send me to Jesus.

587
00:26:57,167 --> 00:26:59,792
"I'll hang out with him
'til I get a new body.

588
00:26:59,833 --> 00:27:01,167
No big deal."

589
00:27:01,250 --> 00:27:02,917
Why did Christians start
preaching and teaching

590
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,208
and suffering?

591
00:27:04,292 --> 00:27:07,000
Why did they serve
wholeheartedly under the reign

592
00:27:07,042 --> 00:27:08,583
of horrible emperors?

593
00:27:08,667 --> 00:27:10,667
Why did they suffer
under Nero?

594
00:27:10,750 --> 00:27:13,083
Why did they
not fear death?

595
00:27:13,167 --> 00:27:15,708
Why were they fine
with being eaten by lions

596
00:27:15,792 --> 00:27:18,708
and wrapped in pitch
and resin and set aflame

597
00:27:18,792 --> 00:27:21,208
for the party torches
of Nero?

598
00:27:21,292 --> 00:27:23,292
Because Jesus was alive.

599
00:27:23,333 --> 00:27:29,125
Death no longer
is fearful or final.

600
00:27:29,167 --> 00:27:32,208
It just changed things.

601
00:27:32,292 --> 00:27:35,583
It changes everything.

602
00:27:35,667 --> 00:27:40,417
Number three, the followers
remain loyal to Jesus.

603
00:27:40,500 --> 00:27:43,583
If Jesus died,
a few billion people today

604
00:27:43,667 --> 00:27:46,083
would not worship him.

605
00:27:46,167 --> 00:27:48,500
Two men were
crucified with Jesus,

606
00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:50,708
and people aren't walking
all over the holy land,

607
00:27:50,792 --> 00:27:52,583
millions a year,
trying to figure out

608
00:27:52,667 --> 00:27:54,917
more about their life.

609
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:56,417
We know nothing
of those men.

610
00:27:56,500 --> 00:27:58,125
We don't even
know their names.

611
00:27:58,167 --> 00:27:59,500
Why?

612
00:27:59,542 --> 00:28:02,500
They died.

613
00:28:02,583 --> 00:28:05,417
Jesus rose.

614
00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:07,417
That made him
distinct and unique.

615
00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:09,500
And people remain
loyal to Jesus.

616
00:28:09,583 --> 00:28:10,917
Have you seen it?

617
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,333
Have you seen it when
a politician runs for office

618
00:28:13,375 --> 00:28:15,333
there's a great
groundswell of support,

619
00:28:15,375 --> 00:28:17,917
and then he loses the election?

620
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,208
They throw the t-shirts away.

621
00:28:19,292 --> 00:28:21,917
They take the
bumper sticker off the truck.

622
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,625
And they do one of two things:

623
00:28:23,667 --> 00:28:27,125
They give up hope for change,
or they go find another messiah,

624
00:28:27,167 --> 00:28:31,708
another deliverer,
another savior.

625
00:28:31,792 --> 00:28:35,083
After Jesus died,
people didn't give up hope,

626
00:28:35,167 --> 00:28:37,917
and they didn't go
follow another rabbi,

627
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:39,917
they didn't go follow
another religion,

628
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:41,583
they didn't pursue
another path.

629
00:28:41,667 --> 00:28:44,083
They remained
loyal to Jesus.

630
00:28:44,167 --> 00:28:46,833
And they became fearless,
and they spread,

631
00:28:46,875 --> 00:28:49,000
and they scattered,
and they preached,

632
00:28:49,042 --> 00:28:50,833
and they healed,
and they taught,

633
00:28:50,875 --> 00:28:52,708
and they cast out demons,

634
00:28:52,792 --> 00:28:55,625
and they walked with the
resurrection kingdom power

635
00:28:55,667 --> 00:29:00,417
of Jesus by the enablement
of the Holy Spirit.

636
00:29:00,500 --> 00:29:04,083
And they went from
100 to 3,000 in a day,

637
00:29:04,167 --> 00:29:06,292
and they
included thousands,

638
00:29:06,333 --> 00:29:08,167
and then it spread
to the Gentiles

639
00:29:08,250 --> 00:29:10,833
and the nations
of the earth.

640
00:29:10,875 --> 00:29:12,917
How in the world
do we account

641
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:18,833
for this 2,000-year legacy
of loyalty to a dead man?

642
00:29:18,875 --> 00:29:22,333
There is no explanation
for the birth of Christianity,

643
00:29:22,375 --> 00:29:23,833
apart from Jesus.

644
00:29:23,875 --> 00:29:27,583
If Jesus is dead,
then the disciples scatter,

645
00:29:27,667 --> 00:29:32,500
the early followers mourn,
and everything comes to an end.

646
00:29:32,583 --> 00:29:35,500
It doesn't continue
for a few thousand years,

647
00:29:35,583 --> 00:29:38,208
causing Jesus to be
the most famous person

648
00:29:38,292 --> 00:29:39,667
in the history
of the world.

649
00:29:39,750 --> 00:29:42,417
More songs sung about him,
more paintings painted of him,

650
00:29:42,500 --> 00:29:45,833
more books written regarding him
than anyone who has ever lived

651
00:29:45,875 --> 00:29:47,708
in the history
of the world.

652
00:29:47,792 --> 00:29:49,708
You go to the
Library of Congress today,

653
00:29:49,792 --> 00:29:53,917
you plug in Jesus,
17,000 books will show up.

654
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,917
If he's dead,
none of this exists.

655
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,000
Additionally, number five,
worship changed.

656
00:30:01,083 --> 00:30:03,833
They stopped worshiping
on Saturday, the Sabbath.

657
00:30:03,875 --> 00:30:05,792
Have you seen that
while you're here?

658
00:30:05,833 --> 00:30:07,625
Like, "What's up with
the Sabbath elevator?"

659
00:30:07,667 --> 00:30:09,667
"Oh, we can't push
the button."

660
00:30:09,750 --> 00:30:11,083
Really?

661
00:30:11,167 --> 00:30:12,417
You're kidding me?

662
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:15,583
You're going to stand before God
on the day of judgment and say,

663
00:30:15,667 --> 00:30:16,917
"I think we're fine.

664
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:18,500
I never pushed
the elevator button."

665
00:30:18,583 --> 00:30:21,125
[laughing]

666
00:30:21,167 --> 00:30:24,625
Freakin' kidding me?

667
00:30:24,667 --> 00:30:27,208
"And I wore a hat, so..."

668
00:30:27,292 --> 00:30:30,417
Really? Seriously?

669
00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:31,792
Religion is ridiculous.

670
00:30:32,542 --> 00:30:36,917
Religion is ridiculous.

671
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,125
And these people were devoutly
devoted to their Sabbath.

672
00:30:41,167 --> 00:30:43,583
See it on
sundown on Friday.

673
00:30:43,667 --> 00:30:46,583
The shops close.
Everyone goes home.

674
00:30:46,667 --> 00:30:47,917
Those who are
particularly devout,

675
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:49,917
they won't use electricity.

676
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,583
They will not cause any
labor of any sort or kind.

677
00:30:52,667 --> 00:30:54,583
They're very devoted
to the Sabbath.

678
00:30:54,667 --> 00:30:57,000
And all of a sudden, the early
Christians stopped worshiping

679
00:30:57,042 --> 00:30:58,667
on Saturday,
the day of Sabbath commanded

680
00:30:58,750 --> 00:31:00,417
by the Ten Commandments—

681
00:31:00,500 --> 00:31:02,833
I think in Exodus 20:11,

682
00:31:02,875 --> 00:31:04,917
6 days we work,
1 day we Sabbath,

683
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,583
based upon God's order
of creation in Genesis 1.

684
00:31:08,667 --> 00:31:11,625
And all of a sudden they
started worshiping on Sunday,

685
00:31:11,667 --> 00:31:14,500
which was a work day.

686
00:31:14,583 --> 00:31:19,500
Some ancient historians would
record--Lucian of Samosata,

687
00:31:19,583 --> 00:31:24,083
Trajan--Pliny the Younger,
rather, who worked for Trajan--

688
00:31:24,167 --> 00:31:25,917
they would record that
Christians would gather

689
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,125
at sunrise to worship.

690
00:31:28,167 --> 00:31:31,833
I think part of the reason
was it was a work day.

691
00:31:31,875 --> 00:31:34,167
So they would get up,
worship Jesus,

692
00:31:34,250 --> 00:31:35,917
and then go to work.

693
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,208
They never did that before.

694
00:31:37,292 --> 00:31:40,000
You would never worship
on the non-Sabbath day.

695
00:31:40,083 --> 00:31:41,667
You would never
change the Sabbath,

696
00:31:41,750 --> 00:31:43,000
but the Christians did.

697
00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:45,625
They said, "Well, the old era
has come to an end.

698
00:31:45,667 --> 00:31:47,000
"The new era has dawned.

699
00:31:47,042 --> 00:31:50,333
"God made the world, and he has
made a new world with Jesus.

700
00:31:50,375 --> 00:31:52,417
"We worship on Sunday,
the Lord's Day,

701
00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:54,125
"John calls it in Revelation,

702
00:31:54,167 --> 00:31:56,167
the day of the
resurrection of Jesus."

703
00:31:56,250 --> 00:31:58,125
How do we
account for that?

704
00:31:58,167 --> 00:32:00,833
How do we account
for those singing to Jesus,

705
00:32:00,875 --> 00:32:03,833
praying to Jesus,
worshiping Jesus?

706
00:32:03,875 --> 00:32:05,792
Devout Jews who know
if they are wrong,

707
00:32:05,833 --> 00:32:07,708
they are violating
the first two commandments?

708
00:32:07,792 --> 00:32:10,917
There is only one God,
and you worship him alone.

709
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,083
There is no explanation
for the worship

710
00:32:13,167 --> 00:32:16,667
of Jesus as God on Sunday,
apart from the resurrection

711
00:32:16,750 --> 00:32:18,917
of Jesus from death.

712
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,917
Also, Christians started
enjoying Communion—

713
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,333
remembering the broken body,
shed blood of Jesus—and baptism,

714
00:32:24,375 --> 00:32:27,083
the death, burial,
resurrection of Jesus,

715
00:32:27,167 --> 00:32:29,833
and it continues
2,000 years later.

716
00:32:29,875 --> 00:32:33,292
Additionally, number five,
Jesus' family worshiped him

717
00:32:33,333 --> 00:32:34,625
as God.

718
00:32:34,667 --> 00:32:36,625
His own mother, Mary,
who was devout,

719
00:32:36,667 --> 00:32:40,583
we read that she took him,
with Joseph, his adopted father,

720
00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:42,833
to the temple to be
dedicated to the Lord.

721
00:32:42,875 --> 00:32:44,833
These are very
devout people.

722
00:32:44,875 --> 00:32:46,583
They are peasants
in Nazareth.

723
00:32:46,667 --> 00:32:48,917
They live in a town
of 50 to 100.

724
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,208
He's a carpenter.

725
00:32:50,292 --> 00:32:52,083
These are poor people.

726
00:32:52,167 --> 00:32:56,417
The cost and the time and
the journey of a month or more,

727
00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:59,792
perhaps,
for them to get to the temple,

728
00:32:59,833 --> 00:33:02,500
it's a big sacrifice.

729
00:33:02,583 --> 00:33:04,208
They're very devout.

730
00:33:04,292 --> 00:33:06,625
And following the resurrection,
we see Mary numbered among

731
00:33:06,667 --> 00:33:11,208
the disciples
in the upper room,

732
00:33:11,292 --> 00:33:18,083
and we see her praying
to her son as God.

733
00:33:18,167 --> 00:33:22,125
We later see his brothers,
James and Jude,

734
00:33:22,167 --> 00:33:24,917
worship him as God,
become pastors,

735
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,917
write books of the Bible
bearing their names.

736
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,417
Before the resurrection,
they thought their brother

737
00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:32,625
was an absolute lunatic.

738
00:33:32,667 --> 00:33:36,292
And following the resurrection,
he went from lunatic to Lord,

739
00:33:36,333 --> 00:33:37,917
and they
worshiped him as God.

740
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,417
I'll give you a few more.

741
00:33:39,500 --> 00:33:41,583
Number six,
Jesus' enemies worshiped him.

742
00:33:41,667 --> 00:33:44,000
Saul of Tarsus
hated Christians.

743
00:33:44,042 --> 00:33:45,500
He murdered them.

744
00:33:45,542 --> 00:33:47,708
We first meet him
overseeing the execution

745
00:33:47,792 --> 00:33:50,417
of the early
church deacon in Acts.

746
00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:53,917
Jesus comes down,
reveals himself.

747
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,292
Saul becomes Paul, becomes
one of the great proclaimers

748
00:33:57,333 --> 00:33:59,125
of the resurrection of Jesus,

749
00:33:59,167 --> 00:34:01,917
and dies without ever
repenting or recanting.

750
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,625
There's no way you
explain Paul transitioning

751
00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:09,917
from a devout opponent to
a devoted worshiper of Jesus.

752
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,917
As well, number seven, as I told
you, Christianity exploded.

753
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,625
Number eight,
no body was ever produced.

754
00:34:18,667 --> 00:34:21,083
The first explanation
by the Jewish authorities

755
00:34:21,167 --> 00:34:22,833
was the body was stolen.

756
00:34:22,875 --> 00:34:25,583
Well great, where is it?

757
00:34:25,667 --> 00:34:28,208
A good reward
would've been offered.

758
00:34:28,292 --> 00:34:30,167
And you're looking
at a tomb, as well.

759
00:34:30,250 --> 00:34:32,625
When you consider it,
a large stone rolled over,

760
00:34:32,667 --> 00:34:36,417
the Roman seal placed upon it,
soldiers there to guard it.

761
00:34:36,500 --> 00:34:38,708
Who stole this tomb?

762
00:34:38,792 --> 00:34:41,083
Why is there no record
of it being taken?

763
00:34:41,167 --> 00:34:43,208
Where in the world
did the body go?

764
00:34:43,292 --> 00:34:48,500
And even if the body was
stolen, why is it alive?

765
00:34:48,583 --> 00:34:49,833
"Oh, they stole
his body."

766
00:34:49,875 --> 00:34:51,792
Well, yeah, and then he
started walking around,

767
00:34:51,833 --> 00:34:53,208
and eating fish,
and preaching.

768
00:34:53,292 --> 00:34:55,583
You still
have to explain that!

769
00:34:55,667 --> 00:34:57,000
Just that the body was stolen,

770
00:34:57,083 --> 00:34:59,625
that doesn't
account for anything.

771
00:34:59,667 --> 00:35:04,083
And number nine--and I think
this is incredibly important.

772
00:35:04,167 --> 00:35:06,917
The tomb of Jesus
was never enshrined.

773
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,500
You could walk
through the tombs,

774
00:35:08,542 --> 00:35:12,333
and you'll see the places
of "holy" men and women,

775
00:35:12,375 --> 00:35:14,417
teachers, leaders, rabbis.

776
00:35:14,500 --> 00:35:17,083
There'll be flowers,
and cards, and candles.

777
00:35:17,167 --> 00:35:20,125
There'll be memorials
and remembrances,

778
00:35:20,167 --> 00:35:23,917
and nothing like that was
ever found at the tomb of Jesus.

779
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,083
James Dunn,
a New Testament scholar, says,

780
00:35:26,167 --> 00:35:29,083
quote, "There is no
evidence of any veneration

781
00:35:29,167 --> 00:35:31,708
at the tomb of Jesus."

782
00:35:31,792 --> 00:35:33,500
Crowds didn't flock there.

783
00:35:33,583 --> 00:35:34,917
They didn't cry.

784
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:36,333
They didn't light candles.

785
00:35:36,375 --> 00:35:37,917
They didn't write prayers.

786
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,667
They didn't mourn and weep.

787
00:35:39,750 --> 00:35:41,833
He wasn't there.

788
00:35:41,875 --> 00:35:45,583
I'll read this to you
from William Lane Craig.

789
00:35:45,667 --> 00:35:48,333
He's a Christian apologist,
a theologian.

790
00:35:48,375 --> 00:35:51,667
He spent a considerable amount
of time in his Ph.D. studies

791
00:35:51,750 --> 00:35:56,000
examining all of the 1st- and
2nd-
century textual evidence

792
00:35:56,083 --> 00:35:58,333
regarding the
resurrection of Jesus.

793
00:35:58,375 --> 00:36:01,208
He wrote his dissertation
on that, and he says this,

794
00:36:01,292 --> 00:36:04,708
quote: "It was customary
in Judaism for the tomb

795
00:36:04,792 --> 00:36:08,208
"of a prophet or holy man
to be preserved or venerated

796
00:36:08,292 --> 00:36:09,833
"as a shrine.

797
00:36:09,875 --> 00:36:13,292
"This was so because the bones
of the prophet lay in the tomb

798
00:36:13,333 --> 00:36:16,333
"and imparted to the site
its religious values.

799
00:36:16,375 --> 00:36:19,500
"If the remains were not there,
then the grave would lose

800
00:36:19,583 --> 00:36:22,708
its significance
as a shrine."

801
00:36:22,792 --> 00:36:25,000
No one went
to Jesus' tomb.

802
00:36:25,042 --> 00:36:27,833
Today, when we showed up here,
I asked the curator,

803
00:36:27,875 --> 00:36:30,417
I asked, "Is this the
empty tomb of Jesus?"

804
00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:32,125
He says,
"We have no idea.

805
00:36:32,167 --> 00:36:35,000
It may be.
If not, it's one like it."

806
00:36:35,083 --> 00:36:37,833
No one is sure
where Jesus was laid.

807
00:36:37,875 --> 00:36:39,125
Why?

808
00:36:39,167 --> 00:36:40,833
No one went there!

809
00:36:40,875 --> 00:36:42,125
It doesn't matter!

810
00:36:42,167 --> 00:36:43,500
Who cares?

811
00:36:43,542 --> 00:36:44,833
It's empty!

812
00:36:44,875 --> 00:36:46,125
He's alive!

813
00:36:46,167 --> 00:36:47,500
Death is conquered!

814
00:36:47,542 --> 00:36:48,833
Sin is conquered!

815
00:36:48,875 --> 00:36:50,333
Satan is conquered!

816
00:36:50,375 --> 00:36:52,708
The wrath of God is lifted!

817
00:36:52,792 --> 00:36:54,792
Jesus is alive!

818
00:36:54,833 --> 00:36:56,917
There's no need
to go to the tomb!

819
00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:59,792
We just want
to go see Jesus!

820
00:36:59,833 --> 00:37:02,917
And this changes Christianity
from every religion

821
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:04,375
on the face of the earth.

822
00:37:04,458 --> 00:37:05,708
There are four
major religions.

823
00:37:05,792 --> 00:37:07,167
You'll see them walking around.

824
00:37:08,167 --> 00:37:12,083
You'll see them walking around.

825
00:37:12,167 --> 00:37:15,917
Three of those four
are very distinct.

826
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:17,625
Christianity is unique.

827
00:37:17,667 --> 00:37:19,583
Those four religions
that I'm referring to

828
00:37:19,667 --> 00:37:21,917
are the four religions
with a founder,

829
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:23,625
rather than a philosophy.

830
00:37:23,667 --> 00:37:26,417
Meaning, they follow a leader
and not an ideology,

831
00:37:26,500 --> 00:37:28,500
like Buddhism does.

832
00:37:28,583 --> 00:37:30,125
And do you know
what happens?

833
00:37:30,167 --> 00:37:33,583
Each of those religions
has a sacred place

834
00:37:33,667 --> 00:37:36,833
where their founder is buried,
that they make pilgrimages,

835
00:37:36,875 --> 00:37:38,833
and they weep,
and they cry.

836
00:37:38,875 --> 00:37:44,917
And if we were Muslim,
or if we were Jewish,

837
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,583
we would act
very differently.

838
00:37:47,667 --> 00:37:52,125
If we were Buddhists,
we would all be very sad.

839
00:37:52,167 --> 00:37:55,417
I wouldn't wear white;
I'd wear black.

840
00:37:55,500 --> 00:37:58,125
I wouldn't be yelling;
I'd be mumbling.

841
00:37:58,167 --> 00:38:01,208
I wouldn't be smiling and
laughing and totally fired-up;

842
00:38:01,292 --> 00:38:04,708
I'd be very sad.

843
00:38:04,792 --> 00:38:08,417
Because we'd be remembering
the death of someone

844
00:38:08,500 --> 00:38:12,333
we considered to be a great man,
who gave us teaching,

845
00:38:12,375 --> 00:38:18,083
but no power;
and gave us hope, but no life.

846
00:38:18,167 --> 00:38:21,708
And so to this day,
the Jews follow Abraham,

847
00:38:21,792 --> 00:38:24,167
and they know that he
is buried in Hebron,

848
00:38:24,250 --> 00:38:28,000
and many make a pilgrimage
there every year to remember

849
00:38:28,083 --> 00:38:30,167
their dead leader.

850
00:38:30,250 --> 00:38:31,583
Same with Buddhism.

851
00:38:31,667 --> 00:38:33,500
They know that Buddha
is buried in India,

852
00:38:33,583 --> 00:38:37,208
and his followers, to this day,
pilgrimage there regularly,

853
00:38:37,292 --> 00:38:38,917
and they mourn,
and they weep,

854
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,625
and they wish that
the Buddha was alive.

855
00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:43,083
He's not.

856
00:38:43,167 --> 00:38:45,917
Jesus has already dealt
with the Buddha.

857
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:50,583
Number three, those who follow
Islam and its false teachings

858
00:38:50,667 --> 00:38:53,625
know that Muhammad
is buried in Medina.

859
00:38:53,667 --> 00:38:57,000
They go to his
burial site every year.

860
00:38:57,083 --> 00:39:00,125
They wail,
they mourn, they weep.

861
00:39:00,167 --> 00:39:01,833
They remember him.

862
00:39:01,875 --> 00:39:05,417
They wish that he was alive,
and he's dead.

863
00:39:05,500 --> 00:39:07,833
Do you know who's
in Abraham's tomb?

864
00:39:07,875 --> 00:39:09,417
Abraham.

865
00:39:09,500 --> 00:39:11,208
Do you know who's
in Buddha's tomb?

866
00:39:11,292 --> 00:39:12,583
Buddha.

867
00:39:12,667 --> 00:39:14,292
Do you know who's
in Muhammad's tomb?

868
00:39:14,333 --> 00:39:15,625
Muhammad.

869
00:39:15,667 --> 00:39:17,333
Do you know who's
in Jesus' tomb?

870
00:39:17,375 --> 00:39:18,625
Nobody!

871
00:39:18,667 --> 00:39:20,167
Nobody is in Jesus' tomb.

872
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,167
Nobody is in Jesus' tomb.

873
00:39:23,250 --> 00:39:28,917
[applauding]

874
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,333
Dear friends, we're not Jews,
we're not Muslims,

875
00:39:32,375 --> 00:39:33,708
we're not Buddhists.

876
00:39:33,792 --> 00:39:35,708
We're Christians.

877
00:39:35,792 --> 00:39:37,625
We follow a man
who is alive.

878
00:39:37,667 --> 00:39:39,125
His name is Jesus.

879
00:39:39,167 --> 00:39:43,125
He's God become a man to live
the life we have not lived,

880
00:39:43,167 --> 00:39:45,417
to die the death
we should've died,

881
00:39:45,500 --> 00:39:47,917
to give the gift
we cannot earn.

882
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,167
He is Lord, God,
Savior, King, Christ!

883
00:39:51,250 --> 00:39:55,000
He is living right now, ruling,
reigning from a throne

884
00:39:55,042 --> 00:39:58,625
right now, preparing
a New Jerusalem right now,

885
00:39:58,667 --> 00:40:02,417
willing to forgive all
sinners and sins right now,

886
00:40:02,500 --> 00:40:06,125
willing to give the gift
of eternal life right now,

887
00:40:06,167 --> 00:40:09,583
and preparing for us
a resurrection day of our own,

888
00:40:09,667 --> 00:40:12,625
when we shall
see him, how?

889
00:40:12,667 --> 00:40:14,292
Face to face.

890
00:40:14,333 --> 00:40:20,333
Until that day, remain.
Remain and abide in him.

891
00:40:20,375 --> 00:40:23,417
Father, I thank you for an
opportunity to preach the Bible.

892
00:40:23,500 --> 00:40:25,625
I love my job!

893
00:40:25,667 --> 00:40:26,917
Thank you.

894
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,333
I thank you that
I get to teach the Bible!

895
00:40:29,375 --> 00:40:32,500
I thank you that I don't have
to get up and talk about

896
00:40:32,542 --> 00:40:34,833
the philosophy of Buddha,
or the rules of Muhammad,

897
00:40:34,875 --> 00:40:37,917
or the death of Abraham;
that I get to talk about

898
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:39,792
the resurrection
of Jesus.

899
00:40:39,833 --> 00:40:42,417
God, this means
the world to me.

900
00:40:42,500 --> 00:40:47,000
Lord Jesus, may we be
passionate about Jesus,

901
00:40:47,042 --> 00:40:51,167
his death, his burial,
his resurrection in our place,

902
00:40:51,250 --> 00:40:56,417
for our sins, as our Savior,
'til we see him face to face.

903
00:40:56,500 --> 00:40:59,208
And we ask, Holy Spirit,
that you would empower us,

904
00:40:59,292 --> 00:41:01,708
as you did the first
followers of Jesus.

905
00:41:01,792 --> 00:41:04,167
That you would give us
that courage, that passion,

906
00:41:04,250 --> 00:41:07,583
that compassion,
that boldness.

907
00:41:07,667 --> 00:41:12,667
What is death
when you know Christ?

908
00:41:12,750 --> 00:41:16,708
May we live in light
of the day of resurrection,

909
00:41:16,792 --> 00:41:19,625
for Jesus' name,
for Jesus' fame.

910
00:41:19,667 --> 00:41:21,000
Amen.