I. It's OK to have doubts
You are in good company! John the Baptist had doubts too. John leapt in his mother's womb in the "presence" of Jesus (when he was in Mary's womb). He baptized Jesus and saw the dove descend on Jesus and heard God say "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17b And still he wondered, he still had doubts. While he was in prison he doubted and he sent messengers to ask Jesus if he was the one.
Matthew 11:3 (ESV) "and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'"
It is easy to doubt in different times in our lives. We can grow from our doubts. God can handle our tough questions and our doubts.
II. God blesses the genuine seekers
Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV) "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
Proverbs 8:17 (ESV) "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me."
Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV) "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
If you want to find God...SEEK Him! If you truly want to know God, he will make himself known to you. Even people who are trying to disprove God find him while they are studying.
Lee Stroble, a journalist and lawyer and an atheist. His wife got saved and he wanted to prove her wrong and then ended up giving his life to Christ. He has written several books, the most popular being "The Case for Christ".
Jay Warner Wallace a L.A. County homicide detective and an outspoken atheist who was determined to use his detective skills to show that Jesus was a myth and a hoax. He ended up becoming a Christian and wrote "Cold Case Christianity".
Josh McDowell an atheist who wanted to become a lawyer and before going to law school he wrote a paper to disprove Christianity. He became convinced of the evidence and accepted Christ. He became a world renowned apologist and wrote "Evidence Demands a Verdict"
Gilbert West (1700's) from Oxford, set out to disprove the resurrection and ended up becoming a Christian and then wrote several apologetics texts.
Simon Greenleaf he played a pivotal roll in Harvard Law School. He wrote that the evidence of the resurrection would hold up in a court of law.
If you are seeking God...keep seeking, if you are a skeptic, pray, ask God to reveal himself to you. Open the word, read a Psalm a day, a Proverb a day.
John 18:37 (ESV) "Then Pilate said to him, 'So you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world-to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.'"
For those who love the truth hear him.
III. Jesus offers proof
A. To John the Baptist
Matthew 11:2-6 (ESV) "Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?' And Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them, And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.'"
Jesus didn't just say yes, He offered him proof.
Isaiah 29:18-19 (ESV) "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel."
Isaiah 35:5-6 (ESV) "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;"
It was prophesied that he would restore sight to the blind. Many people performed miracles in the bible, in both Old and New Testament scripture, but no one but Jesus restored sight to the blind.
B. To the Disciples
Acts 1:3 (ESV) "He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God."
The disciples were convinced that Jesus was raised from the dead.
C. To Thomas
John 20:27-28 (ESV) "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!'"
D. To the multitudes
John 5:36 (ESV) "But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father who has sent me."
John 10:25 (ESV) "Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,"
John 21:25 (ESV) "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
Jesus provided all kinds of miraculous things to prove who he was to the multitudes.
E. Even to the wicked (scribes and pharisees)
Matthew 9:1-6 (ESV) "And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.' And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, 'This man is blaspheming.' But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins'-he then said to the paralytic-'Rise, pick up your bed and go home.'"
The Pharisees were always trying to trap him. Everyone knew that only God could forgive sins. They could see what he was doing.
F. And also to you
Everyone of us have had things happen in your life that are miraculous. God has given us a lot of evidence.
IV. Can't Deny Historic Jesus
There absolutely was a man named Jesus of Nazareth who walked the earth, had a large following, who was crucified and whose body went missing. His disciples were positive that he rose from the dead. We have so many lines of evidence that Jesus existed... the 4 gospels, the books written by Paul, Peter James, Jude and John. Writings of early church fathers... Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp. Not only were they willing to write about the life of Christ but they were willing to die for defending that.
Non Christians that wrote about the man named Jesus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger testified that Jesus' followers worshiped Jesus as God. Mara Gar-Serapion, Tacitus mention Jesus and his followers in their writings. Thallus, most of his writings went missing, but we know that he existed because others have quoted him including Julius Africanus who was a Christian. Thallus was trying to explain away the darkness and earthquakes that happened at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus. It seems that he assumes that everyone around at this time knew that this happened. Thallus, who was not a Christian, was trying to explain away these things that happened. He was trying to say that the darkness was because of a "total solar eclipse". Julius Africanus said it was impossible to be caused by a "total solar eclipse" because the Passover was always during a full moon and you cannot have a solar eclipse during a full moon.
Josephus, a Jewish person who became a Roman historian, wrote in 90 AD "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
We have an embarrassment of riches in evidence. So much archeological evidence. They have found the "bone box" that has an inscription on it that says "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus". The Shroud of Turin is evidence. A man named, Dionysius the Areopagite, who is mentioned in Acts 17:34, as Paul was preaching on Mars Hill. This man was studying in Egypt at the time of Jesus' crucifixion, according to him that at the time of the crucifixion a supernatural darkness fell over the land even in Egypt. He took note of it, it really bothered him. Later on he was serving in the high court in Athens as Paul was preaching. All of a sudden he connected the dots and became a Christian. He became a Bishop and eventually gave his life in defense of Christ.
If Jesus didn't exist nobody existed....or as C.S. Lewis said it he was either a Liar, Lunatic or Lord, you have to choose.
V. Why should you believe in the Resurrection
A. Believe Women
Everyone of the Gospel accounts says that women were the first witnesses of the resurrection were women. At this time women were not seen as credible, but they ALL say the same thing so the only reason they all included it in the Gospel writings is that it must be true.
B. No body
There was no body. All you had to do to squash this movement was to produce a body. The Pharisees tried to start a rumor that the disciples stole the body. These Galilean teenagers were going to overpower the guard (Roman or Temple). They would have had to unwrap the body, and take of the face cloth and fold gently and lay to the side.
C. The Changed Lives
These people that encountered the resurrected Jesus; their lives were changed.
Peter was afraid, he denied Christ 3 times. At Pentecost he receives the Holy Spirit and boldly proclaims Jesus Christ. People were amazed at how his fe was changed.
Paul was a persecutor of the church who has encounter with the risen Christ and becomes the worlds greatest missionary.
James, the brother of Jesus, did not trust his brother's claims. John 7:5 says that Jesus' brother's did not believe him. Then after the Resurrection, James encountered Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7) James became a leader in Jerusalem and he was stoned to death in 62 AD according to Josephus.
D. The Disciples signed their testimony in blood.
The disciples proclaimed forever the message of Jesus and all except for John gave their lives for Jesus. Peter was crucified upside down, they all suffered horrible deaths, beheaded, hung, flayed, speared, stoned, sawed in 2. They tried to kill John. He was boiled in oil, exiled and then wrote Revelation. They all remained faithful.
VI. Why do some reject the risen Jesus?
Maybe for some it is ignorance. Maybe they haven't put much thought in it. But for most people it is rebellion.
We love our Sin
If Jesus is in fact the Son of God and raised from the dead you have to take the things that he said and taught seriously. If you do that then you will have to turn away from some things in your life.
John 3:19-20 (ESV) "And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed."
The reason most people reject Jesus is because the love their sin. They hate the light because it exposes their sin and darkness. The Pharisees and Sanhedrin witnessed everything. They had all kinds of evidence. It couldn't have been an intellectual thing. They saw everything, they interviewed those that saw the miracles or were those who were healed. They were a witness to the crucifixion and the earthquake, the darkness, the testimony of the guards that said his body was gone. They had all of the evidence and still did not believe. Why? The loved their sin, they loved their authority and the things of this world more than God.
What about you? There are things that we refuse to give to God. I encourage you to seek after Jesus.
John 11 Martha's conversation with Jesus about the resurrection
John 11:25-27 (ESV) "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.'"
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