Life Triumphs over Death

Well, welcome to church tonight.

If you haven't got a Bible in front of you, great.

Our helpers would love to get you one.

So if you want to just stick your hand up,

if you haven't got one, John 20.

And also there's some service outlines

you can sort of follow along

where I'm up to in tonight's message.

If I've not met you before,

my name's Stephen, the senior pastor at church.

And it is a crack of a day to be at church with you

as we look at the central meaning of Christianity.

If you don't have a service outline,

you can use the St. Paul's app as well to follow along.

It's really only got three points.

So if you can't remember that, I can't help you.

Let's pray and we'll launch into it.

Gracious God, we thank you for the great news

of what we're looking at tonight,

the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And I pray that you help us to understand it,

to be open to it.

And I pray especially that you might help us

to see the transforming nature

of what Christ has achieved for us.

Change our hearts wherever we are of this,

whether we come in as doubters and skeptics

or believers.

We pray, Lord, that we would go out of here

changed, transformed by you,

embracing the Lord Jesus as God

and Lord over all things.

And we pray for your glory.

Amen.

Benjamin Law, he's an Australian author and journalist,

wrote an opinion piece in the City Morning Herald

leading up to Easter a few years ago now.

Benjamin describes himself as non-religious.

He says,

I'm not an atheist,

but I'm a happy agnostic,

a lifelong doubter.

He wrote that if he was to adopt a religious symbol for his life,

it would be a question mark.

He goes on in the article

that he digs the Bible.

I'm not sure exactly what that means.

I think it's positive.

I dig the Bible.

But he said,

he also added,

he said,

I love Jesus.

Not in the religious sense,

obviously,

but I think everyone can agree

that he sounded like a decent fellow.

Jesus distrusted the rich.

He helped the poor

and embraced the most shunned

and vulnerable members of society.

He was the first Marxist radical.

Needless to say,

he says,

I have no problem with celebrating

and honoring religious holidays.

It respects the majority of Australians

who identify as Christians

and it educates the non-religious

about world beliefs.

Then he made this point.

But why stop at Easter and Christmas?

In our cities,

especially with their Muslim,

Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu communities,

wouldn't it make sense

to celebrate and learn

about these cultures too?

He goes on to suggest

that that would create

a much more tolerant Australia.

The opinion piece overall was,

it was positive,

raised some questions

in an authentic manner

and basically kept everyone happy.

He says,

Jesus is a nice bloke

and so therefore we should celebrate him

as a nice bloke

and we should also look

at other nice things as well.

His article raised two big questions

for me

and two big questions

about Christianity

and especially the central events

of Easter.

And the first question

is the truth question.

The second is the meaning question.

The truth question

and the meaning question

are both wrapped up together

in today on Resurrection Day.

It's Easter Sunday.

The truth question,

the meaning question.

Whenever you talk about

the resurrection of Jesus,

those two questions

are intertwined.

Truth question,

did it actually happen?

The meaning question,

well,

who cares if it did?

What difference does it make

in my life

if he did rise from the dead?

You see,

there are people

who reject Christianity

because they simply

just don't think it's true.

But there are other people

who reject Christianity

not because they're convinced

it's not true,

but because they can't see

why it would make

any difference

at all in their life

if it was true.

The meaning of it

is insignificant

and irrelevant

to what really concerns them.

So, for instance,

things have changed

in our world

in case you haven't realized that.

Forty years ago,

and the older you are,

you realize how much

things have changed.

Forty years ago,

there was an assumption

in the Western world

that there were fixed

natural laws

that make the world

understandable

and scientifically manageable.

Unfortunately,

these laws

did not allow

for the truth

of the claim

that someone

can come back

from the dead

and to live forever.

The world at that time

in its scientific understanding

of natural laws

did not allow

for resurrections

and so,

get rid of it.

Unbelief

in the claims

of Christianity

were often connected

to that kind

of scientific assumption.

Today, however,

there's another assumption

and this is for everyone

who's basically

less than 40,

which I'm not quite anymore,

but nearly,

is a differing assumption

and today,

the assumption

is that there's

a personal law

inside of me.

It's called individualism.

Us older people

call it rampant individualism.

One form of individualism

is a personal law

that says,

I don't have to conform

or adapt my life

to anything

that I don't find helpful.

Truth for me

is what I find acceptable

and helpful

and useful.

Now, this assumption says,

I don't care

whether Jesus

rose from the dead.

Don't care

if the facts are there

because whether

he did or not,

my issue is,

I still don't care.

The scientific facts

are irrelevant.

Even if it is true,

what difference

does it make

to my life

day by day?

And so both questions,

the truth question

and the so what question

are important

to address

at the same time,

which is what we're going to do

in the rest of our time together.

I want to tackle

three main things,

truth question,

so what question,

and how to move

from being a doubter,

a skeptic,

to a believer.

So first of all,

the truth question.

The great C.S. Lewis,

Oxford Don,

once wrote

that in a world

that was making

such a rapid advancement

in scientific understanding,

he said there was a danger

of chronological snobbery.

He said it's the assumption

that any conclusion

that was made

in previous centuries

or frankly people before me,

anyone who,

before my assumption of things,

was their assumptions

are always based

on ignorance.

And especially

the further back you go,

it's just ignorance.

For instance,

chronological snobbery

might lead some

to conclude

that the people

who lived

around Jesus' time,

because they didn't have

iPhones and internet,

they were just

gullible peasants.

They were just

ignorant of reality.

And so they'll just

believe anything

that they've been told.

And yet that's not

the picture

that we have here.

So if you've got your Bibles,

turn to John 20,

it's not the picture

we get here in John 20.

Look at the first

two verses with me.

Early on the first

day of the week,

while it was still dark,

Mary Magdalene

went to the tomb

and saw that the stone

had been removed

from the entrance.

Now this is crucial

here in John 20.

This is the first person

to notice the tombs empty,

Mary Magdalene.

in John 19,

which we saw on Friday,

the chapter before,

Mary Magdalene

is declared

to be the witness

of the death

of Jesus.

He's dead.

She saw that he was

dead.

And now she's the first

person of the tomb

to see

that the tomb

is empty.

So verse 2,

so she came running

to Simon Peter

and the other disciple,

the one whom Jesus loved,

and said,

notice what she says here,

they have taken

the Lord

out of the tomb

and we don't know

where they've put him.

Now,

before he was executed,

Jesus mentioned

a number of times

that he was

going to be executed,

but that he would

come back to life.

But that is not

what Mary is expecting

on this Sunday morning

as she goes

to the tomb.

She's not thinking,

ah, that's right.

Resurrection.

She's not thinking

that at all.

Her first assumption

was that the body

has been moved.

And it's the same

in verse 13.

She was working

on the assumption

that the Jewish leaders

or potentially

the Roman dudes

had taken his body

and dumped it

somewhere outside

the city limits.

Someone has stolen

the body.

So like us,

Mary didn't just assume

that Jesus had come

back to life.

Even Peter and John,

two of his key followers,

didn't automatically

jump to the conclusion

that Jesus had been

resurrected.

Notice verses 8 and 9.

Finally,

the other disciple

who had reached

the tomb first

also went in,

he saw,

and he believed.

And then it says,

they still did not

understand from Scripture

that Jesus had to

rise from the dead.

What did he believe in?

He believed what Mary

had just said.

He believed that Mary

was right.

The tomb is empty.

But he didn't believe

in that moment

of the resurrection.

That tells me

these early followers

of Jesus

were not easily

excitable,

gallible peasants

who would just

believe anything.

Even though Jesus

had told them repeatedly

that he would come

back to life,

they weren't actually

looking for a resurrection.

And yet what they

were confronted with

on that first

Easter Sunday

was a bodiless tomb.

There was no body

in the tomb.

So you can't play around

with the resurrection

of Jesus,

some have want to do,

and just can see that

it was just a spiritual

resurrection.

It's kind of what

the disciples felt.

They kind of felt

that he was risen again,

even though his body

didn't come back.

He just felt he was

a spiritual resurrection.

There was no body.

And you can go

to Jewish historians,

you can go to

Roman historians

and Christian historians

in that time

that wrote in that time

and they all declare

that the tomb

where Jesus was laid

was empty.

It's one of the

great historical facts

the tomb

was empty.

There's no question

about that.

Even the enemies

of Jesus

could not

produce

a body.

If they could have,

they would have

ended this Christianity

thing 2,000 years ago.

All it would have

required

is for a Roman

or a Jew

to

put the body

of Jesus

at a wheelbarrow

and take him

to Jerusalem

and there you go,

there's your

saviour.

Right there.

There he is.

Dead.

Now,

some have come up

with other explanations

as to why the tomb

was empty.

For instance,

some have suggested

that Jesus,

in fact,

didn't really die

put him in the tomb

and he revived

in the cool

of the tomb

and then moved

the stone

that required

several soldiers

to put in place.

He revived himself

enough

and did a bit

of buff work

over for a couple

of days

and was able

to move the stone

and walk out

and some have

suggested he married

Mary Magdalene

and then went on

a very long honeymoon

down to Egypt

and no one ever

saw him again.

Because there's no

historical evidence

for that

and it's not

really plausible.

And it also goes

against the horrible

realities of the

crucifixion.

It goes against

the deliberate

steps that Pilate

took and the

leaders,

the Jewish leaders

took to make

sure that he

was dead.

Look at John 19.

They declared,

we want to make

sure this man's

dead because we've

got to get to church

so can we please

kill him?

And they went along

to break his legs

and they discovered

they, in their own

testimony,

said he's dead.

They also took

enormous steps

to make sure

that no one

got in or out

of that tomb.

They posted

their own guards

at the door

of the tomb.

Others have

suggested that

the disciples

stole the body.

If they did,

you've got to

ask yourself

the question,

why did they

remove the

grave clothes?

I mean,

you've got

Roman soldiers

at the entrance

of the tomb

so you get them

drunk and then

you manage to

get the tomb

and then you

unwrap him

and fold up

his clothes

and then take

the naked body

away.

Why would you

do that?

Why take

off the linen?

And more

significantly,

if they took

the body

away,

it would

mean that

the disciples

began to

risk their

lives and

in fact gave

up their

lives for

nothing more

than an

April fool's

joke that

they themselves

had

perpetuated.

God

and how

else do we

account for

the dramatic

change in

the disciples

after Good

Friday if it

wasn't for the

resurrection?

The fact is

these guys

were utterly

dejected and

terrified after

the death of

Jesus.

They were

scared that

they were

going to be

treated in

exactly the

same way

that Jesus

had been

treated.

They feared

for their

lives.

They did

not have

hope for

a resurrection

and they

were basically

ready to go

back fishing

when everything

died down a

little bit.

They were

hiding in a

secluded room

and were

unwilling to

believe the

first reports

of Jesus'

appearance three

days after he

was executed.

And yet in a

matter of

weeks,

these men

were filled

overflowing

with joy and

courage and

not only ready

to die for

Jesus but in

fact did die

for Jesus.

What happened?

Their own

explanation as

to what

happened is

that we saw

Jesus alive

after we saw

him dead.

Now there

is, quite

frankly, far

more historical

evidence than

just that.

But doubting the

resurrection of

Jesus is common

and strangely

enough the

first person to

doubt the

resurrection is

not someone

opposed to

Jesus.

It's one of

his close

followers.

It's a guy

named Thomas.

As we saw

in John 20,

Thomas is the

most famous

of doubters.

And we've got

this saying in

our own culture

about skeptics

and doubters.

We call them

doubting

Thomases.

And so this

poor bloke

has had a

pretty bad

rap for

2,000 years.

That's what he's

known for.

He's known for

being a doubter.

And so for

those of us

struggling to

understand or

accept the

resurrection,

you've got to

ask yourself the

question tonight,

if Thomas can

help you here.

Is he someone

who can help

you in

doubts?

Now we are

told that

Thomas wasn't

there when

Jesus first

appeared to

his disciples

soon after he

rose from the

dead.

So have a look

at verse 24.

It says,

Now Thomas

called Didymus,

one of the

twelve,

was not with

the disciples

when Jesus

came and so

the other

disciples told

him,

we have seen

the Lord.

But he said

to them,

unless I see

the nail marks

in his hands

and put my

finger where

the nails

were and put

my hand in

his side,

I will not

believe it.

Unless I

see it for

myself,

I'm not going

to believe it.

I will believe

it if God

shows himself.

If Jesus

comes and

shows himself

to me,

that's the

condition of

my belief.

Now,

there's a

little strange

here because

Thomas is an

orthodox Jew

and so the

idea of a

resurrection

is not

unusual for

him.

He believed

that all

people would

be resurrected

in the end

when God

calls this

world to an

end.

And yet he

doubts the

resurrection here.

And his

response

to his

mates is

in absolute

terms.

He makes

his demands

in absolute

terms.

Unless I

see and I

place my

hands, I

will not

believe.

He demands

exhaustive

proof rather

than sufficient

evidence.

So,

believing Jesus,

believing the

resurrection comes

down to a

battle of the

will.

Thomas rejects

witness of

ten or

more of his

trusted

friends.

He dictates

absolute terms

to God about

believing.

Now, we're

not told

specifically

why Thomas

was so

skeptical.

So,

anything I

say as to

why he was

skeptical is

speculation.

But I'm

going to

speculate anyway

because it

might be helpful

for us.

maybe it

was his

personality.

Maybe he

was what

some

personality

tests call

a sensing

person.

Myers-Briggs

personality

tests weren't

around in the

first century as

far as I'm

aware.

But sensing

people are

people who

pay more

attention to

physical reality,

to facts,

to hard

evidence.

And I'm

one of those

sensing people.

The opposite

is an

intuitive

person who

goes on

perceptions and

gut instincts

and that kind

of stuff.

Another

alternative is

that he was

skeptical of

everything

supernatural or

anything

supernatural.

Dead people

don't come

alive and

that's it.

It's probably

unlikely for

Thomas, but

it's common in

our modern

world.

Modern secular

people have

a worldview

which is not

a pervasive

worldview, I

might add,

across this

world.

that says

miracles don't

happen.

Now, it

might not be

his problem,

but when we

look at

Thomas in

John 20, we

project our

worldview onto

him, is what

we do.

We read

Thomas and we

go, ah, he's

got some

intellectual

problems with

the resurrection.

resurrection.

You know,

Thomas's

problem with

the resurrection

of Jesus is

an intellectual

one.

It's about

facts.

But

skepticism is

never just an

intellectual issue.

Imagine, for

instance, that

someone very

close to you is

dying.

Some of us

might not have to

imagine too hard

on that one.

you've finally

accepted that the

hope of a recovery

for your loved

one is gone,

it's lost, and

your loved one is

going to die.

And in fact, I've

got someone who

was in my year at

college going

through that right

now with his

family.

Then all of a

sudden, someone

says to you as

your loved one is

there, clearly

dying, terminal

illness, someone

says to you,

I've just heard

there's a

possible cure.

It's on the

other side of

the world.

Possible cure in

this clinic.

And you had

once upon a

time hoped for

recovery.

And then you

went through the

process of your

hopes being

dashed and you

realized that your

loved one is going

to die.

And all of a

sudden, someone

comes in with

this 50-50

chance that it

might not be

over.

Most people in

that moment,

don't go

awesome and

all of a sudden

their hopes go

skyrocketing

again.

Most people

don't do

that.

Most people

in that moment

cannot bear to

get their hopes

up again only to

have their hopes

dashed again.

They can't bear to

get their hopes

up and then to

lose the person

again.

Maybe that's

what's happening

here for

Thomas.

There's no

indication in

the Bible

anywhere that

Thomas was a

perpetual doubter

on all things.

There's no

indication that he

didn't love Jesus

like any of the

other disciples

loved him.

No reason to

believe that he

wasn't as

devastated as

everyone else

about the

execution of

Jesus.

And now

these guys

come along

and they say,

hey Thomas,

great news,

he's alive.

Maybe he's

simply saying

here,

don't you

dare get my

hopes up.

Don't you

dare get my

hopes up.

Thomas is a

disciple who

had all his

hopes pinned

on Jesus.

and then

Jesus dies.

And now

he's hearing

he's alive?

You're

kidding.

Don't do

that to me.

Maybe he's

afraid to

hope.

In the same

way that

many people

today are

afraid to

hope.

It may be

that your

worldview says

this can't

happen.

It may be

your personality

that says,

I need more

evidence.

It might,

on the other

hand,

be a heart

that is

afraid to

be drawn

into something

and getting

disappointed.

I suspect

that's what's

going on for

Thomas.

And I'll

tell you why

in a moment.

What we need

to see is

Thomas,

the first and

most famous

of doubters,

in the end

believed with

joy.

He's the

biggest doubter

and yet his

confession

of faith

is also

the greatest.

I want to

emphasize that

point.

There is no

greater confession

of faith in

the entire

Bible than

this one.

Verse 26.

A week later,

his disciples

were in the

house again

and Thomas

was with

them.

Though the

doors were

locked,

Jesus came

and stood

among them

and said,

peace be

with you.

And then

he said to

Thomas,

put your

finger here,

see my

hands,

reach out

your hand

and put it

in my

side,

stop

doubting

and believe.

And then

Thomas said

to him,

my Lord

and my

God.

That's a

remarkable

statement.

for a

Jewish man

to call

another

human

being,

not just

Lord,

but God

is culturally

incomprehensible.

His religion

did not

allow it.

There is

no higher

confession

of faith

in all

of the

Bible.

Thomas

goes from

zero to

hero,

super

quick.

Super

quick.

So that

brings me

to the

so what

question.

Of course

for some

their doubts

is not a

matter of

having

significant

evidence,

it's a

matter of

the claims

that Jesus

has made

about himself

and his

mission and

this is the

so what

question.

That is,

it's not

just about

intellectual

stuff,

it's about

the heart

and the

will.

That's a

comfortable

place of

happy

ignorance

for

many.

Thomas'

declaration

of faith

in verse

28

addresses the

so what

question.

This is

broadly the

meaning of

the resurrection.

My

Lord

and my

God.

So

Thomas

apparently

doubts the

resurrection

and the

first words

that come

out of his

mouth in

seeing Jesus

is not

about the

resurrection

but what

the

resurrection

meant.

My

Lord and

my God.

You see,

the whole

issue

Thomas had

was I

want to

see Jesus

for myself

and I

won't

believe

unless I

touch the

wounds.

Jesus

shows up

to Thomas

touching the

wounds.

At all.

That is,

the wounds

on Jesus

were so

much more

than evidence

that someone

can come

back to

life.

They were

evidence of

something

significantly

more powerful

and that

is the

hope that

Thomas had

placed in

Jesus in

the first

place.

What he's

saying here

in this

moment is

that everything

that Jesus

said about

himself is

true.

He is

God.

He is

the king

of the

universe.

He is

my Lord.

He is

my king.

He is

my boss.

He is

my ruler.

He is

my God.

He is

my creator.

The

resurrection

means that

what Jesus

promised must

have been

delivered.

Thomas has

just joyfully

discovered that

the wounds of

the cross of

Jesus that

he thought

two days

earlier had

ruined his

life had

in fact saved

his life.

That's the

answer to

the so what

question.

The resurrection

means everything

Jesus said

about himself

is right and

true.

He is the

way.

He is the

truth.

He is the

life.

He is the

way for

humanity to

be reunited

with their

creator.

Jesus did

everything

possible,

everything

possible for

us not to

conclude what

Benjamin Law

concluded.

He's a

decent

fellow.

God.

How dare we

say he's a

decent bloke?

How dare we

say Jesus is

to be

admired?

He

polarized

people when

he walked the

face of the

earth between

those who

worshipped him

and those who

hated him and

desired his

crucifixion.

how dare we

domesticate him

into a nice

bloke to be

admired a

couple of

times a

year.

He worked

hard to make

sure we never

come to the

conclusion that

he's a good

bloke.

To leave him

there as just

a bloke to be

admired means

that we have not

seen him for

who he is and

we need to

actually look

harder at who

he is.

The

resurrection

means he

is who he

says he is.

He is our

God and he

is our

Lord.

But it

also graciously

means that

human guilt and

shame has been

dealt with

finally and

fully through

Jesus satisfying

God's justice on

the cross on our

behalf.

It means that

death has been

confronted by

him and has

been conquered

by him.

It means that

new and true

life can be

experienced before

death and

eternal life

after death.

It means that

hope for better

things has gone

from the category

of a maybe to

an absolute

certainty, a

definitive

certainty.

It means that

the new heavens

and a new

earth where

those who

trust in Christ

will live

forever like

he lives forever

is coming.

This is what

Jesus offers

everyone who

trusts him.

A number of

chapters earlier

in John's

gospel.

The good

news, Jesus

talks about

the good

news and

he declares

the life

changing news

of Easter

when he

says, I

am the

resurrection

and the

life and

the one

who believes

in me will

live even

though they

die and

whoever lives

by believing

in me will

never die.

He says, do

you believe

this?

the

resurrection

means that

Jesus is not

just one

option.

Something

incredible,

unique and

life changing

and worldview

shaping has

happened with

the resurrection

of Jesus.

And that

is what

Thomas has

discovered.

So how

do we

move from

doubt to

belief?

A number

of years

ago, I

was in

Canada, an

airport moving

from Canada to

the US and

you go to

customs and

the guy at

customs said,

you know,

where are you

going?

I'm going

home.

He says,

what do you,

you know,

they ask you

the questions,

what do you

do?

What's your

nature, your

business,

that sort of

stuff?

And he

said, so

what do you

do?

And I

said, well,

I'm pastor

of a

church.

All right,

you're one

of those

God-botherer

guys.

Yes, you

know, let's

not elevate

the situation

too much.

And he

said to

me, okay

then, if

that's the

case, what

would you

say to a

person who

says to

you, show

me God

and I'll

believe in

him?

I'm like,

is this a

pass the

test category?

Like, what's

going on

here?

You know,

is he

actually

seriously

asking the

question for

himself or

for a

friend?

Or is

this like

the guy

was actually

secretly a

theologian?

He's trying

to call me

out here.

And I

thought, okay,

let's have a

crack at this.

And I

said to him,

well, it's

interesting you

could ask that

question.

Jesus said,

Jesus said, you

see me and

you see the

Father, you

see God.

And what

Jesus did is

he revealed the

character and

the nature of

God for three

years on the

earth.

He did

countless

miracles.

He raised

the dead.

He healed

people.

He showed

his power

over nature.

Plenty of

people saw

him do that.

And I

said, plenty

of people

saw him do

this most

amazing

miracle where

he called

Lazarus, a

guy being dead

in the tomb

for four days,

called him

out of a

tomb and

they saw

him walk

out of the

tomb at

the command

of Jesus.

He had

power over

life and

death.

And yet in

that moment

when people

saw Jesus

do that,

half of the

crowd went,

well, that's

amazing, let's

worship him.

And half the

crowd said,

let's call him.

He's messing

things up for

us.

So I said

to him, the

reality is, even

if God was to

present himself

to you right

now, seeing

doesn't equal

believing.

Got to know

that from a

start.

John chapter

John 20 · chapter mention

20, Jesus

himself says,

blessed are

those who

don't physically

see me and

yet believe.

And so there

is sufficient

evidence that's

been written

down by those

who did see

Jesus and

come to

believe in

him.

But in the

end, you

can look at

that evidence

and discard it.

It's a matter

of the will.

And I said, I

could be God

right here, right

now in front of

you and just

happen to have

a passport.

And I

could say to

you, I

am God and

I could do

all of the

miracles of

Jesus.

But frankly, you

if you don't

want to believe

are going to

keep changing

the goalposts.

It's going to

be perform that

miracle.

Okay.

And eventually

I'm going to

be at your

beck and

calling and

the God that

you have in

your mind is

someone that

you've formed.

So believing

in Jesus is not

just a matter of

seeing him.

It's a matter of

the will and

surrendering your

heart to him.

That's roughly

what I'd say.

And the

guy just

stamped my

passport and

let me go.

Seeing is not

necessarily

believing.

As I said,

many people saw

the miracles of

Jesus and yet

they didn't

believe.

there are way

deeper dimensions

to believing

than just

seeing.

How then do

we move from

doubt to

belief?

Firstly, two

points I want to

make on this.

Firstly, it's

important to

listen to the

eyewitness

accounts.

That's the

first step.

We are told

that Thomas

was there when

Jesus first

appeared to the

disciples.

One week

later, Jesus

shows up again

with Thomas

present.

During the

week in

between, we

are told in

verse 25,

that the

other disciples

kept telling

Thomas that

they'd seen

Jesus risen.

In fact, the

original language

is really clear.

It kept

telling him,

telling him,

telling him,

telling him,

telling him,

telling him that

Jesus has

risen.

And so

during that

week, before

Jesus appeared

to Thomas,

Thomas is in

exactly the

same spot that

you and I are

in.

Like him, we

have access to

people who saw

Jesus raised

from the dead.

In fact, they

are the exact

same people that

Thomas had

access to.

Their eyewitness

accounts are

written down in

the New Testament

and especially

the Gospels, one

of which we're

looking at here

tonight in

John's Gospel.

A number of

years ago,

several decades

ago, it was a

common accusation

that the Gospel

accounts of

Jesus are

fables that

are written

down long

after the

events, way,

way after the

events, and

therefore they're

not trustworthy.

The reality

is that

there is

enormous amount

of scholarship,

both Christian

and secular,

that actually

argues that

the Gospels

in the New

Testament do

not have any

marks of

fiction in them

at all.

They have the

marks of oral

history and

eyewitness

testimony.

When these

events were

written down,

nearly all of

the eyewitnesses

were still alive

and could vouch

for them.

That is

essential piece

of information

as we read