Is Your Hope Alive?

Jesus’ Journey to Resurrection – Part 6
Is Your Hope Alive?
Pastor Terry Wilcox

Luke 24:1-12

The Resurrection is the  that Jesus Christ is God and that He  His word!

At the center of the Christian faith is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead.

Oxford dictionary:  faith is strong belief in God, or the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Although our faith is not dependent on reason, our faith in the Resurrection is reasonable.

1. Historical evidence verifies Jesus lived and died.
   The Roman historian Tacitus wrote about Emperor Nero blaming Christians for burning Rome:

   Nero set us as the culprits and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class hated for their abominations, who are commonly called Christians. Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the region of Tiberius. Checked for the moment, this pernicious superstition again broke out, not only in Judea, the source of evil, but even in Rome.
     – Annales, xv. 44, The Neronian Persecution, c. AD 64

2. The disciples’ radical change.
   After the crucifixion the 11 disciples were , fearful, and without .
   Matthew 28:17, John 20:19, Luke 24:19-21

   They became what they had not been
   Acts 2-4
   World history
   Google says practice some form of Christianity

3. An empty tomb and  It was in the best interest of the Romans and the Jewish leaders to produce .
4. Jesus is the only one of several Jewish “saviors” to maintain a following after their death.
5. The gospel writers violated “rules” of fake news. They had no “name recognition” or credentials.
   No “credible” witnesses.
   Their story wasn’t plausible.
   Simple men, writing a simply story.
   A story that has given hope to billions of people.

Personal Notes