The Other 6 Days

Life, Death & Resurrection | The Other 6 Days | Episode 48

• Southwest Church • Season 3 • Episode 48

Share episode

Description:

Life, Death & Resurrection | The Other 6 Days | Episode 48

In this episode, we dive right into a conversation about the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ. Are these historical claims the greatest hoax or the greatest hope ever presented to humanity? We discuss why we celebrate Easter & why we believe we can have confidence in these claims and how these events should help shape the way we live each & every day.


SHOW NOTES & RESOURCES:

  • Max Lucado | He Chose The Nails: What God did to Win Your Heart (https://a.co/d/9v5tQGC)
  • Max Lucado | Six Hours One Friday: Living in the Power of the Cross (https://a.co/d/bWoTIXK)
  • Timothy Keller - Hope in Times of Fear: The resurrection and the Meaning of Easter (https://a.co/d/aFqKLvt)
  • N.T. Wright - The Resurrection of The Son of God (https://a.co/d/9Dw5HsU)
  • Titus Kennedy | Excavating the Evidence for Jesus: The Archaeology and History of Christ and the Gospels (https://a.co/d/bUrsivw)
    • Providing a historic basis for Christianity & evidence based perspective for the reliability of the Bible
  • Dallas Willard - The Scandal of the Kingdom: How the Parables of Jesus Revolutionize Life with God (https://a.co/d/fOz5Lrm

For more information or to join the conversation, head over to https://southwestchurch.com/theother6days or email us at theother6days@southwestchurch.com

FOLLOW US!

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theother6dayspodcast/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theother6days
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@theother6days

Speaker 1:

Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Other Six Days podcast, where we chat about life outside of Sundays and what it means to live from our gatherings, and not just for them. I'm your host, CJ McFadden, here again with Pastor Ricky Jenkins as we get ready to dive into some conversation about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We'll be talking about why we celebrate Easter, why we can have confidence in the claims and how these events should shape the way we live each and every day. But first, Ricky, what's the greatest sports victory that you've ever experienced, either personally, a team or individually an individual you're rooting for?

Speaker 2:

of the playoffs for the Pearl Pirates, my high school football team. It was 1994 fall and second round of the playoffs, mississippi State Championships. We were. It was Pearl against the Tupelo Golden Wave. They were top ranked, top 10 team. We were scragglers. They shouldn't have been in it but we were in it. They had a quarterback named Jarius Jackson who went to play for Notre Dame. He was so fast. The only time I touched him was to shake hands after the game. They had gone up a touchdown. We were way back fourth and whatever you know. They had to go for it with or a screen, fullback screen to the left for me. I catch it behind the line of scrimmage. Guy tackles at me Something. The Holy Spirit made me to turn as quick as I could to the left and scampered like 55 yards all the way in, didn't score the touchdown. They caught me after a while. But then we go for the go-ahead punch to win the second round of the playoffs. It was a big deal, my best sports moment in my life. That's awesome by far.

Speaker 1:

That felt good. Huh, yeah, I only had one, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I didn't have any other sports moments Very memorable. What about?

Speaker 1:

yours, yeah, actually mine is. So I have two Mine I was actually, you know this one with golf and playing.

Speaker 2:

I got a hole in one you've had in your life. I've had six.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, there's that. So there's that, yeah. So that was pretty exciting. But a par four yeah, it was a 260, hit a three wood up, didn't see it go in. We're looking around and everyone's like it's in the hole. You know that I had made the hole-in-one with, so I wasn't so excited about making the hole-in-one. I took the ball, teed it up and then just hit it in the water and everyone was like you didn't just hit the hole-in-one ball in the water, did you?

Speaker 2:

And I was like yeah, I think I did Well after hole-in-one.

Speaker 1:

it doesn't even matter what you do with the rest of your life, you got a hole-in, including our podcast listeners indeed um and then, uh, I also I think you would agree with me on this one pretty, pretty awesome moment 2019.

Speaker 2:

Masters tiger was nothing better I I got chills, chills, chills, tears. Yeah, just it was everything.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I've never felt like that at a sporting event, just watching it on tv even.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like even watching football in the sports I actually watched consistently. I've never felt anything like that before in my life.

Speaker 1:

It was just such a. It was such a cool moment.

Speaker 2:

It was everybody's Cause. Remember, masters, that year was the weekend before Easter. Oh yeah, so that was everybody's illustration that following, I know it was my clothes so good, when he hugs his son after and this.

Speaker 1:

You know all the things that had. I had all the moments, so it was beautiful. Well, every year around Easter, we remember, reflect, consider and celebrate Jesus' life, death and resurrection. So how do each of these things define the totality of Jesus' ministry? Let's just kind of jump right in.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So I think one of the questions we want is why is the resurrection such a big deal, right, and so Easter kind of presents to some. To some extent, for Christians today, the culmination and core of our faith and the reason for our belief is that event. If it's not for that event, what?

Speaker 2:

are we doing, then, yeah, we can kind of put everything else to the side. But it's because of this truth that we say Paul said, man, if the resurrection hadn't happened, you Paul said, man, if the resurrection hadn't happened, you know, we are hopeless, let's go home. And so it just represents the totality of Jesus' ministry when we reflect upon the fact that in his life he was born of the Virgin Mary.

Speaker 2:

He is the son of God, jesus, performed miracles that validated that kingdom message. He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies okay, in his life, and still there's some that are being proven today. Okay, in his life, and still still there's some that are being proven today and he lived an absolute perfect, righteous life on our behalf that when we put our faith in him, the idea is that there's now what we call substitutionary atonement, meaning this that the death I deserved to die.

Speaker 2:

he has died on my behalf and I heard, I heard Paul say we are of all people Anyways but yeah, this is it right. This is the bargain. This is our Super Bowl that we celebrate because Jesus got up. It doesn't matter what in this life gets me down. I know how this game ends and it ends in victory, so yeah, yep, absolutely, and we talk about his.

Speaker 1:

You know his death also in this that you know he died as the ultimate sacrifice, like you said, to atone for human sin. His death also in this that you know, he died as the ultimate sacrifice, like you said, to atone for human sin. That's right. And uh, his sacrifice for us was the ultimate sign of the loving god you know what I mean that came uh, his, his eminence, to come here and to be with us and to uh sacrifice himself for us is just, you know, it's phenomenal.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, so many uh caricatures surround god, especially from atheist, agnostics, false religions, that he's, this curmudgeon he is vindictive, he is mean. No, the story is actually that we he had every right to send us to hell, but he didn't. He sent his son to purchase redemption. For us, that's love and that's what we celebrate at Easter Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And side note, as I was doing a study on this, I recently learned that there's not a definitive reason for why we refer to Resurrection Sunday as Easter. I was kind of doing some digging on that, you know, looking at some historical kind of facts and stuff. And it was just super interesting. I'd never really dug into that. I was like wait, why is it called Easter?

Speaker 2:

Well, it's interesting, too right, I think. Everything before Christ, the deep, dark secrets, died in Alexander the Great's library.

Speaker 1:

So the Library of Alexandria.

Speaker 2:

Right, and I think the secrets that we have now are somewhere in the Vatican.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, that's true, which I don't think we'll get to look at until Jesus comes back, I know. But either way, in digging through the history of it we talk about, when we talk about all of its connections with you know, potentially you know some uh worship of, you know pagan God and all that stuff, regardless of the language or etymology, it doesn't detract from the fact that Christ has risen and God's promise of eternal life has been made available to us, right, yeah?

Speaker 2:

I mean, you know, we, we can. Sometimes, that's the beauty of the Christian faith, cj, is that so many other religions, really all of other religions, are religious, and what I mean by that is it's this rule, it's this piece of history you have to know. It is this tradition, it is this way, not that way. It is this school of thought, not that school of thought. It seems to become just this complexity surrounding all of what has been codified in history by this thinker, by this teacher, by this prophet and all that good stuff.

Speaker 2:

Now, sure, the Christian faith employs all of those things. We got prophets, we got texts, we got traditions, all that good stuff. But at the end of the day, our faith is not based on what we know. Our faith is based on who we know, yeah, and what he has done on our behalf. And so Christianity, when we come around this central event that is the resurrection, it's our audacious testimony that none of what we do and none of who we are and none of how God accepts us has anything to do with a date or a tradition or a codification of text or thoughts. All that's good and helps us, but the reason why we get to go to heaven is because we put our faith in this Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again on the third day. That's it we sit on the resurrection.

Speaker 1:

That's why we exist, amen. Well, we know that some of the events around Jesus' resurrection actually most of them are probably one of ancient history's most carefully scrutinized events, but also well-attested. Is it the biggest hoax ever or the hope of all?

Speaker 2:

humanity. Yeah, I love that question, right, because it's got to be one or the other, one or the other, right, there's no middle ground. There are some that will say, well, jesus was a good person and a prophet, and all that kind of stuff Jesus was a good person and a prophet, and all that kind of stuff. And Christian Christians we say no, no, no, no, no. Cs Lewis said this way he is either liar, lunatic or Lord it is. You have to make a choice. He presents those, that evidence before you. So there's critics, right, that say that, okay, crucifixion, scientific, no one can raise from the dead. Um, there's a text called the gospel of barnabas, right, that says it was judas iscariot who died on the cross in place of jesus because of his betrayal, right? Yeah? Um, there's people who say that the disciple stole his body to make it up and that he was never really dead, he just kind of passed out on the cross and then lived out his years and married mary magdalene right.

Speaker 2:

So there's all this stuff out there. And here's the problem with all that stuff None of that stuff has ever been proven, none of it has any significant evidence that even atheistic scholars don't espouse to Right.

Speaker 2:

So at the end of the day, the evidence I would say CJ screams at us that Jesus was alive and lived, that he literally did die and was crucified by Pontius Pilate, but that apparently, dozens and dozens and dozens, to the tune of hundreds of people, say he resurrected from the dead. And if it is a hoax, I'm not sure I would make up that hoax if I'm Peter James and John, right, because if that's your hoax, then I'm saying I'm going to put the whole stakes of the rest of my life on a lie that's going to get me murdered and dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of martyrs live the rest of their days saying Jesus Christ is Lord, he got up from the dead and they didn't mind being murdered for it. So I think they believed that this was real. And here's the thing If it's not real, why get murdered for it? Exactly, it just doesn't make any sense, right, yeah? And so again in the scripture speaks to how he was. You know, appear to 500 witnesses, 10 separate appearances in the post resurrection of Jesus, 40 days. He appeared to 500 people. And then there's the textual evidence, when we think about original manuscripts.

Speaker 2:

So there'll be people who will argue against the fact that prove that Jesus exists. Well, you know what? I can't prove that Jesus existed. I can't prove that he died. I can't prove that he rose on the cross. I can't prove it. I cannot give you empirical, undeniable, logical, visual proof that this happened. But I can't give you evidence and people say, well, see, there you go. You can't give me proof, you can't prove George Washington lived. Go prove George Washington, prove it. There's books. Jesus got books. Yeah, but there's people that saw Jesus. There's people that saw Jesus, yeah, but we have a whole city named Washington DC. You know how many people named Jesus?

Speaker 2:

So it's like the argument falls apart because we don't look at things we put our trust in and faith in and reliance on on the count of proof. We do it on the count of evidence, right, and so people, you know you got to watch your logic because people will say, well, it's not scientific, it's not scientific. It's just like, okay, well, are you going to go out and get in your car and expect to get to the other place? Yeah, but I do that all the time. Well, but you don't have any assurance. You've just trusted, historically, that when you drive it's going to get you to where you're supposed to be. So it's all history, it's all evidence, it's not proof. So, anyways, I'm not passionate about this stuff, but, at the end of the day, evidence screams at it, and one of them is textual evidence, right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Can I read some of these stats that we've worked up here? Cj. That's really cool, absolutely so when you hear text, think original manuscripts that bear witness. In other words, someone in history wrote this down and we've preserved it to this day. It is one of the crucial ultimate determiners of historical fact for scholars over the course of millennia.

Speaker 1:

OK, it's not just a.

Speaker 2:

Christian thing. It's everywhere. Alexander the Great, ok, has only two original biographical accounts of his life. Meaning, this guy we talk about all the time, who Hellenized the world. There's only two sheets of paper that said he existed. Okay, about a thousand times more manuscripts preserve the deeds, the teachings, the witness of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. There's 25,000 total. Okay, there's more. There's a thousand times more about Jesus than there are preserved for any other classical, ancient works of historic figures who lived at approximately the same time. Okay, so at the end of the day, the closest one is Homer, whose Iliad is backed by 1800 manuscripts. I looked this up to Socrates, the great philosopher, cj. How many original manuscripts of Socrates do we have, who is virtually untested, unquestioned as to whether or not he existed? How many manuscripts do you think we have? We have zero. His pupil, aristotle had 49. Yep Plato had 250. Jesus had 25,000.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So like, anyways, get out of my face with that. Yeah, I love what you said because I'd say that's sufficient evidence right there, potentially, Especially because you don't have empirical proof or definitive proof that when you go driving somewhere, like you said, that you're going to get to where you're going. But you have sufficient evidence based off of previous experiences that's right which we have eyewitness accounts in over 25,000. That's right, you know it's just it's, it's right there for you.

Speaker 2:

That's right, that's right Well you and then you kind of dissect. I don't want to run down too many rabbit trails, but um, you think about the fact that in most Jewish traditions, right, they are not taught psalm 122 that speaks of, or psalm 119 yeah, that speaks of jesus. It's not included in their catechisms, isaiah 53, where isaiah speaks of the suffering servant yeah as the messiah.

Speaker 2:

It's not included in their catechisms. Right Like Jewish, people grow up having the most obvious witnesses as to the coming of the Messiah and Jesus Christ and what he would be like they're not even taught it.

Speaker 2:

You know why? Because they know that if you hear that and look at Jesus's life, there's a match there, right? Micah? For example, 800 years before Jesus, micah predicts that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, which at the time was a piss poor town. I don't think I'm supposed to say that podcast. And 800 years later, was still that Right? How can a guy, eight centuries before it happens, predict the hometown? So think about that. It's 2025. Yeah, and imagine someone, someone in the year 1225. Yeah, saying there will be a guy named CJ. Yeah, he will be an online pastor. He will be born in the Coachella Valley.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

By the way, that doesn't exist yet. Right yeah, people would have said give that guy a billion dollars and let him run the world. Mike, that's just one promise surrounding Jesus' life. The Bible is filled with dozens of those. It has to be a God, or else this is too good for someone to make up, and that's why we put our faith in him.

Speaker 1:

Wow, yeah, that's so powerful, oh man. Well, with all of that evidence and what we've seen there and what we've talked about, how should these events then shape the way that we live out our lives each and every day?

Speaker 2:

Man. First Corinthians 15 is the gospel chapter, and Paul says and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins, then those also have fallen asleep in Christ, have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. So if this thing didn't happen, if Jesus wasn't real, or if he was real and was just a man and did not die and get up again, then, all of us are liars.

Speaker 2:

Paul is saying and we have no reason to have hope. Paul says put up the go go, fit gone fishing sign and do whatever you want to do. But verse 20 screams at us but in fact, christ has. Glory to Jesus. In fact, christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Which means this, cj. It means that this life is not the end. It means that no matter what happens in this life, there's a glory on the other side of it If I've put my trust and faith in Jesus. It means that my death is not the end for me, it is the beginning. It means, when the doctor was concerned, I had liver cancer two months ago that had that been god's will for me to suffer with liver cancer and died, I still would have woke up in heaven. It means everything.

Speaker 2:

It means especially in this moment we live in, where it's such a divided world and the geopolitical landscape is changing before our very eyes and there's talk of world war three and all of that stuff is real, but it still means, even if that happens, that's not the end for us. Glory to god. He has accomplished all things and consummated the kingdom through the death, burial and resurrection of his sons. Of his son we have Amen, that's what that means.

Speaker 1:

Wow, I love that. Yeah, his life should give us, give our lives confidence, right Amen. And his death shows us love and his resurrection gives us hope beyond this life. Amen and so ultimately, we can see victory in all things, because Christ had victory over everything. That's it, that's it.

Speaker 2:

Such a beautiful thing. His victory makes this broken, chaotic, insane world. Things make more sense. It's so broken that only a savior's blood shed for us on Calvary could redeem it and restore it. And here's the good news about the resurrection. That ain't even the end of the ballgame.

Speaker 2:

You know, one of these days, this same Jesus Remember when he ascended Yep, and the scripture says that the disciples were looking up in the sky after him this same Jesus, remember when he ascended Yep and the scripture says that the disciples were looking up in the sky after him, and there were two angels there who said you, men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you is coming back in like manner. And we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, anticipate the day Just before, I think, when I interpret eschat, the day just before, I think, when I interpret eschatology, just before we blow the place up. He shall come again and the scriptures say when he comes, it's not going to be suffering servant, it's going to be a ruling, conquering king.

Speaker 2:

John said I see him on a white horse and he's got a tattoo on his thigh and he's got a dagger on his thigh and he's got a dagger in his mouth. My point is this while there's time, accept this Jesus. While you can bow out of your own volition, do it now, before you bow out of his commandment. So I just I want to urge us to accept him as our Lord and savior.

Speaker 1:

I don't know where that was going, but I kind of you know, wanted to say that, yeah, it was good In the meantime to get busy for us who put our trust and faith in God.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 1:

You know we've been called if he's coming back and ultimate victory, we've got. We've got things to do. We've been called to some things, so that's right, amen.

Speaker 2:

Amen. There's about 20,000 college students who have gotten saved in the last four to five months in college campuses around America.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, there's a last days revival perhaps happening in America. There's one happening in Africa, there's one there's. There's things happening on every continent. We're seeing our church grow upwards of 20 percent this year. Yeah, in a short amount of time, people are hungry. Bible sales are up in this country Twenty two percent Because I think everybody, in a short amount of time, people are hungry. Bible sales are up in this country, 22%, because I think everybody has woken up to the fact that the world don't work and I need something better, and I bear witness that that better, that something better, is a someone.

Speaker 2:

His name is Jesus and accept him as your Lord, amen.

Speaker 1:

wow. Well, as always, guys, we hope that our conversations are engaging, but we want to provide people, too, with helpful resources. So, ricky, what are some things that we'd like to point people to that they might find helpful?

Speaker 2:

I love some of these books that you have included. They'll be in the show notes, folks. Max Licato the great one wrote he Chose the Nails what God Did to Win your Heart. There's a coupled book of Max Licato's, max Lakatos, called six hours one Friday. That is just a wonderful devotion about the good news of what Jesus had done for us. Timothy Keller, reverend Tim Keller, hope in times of fear. The resurrection and the meaning of Easter. Nt Wright, the resurrection of the son of God very exhaustive work. Titus Kennedy, uh, excavating the evidence for Jesus. And Dallas Willard the great one, the scandal of the kingdom. There's a Episcopalian priest who's evangelical in her soteriology and bibliology and I can't think of her name, but she wrote a wonderful book.

Speaker 1:

What is her name.

Speaker 2:

Anyway, she has a wonderful book on the resurrection and we'll find that and put that in the notes too. I strongly encourage that. Some good stuff. Yeah, we'll include all book on the resurrection and we'll find that and put that in the notes. So I strongly encourage that Some good stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we'll include all that in the show notes for you guys, so be sure to check those out. And then, as always, guys, we want your questions, comments and feedback here at the other six days. So leave a comment on YouTube or, if you're just listening, you can email us at the other six days at Southwest Church dot com. That's the number six.

Speaker 1:

We love getting your questions and just hearing what you guys have to say and, you know, just encouraging us, even in topics and things like that. So, ricky, any last comments or thoughts before we wrap this thing up. He is risen. He is risen indeed, amen. There you have it, guys. Well, thanks for joining us again on another episode of the Other Six Days. Be sure to hit that subscribe, follow, share and like, spread the word and, as always, take what you've heard.