Seeing Is Believing (7 of 8)
Series: The Final Week - Part 2
Jeff Strite
John 20:1-18
On May 4, 1865, after weeks of his body being on display in Washington D.C. and a few other cities, Abraham Lincoln was ''laid to rest'' in a cemetery near his home in Springfield, Illinois. But Lincoln didn't ''rest in peace.'' In 1876, there was a plot to raid his grave and steal his body. It didn't work. Then 11 years later, because of rumors that his body wasn't in that grave, his coffin was dug up and opened to confirm it was there. It was. But the rumors continued, 14 years after that, the coffin was dug up again. Both times witnesses were present who testified Lincoln was still in the grave. In all, Lincoln's body was moved 17 times and his coffin opened 5 times before finally resting in peace thirty-six years later inside a steel cage, beneath two tons of concrete poured ten feet high over his coffin. (https://www.thehistoryreader.com/us-history/plot-kidnap-dead-president-abraham-lincoln/; and David Henderson, ''Overcoming Death,'' 5/25/2011, sermoncentral.com)
Lincoln is still in his grave and there were witnesses to that.
But Jesus is NOT in His grave, and there were witnesses to that as well.
Paul wrote: ''I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.'' I Corinthians 15:3-8
Over 500 witnesses saw the risen Savior, and most of them were still alive when Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
Now, what's intriguing about our text this morning is that John only focused on 3 of those 500 people who w ...
Series: The Final Week - Part 2
Jeff Strite
John 20:1-18
On May 4, 1865, after weeks of his body being on display in Washington D.C. and a few other cities, Abraham Lincoln was ''laid to rest'' in a cemetery near his home in Springfield, Illinois. But Lincoln didn't ''rest in peace.'' In 1876, there was a plot to raid his grave and steal his body. It didn't work. Then 11 years later, because of rumors that his body wasn't in that grave, his coffin was dug up and opened to confirm it was there. It was. But the rumors continued, 14 years after that, the coffin was dug up again. Both times witnesses were present who testified Lincoln was still in the grave. In all, Lincoln's body was moved 17 times and his coffin opened 5 times before finally resting in peace thirty-six years later inside a steel cage, beneath two tons of concrete poured ten feet high over his coffin. (https://www.thehistoryreader.com/us-history/plot-kidnap-dead-president-abraham-lincoln/; and David Henderson, ''Overcoming Death,'' 5/25/2011, sermoncentral.com)
Lincoln is still in his grave and there were witnesses to that.
But Jesus is NOT in His grave, and there were witnesses to that as well.
Paul wrote: ''I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.'' I Corinthians 15:3-8
Over 500 witnesses saw the risen Savior, and most of them were still alive when Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
Now, what's intriguing about our text this morning is that John only focused on 3 of those 500 people who w ...
There are 17470 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
