Simple Answers to Sincere Questions

I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

–1 Corinthians 15:3–4

During Holy Week, it’s not just believers who focus on Jesus–articles, movies, and television specials also depict the Easter story and speculate about Jesus. Many people believe Jesus was a good man who taught some nice things, but He got in trouble with the Romans and the Jews and was killed, and that’s the end of the story. Later, they say, some of His followers wanted to make a good story even better, so they made up a myth that Jesus rose from the dead.

The apostle Paul didn’t believe that at all. In 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, Paul said that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose on the third day according to the Scriptures. In other words, Paul tied together with an inseparable link the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus–they’re a package deal.

More than that, Paul said the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential to the Christian message. Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Disprove it and you have disposed of Christianity forever. If the resurrection is nothing more than a fictional addition to the story of a popular rabbi who was crucified by His enemies, then the entire Christian message is null and void. If Jesus didn’t conquer death, then there’s no hope for any of us.

That was Paul’s argument throughout 1 Corinthians 15. Paul wrote this letter to the church at Corinth to answer several questions they had asked him. In chapter 15, Paul answered their questions about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Maybe you want to talk to your unbelieving friends and family about the resurrection, but you’re not sure how to answer their questions. Or maybe you, too, have some questions about the resurrection, but you don’t feel comfortable asking them because you don’t want other Christians to think you don’t know much about the Bible. So this week, I want to address the claim that the resurrection was a myth Jesus’s followers tacked on to His story. Paul presented evidence from Scripture, from eyewitnesses, and from His own life that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a real event that can transform our lives and our future.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Simple Answers to Sincere Questions” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011, and “If Christ Has Not Been Raised” by Dr. Jeffress, 2012.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.