Has Jesus Really Risen? (1 Cor 15:1~8) Jesus’ resurrection is an event that took place in the history of humanity. Some people claim that Jesus’ death and resurrection are false. However, Jesus’ death and resurrection are clear facts. When His disciples tried to take the body of Jesus from the cross, one Roman soldier pierced Jesus' side with a spear. The Bible testified that it brought a sudden flow of blood and water. Jesus died on the cross and the water and blood which were in His heart and lung came out of His body due to His sure death. Jesus died and was reussrected definitely. He was caught by His enemies and suffered painfully and was crucified on the cross. Later, Joseph of Arimathea put His body in his already prepared tomb. After three days, Jesus overcame death and was resurrected. His resurrection was unbelievable even to His disciples. Those women who came to His tomb ran to the disciples and delivered the news of His resurrection, but they couldn't believe it. Thomas, one of the twelve, said, "Unless I put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it." Despite much mocking and persecution, Jesus’ disciples preached about Jesus’ resurrection and were martyred. There were many people who witnessed the resurrected Jesus. Countless witnesses testified about Jesus’ resurrection. John 20:11-14 says, “but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don't know where they have put him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.” John 20:15-16 says, "‘Woman,’ he said, ‘why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).” Jesus first met Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and other women after His resurrection, at the tomb. They ran to the disciples and told them this news. And then two of the disciples went down to a village called Emmaus and Jesus suddenly came up and walked along with them and talked with them. Luke 24:13-16 says, “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.” While Jesus appeared and walked along with them, they could not recognize Him. Luke 24:29-31 says, “But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.” “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.(John 20:19-20)” Even His disciples saw Him while they were catching fish by the Sea of Galilee. “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ‘I'm going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We'll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.”(John 21:1-4) Jesus was waiting for His disciples to go to Galilee, to the mountain. “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”(Matthew 28:16-17) Furthermore, more than five hundred people saw the resurrected Jesus simultaneously. 1 Corinthians 15:6 says, “After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” And then the resurrected Jesus also appeared to His brother James and Apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians 15:7-8 says, “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” Paul testified that the Lord appeared to him who seemed to be one abnormally born. There are more than five hundred people who witnessed the ascension of Jesus. Acts 1:9-11 says, “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’" Not just a few people but hundreds of people witnessed the resurrected Jesus. Therefore, as many people deny the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after three days, countless witnesses of His resurrection overwhelm those denials. When Jesus was raised from the dead after three days, there was a great thing He did. Peter, who had boasted about himself as Jesus’ chief disciple, quit following the Lord and determined to go back to fishing, saying, “I'm going out to fish.” Jesus Christ knew the pain in Peter’s heart and mind so He met him to heal his hurt feelings. Peter was in great despair and guilt because he could not protect Jesus at the crucial time he needed it. When Jesus was being falsely accused in the courtyard, Peter denied Him twice and then a third time and called down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this Man you're talking about." It was at the court that Jesus needed His disciples’ encouragement the most. They should have been there to speak up for Jesus, but Peter disowned Him twice and then a third time and called down curses on himself, saying, “I don’t know this Man you’re talking about.” He didn’t do anything to defend the Lord so his guilt was too heavy for him to bear. However, Jesus called His disciples and gave them bread and fish for breakfast and then started to talk to Peter. However, he could not raise his head before the resurrected Jesus and felt sorry for Him in his heart. Then Jesus asked, “Peter, do you truly love me?” This meant, “Do you truly love me with God’s love(Agape)?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. I love you with the love of a friend(Phileo). I can’t love you with God’s love.” The Lord said, “Feed my lambs." Through this the Lord recognized the one who once did a terrible thing to Him! Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?(Agape)" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.(Phileo)" Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time He said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?(Phileo)" Peter was hurt because once he boasted about his love to the Lord but denied Him three times. Now after he confessed that he loved(Phileo) the Lord twice, Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?(Phileo)" Peter might have felt that the Lord thought that he would deny Him again. He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love You. You know what? I am not even sure of myself. I say now that I love you, but later I might deny you again! You know everything about me! Why are you torturing me like this?” The Lord said again, “Feed My lambs.” This shows that the Lord forgives and loves again even those who betray Him and gives His grace to make them restored. The resurrected Jesus did not judge those who failed but found each of them who did wrong to encourage and strengthen them. The Lord not only forgave Peter but also recognized him as His disciple again so it must have been the most important day of his renewed life! You know, we think that we follow Jesus faithfully, but many times we can’t help but deny Jesus in our life and do things against our faith. Then God never abandons us but comes to reestablish us. We must know that Jesus always comes to seek us in our failure. Today Jesus comes to us who suffer from guilt and restores our lost faith. Romans 8:1-2 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” The Lord is our eternal God and took all our sins and settled them all in our place. We should think deeply about our relationship with the resurrected Jesus on Easter Day. It is because the Lord was dead but is resurrected and enters into us by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:20 says, “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” John 14:20 says, “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” We are living united with Jesus. Therefore, we must know our identity in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 4:10 says, “ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Jesus’ death is my death and Jesus’ life is my life. Don’t forget that Jesus came to the earth to die in our place. He settled our sins and took our diseases away and paid all our curses. Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross for six hours. In the Old Testament, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." They hanged the cursed one on a tree. When our ancestor Adam was cast out from Eden, God cursed the ground. It became a place of tragedy which began to produce thorns and thistles and where through painful toil Adam would eat of it all the days of his life. However, Jesus came to the earth to be stricken with thorns and thistles in His body and lived a miserable and painful life in our place. Jesus’ resurrection is not confined to the past only. Ephesians 2:4-7 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” This means that Jesus and we are living together now. The resurrection of Jesus is still a present event which makes Christians live again. We become alive by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus and now are being seated with Him in heaven. The resurrection of Jesus testifies of our future resurrection with sureness. Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead is within us now. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will raise us again by the same power that makes us born again. The resurrection of Jesus is not just history but still with us as a crucial event that determines our present and future. As Jesus was resurrected and is alive now, we must meet our living Lord personally. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is to experience this living Jesus. Christianity does not perform any religious rituals but actually involves meeting the living Jesus. When we meet Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, we can have conviction that He lives in us and we are in Him. When you read and listen to the Word of God and pray to meet Him in person, you will experience meeting the Lord through the Holy Spirit. The resurrected Jesus promised before His ascension, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."(Matthew 28:20) Today we must look to the Lord who overcame death and was resurrected and is still alive every hour and every moment. We must clap our hands when something good happens, but even in the difficulties we must look to Jesus and give Him praises with faith. We should know that Jesus is always with us. The Bible says, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’"(1 Corinthians 1:30-31) We are united with Jesus so we become one and He enters into us to become forgiveness of our sins, our healing, our blessing of Abraham, and our resurrection. Therefore, Jesus’ death is my death, and Jesus’ resurrection is my resurrection. Jesus conquered all our enemies by His death on the cross. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We must realize that we have already become new! We should dream about it ourselves and pray earnestly and experience miracles and believe that we have become a new creation and bear fruit in our daily lives.