CSI -- JERUSALEM
24 April 2005

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 23
Luke 23: 50. Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man,
51. who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
52. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body.
53. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.
54. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.
56. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Luke 24:1. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
2. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3. but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.
5. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?
6. He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
7. `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"
8. Then they remembered his words.

-- the title of my message this morning is "CSI -- Jerusalem" -- continuing in our series on favorite t.v. shows
-- show CSI -- came out several years ago and spawned a couple of other shows -- basically a twist on the traditional murder mystery -- rather than being shown from the detective's point of view -- this time, it's taken from the point of view of the crime scene investigators who use forensic evidence to determine what actually happened and who the killer really is
-- graphic show -- definitely only for adults because of the violence and the graphic scenes of autopsies and other crime scene photos
-- I think I really like CSI because I have always been a fan of mysteries -- grew up reading the Sherlock Holmes series and the Young Detectives Club -- when I was in middle school, I knew who Hercule Poirot was and who Agatha Christie was and who Ms. Marple was
-- I was always attracted to mysteries -- but it wasn't until recently that I discovered one reason why -- in an article in World Magazine, a writer pointed out that mysteries were the one genre of fiction that was based on a biblical world view

-- whenever we're talking about a world view, we're basically talking about how a person views the world based on their core beliefs -- these beliefs shape what they think and what they understand and they form the basis for how a person makes judgements about the world and about their experiences in the world
-- all of us have a world view -- because of who we are -- where we grew up -- what we've been taught -- and what we believe in our heart of hearts -- we view life from a certain perspective
-- for instance, because you are from the south, you tend to look at life differently than a person who was born and raised in the north would look at life -- your experiences growing up in the south have shaped how you view things and how you experience things around you -- you bring with you a certain bias to everything that you say and think and believe -- all because you grew up here in the south
-- there are many, many types and subtypes of world views -- but the major ones are the various religious world views -- such as the Christian world view or Judaism world view or Muslim world view -- and the secular humanist world view, which shapes how atheists and other unbelievers view the world
-- people with a biblical or Christian world view see things from a biblical perspective -- in other words, the doctrines of their faith and their beliefs in God shape how they view life and the events of life
-- mysteries are supposedly built on a biblical world view because they hinge on original sin -- anyone might be guilty because all are sinners at heart -- mysteries also presuppose the existence of objective truth -- in other words, there is one and only one truth that exists and it can be discovered by the investigators -- and, finally, mysteries point to the final judgement for wrong-doing
-- so, this morning, I want to spend some time looking at a famous mystery that has captivated the world for over 2000 years

II. What Happened?
-- imagine that you are a crime scene investigator in first century Jerusalem and that you are called out on the strangest case of your career -- as we just read in the passage from Luke, a man called Jesus had been put to death by the Romans on the cross -- and after His death, He was taken from Golgotha by Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish ruling council, wrapped in linen burial cloths and buried in a tomb
-- the other gospels tell us that after Joseph placed Jesus in the tomb, Mary Magdelene and the other women watched as he rolled a large rock in front of the tomb to seal it shut
-- so that's what happened on Friday, right before the Sabbath began
-- then, on Sunday morning, an amazing thing happened -- Mary Magdelene and the other women went to the tomb to finish annointing the body of Jesus for final burial -- when they got there, the stone had been rolled away from the opening and the tomb was empty -- the body of Jesus was gone
-- and now, as a crime scene investigator, you've been called in to find out what happened and to recover Jesus' body, if possible
-- you've got the basic facts down, so now you start your investigation

-- the first thing you do is go to talk to Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to die in the first place -- from him you learn that after Jesus had been buried in the tomb by Joseph, the chief priests and the Pharisees had come to him with a concern
-- Jesus had predicted that He would rise from the dead in three days -- so, they were worried that Jesus' followers might steal the body from the tomb to make it look like Jesus had been resurrected
-- so Pilate agreed to send guards to watch over the tomb until the three days was over and to make sure that no one would tamper with the body, Pilate had the official Roman seal put over the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb

-- now you find that pretty interesting -- according to the women, when they got there, the stone had been rolled away from the door -- but who would have done that? -- first, they would have had to get past the guards in some way, and Roman guards weren't that easy to defeat -- and secondly, they would have to break the seal on the stone -- and everyone knew that breaking the seal would mean an instant death penalty for the person who did it -- surely the cowardly disciples of Jesus who fled from the temple guards in the Garden of Gethsemene wouldn't be brave enough now to take on several Roman soldiers and then break the seal, signing their own death warrant
-- with that in mind, you track down the Roman soldiers who had guarded the tomb and find out that early on Sunday morning there was a great earthquake at the tomb site -- and immediately after the earthquake, they had seen a vision of an angel descending from heaven -- the angel rolled the stone away from the door, breaking the seal -- when the guards saw the angel, they were terrified and fled back into Jerusalem
-- so you ask them, "If that was true, then why didn't you report it to anyone?" -- "We did," they said, "but the chief priests gave us a large sum of money and told us not to tell anyone what we saw. -- They told us to say that we fell asleep while on guard duty, and that while we were asleep, the followers of Jesus came and broke the seal and stole the body. -- We figured that no one would believe the real story anyway, so we took the money and ran."
-- the guard's story backed up what the women had said earlier -- when they got there, not only was the stone rolled away, but they saw two angels inside the tomb where the body had been laid
-- that explains how the stone got moved -- but where did the body go?
-- you decide it's time to talk to the chief priests -- when you get there, they are abuzz with the news of the empty tomb -- but they don't know where the body of Jesus is either
-- so they offer up some possible explanations
-- first, they try to tell you that Jesus didn't really die in the first place -- He only "swooned" -- He only fainted from exhaustion and loss of blood from the whipping and the crucifixion -- and then, when He was put in the tomb by Joseph, the cool temperature in the tomb revived Him and He simply walked out
-- so, you consider that for a moment but tell them you don't think it's possible -- think about it this way -- how could a man who was beaten half to death, nailed to a cross for over six hours, and who fainted from exhaustion and loss of blood, been strong enough to get up, unwrap Himself from His grave cloths, push the heavy stone away from the door, and walk off? -- that seems highly unlikely
-- o.k., they say, what about this -- His disciples went to the tomb on Saturday while the guards slept, rolled the stone away, and stole the body, just like we warned Pilate -- now, you know that isn't true -- you've just talked to the guards who told you an angel had moved the stone, so you tell the priests, "try again"
-- one group stands up and says the answer is quite simple -- the tomb is not really empty -- the women simply went to the wrong tomb -- they thought they had gone to the tomb where Jesus was, but they went to the wrong one -- that's why the one they went to was empty
-- o.k., you say, then let's go to the real tomb and we can end all of this nonsense right now -- all you have to do is show me the body of Jesus and we can stop all these claims of an empty tomb and the resurrection once and for all -- so they go off with you and they lead you right to the Garden tomb where Jesus was buried and it's just like the women said -- they hadn't gone to the wrong tomb -- they had gone to the right tomb after all and it was empty just like they had said -- the stone was laying there on the ground and when you look in, you see the graveclothes laying on the bench where the body had been laid, just like the women had said

III. Resurrection Appearances
-- so, what does that leave you with -- it leaves you with the same facts that you had when you started -- there is an empty tomb with a pile of grave clothes arranged just like a body used to be in them -- a stone that has been rolled away -- and an official Roman seal that has been broken
-- no one can produce the body -- the Romans can't -- the chief priests can't -- the Pharisees can't -- the body has simply vanished
-- the only other possible hypothesis, then, is what the women reported the angels had told them -- "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"
-- but, if Jesus had actually risen from the dead as He said He would, then shouldn't someone have seen Him? -- you set off to question the disciples in the Upper Room -- and when you get there you get your ears filled with stories of them having seen Jesus alive and walking around
-- first, they said, Jesus appeared to the women who had visited the tomb -- Mary had even spoken with Him and hugged Him so tight He told her to let Him go -- then He had appeared to Peter and to two disciples on the way to Emmaus -- finally, He appeared to all of the disciples in the Upper Room on two different occasions -- the first time without Thomas being there and the second when Thomas was present

IV. Final Thoughts
-- you leave the Upper Room and the excited disciples with your thoughts in turmoil -- there's no doubt that something has happened to the body of Jesus
-- the tomb is empty -- everyone agrees to that -- the disciples -- the women -- the chief priests -- the Pharisees -- even the Romans -- in fact, years later, as you read history books written by Jewish scholars, they all state that the tomb was empty -- of course, they maintain that the disciples had stolen the body, which you know could not have happened
-- but what about the appearances by Jesus after His death -- was He really raised from the dead? -- reports of Him appearing to disciples continued to come in for a period of 40 days, including one report of Him being seen by over 500 disciples at one time -- when you asked the Apostle Paul about that sighting, he told you that most of the 500 disciples were still alive -- just go ask them what they saw -- they would confirm it
-- Paul told you that he himself had seen Jesus on the road to Damascus, and that he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus was alive
-- how to explain this? -- mass hallucination? -- that doesn't really make sense -- if the disciples were going to have a vision of a risen Savior, then they probably would envision Jesus enthroned in Heaven -- wearing a crown and robes -- not eating fish with them next to the Sea of Gallilee
-- and what about the fact that Thomas and Mary had actually touched Him? -- how can you touch a hallucination? -- finally, how can you explain the fact that all of the hallucinations ended at the same time -- right before the Feast of Pentecost -- surely, if the visions of Jesus were hallucinations, someone would have kept seeing Him after Pentecost, wouldn't they

-- so that leaves only one possible explanation -- it was all true -- the tomb was empty because Jesus had risen from the dead just like He said -- the resurrection appearances and the testimony of the disciples would seem to bear that out -- just look at the changed lives of the disciples from that Friday when Jesus was killed to Sunday when He supposedly rose from the dead
-- they were no longer cowering in the Upper Room in fear for their lives -- they were in the streets, boldly proclaiming a risen Christ to all the people and to the chief priests and Pharisees as well -- and think about what happened on Pentecost, when Peter -- the very one who denied Jesus three times -- preached and 3000 people were convicted of their sins, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit
-- there simply is no other way to explain it -- the tomb was empty because Jesus was alive

V. Closing
-- so, a final question remains -- as you file your report to CSI headquarters and tell them what you think really happened to the body of Jesus -- that He was raised from the dead -- what are you going to do about it? -- what are you going to do about all the evidence from your investigation?
-- What difference does it make whether or not you believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead and died for your sins on the cross? -- Can't you just file your report and go home?
-- but then you think about what Jesus once told the Apostle Thomas -- "I am the way and the truth and the life -- no one comes to the Father but through Me" -- on the basis of all the evidence of Christ's resurrection and considering the fact that Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and an eternal relationship with God, who would be so foolhardy as to reject Him?
-- you know that Jesus is alive -- and so that means that you have a choice to make -- you have to choose whether to accept Him as your Lord and Savior or to continue to reject Him -- the choice is up to you
-- let us pray