SERMON: A SKELETON IN GOD'S CLOSET

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
4 March 2007

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15

1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5. and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6. 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.
7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8. and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

12. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

-- in 1994, Paul Maier published a fiction book called, "A Skeleton in God's Closet" that really shook up the Christian community -- in this book, Dr. Jonathan Weber, a world-renowned archeologist, discovers a previously unknown tomb in Rama in Israel -- as he starts his excavations, he is shocked to discover that there is writing on the tomb that states it is the final resting place of Yeshua -- Jesus -- the son of Joseph
-- he starts to wonder, "Could these really be the bones of Jesus?" -- he really begins to wonder when he finds a sign in the tomb, written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek, that says, "King of the Jews" -- the same sign the Bible tells us was placed over Jesus on the cross
-- finally, he finds a scroll in the tomb itself telling how Joseph of Arimathea stole the body of Jesus from the Garden Tomb in the middle of the night and carried it off and buried it so everyone would think that Jesus had risen from the dead
-- convinced now that he has discovered the actual remains of Jesus, Dr. Weber breaks the news to the world -- and when he does so, millions of Christians around the world begin to abandon their faith -- churches are left empty -- and only a handful of people still believe in the story in the Bible that Jesus died on the cross, was physically resurrected on the third day, and ascended to heaven, leaving an empty tomb with no body and no bones and nothing but his burial shroud
-- Dr. Weber finds himself identified as the man who destroyed Christianity, and the story follows the rest of his adventure as he is hated and loathed by some and hailed as a hero by others

II. The Lost Tomb of Jesus
-- when I first read this book, it made me really uncomfortable -- it caused me to stop and reflect on what I believe and on what I would do if someone did come forward and say they had found the remains of Jesus -- what would happen to my faith if the central-most important belief of the church was to be suddenly shattered by science? -- what would happen to our churches?
-- well, as I'm sure most of you know by now, the unthinkable has happened -- tonight at 9:00 pm, the Discovery Channel will air a special documentary by James Cameron called, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus"
-- in 1980, archeologists discovered 10 ossuaries in the Talpoit tomb in Jerusalem that several people think belong to Jesus and His family -- just in case you don't know, an ossuary is a box that contains the bones of a person who has died -- according to Jewish burial practices, the bones of the deceased were collected one year after burial and were placed in a carved stone box -- these ossuaries were sometimes decorated with geometric or other designs and frequently had the name of the deceased carved on the side
-- the ossuaries from the Talpoit tomb supposedly contain inscriptions that read, "Jesus, son of Joseph" -- "Judah, son of Jesus" -- "Matthew" -- "Mary the master" -- "Mary" -- and "Jose," a shortened form of the name "Joseph"
-- Cameron and some archeologists believe that the inscriptions prove that these ossuaries contain the remains of Jesus, His mother, His wife Mary Magdalene, and His son, in addition to a couple other family members
-- other scholars and archeologists, though, have already questioned the assumptions being made by Cameron and disputed his findings -- they state that the names on the ossuaries were extremely common in that era in Palestine, and that this is a mere coincidence, nothing more
-- one thing is certain -- this is going to remain a highly controversial and polarizing discovery for the next several years, with one side continuing to claim that these are the remains of the Jesus from the Bible while the other side says that they are not
-- regardless of the controversy, we -- as Christians and as a church -- are faced with the fact that someone has produced a skeleton from first century Israel that they claim belongs to Jesus -- which begs the question, "What is our response?" -- I don't mean our official church response -- I mean our response of faith
-- does this discovery -- does this documentary tonight -- cause you pause in your faith? -- does it cause you to question your belief in the Bible and in the resurrection of Christ?

III. The Need for the Resurrection
-- without a doubt, our faith in Jesus hinges on the resurrection -- it is the cornerstone of our faith -- Paul makes that quite clear in this passage from 1 Corinthians -- look back at verse 1 1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5. and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6. 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.
7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8. and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

-- if we take all the denominations -- all the different interpretations of the Bible -- all the different ways we worship God -- and if we were to distill them all down to their most basic essence, this is it -- this is the gospel -- this is the message of the New Testament
-- Jesus was the Son of God -- He came to earth and He died on the cross for our sins -- He was buried -- and He was raised on the third day
-- this is what we believe -- this is what our faith and our hope rests on -- and, as Paul says in verse 2, it is "by this gospel that you are saved"
-- we can debate the means of grace -- we can argue about once saved, always saved -- we can have differences in the way we understand and practice baptism -- but there is no debate over the gospel message -- this is foundational -- to be a Christian, this is what you must believe and put your faith in

-- the resurrection has always been at the heart of Christianity -- without it, Christianity crumbles -- so, is there any wonder that this has always been the one facet of our belief that has always come under attack?
-- in Paul's day, there were many people who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead -- most notably, the Sadducees, one of the sects of Judaism -- did not believe that people were physically resurrected from the dead -- in Matthew 22, Jesus Himself was questioned about the resurrection by the Sadduccees and affirmed that the dead would be raised by God in the last days
-- evidently, there were others in Corinth who had infiltrated the church there and who were teaching that the dead were not resurrected -- look back at verse 12

12. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

-- Paul starts off his discussion of the resurrection by stating up front that it rests on the resurrection of Jesus -- he then goes on to make the case that our faith depends on this resurrection

-- verse 13

13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

-- do you see the importance of this claim by Cameron and his followers concerning the remains of Jesus? -- if the documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is correct and these are indeed the bones of Jesus, it would be proof that Jesus was not resurrected -- it would be proof that He did not rise from the dead -- and, it would mean that our faith is in vain -- useless -- and without merit
-- Paul goes on to make this case -- verse 15

15. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

-- if Christ was not resurrected, then our sins have not been forgiven -- if Christ was not resurrected, then we have no hope of eternal life -- if Christ was not resurrected, then all hope is lost

IV. Our Response
-- so, what is our response to the claims of Cameron and the others who say that these ossuaries from the Talpoit tomb contain the remains of Jesus and His family? -- we can't just dismiss them by saying they don't matter -- they do matter -- Paul makes that quite clear in this passage
-- your response to this documentary and to all the attacks on Christianity by people like James Cameron and Dan Brown, who wrote "The Da Vinci Code" comes down to just one word -- "Faith"
-- the Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" -- "being sure" -- knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt -- knowing in our hearts that what we hope for -- the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life with God -- is certain because of what happened in the past
-- things that we did not see ourselves but that we trust in because they are contained in the Bible -- Jesus' life here on earth -- His death on the cross as the atonement for our sins -- and His resurrection proving that He was God and had power over sin and death and was going to resurrect us in the future
-- Faith -- this is all that saves us -- as it says in Ephesians 2:8-9 -- "For it is by grace you have been saved -- through faith -- and this not from yourselves -- it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast"
-- let me ask you this morning, "How is your faith? -- Are you sure of what you hope for? -- Are you certain of what you do not see?"
-- how you respond when your faith is challenged tells you where you are in your relationship with Christ

-- I want to give you a demonstration of faith -- is there any one of the kids here today who would like to get a dollar? -- I'm going to pick one kid -- and all you have to do is come down here -- answer a few questions -- and I'm going to give you a dollar
[go over demonstration of faith with the dollar]

V. Closing
-- Faith -- it all comes down to faith -- do you believe the message of the Bible? -- do you believe the words of God recorded in these pages? -- do you believe the eyewitness accounts of the resurrection preserved in our New Testament texts? -- do your believe in the presence of Jesus in your life?
-- let me tell you what I believe
-- I believe in God the Father Almighty -- maker of heaven and earth -- and in Jesus Christ His only Son -- who was conceived by the Holy Spirit -- born of the virgin Mary -- suffered under Pontius Pilate -- was crucified, dead and buried -- on the third day He rose from the dead and He ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty -- from thence He shall come to judge the quick and dead
-- I believe in the Holy Spirit -- the Holy Catholic Church -- the Communion of Saints -- the Forgiveness of Sins -- the resurrection of the body -- and the Life Everlasting -- Amen

-- I believe in Jesus -- I believe in the cross -- in the atonement of my sins through the body and blood of Christ -- and I believe in the empty tomb
-- I believe that James Cameron and those archeologists might have found some bones in Israel, but they aren't the bones of my Savior -- because my Jesus is not dead -- He is alive and lives forevermore -- I know that beyond the shadow of a doubt, because I talked with Him just this morning
-- I know that my Savior loves and lives and is always there for me -- how can I fail to do likewise for Him?

-- today, March 4th in the year of our Lord 2007, we find our faith and our beliefs challenged by those who would destroy the very foundation of Christianity -- our only response can be one of faith -- of affirmation in Who and what we believe
-- in a few moments, we will join together in Holy Communion -- drawing together as one body -- as one people -- as believers in Christ -- to unite in remembrance of His mighty acts
-- but, before we do so, I want you to take a moment to examine your faith -- do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus is Lord? -- do you believe in Him and are you trusting Him for your salvation?
-- Jesus said that He is the way and the truth and the life -- no one comes to the Father except through Him -- there is no other way to receive forgiveness of your sins and eternal life with God except through faith in the finished work of Christ
-- do you have faith in Him this morning? -- have you received Him as your Lord and Savior? -- if not, then I want you to pray with me right now -- I am going to close in prayer, and I'm going to ask you to pray with me the prayer of salvation
-- if you pray this prayer, if you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord -- that He died for your sins and rose from the dead and offers you eternal life -- then you will be saved
-- for those of you who are saved -- who have made a personal decision to follow Christ, use this opportunity to renew your faith and commitment to Christ and pray for those who might be making this decision for the first time today
-- let's pray