It was out of the turbulent 1960s that the rock musical opera, “Jesus Christ Superstar” was born through the creation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber. This production created quite a stir because it posed a number of novel theories about this man, Jesus of Nazareth. You remember the 60s: peace marches, flower children, psychedelic painted Volkswagens, Woodstock, free love, Vietnam, and Kent State. The 1960s also saw the “God is Dead” movement enculturated by the front cover of Time magazine and popularized by the German philosopher, Frederick Nitzche. During those turbulent 60s someone scrawled on a subway wall in large, can’t-miss letters, “God is dead!” and it was signed, “Nitzche.” Soon after Nitzche’s death, there appeared on the same subway wall directly beneath the “God is dead” declaration these words, “Nitzche is dead!” and it was signed, “God.”

“Jesus Christ Superstar” boldly confronted a rather thoroughly Christian society with questions and doubts about the person of Jesus. In fact most things Americans understood and took for granted were called into question. The main chorus repeats again and again, “Jesus Christ, Superstar, who are you? What have you sacrificed? Jesus Christ, Superstar, do you believe who they say you are?” I remember those years and the furor that it caused and especially the song of Mary Magdalene with its haunting refrain, “He’s a man. He’s just a man.” How brash and, as my grandmother would say, how cheeky that anyone could be to proclaim Jesus as only a man. It was at the time quite offensive. While there is much more to this song about a woman’s struggle to understand “this man, Jesus” because He was unlike any other man she had ever met, this musical ends with Jesus being just that—another man who dies and is buried. There is no Easter event, no resurrection, no empty tomb. The other 60s musical about Jesus, “Godspell” was much more fun and light-hearted, yet it too ended with Jesus being just another man who died and was buried. In these rock operas Jesus’ “resurrection” occurred in the hearts and minds of his friends as Jesus would live on in their “memories.” Of course, we now know that compared to what has come after, “Jesus Christ, Superstar” was pretty tame with the likes of Martin Scorcese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ,” “The DaVinci Code,” and many really offensive depictions of Jesus. We have come a long way, haven’t we? Let’s compare Jesus Christ, Superstar to Matthew’s account of this man Jesus.

In the 1960s there was no room for a supernatural Jesus. What is our cultural landscape today? Is there room in America for a supernatural Jesus or is He still “just a man?” In spite of a growing official secularism in American life there is also a growing interest in spiritual things and that includes a re-visit as to who Jesus was. We see this in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “One Night with the King,” “The Nativity,” and currently “Amazing Grace.” People are wrestling with Jesus’ true identity. Most people agree that Jesus was a remarkable leader, an inspired teacher, and a profound moral example who has had a tremendous impact on the history of our world. The problem with that is that Jesus Himself claimed to be God! The Gospel of John (14:9) records Jesus saying, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” No ordinary teacher says things like that about himself, especially a Jewish teacher.

Even Jesus’ detractors admit He was unlike any other. Napoleon, hardly a paragon of Christian virtue, observed, “I know men, and I tell you Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other man in the world there is no possible term of comparison.” As you look at Jesus you discover that He is quite unique, more unique than any other person. This uniqueness poses a tremendous problem for those who consider Jesus to be only a great moral teacher. CS Lewis, the great Oxford scholar and agnostic turned Christian, gives us a glimpse as to why Jesus being a great and inspirational moral example is not a reasonable option: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.” (Mere Christianity, pg 56) If we know anything about Jesus we realize that He certainly is a cut above the rest of us, but there is no greater distinction than His claim to have been raised from the dead. Our entire faith rests on this one hinge in history. The Apostle Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 15:17) “if Jesus is not raised from the dead then our faith is in vain, and we are still in our sins.” If that is true, we might as well be out golfing or fishing because nothing then will really matter.

However, numerous eyewitnesses attest to the fact that Jesus was seen alive after His burial: Jesus appeared to Peter, to the disciples, and to more that 500 people at one time. Most of them were alive when this account was written and they could easily attest to this truth. Jesus appeared to His brother, James who was once a skeptic and mocker. After James saw Jesus alive he became an enthusiastic leader of Christians in Jerusalem. When you stop and think about it, the claim of someone dying and being resurrected is an astonishing claim. It’s no wonder then that people down through the centuries have been skeptical and doubtful, and sometimes downright nasty in trying to debunk this story of the empty tomb. Some have explained that Jesus merely fainted on the cross and woke up in the cool of the tomb. Others purport that the disciples saw a vision of Jesus, and not an actual physical body. Some say that what really happened is that the followers of Jesus stole his body and then claimed that He was raised from the dead. Now purported “scholars” have found the ossuary of Jesus and his family and have DNA “proof” that Jesus did not rise from the dead.

In all this skepticism 6 facts have never been refuted.

1. Jesus predicted His resurrection. Luke 18 records that Jesus told his disciples that He would be “handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the 3rd day he will rise again.”
2. Jesus was really dead. Numerous researchers including doctors and pathologists have read the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion and concluded that He definitely was dead when He was taken down from the cross. One compelling bit of evidence that John records was the blood and the water, which flowed from the spear wound to Jesus’ side. This separation of the blood occurs only after death.
3. Jesus was buried. No one has suggested, not even His enemies that Jesus was never buried. In fact the enemies of Jesus went to Pontius Pilate and pleaded with him to put an armed guard at Jesus’ tomb lest his followers steal the body.
4. The tomb was empty—except for the grave clothes. If the tomb wasn’t empty that first Easter morning all Pilate and the Jewish religious leaders had to do was to produce Jesus’ body. That would have quelled all rumors that Jesus was alive. If the disciples stole the body how did they get it past the guards? Would the guards conspire to be in this plot and not reveal it later? In fact the Bible says that the guards were bribed to say that the body was stolen. If so, then how and why would they take the body and leave the grave clothes intact?
5. The enemies of Jesus never refuted His resurrection. While the early Christians were persecuted for their faith, the fact of Jesus’ resurrection was never publicly protested according to Acts 5:25ff. Strong effort was made to stamp out the early Church, but there was no effort to disclaim the resurrection. Wouldn’t it have been a much better strategy to undermine the claims of the Christians?
6. The changed lives of the disciples. After the crucifixion the disciples fled and hid in terror. They were demoralized, frightened and confused. John records the first meeting with Jesus (John 19:20-23), “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.” If you read the Book of Acts you will see very clearly and entirely different attitude among the disciples—no fear, no confusion, no hiding. All that is replaced by certainty, confidence, boldness and courage. Why? Because Jesus was alive and they knew it. So convinced of Jesus’ resurrection was Peter that he himself was crucified upside down rather than deny Christ. The other disciples suffered similar fates. Would they all die such horrible deaths for what they knew to be a lie?

All 6 of these unrefuted facts are convincing reasons to any open-minded person that Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ was indeed risen from the dead on that first Easter.

Is Jesus’ resurrection an historical event only? No, because of His resurrection people down through the centuries have been “resurrected” from bondage of all types, from self-destructive habits, from people-destroying attitudes, from mean-spirited personalities, from messed up priorities, from selfishness, and from all that can be evil in a person’s life. And God’s Spirit is resurrecting people even today. Some stories are quite dramatic, others are rather humdrum, but the reality is that by and through Jesus’ resurrection our lives are changed when we put our faith and trust in Jesus. As we move deeper into the 21st century we do not have the luxury of remaining neutral about the claims of Jesus. We must make up our minds one way or another. Either Jesus is a lunatic and liar, or else He is the resurrected and life-giving Son of God. Which choice best supports the evidence of history, the response of Jesus’ followers, and the impact of the Resurrection on countless lives down through the centuries?

G B Hardy sums it up this way: Confucious’ tomb—occupied. Buddha’s tomb—occupied. Mohammed’s tomb—occupied. Jesus’ tomb—empty! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) If Jesus is a lunatic and liar, we are abject fools to even call ourselves Christians and we are wasting our time. But if Jesus is who He says He is: the Son of God, the Savior then we are fools if we don’t surrender our hearts and our lives to Him for time and eternity.

Jesus Christ, Superstar, do WE believe who YOU say YOU are? Jesus is not a superstar man. He is the resurrected Savior and Lord. A superstar cannot change your life, but Jesus can!

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.