Rewind — the teaching platform built on your church’s own preaching

The big idea

Reason says risen — the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus stands up like a case in court, and it points to a verdict of faith, not blind belief.

The resurrection of Jesus isn't something we have to take on blind faith — it holds up to reason, evidence, and cross-examination like a legal case. Pastor Bill walks through five exhibits of evidence to show that Jesus rose from the dead, and invites listeners to stop avoiding the evidence and put their faith in Him.

A story from life

Pastor Bill recounts trying to get dismissed from grand jury duty as a college student in Phoenix

A story from life

Sir Lionel Luckhoo, holder of 245 consecutive acquittals, examined the resurrection evidence at age 63 and became a believer

I say unequivocally that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt

— Pastor Bill Bush

Reason says risen

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 1 of 5

Exhibit A: The empty tomb is a historically proven fact.

Pastor Bill shows that Jesus' existence and burial are better documented than many ancient figures like Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, citing Roman and Jewish historians alongside the Bible. He walks through why the tomb being empty is not disputed by serious historians, even skeptical ones, and cross-examines the guard's cover story (the disciples stole the body while they slept) to show it doesn't hold up logically.

Point 2 of 5

Exhibit B: The early creed and eyewitness testimony show this wasn't a slowly-grown legend.

Pastor Bill points to Paul's creed in 1 Corinthians 15, dated by skeptical scholar Gerd Ludemann to within three years of Jesus' death, and argues legends take at least two generations to form, per historian A.N. Sherwin-White. With over 500 eyewitnesses on record, he argues the resurrection claim was there from the very beginning, not added later.

Point 3 of 5

Exhibit C: The disciples were transformed in ways a lie could never produce.

Pastor Bill traces how scattered, fearful disciples became bold enough that 3,000 people believed after one sermon, and how Jesus' skeptical half-brother James became a follower and writer of Scripture. He notes that 10 of the 11 remaining disciples were executed and none ever recanted, arguing nobody dies for something they know is a lie.

Nobody dies for a lie

— Pastor Bill Bush

People will die for what they believe to be true even if it's a lie

— Pastor Bill Bush

Illustration

Tony Gwynn's baseball statistics as an analogy for how eyewitnesses preserve truth before legend can distort it

Point 4 of 5

Exhibit D: The explosion of the church in the very city that opposed it.

Pastor Bill notes the church grew to roughly 100,000 people in Jerusalem within about 25 years, confirmed by Roman writers like Pliny, Suetonius, and Tacitus, growing precisely where the crucifixion and burial happened and where leaders wanted the story to die.

Point 5 of 5

Exhibit E: Hundreds of fulfilled prophecies written centuries before Jesus.

Pastor Bill highlights eight prophecies (like being born in Bethlehem, pierced hands and feet, and burial in a rich man's tomb) confirmed by the Dead Sea Scrolls as written long before Jesus, and cites mathematician Peter Stoner's odds of one in 10 to the 17th power for just those eight being fulfilled by one person.

Related passage

You don't have to check your brain to know that Jesus is who he said he is

— Pastor Bill Bush

Because Jesus, if you lit a match, He's not in His grave

— Pastor Bill Bush

Illustration

Covering the state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars to illustrate one-in-ten-to-the-seventeenth-power odds for eight fulfilled prophecies

Illustration

A woman escapes prison by hiding in a casket, only to discover the old man who promised to dig her out is the one buried with her — used to picture trusting a savior who is actually alive

Take it into your week

Reason says risen — so the real question is what you're going to do with that verdict.

Application

Actually examine the evidence
Don't just dismiss or vaguely affirm the resurrection like the 78% of Americans who say they believe it but never look into it. Study the facts yourself instead of avoiding the case like a juror trying to get excused.
Stop putting faith in what's already dead
Recognize that trusting anyone or anything else to save you, whether other belief systems or your own plans, is like being buried next to someone who can't get you out.
Confess your sin and take Jesus' hand
Hand over your sin to Jesus, who died and rose again, and receive His life in exchange, following the prayer of confessing sin and trusting Him for both spiritual and eternal life.
Raise your hand and pray now
If ready to put faith in Jesus for the first time, respond in the moment by lifting a hand and praying the prayer of surrender along with Pastor Bill.

Keep going

Add Rewind to your Home Screen