Resurrection

NAS Matthew 28:1-6 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow 4 and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5  And the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.

Whenever I have the privilege of preaching or teaching on this passage I like to point out that all of our English translations with the exception of the NET Bible miss the passive voice in v. 6. The Greek text does not say “He has risen,” but “He was raised.” Grammarians have termed this a “divine passive,” meaning that God the Father raised God the Son.

But, some will surely ask, what about this verse?

NAS John 10:18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Someone else may ask, what about the Holy Spirit? Did He also have a part in the resurrection? The answer is yes. Admittedly, the following verse is more indirect than direct proof of the Holy Spirit’s immediate participation in the resurrection of Jesus, but it is solid. For one thing, in Romans 8:11 where the “Spirit” and “resurrection” are mentioned together, the Spirit is the star of the context.

Romans 8:1-17 could be titled “Life in the Spirit.” In this introductory and middle section of chapter 8, the Holy Spirit’s work in delivering the believer from the power of sin is emphasized. The reference is to the Father but the focus is on the instrumentality of the Spirit. When the subject of the resurrection is in view the focus is not so much on the historical event, but on the Spirit’s life- giving role in the resurrection. Every believer has experienced this same supernatural power in salvation, as v. 11 shows:

NAS Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.

Thus, it is accurate to say that all three Persons of the Trinity participated in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. That said, it must be added for the sake of more comprehensive accuracy that when the subject is studied carefully in the New Testament, it is by far most prominently the Father who raised Jesus from the dead, as the passive verb indicates in Matthew 28:6.

ESV Acts 2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

NKJ Ephesians 1:20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

NAS 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

He is risen! And He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!

“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today; I know that He is living, whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him He’s always near.   He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart.”

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest event in the history of the world. Resurrection Sunday is the most important day of the year for the true believer in Jesus – not Christmas, as wonderful as it is, but Easter. The holiday we celebrate as Easter includes the day we call “Good Friday,” the day Jesus went to the cross. The crucifixion and the resurrection: these two great days are as two sides of the same coin; you can’t really have one (the resurrection) without the other (the crucifixion). The “wages of sin” (Romans 6:23) required a death. The crucifixion/resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of our faith! The following verses show this:

NAS 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

All we believe about God hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

NAS 1 Corinthians 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

NAS 1 Corinthians 15:17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

But, thanks be to God, He is risen!

NAS Mark 16:6 And he (the angel) said to them (Mary Magdelene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome), “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here…

What exactly does “resurrection mean?

The English word “resurrection” comes from the Greek word, ἀνάστασις (ah-nah-stah-sis). ἀνάστασις is a compound noun, meaning a preposition has been prefixed to a noun; ἀνά (ah-nah), the prepositional prefix means again; στασις (stah-sis) the following and connected noun, means stand. Thus “resurrection” literally means to stand again. A dead person does not stand.  When Jesus died, His body was laid down horizontally. When He rose again, He stood again, vertically – bodily not spiritually…

Christianity is a physical religion. That is to say that Christianity, distinct from all other religions, places high value on the physical body in both life and death (compare Hinduism which burns the body at death. Accordingly, the physical Resurrection of Christ is the very capstone of our faith. Without it, Christianity crumbles. Jesus Christ rose physically/bodily from the grave, and because  of His victory over death, we too, if we are Christians, will one day be physically/bodily raised.

In 2001 there was a less-than-captivating movie that came out with the captivating title “The Body.” The premise of this slickly anti-Christian movie was that the decomposed body of Jesus Christ had been found in a grave buried beneath a house in Jerusalem.  The writers and producers of this movie – that incidentally bombed at the box-office – knew what the apostle Paul knew when he wrote, “if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” If there is a body in a grave somewhere that can be proven beyond a doubt is Jesus’, Christianity crumbles immediately and Jesus is no different than Buddha or Krishna or Mohammed.

In the 58 verses of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives the most extensive theological treatment of the resurrection in all of Scripture. In verses 35-49 of 1 Corinthians 15, the word “body” and the neuter pronouns referring to it are found no less than 18 times. The Greek word for “body,” σῶμα (so-mah), is used 146 times in the NT, almost every time in reference to a physical, material body. The evidence is overwhelming; you have to stubbornly will to ignore it in order to argue the fact  that Scripture declares the physical, bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus. For example…

NAS John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.”

NAS Luke 24:36-43 And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet . 41 And while they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43  and He took it and ate it before them.

Certainly, it is all but impossible to logically argue that these post-resurrection passages are not clear evidence of Jesus in physical form. Unless one is unwilling to accept the clear testimony of Scripture, there is no question that the Resurrection of Jesus was a physical one.

Continuing this line of reasoning that Jesus’ resurrection was real and physical, the following thought is rarely mentioned, even though it is both meaningful and convincing: “If Jesus had not arisen, there would have been evidence that he had not. His enemies would have sought and found this evidence, but the apostles went up and down the very city where He had been crucified and proclaimed right to the faces of His slayers that He had been raised, and no one could produce evidence to the contrary.” – Frank Morison in “Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection” by John Ankerberg

Another salient point in favor of the bodily resurrection is this one: “No one can logically hold the slightest doubt that the tomb of Jesus Christ was empty (even the harshest critics of Christianity do not claim otherwise). This reality occurred in spite of everyone knowing its exact location, in spite of the Roman guard and seal, and in spite of the best attempts of Jesus’ enemies to locate the body. Virtually every theory ever proposed to explain the empty tomb – the “swoon,” “stolen body,” “hallucination,” “evaporation,” “mistaken identity,” and “wrong tomb” theories – any other theory other than the Resurrection of Christ is considerably more difficult to believe than the Resurrection itself. This indicates that the only possible reason the tomb was empty is what Christians everywhere have maintained for 2,000 years – Christ literally rose physically from the dead.” – Ankerberg

Jesus Christ rose bodily from the grave and exists today in heaven at the right hand of God the Father (separate in Persons, one in essence) in a body that, while spiritually transformed, retains the vestige of the physical body He had while on earth…

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus rose spiritually and not physically. But what exactly is a spiritual resurrection? And does not a spiritual resurrection imply a spiritual death? Such an implausible scenario is without a scintilla of scriptural support. The Bible teaches that Jesus rose physically…

A blog on the resurrection would be incomplete without prominent mention of John 11, the passage in which Jesus unequivocally stated that He Himself was the resurrection:

NAS John 11:21-27 Martha therefore said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.. 22 “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother shall rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27  She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

Imagine any other being in his right mind in the history of the world making such an astounding statement! Allow me to repeat for emphasis Jesus’s words for us all to consider and/or reaffirm: “Do you believe this?”

Another major point to ponder at this special time of year has to do with the word “hope.” Biblical hope is best defined confident expectation, rather than wishful thinking. I often wonder if we give enough attention to this great word during Easter. Easter may be said to be hope. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when we die, we will live again! And if we truly believe Christ triumphed over death, is there really any circumstance in life that we can convince ourselves He cannot handle? …If we believe…

“God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus; He came to love, heal, and forgive; He lived and died to buy my pardon, An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because He lives I can face tomorrow; Because He lives all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives.” – Hymn

Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975), the late, renowned, English secular historian who wrote what many consider to be the definitive work on the history of mankind, has a lengthy chapter in his vast work on “Saviors.” In his chapter Toynbee describes four different kinds of saviors. First of all, he says, there is the savior with the scepter: the political savior. Then there is the savior with the book: the philosophical savior (the philosopher, teacher, theologian). Then there is the savior with the sword: the military savior. Finally there’s the man-god or god-man savior of Greek mythology. And Toynbee, writing in his secular history book, points out that each of these savior-types ultimately capitulates (surrenders) to the great enemy of death. Politicians, kings, philosophers, military leaders, mythological gods – they all die. Then Toynbee concludes his chapter with these astonishing words – astonishing not because of what they report but because Toynbee was not a Christian, he writes, “When the last civilization will have come to the River of Death, there on the other side – filling the whole horizon with Himself – will be Jesus Christ the Savior. For He alone has overcome the grave.” There may be different types of semi-saviors, but in the end, there is but one true Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Back in the day when I was preaching, a dear woman told me that she always remembers to laugh a lot at Easter. I told her that I wasn’t sure if I was making the connection. She told me she would show me, and the next week she gave me a paragraph she had clipped some time before from a anonymous Christian publication, maybe from Billy Graham. I ended up including it in a sermon. Because it went over far better than I ever thought it would, I will dare share it with you. I trust you will think the point it makes is worthwhile, maybe even memorable…

“Let’s celebrate Easter Sunday with the rite of laughter. Christ died and rose and lives – He is living today!   So laugh like a woman who holds her first baby. This is not too absurd or bold a thought. Easter is the time of rejoicing. Our enemy Death will soon be destroyed (see 1 Corinthians 15:51- 58).  Because He is risen, death is not the end; it is, rather the beginning.  It is not a termination, but a promotion. And this we know, because the Lord Jesus Christ rose triumphant from the dead. And because of that glorious fact, we, too, shall one day rise again. The perishable shall become imperishable, and the mortal will become immortal on that great day.  So laugh like a man who finds he no longer has cancer, or if he still does, that he’s learned to look it in the eye and live each day above negativity, treasuring every moment, grateful, trusting, unafraid, rejoicing even in the pain.  Christ has opened wide the doors of heaven, so laugh like children at Disneyland’s gates. This world is owned by God; He’ll return one day to rule; and in the meantime He keeps us here to reflect His glory – So rejoice, Christian! It is Resurrection Sunday!  He is risen!  He is risen, indeed! Laugh – laugh out loud! Death has been conquered; He is risen! Laugh like a man who walks away uninjured from a wreck in which his car was totaled. See today as a new beginning, regardless of your circumstances. Embrace your faith. It is real.  It is real because He is risen – He is risen! Hallelujah!”

Rejoice! He is risen! Though undeserving in and of ourselves, through Christ we triumph over circumstance. It’s so overwhelming – this gift of life through the resurrection of Christ – that it’s enough to make us rejoice, to actually laugh out loud!

He is risen! Oh, hallelujah, He is risen, indeed!

Wishing you a blessed Resurrection Day, I’ll end with the lyrics of another familiar Easter hymn:

“Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes; He arose a victor form the dark domain, And He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

 

 

– Professor Thomas A. Rohm