Resurrection Sunday: Flesh & Bone

Introduction

In the series leading up to passion week we have been talking about how the entirety of the OT was preparation, anticipation, a foreshadow, a type of redemption story but the realities were to be seen in the person of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

The Gospel at the Fall of Man

the protoevangelium. The seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.

The promise of a Messiah that would take care of the enemy right from the start

The Gospel Through Abraham

God makes a covenant with Abraham to bless all the nations through his seed. He makes a weird covenant in which He basically promises to take the punishment if, or when rather, Abrahams descendents break their side of the agreement.

The picture of Abraham offering his son as a sacrifice unto the Lord

The picture of God providing himself as a lamb for the sacrifice.

The Gospel in the Belly of a Fish

Jonah provided “the sign.” Jesus himself called it “the sign” and not a sign. The same way Jonah spent 3 days in the belly of the beast, Jesus would spend 3 days in the belly of the earth (burial) and then emerge from that by the power of God.

And we see in Jonah hints that God is coming after the whole world and not just the Jews. He brought salvation to a heathen nation through a Jew and He will do it again.

The Gospel for The Gentiles

Not only did we see God providing salvation for thousands of Gentiles, the in habitants of Nineveh but we see God caring for the individual in going after Naaman, captain of Assyrian army, enemy of the people of God.

Pointing through this that God so love the world, not just the Jew…

Then we see Him showing the means by which He will save

The Gospel in the Blood

On the 14th day of Nissan, the Israelites where to kill the lamb and put the blood on their doorpost. Those who were under the blood were saved from Judgement.

We learned from Hebrews that without the spilling of blood their is no remission of sin.

The Suffering Servant

Lastly, we talked about the clearest most concise Messianic prophesy. Isaiah describes the Son of the Living God as the Suffering Servant. In the 53rd chapter he described how the Christ would be subject to death “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter”

700 years later John the baptizer would lay eyes on Jesus and say:

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Chronology of the Passion of Christ

Sunday (Palm)

Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem mounted on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12)

People wave palm branches and place them on the road

Monday

Jesus cleanses the temple (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48)

Jesus curses the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19; Mark 11:12-14)

Tuesday

Jesus teaches with parables (Olivet Discourse)

Jesus prepares His disciples for what is about to come (Matthew 21:23-26:5, Mark 11:20-13:37, Luke 20:1-21:36)

Wednesday

Judas agrees to betray Jesus

A plot to arrest Jesus is formulated (Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:1-6)

Thursday

The Last Supper

Jesus washes the feet of the disciples

Institution of the Lord’s Super (Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-39, John 13:1-17:26)

Friday

Crucifixion and death of Jesus

Atonement for sin is completed (Matthew 27:1-61, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 23:1-56, John 18:28-19:42.

Saturday

The women rested

The Tomb is sealed and guarded (Luke 23:56, Matthew 27:62-66)

Sunday

Jesus rises again from the dead (Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-18)

John 20:19–31 (NASB95)

19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

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

28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

The disciples are afraid, disoriented, their commander in chief was dead and they had no sense of direction. They were almost arrested with Jesus. They have barricaded themselves behind closed doors, if the authorities come, they will have to break the door down in order to get them

Jesus appears out of nowhere adding to the their distress (ghost)

This is a natural response to a supernatural event.

64% of Americans believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus

23% of Americans do not believe in Jesus’ bodily resurrection

13% of Americans are not sure about Jesus’ bodily resurrection

The disciples would have fallen in the category of the 36% who did not believe of at the very least were not sure which explains Jesus’s next move after his greeting:

John 20:20 (NASB95)

20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

At this point they got on board with Jesus words of peace to them so He repeated his His greeting and His declaration of peace now that it could be received by them

I declare to you that God has never veered from his course. His agenda of Saving souls and providing an avenue for the redemption of man has always been steady.

the moment that your eyes were opened and you were able to see and receive is not because God presented a different message but because you believed.

The moment you believe, you get to see all that was always in front of you.

When a father brings his son to Jesus because of the son’s affliction as a result of a demon terrorizing him he says,

Mark 9:22 (NASB95)

22 “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

Mark 9:23 (NASB95)

23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

The question here is not if I can do this, it is will you trust in God who can do what is humanly impossible. Without your willingness to believe all of the evidence is wasted on you. Belief is what opens your eyes to the truth of the gospel and the saving grace of Jesus.

Jesus’s hands, feet, side were not hidden from the disciples but unbelief prevented them from seeing it. Jesus pointed to the evidence that was always before them and finally, they saw and rejoiced.

So the 10 disciples rejoiced that it was Jesus and he had risen as He said, Jesus’s very physical body was able to walked through walls and locked doors. How is this even possible?

Jesus had been telling them. When discussing even how can people be saved Jesus assured them that with God all things are possible.

But Thomas was a tougher cookie to crack. He was not present with the others when all of this happened so later when they saw him they began to tell him about their experience with the Lord. What he had missed

John 20:25 (NASB95)

25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

“were saying to him” in the Greek is an imperfect tense, it indicates are repeated actions. They kept trying to convince him.. but no one, regardless of the evidence can be convinced without his consent. It cannot be done. There is an old adage, no one seems to know who originated it but it says. “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” (crowd miraculously fed still deserted Jesus).

But Thomas was even more insolent than that crowd. Jesus heard him.

John 20:27–28 (NASB95)

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

28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus tells him, you see me that’s why you believe but blessed are those who will believe without seeing

It was important for the disciples to know and accept that Jesus had a bodily resurrection and not some disembodied spirit because they needed to testify to this fact. Jesus himself stressed this:

Luke 24:39 (NASB95)

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.”

His bodily resurrection is imperative for our hope of living again for we are humans, we will always be humans and Jesus died to redeem humans. Do you understand the ramifications if the resurrection is not real?

1 Corinthians 15:14–23 (NASB95)

14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;

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

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,

This is our blessed hope. And this is the reality for those who believe. The evidence has not changed, God’s plan of redemption for you and for me has not changed. But you can only see, perceive, and receive if you decide to believe. John was very clear about this when he said.

John 20:30–31 (NASB95)

30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.