The Resurrection

Recap

Jesus has been crucified

Jesus has been buried

Now they wait

Resurrection Power

Just like with Jesus’ burial, we have evidence and facts that proves Jesus’ resurrection. We don’t have to go through our life as a believer, believing what we believe solely based on blind faith. We can read God’s word and know that it is fact based on His word. We can also look to historical records in Josephus’ writings as well as others and not only find multiple examples of historians who confirm that Jesus existed but that he claimed to be the Messiah, was crucified by Pilate, and his followers claimed he was raised from the dead three days later. All of these things documented and by non-believers.

“I suppose, brethren, that we may have persons arise, who will doubt whether there was ever such a man as Julius Caesar, or Napoleon Bonaparte; and when they do, — when all reliable history is flung to the winds, — then, but not till then, may they begin to question whether Jesus Christ rose from the dead, for this historical fact is attested by more witnesses than almost any other fact that stands on record in history, whether sacred or profane.” (Spurgeon)

You might say, why does this fact of other historians matter or how does it prove the truth of scripture. The truth is, in and of itself, it doesn’t. What it does do is lends credibility to the bible’s claims which causes us to have to figure out what we do with the claims of the bible. Multiple historians claim Jesus existed. They claim he was crucified. They claim that other people saw him after his death, which suggests his resurrection happened. As long as these claims are being made by Christians to be true and historians give, at least some evidence to, there will always be naysayers, especially when Jesus claims to be God in the flesh and the Way the Truth and the Life!

When you make the exclusive claim that there is no other way but through Jesus you tend to make enemies.

Matthew 28:1 ESV

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

The first thing chapter 28 does is it picks up with this 3 day idea where 27 left off. The day he was crucified was passover and the day of preparation for the Sabbath. Now, after the Sabbath or Shabbat (what we would call Saturday), we have the first day of the week, Yom Rishon in Hebrew. Notice it says toward the dawn of the first day. Remember Yom Rishon started at Sundown on what we would call Saturday.

So, on this first day of the week at almost dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were going to see the tomb. Why?

Luke 24:1 ESV

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

They were going back to the tomb to finish prepping Jesus’ body for proper burial. Their efforts were cut off because of Shabbat, something the followers of Jesus wanted to honor but the chief priests and Pharisees didn’t worry too much about.

Matthew 28:2–4 ESV

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

Matthew alone records the earthquake happening. The word here “for” in verse 2 is like saying “because”. The great earthquake occured “because” an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone. I don’t think it happened because he sat on the stone.

“The earth shook both at Christ’s passion and at his resurrection; then, to show that it could not bear his suffering; now, to show that it could not hinder his rising.” (Trapp)

These Romans guards, seasoned and calculated in their skill of warfare, trembled and became like dead men at the sight of the angel’s appearing!

These men, who’s job it was to guard and not fall asleep, were completely overwhelmed at the sight of these angelic beings.

“The resurrection of Christ is a subject of terror to the servants of sin, and a subject of consolation to the sons of God; because it is a proof of the resurrection of both, the one to shame and everlasting contempt-the other to eternal glory and joy.” (Clarke)

Matthew 28:5–6 ESV

5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

This angel brought words of comfort and confidence. He commanded them to not be afraid. He says this to a group of women when these fearless soldiers had just passed out on the spot. But they weren’t to take comfort in his presence but in the fact that he knew who they were looking for and he had good news for them.

As a side note: We don’t need to even think for a second that Jesus needed the angel to roll back the stone to let him out. Or that the two angels found sitting inside the tomb in Luke 24 were there to revive Jesus. They were their to do their job as messengers, the true meaning of the word Angel. They were their to herald the good news of His resurrection and to remind the women of Jesus repeated warning and promise.

Luke 24:5–8 ESV

5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words,

He is not here: These were some of the most beautiful and important words ever spoken by an angel to men. One may look all over Jerusalem and see countless thousands of tombs, but one will never find the tomb of Jesus — because He is not here.

Every so often someone claims to have found evidence of the tomb of Jesus or the bones of Jesus. Each claim is found to be untrue, while the testimony of the angels is proved true over and over again: He is not here.

Even the beginning of the resurrection account refutes many of the false alternative theories suggested by some.

The wrong tomb theory is answered by Luke 23:55; the women knew exactly which tomb Jesus was buried in.

The wishful thinking theory is answered by Luke 24:4 and 24:11, which note the surprise of the women and the disciples of the news of Jesus' resurrection.

The animals-ate-the-body theory is answered by the presence of the stone (Luke 24:2).

The swoon theory is answered by the presence of the stone (Luke 24:2).

The grave robber theory is answered by the presence of the Roman guard and seal (Matthew 27:62-66).

As good as it was to hear the words He is not here, how much more were those words amplified in the reminder of Jesus’ own words and their remembrance.

Luke 24:8 ESV

8 And they remembered his words,

Those women were later grateful that the angel told them to see the place where they laid Him. It would have — it should have — been enough to merely hear the testimony of the angel. Nevertheless, when they saw it, it gave them ground to stand on even more solid than the testimony of an angel.

“One eye-witness is better than twenty ear-witnesses; men will believe what you have seen if they do not believe what you have heard.” (Spurgeon)

The fact of the resurrection is clear enough. We must also grapple with the meaning of the resurrection. Simply, Jesus’ resurrection proved that His death was an actual propitiation for sin and that the Father had accepted it as such. The cross was the payment, the resurrection the receipt, proving that the payment was fully accepted. - Guzik

Propitiation for Sin: To render one’s self an atoning victim

Romans 3:25-26

Romans 3:25–26 ESV

25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Message for the Disciples

Matthew 28:7–8 ESV

7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

The Marys then receive clear instructions from the attending angel. These women who witnessed Jesus body be laid in the tomb were now chosen as faithful messengers to the 11 disciples, and probably anyone else that wore that name, with the greatest news ever! What an incredible honor.

Husbands, God has given us our wives as gifts from Him and, at least in my experience, he uses them to be messengers to us. Let’s give thanks to God for His messengers. Sometimes they see things when we don’t. God gives them insight before He gives it to us because sometimes he gives it to us through them! Be thankful for your gift from God!

Spurgeon said this about this command: “Not first to them who were the heads of the Church, as it were, but first of all to lowly women, did the Lord appear; and the apostles themselves had to go to school to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to learn that great truth, ‘The Lord is risen indeed.’” (Spurgeon)

The message for the disciples was filled with HOPE! He’s risen form the dead! We are going to see Him again back home in Galilee! He was risen, and risen to have and continue a real relationship with His disciples.

“Saints running in the way of obedience are likely to be met by Jesus. Some Christians travel to heaven so slowly that they are overtaken by follies or by faults, by slumber or by Satan; but he who is Christ’s running footman shall meet his Master while he is speeding on his way.” (Spurgeon)

Matthew 28:9–10 ESV

9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Notice that the women met Jesus as they obeyed the command to tell the news of the resurrection.

When the women met Jesus, they also felt compelled to worship Him. An hour before, they thought everything was lost because they thought Jesus was dead. Now they knew everything was gained because Jesus was alive. Notice, Jesus received the worship of these ladies. If Jesus were not God, it would have been terribly sinful for Him to receive this worship. But being God, it was good and appropriate for Him to receive it.

My brothers: “This is the first time our Lord called his disciples by this endearing name: they no doubt thought that their Lord would reproach them with their past cowardice and infidelity; but, in speaking thus, he gives them a full assurance, in the most tender terms, that all that was passed was buried for ever.” (Clarke)

The Cover Up

Matthew 28:11–15 ESV

11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

It’s interesting here that these guards (some of them anyway) came back to the city and told the truth. They didn’t do this because they were necessarily good honest men, they did it because they couldn’t believe what they’d witnessed. What’s sad is that they didn’t come back in and tell everyone. They just went to the chief priests. The chief priests response is pretty sad too. Not just sad but it reveals the darkness of their hearts. They didn’t hear the truth and believe, they immediately wanted to cover everything up and even buy off these soldiers with a bribe.

While we slept: The cover-up also shows their foolishness. If it was true that the guards were asleep, they could not know that it was His disciples that stole the body of Jesus.

To believe this, we have to believe:

All the soldiers were asleep — all of them!

All the soldiers violated the strict law of the Roman military against sleeping on watch, punishable by death.

All the soldiers slept so deeply that none of them were awakened by the work and exertion and noise necessary to roll away the stone and carry out the body.

All the soldiers were so soundly asleep — yet they knew who it was who did this.

Clarke rightly comments, “Here is a whole heap of absurdities.”

Through the years, there have been many objections suggested to the resurrection of Jesus. Some say He didn’t die at all, but just swooned or fainted on the cross and spontaneously revived in the tomb. Others say He really died, but His body was stolen. Still others suggest He really died, but His desperate followers hallucinated His resurrection. A plain, simple understanding of the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus answers all of these theories, and shows they take far more faith to believe than the Biblical account does.

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.