Sermon Tone Analysis

/Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

/

/—John 5:25/

*23.93* *ζάω*b; *ἀ**ναζάω*a; *ἀ**νίσταμαι*d (and 2nd aorist active); *ἀ**νάστασις*a,* **εως */f/; *ἐ**ξανάστασις*,* **εως */f/; *ἔ**γερσις*,* **εως */f/: to come back to life after having once died—‘to come back to life, to live again, to be resurrected, resurrection.’

ζάωb: Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἔζησεν ‘Christ died and rose to life again’ Ro 14.9.

ἀναζάωa: Χριστὸς καὶ ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ ἀνέζησεν ‘Christ also died, rose, and lives again’ Ro 14.9 (apparatus).

In Lk 15.24, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ υἱός μου νεκρὸς ἦν καὶ ἀνέζησεν ‘because this son of mine was dead and he has come back to life,’ the figurative hyperbole may reflect the practice of referring to a person as dead and then coming back to life if he has been completely separated for a time from all family relations, but then has later been discovered alive and well.

It is possible, of course, that in Lk 15.24 the expression is an idiom, but it is more likely to be simply a figurative usage.

ἀνίσταμαιd: προφήτης τις τῶν ἀρχαίων ἀνέστη ‘one of the prophets of long ago came back to life’ Lk 9.8.

ἀνάστασιςa: Σαδδουκαῖοι, λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν ‘the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection’ Mt 22.23.

One may also translate ‘there is no resurrection’ as ‘people will not live again.’

ἐξανάστασις: εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ‘if in some way I might attain to the resurrection from among the dead’ Php 3.11.

The phrase ‘the resurrection from among the dead’ may be rendered as ‘to live again’ or ‘to live again after having died.’

ἔγερσις: μετὰ τὴν ἔγερσιν αὐτοῦ ‘after his resurrection’ or ‘after he rose from death’ Mt 27.53.

In a number of languages there is a difficulty involved in formulating some expression for ‘resurrection’ or ‘living again,’ since such a phrase may refer to what is technically known as metempsychosis, that is to say, the rebirth of the soul in another existence, a belief which is widely held in a number of areas of south Asia.

This problem may be avoided in some languages by speaking of ‘his body will live again’ or ‘his body will come back to life’ or ‘he will be the same person when he lives again.’

*23.94* *ἐ**γείρω*e; *ἐ**ξεγείρω*a; *ἀ**νίστημι*b: to cause someone to live again after having once died—‘to raise to life, to make live again.’

ἐγείρωe : οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἠγέρθη ‘he is not here; he has been raised’ Mt 28.6.

In some languages it may be important to indicate in Mt 28.6 who is the agent, and one may therefore translate ‘he is not here; God has caused him to live again.’

ἐξεγείρωa: ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ τὸν κύριον ἤγειρεν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐξεγερεῖ διὰ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ ‘God raised up the Lord and will raise us up through his power’ or ‘God caused the Lord to live again and he will cause us to live through his power’ 1 Cor 6.14.ἀνίστημιb : ἀλλὰ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸ ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ‘but that I should raise them to life on the last day’ Jn 6.39.

*23.95* *συνεγείρω*; *συζωοποιέω*: to cause to live again together with others—‘to raise to life together with.’

συνεγείρω: εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ ‘since you have been raised to life with Christ’ Col 3.1.

συζωοποιέω: συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ ‘he brought to life with Christ’ or ‘he caused to live again together with Christ’ Eph 2.5.

There are serious semantic difficulties involved in a literal translation of συνεγείρω or συζωοποιέω, for a literal rendering could either be interpreted as ‘to be raised to life at the same time with’ or ‘to be raised to life in the same way as,’ but the reference in Col 3.1 and Eph 2.5 is to a spiritual existence more than to a literal resurrection of the body.

This means that both συνεγείρω and συζωοποιέω must be understood as highly figurative.

Hence, in Col 3.1 it may be necessary to translate εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ as ‘since you have been raised to life, so to speak, with Christ’ or ‘since, as it were, you have been raised to life with Christ.’

In this way one may point to the fact of a figurative element involved.

[1]

*The Resurrection of Christ*

Many people, especially at Easter time, describe the resurrection as the evidence that there is life after death.

This is not true at all, of course, since many passages teach that no one ceases to exist.

Does the resurrection provide life with God after death, then?

No, not really, since spiritual death is our problem, and Christ’s bearing of the penalty of sin satisfied God’s demands and made it possible for Him to give life only to those in Christ.

A startling statement will help us see the importance of the resurrection: Jesus actually died twice.

He was first forsaken by the Father during His time on the cross.

This is described in Ps. 22:1–21, especially v. 1, the cry of dereliction He quoted on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt.

27:46, NIV).

This separation from the Father was spiritual death, experienced for others as He was “made” sin (2 Cor.

5:21).

It is significant that Jesus addressed the plea not to His Father, but simply to God.

The father~/son relation had been broken for a few hours as sin was being dealt with.

But Lk. 23:46 records that just before His death, in what must have been the seventh utterance from the cross, He once again addressed God as His Father: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk.

23:46, NIV).

The union, which had existed until a few hours earlier, then had been broken, was restored.

In fact, the first cry was “Father, forgive them.”

Yet before He expired, He revealed that the transaction had been completed, as He cried, “It is finished” (Jn.

19:30).

We should note then, that utterances addressed to the Father surround one addressed only to God.

Furthermore, the purpose of His dying was completed before He died physically.

That period of forsaking, involving spiritual death, was what actually paid for sins.

What then was the purpose of His physical death and of His subsequent resurrection?

For every human being physical death comes as a result of being under the curse of the fall.

The decay and final failing of the body is a vivid demonstration of something that we cannot see but all possess—spiritual death.

Only a few individuals in history have escaped the sequence—Enoch and Elijah—who both went directly to God, avoiding bodily death.

Jesus’ body died partly as a result of His spiritual death and partly as a demonstration of it.

We know from His physical death that He was, even for a short time, made like us and subject to the curse of returning to dust, placed on everyone since the fall.

Of course, the immediate cause was the physical mistreatment He received.

But the ultimate cause was His coming under the judgment of God on sinners.

In speaking of the resurrection we should stress that Jesus’ /body/ was brought from the grave, Jesus as a person never ceased to exist.

Where He was for three days, the Bible doesn’t say.

But His bodily resurrection reunited His nonmaterial nature with His body, thus setting the pattern for all who follow the same sequence, with Him as the firstborn (Col.

1:18).

So we should stress, at Easter and all other times, that Jesus’ resurrection made it possible for those who know God to enjoy meaningful life after the grave, with the whole person put back together—body, soul, spirit, heart, mind, and all.

In God’s sight, the individual is incomplete without his body.

And even though the body that believers receive at their resurrection will be different (the issue that perplexed the Corinthians and that is addressed in 1 Cor.

15), it will somehow be like the body they had earlier, retaining personal identity.

Jesus possessed this kind of body after His resurrection, so that His friends were able to recognize Him.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus was a demonstration that the Father approved the cross-work of the Son.

Romans 4:25 indicates that He was “raised on account of our justification,” i.e. because justification had been accomplished (not brought out in most translations).

Without the bodily resurrection we would never know if the basic problem of sin and spiritual death had been solved.

All that was needed for justification had already been accomplished, so the Father raised the Son as a visible proof that the sin question had been settled.

There are other significant spiritual issues connected with the resurrection.

Among other things, it is fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies, a demonstration of the power of God, and the prerequisite for Jesus’ occupying the throne of David over Israel in the kingdom.

Events surrounding the resurrection are treated in books that deal with the life of Christ.

The reader should consult such works in ch.

22, Annotated Bibliography, for details concerning the sequence of events and proofs for the resurrection.

[2]

*27:37** What Was the Crime?*

/See comment on/ john 19:19.

*27:46** Why Have You Forsaken Me?*

/See comment on/ psalm 22:1; mark 15:34.

*27:53** What Resurrection Happened at the Cross?*

First, what does it mean that many holy people were raised to life?

Is this a resurrection or simply the appearance of ghosts of some type?

Second, why did they wait until after the resurrection to enter “the holy city” (Jerusalem)?

Finally, what does this event mean?

It sounds like a fantastic detail, a legend which has slipped into the text.

Matthew’s version of the crucifixion has a far more triumphant ending than that in Mark.

After underlining that Jesus was crucified as the king of the Jews and fulfilled Scripture in his death (so it was part of God’s plan), Matthew includes four unique incidents after Jesus’ death: (1) the earthquake, (2) the resurrection of the holy people, (3) the setting of the guard at the tomb and (4) the second earthquake before the women arrive at the tomb.

Earthquakes, of course, are relatively well known in Palestine (compare Amos 1:1).

The Jordan Valley itself is the result of earthquake activity, and the country has fault lines not unlike those around San Francisco, another earthquake-prone locality.

Earthquakes were also part of Jewish belief about the end times (Zech 14:4).

The unusual thing in this passage is the timing of the earthquakes, their close association with both the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

In each case the earthquakes appear to open tombs.

That in itself is not surprising.

The tombs of the wealthier people were generally natural caves suitably enlarged or else artificial caves carved into softer rock.

Several hillsides around Jerusalem had many of them.

The tombs were closed with a rock door which was like a cork worked into the small opening of the cave.

An earthquake which moved the rock around it could pop such a door open.

So far, however, we only have a natural event with unusual timing, a timing which indicates that God is behind it, but only for those who notice the coincidence.

But it is one thing for an earthquake to open tombs and quite another for the dead in them to come out!

Matthew makes it clear that this is a resurrection, for he refers to the “bodies” as having been raised.

This is also in line with a typical Jewish view of the afterlife, for they believed that any spirit departed from the dead when the body began to decay.

Thus there would be no ghosts or spirits in tombs to come out, only corpses or their ultimate remains, skeletons (the bones of which were gathered and put into stone boxes called ossuaries).

Thus Matthew obviously believed that this was a real resurrection, and for him the appearances of these people to others simply provide witnesses to the fact that the bodies were raised.

The crucial thing for him is the resurrection of the “holy people” itself.