Easter 2021
Resurrection of Christ. The conviction that God not only sent His Son into the world but also vindicated Him after His death upon a cross, is fundamental to the NT witness and the corner-stone of Christian faith and theology. This certainty that God had reversed human judgement and established freedom from death in an event which inaugurated ‘the age to come’ found expression in the OT language of exaltation (Is. 52:13) and heavenly session (Ps. 110:1; see ASCENSION OF CHRIST), as well as in the Jewish eschatological vocabulary of a *resurrection of the dead (Dan. 12:2). This last term linked what happened to Jesus Christ to what was expected to happen to Christians, a conjunction visible in St *Paul’s claim that Christ is the first-fruits of them that slept (1 Cor. 15:20) and the first-begotten from the dead (Col. 1:18). The Christian hope is thus rooted in this event (1 Pet. 1:3) and looks forward to the time when death shall be finally overcome (1 Cor. 15:26).
One of the earliest Christian creeds, quoted by Paul at 1 Cor. 15:3–5 (perhaps 15:3–7) speaks of Christ being raised (i.e. by God) ‘on the third day, according to the Scriptures’ and appearing (ὤφθη) to Cephas (i.e. St *Peter) and to the twelve. The list continues with appearances to more than 500 brethren, to St *James, to all the *apostles, and, Paul adds, finally to himself. His instance (v. 11) that this belief was shared on all sides in the early Church is confirmed by the NT as a whole.
The Gospels report the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb by St *Mary Magdalene either alone (Jn. 20:1–9) or with one or more other women: with ‘the other Mary’ (Mt. 28:1); with Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mk. 16:1); or with Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women (Lk. 24:10). The Gospels disagree over other details: whether it was one or two angels or young men who told of Christ’s resurrection, whether Christ Himself then appeared (Mt., Jn.), whether He (Mt.) or the young man (Mk.) directed the disciples to *Galilee, and whether the women obeyed. Appearances follow, in *Jerusalem (Jn. 20) and nearby *Emmaus (Lk. 24), and/ or Galilee (Mt. 28, Jn. 21). Attempts to harmonize these traditions have failed to persuade critics, but the testimony of the biblical witnesses to the Divine event itself is unanimous. There is also broad agreement among the Gospels about how, after some initial doubts, the disciples became convinced of what had happened. However, because Paul (writing earlier than the Evangelists) makes no mention of the empty tomb, some modern critics have disputed its historicity. Others have argued that his reference to Christ’s burial implies that he assumed the tomb to be empty after the resurrection. While evidence of the empty tomb apart from the Christian tradition is not to be expected, there is equally no record of His body being produced, and the story about the bribing of the guards (Mt. 28:11–15) might suggest that no such claim was ever made. It was mainly this story, designed to answer accusations that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus, which led H. S. *Reimarus to revive the theory that the apostles had perpetrated a fraud, but subsequent historical investigations have discounted such speculations.
The nature of Christ’s risen or ‘spiritual body’ (1 Cor. 15) has from the earliest days been a matter of debate, partly because the Church has always taught that God’s saving action in Christ involves the material world, and also because the identity of the Risen Lord with the man from Nazareth is fundamental to orthodox Christianity. Believers have rightly resisted accounts which could undermine the reality of the event by dissolving it without remainder into the disciples’ experience. One such early insistence on the objective reality of the event may be found at Lk. 24:36–43. On the other hand the Gospels generally avoid implying that Jesus was restored to His previous earthly life; He is said to have passed through closed doors (Jn. 20:19), a feat which suggests that these appearances were not material in the normal sense. But the reality of the conviction they engendered is confirmed by the way some of the fearful disciples (cf. Mk. 14:50) became the bold leaders and missionaries depicted in Acts. Powerful transforming consequences ascribed to the Holy Spirit were from the beginning associated with the Resurrection (cf. Jn. 20:22), but the event itself, like the *Incarnation, remains a mystery that cannot be analysed.
John 3:16
The Heart of the Gospel
Luther called John 3:16 “the heart of the Bible—the Gospel in miniature.” It’s so simple a child can understand it; yet it condenses the deep and marvelous truths of redemption into these few pungent words:
• “God”...The greatest Lover
• “So loved”...The greatest degree
• “The world”...The greatest number
• “That He gave”..The greatest act
• “His only begotten Son”.The greatest gift
• “That whosoever”..The greatest invitation
• “Believeth”...The greatest simplicity
• “In Him”...The greatest Person
• “Should not perish”..The greatest deliverance
• “But”....The greatest difference
• “Have”....The greatest certainty
• “Everlasting Life”..The greatest possession
Source unknown
RESURRECTION PROOF
Topics: Jesus Christ; Resurrection
Reference: Acts 1:3
Science says that if there is any such thing as infallible proof, it is the repetition of the same experiment.
Experiment 1: Jesus rose from the dead, and Mary Magdalene encountered him.
Experiment 2: The women encountered the risen Christ.
Experiment 3: The disciples encountered Christ.
Experiment 4: The apostles encountered him.
Experiment 5: Christ was seen by five hundred people.
Each appearance of the risen Christ is the repetition of the same experiment. They all encountered the same phenomenon: Jesus, who died, was now alive! That’s what changed the history of the world.
—Walter Martin and Jill Martin Rische, Through the Windows of Heaven (Broadman & Holman, 1999)