The Risen Lord

There is a popular saying that says there are only two absolutes in this world: death and taxes. But there are people around who are seem to be able to cheat the tax system. But they eventually get caught out. We are seeing a higher and higher proportion of people putting their bodies through all sorts of torturous surgeries and the like, just to stave off natural aging, and it is all in the attempt to, somehow, cheat death. Again, though, we don’t see much success here either, because we all die in due course. People have always died. People are dying as we speak. And people will continue to die well into the future.

But rarely do we ask the question WHY.

Why is it normal for people to die?

Created Very Good

According to the Bible, death wasn’t always part of life. Neither for plants, animals, nor for humanity. In the last verse of Genesis chapter 1 it says, Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. God’s understanding of very good is quite different to ours. In our thinking very good means that we are very bad. We help old ladies cross the street, and get their cats down from the tree. But whereas we can and do some good things, everything God does is good and perfect. He never cuts corners to get the job done quicker. If creation were not created in a perfect state it would be imperfect and therefore not very good. When God pronounces all creation very good in Genesis it is the same as saying that it was perfect. So God’s understanding of very good is perfection.

The Fall

But what was very good at the beginning quickly turned sour when our first parents sinned, and all creation became imperfect. The result is punishment for crimes against God, we are guilty. The first few chapters of Romans goes into much detail concerning all mankind’s responsibility for their sin. In Romans 3:9-11 Paul tells us the effect of sin on mankind. In quoting Psalm 14, he says,

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Life Through Christ

The People’s Champion

The whole reason God sent Jesus Christ into the world was to bring people back into a right relationship with their Creator. He goes on to say in a later chapter that through one man, that is Adam, sin entered the world. In other words Adam was our champion, the one chosen to represent the rest of mankind, and he failed. The second “Adam” is Jesus Christ. He is our great champion before God. Where Adam failed to live perfectly, Jesus Christ won the victory. In the same way that working for a business earns you a wage, the Bible says that death is the wages of sin. As our Champion Jesus took the punishment of God’s wrath upon Himself and died in our place. The darkness that covered Jerusalem for 3 hours was God’s wrath pouring out on Jesus. We have earned God’s anger, but Jesus received the wages. He paid the price when He died on the cross.

Jesus the Conqueror

If the wages of sin is death and eternal punishment. And if Jesus life was a sinless one, then we have a case that death could not hold Him down. To be sure, Jesus really did die on the cross. His heart never beat, and his body never moved, as His body lay wrapped in grave clothes in the tomb from late Friday afternoon until very early Sunday morning.

In Luke 24:1 we see that it was the women who are the first to go and finish preparing the body of Jesus for in His tomb. These women are “greatly perplexed” as they found the stone rolled away, Jesus body is missing, and the sudden appearance of 2 angels. People who lived at that time didn’t believe in people rising from their tombs, just as people in our time find it a ridiculous idea. But these two men in shining garments, angels, tell the women in v6, He is not here, but is risen! And remind the women of Jesus own words, which he told them on three different occasions, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’

Evidence is Given

According to Jewish society, Women in first century Israel were not reliable witnesses. But Luke goes out of his way to include the women who followed Jesus in His ministry. In chapter 23 we read that it was the women who stayed and witnessed the death of Jesus. It was the women who saw where He was buried. And it was the women who were the first to see the risen Christ. In the New King James Bible Luke 24, verse 1, it says they and certain other women. Luke is making special note that the women did not abandon the Lord Jesus, but witnessed all the injustice the authorities served Him on the Friday.

Now, in chapter 24 we see that these same women, with some others, come and are the first to witness the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Luke is silent about the interaction between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but John does speak of Mary’s encounter with the risen Lord. In John 20:11-18 we see Mary doesn’t immediately recognise Jesus, but thinks Him to be the gardener. As soon as Jesus speaks Mary’s name, her eyes are open and she sees the risen Jesus, and is given a message to tell His disciples.

Many people today think that Christianity is a thoughtless faith. Many in the church think we leave our minds in our cars when we pull up to church. But the Bible is clear. Here in the upper room Jesus provides the proof, the evidence, needed for the disciple to come to a thoughtful decision. It doesn’t take them long, but it still must go through the mind.

We read in verse 11 that The disciples didn’t believe the women and thought there testimony was ‘idle tales,’ or in other words nonsense. Regardless Luke tells us that Peter ran out to the tomb to inspect it himself, and the text tells us that he marvelled at what had happened. Skipping down to verse 33. This is where Jesus gives real evidence that His physical body was raised from the dead. Luke 24:39, Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” In one way this was the same body that went into the tomb. The disciples could still see the marks where the nails and spear pierced His flesh. It wasn’t until Jesus stood among them that belief became a reality for them. The disciples fully believed only when Jesus confirms His resurrection in verses 33-40 by eating some fish and honeycomb.

Ascension Into Heaven

Jesus then spends the next 40 days teaching them to understand the Bible. Verse 44, Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Although everything that Jesus did in His life, death, and resurrection was foretold in the Old Testament. but it is only with the Holy Spirit guiding us through the Bible that we are able to fully see the truth of God’s love and mercy for sinners. This same gracious love He has displayed throughout all of history beginning with the creation of the world in Genesis 1.

After these 40 days, Jesus ascended back into Heaven. In Acts 1:9 we read a very simple statement that Jesus “was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The ascension of Jesus was final confirmation and reward for His perfect and wonderful work on our behalf. He went to take up the role of the King, directing His kingdom from His glorious throne in Heaven. And Priest as He constantly prays for His people on earth.

Our Response

No Procrastination

Jesus never intended for His disciples to be sitting around waiting for Christ’s return, as the angels in v11 declare, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” The angel message is preserved for the ages so that all Christians may be assured that when Jesus the King returns there will be no disguises or hiddenness to it. Revelation 1:7 says, Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Everyone will know that the Day of the Lord has come, history will finally be over. The people of the earth will mourn because they will see that Jesus really is the King, that He is the only way to be forgiven by God and received into fellowship with Him.

Witnesses

But how can the world know about the Good News of Jesus Christ except if we go and proclaim it to all who will hear. In Matthews Gospel we call it The Great Commission, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. You see, as we wait for the Lord’s return, we are to be going about our Father’s business of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who has ears to hear. In Romans 10, Paul says, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Preach and preacher in these verses more likely refer to ordinary Christians telling others about the great news of Christ and backing this up in their lives. Not specifically to the person who stands in the pulpit, for it is the responsibility of every Believer to speak the Gospel and live the Gospel.

If Christians lived their lives according to their profession of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ, how much greater would our message be? How greater would be our witness to the truth and the trustworthiness of the Gospel?

Conclusion

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the main event in His life. It is the very reason He came to earth. The reason why it was foretold by God Himself in Genesis 3. The very reason God instituted the ritual sacrifices in the Temple. All to show that not one person could ever make themselves worthy of eternal life. All are sinners and at the complete mercy of God. But God has provided one way, and one way only, that we might have a way out from under His righteous anger. That one way is Jesus Christ. The Jesus Christ as is revealed to us in the words of the Holy Bible.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead signified that He was the long awaited Saviour of the world. It means that there is a way to beat the ravishes of time. A way to beat death. But to beat death we must trust and believe in the One who died, on our behalf, then rose again. Only then will we see the worth that life really has, not just for ourselves but for all mankind, from bobies in the womb to the 120 year old.

God created life, He rose Jesus from death to life, and He gives life to all who turn to Him in Faith.

AMEN