Jesus said unto her-
I AM the resurrection and the life
he who believes in Me, though he were dead,
yet shall he (spiritually) live - John 11:25 |
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
shared with you by
Kraig J. Rice
www.7-star-admiral.com
Why is it a good idea to study Christ's resurrection?
It appears that Jesus thinks it is a good idea. Why? Because He expounded some of these
scriptures to a couple of His followers one time on the road to Emmaus-
Then He said to them- O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets
have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27)...and He opened their understanding, that they might
comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them-
thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name
to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem
(Luke 24:45-47).
What Jesus said about Himself
Jesus reveals His destiny to His disciples
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the
chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death,
and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the
third day He will rise again
(Matthew 20:18-19).
Then Jesus said to them- all of you will be made to stumble because of Me this
night, for it is written- I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.
But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee
(Mark 14:27-28).
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them- thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ
to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem
(Luke 24:45-47).
Jesus answered and said to them- destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up. Then the Jews said- it has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You
raise it up in three days? But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He
had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them- and they
believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said
(John 2:19-22).
Jesus said unto her- I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he were
dead, yet shall he (spiritually) live
(John 11:25).
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem,
and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised the third day
(Matthew 16:21).
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected
by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again
(Mark 8:31).
Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one
the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant
(Mark 9:9-10).
I AM He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I AM alive forevermore. Amen. And I have
the keys of Hades and of Death
(Revelation 1:18).
Some Old Testament Resurrection Scriptures
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth
(Job 19:25).
No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts His praises!
My body rests in safety. For You will not leave My soul in Sheol
or allow Your Holy One to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever
(Psalm 16:9-11)...but God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall
receive me. Selah (Psalm 49:15).
Your dead shall live- together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing,
you who dwell in dust
(Isaiah 26:19).
Therefore prophesy and say to them- thus says the Lord God- behold, O My people,
I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the
land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My
people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live,
and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it
and performed it, says the Lord
(Ezekiel 37:12-14).
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the
brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever
and ever
(Daniel 12:2-3)...but you, go your way till the end- for you shall rest, and will
arise to your inheritance at the end of the days
(Daniel 12:13).
I will ransom them from the power of the grave- I will redeem them from death...
(Hosea 13:14).
Some New Testament Resurrection Scriptures
But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken
to you by God, saying- I AM the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God
is not the God of the dead, but of the living
(Matthew 22:31-32).
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom- and the earth quaked, and the rocks were
split, and the graves were opened- and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were
raised- and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and
appeared to many
(Matthew 27:50-53).
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you- for you shall be repaid
at the resurrection of the just
(Luke 14:13-14).
And Jesus answered and said to them- the sons of this age marry and are given in
marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the
dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage- nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to
the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But even Moses showed in the
burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord: the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for
all live to Him
(Luke 20:34-38).
For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life
to whom He will (John 5:21)...Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God- and those who hear will live
(John 5:25)...Do not marvel at this- for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life,
and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation
(John 5:28-29).
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes
in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day
(John 6:39-40)...No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will
raise him up at the last day (John 6:44)...Whoever (spiritually) eats My flesh and drinks My
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day
(John 6:54).
A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.
Because I live, you will live also
(John 14:19).
Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the
Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in
Jesus the resurrection from the dead
(Acts 4:1-2).
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of
God- the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures
regarding his Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the
Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the
dead- Jesus Christ our Lord
(Romans 1:1-4).
Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in
this he brought glory to God. He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything
he promised. And because of Abraham's faith, God declared him to be righteous.
Now this wonderful truth- that God declared him to be righteous- was not just for Abraham's
benefit. It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if
we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die
because of our sins, and He was raised from the dead to make us right with God
(Romans 4:20-25).
Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit
is alive because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus
from the dead, lives in you. And just as He raised Christ from the dead, He will give life to
your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you
(Romans 8:10-11).
Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? Will God? No! He is the one who has
given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No,
for He is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place
of highest honor next to God, pleading for us
(Romans 8:33-34).
And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power (1 Corinthians 6:14).
But tell me this- since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying
there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then
Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is
useless, and your trust in God is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we
have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can not be true if there is no
resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been
raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under
condemnation for your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished!
And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the
world. But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a
great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. So you see, just as death came into
the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another
Man, Christ. Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who
are related to Christ, the other Man, will be given new life. But there is an order to this
resurrection- Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all His people will be
raised. After that the end will come, when He will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father,
having put down all enemies of every kind. For Christ must reign until He humbles all His
enemies beneath His feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For the Scriptures
say- God has given Him authority over all things. (Of course, when it says "authority over all
things," it does not include God Himself, who gave Christ His authority.) Then, when He has
conquered all things, the Son will present Himself to God, so that God, who gave His Son
authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.
If the dead will not be raised, then what point is there in people being baptized for those who
are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again? And why should we ourselves be
continually risking our lives, facing death hour by hour? For I swear, dear brothers and
sisters, I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done in you. And what value was there in fighting wild beasts- those men of Ephesus- if there
will be no resurrection from the dead?
(1 Corinthians 15:12-32 NLT).
We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and
present us to Himself along with you
(2 Corinthians 4:14 NLT).
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down- when we die and leave these
bodies- we will have a home in Heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by
human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put
on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we
will put on new heavenly bodies. Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it's not that
we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these
dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life. God Himself has prepared us for this,
and as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit
(2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NLT).
Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge.
And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for
proclaiming the word of God. And I saw the souls of those who had not worshiped the beast
or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life
again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection.
(The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death
holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a
thousand years
(Revelation 20:4-6 NLT).
My paraphrase of a section of scripture could read like this-
And now Barnabas and I are here to bring you this Good News. God's promise to our ancestors
has come true in our own time, in that God raised Jesus. This is what Psalm 2:7 is
talking about when it says concerning Jesus- You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.
For God had promised to raise Him from the dead, never again to die. This is stated in
Isaiah 55:3 that says- I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David. Psalm 16:10
explains more fully, saying- You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave
(Acts 13:32-35).
Witnesses to Christ's Resurrection
Truth can be affirmed when there are two or three witnesses to any situation, happening, or event-
...in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established
(2 Corinthians 13:1).
The interesting thing about Christ's resurrection is the fact that there were way more than
just three witnesses but hundreds.
Easton's Bible Dictionary contains this information on the Resurrection of Christ-
"The Resurrection of Christ is one of the cardinal facts and doctrines of the gospel. If Christ
be not risen, our faith is vain
(1 Corinthians 15:14). The whole of the New Testament revelation rests on this as an
historical fact. On the day of Pentecost Peter argued the necessity of Christ's resurrection
from the prediction in
Psalms 16 (Acts 2:24-28). In His own discourses, also, our Lord clearly intimates His resurrection
(Matthew 20:19; Mark 9:9; 14:28; Luke 18:33; John 2:19-22).
To Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre alone. This is recorded at length only by
(John 20:11-18), and alluded to by (Mark 16:9-11).
To certain women, "the other Mary," Salome, Joanna, and others, as they returned from the
sepulchre. (Matthew 28:1-10) alone gives an account of this.
(Compare Mark 16:1-8, and Luke 24:1-11.)
To Simon Peter alone on the day of the resurrection. (See Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5.)
To the two disciples on the way to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection, recorded fully only
by (Luke 24:13-35. Compare Mark 16:12,13).
To the ten disciples (Thomas being absent) and others "with them," at Jerusalem on the evening
of the resurrection day. One of the evangelists gives an account of this appearance,
(John 20:19-24).
To the disciples again (Thomas being present) at Jerusalem
(Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:33-40; John 20:26-28. See also 1 Corinthians 15:5).
To the disciples when fishing at the Sea of Galilee. Of this appearance also
(John 21:1-23) alone gives an account.
To the eleven, and above 500 brethren at once, at an appointed place in Galilee
(1 Corinthians 15:6; Compare Matthew 28:16-20).
To James, but under what circumstances we are not informed (1 Corinthians 15:7).
To the apostles immediately before the ascension. They accompanied Him from Jerusalem to
Mount Olivet, and there they saw Him ascend "till a cloud received Him out of their sight"
(Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-52; Acts 1:4-10). It is worthy of note that it is distinctly related
that on most of these occasions our Lord afforded His disciples the amplest opportunity of
testing the fact of his resurrection. He conversed with them face to face. They touched Him
(Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:39; John 20:27), and He ate bread with them
(Luke 24:42,43; John 21:12,13).
In addition to the above, mention might be made of Christ's manifestation of Himself to Paul
at Damascus, who speaks of it as an appearance of the risen Saviour
(Acts 9:3-9,17; 1 Corinthians 15:8; 9:1). It is implied in the words of Luke
(Acts 1:3) that there may have been other appearances of which we have no record.
The resurrection is spoken of as the act
(1) of God the Father- (Psalms 16:10; Acts 2:24; 3:15; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:20;
Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 13:20);
(2) of Christ Himself- (John 2:19; 10:18); and
(3) of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).
The resurrection is a public testimony of Christ's release from His undertaking as surety,
and an evidence of the Father's acceptance of His work of redemption. It is a victory over
death and the grave for all His followers.
The importance of Christ's resurrection will be seen when we consider that if He rose the
gospel is true, and if He rose not it is false. His resurrection from the dead makes it
manifest that His sacrifice was accepted. Our justification was secured by His obedience to
the death, and therefore He was raised from the dead (Romans 4:25). His resurrection is a
proof that He made a full atonement for our sins, that His sacrifice was accepted as a
satisfaction to divine justice, and His blood a ransom for sinners. It is also a pledge
and an earnest of the resurrection of all believers
(Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:47-49; Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:2). As he lives, they shall
live also.
It proved Him to be the Son of God, inasmuch as it authenticated all His claims
(John 2:19; 10:17). "If Christ did not rise, the whole scheme of redemption is a failure,
and all the predictions and anticipations of its glorious results for time and for eternity,
for men and for angels of every rank and order, are proved to be chimeras. 'But now is Christ
risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.' Therefore the Bible is
true from Genesis to Revelation. The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown, Satan has fallen
as lightning from Heaven, and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness
over misery is for ever secured." Hodge.
With reference to the report that the Roman soldiers were bribed (Matthew 28:12-14) to
circulate concerning Christ's resurrection, "His disciples came by night and stole Him
away while we slept," Matthew Henry in his "Commentary," under John 20:1-10, fittingly
remarks, "The grave-clothes in which Christ had been buried were found in very good order,
which serves for an evidence that His body was not 'stolen away while men slept.' Robbers of
tombs have been known to take away 'the clothes' and leave the body; but none ever took away
'the body' and left the clothes, especially when they were 'fine linen' and new (Mark 15:46).
Any one would rather choose to carry a dead body in its clothes than naked. Or if they that
were supposed to have stolen it would have left the grave-clothes behind, yet it cannot be
supposed they would find leisure to 'fold up the linen'."
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