Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 3 Lesson 5
This week in Sunday school, we look at Jesus’ resurrection. Was Jesus really in the tomb for “three days and three nights”? What are the implications of the resurrection for Christians? And is Jesus’ bodily resurrection an essential part of the Christian gospel? Join us as we look into these questions and more!
Our main text for this lesson will be Matthew 27:57-28:15.
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all right let us begin welcome to sunday school thank you for being here i said last week as we covered the crucifixion that that day was both the the best and worst day in history though some might contend that actually what we’re talking about today in sunday school was the best day in history if you look at the background notes in your student guide or your your workbook it actually says jesus resurrection was the greatest day in history and we have a song very beloved at calvary in which we say the greatest day in history also was the resurrection i i suppose it’d be pretty hard to decide which was better the cross or the resurrection but really those two events are so linked that if one were to take place without the other it would not be great without the cross jesus’s resurrection is useless but without the resurrection the cross is hopeless but both of these things took place and that’s what makes these three days in which these things took place the most wonderful moment in history we’re going to investigate the account of jesus’s resurrection today and we’re going to be using matthew’s gospel primarily we’ll mention the others again i encourage you to read the parallel accounts as you do be conscious that each writer as i’ve said before is coming at the scene coming at the events from a different perspective it’s actually really interesting how the accounts vary because it shows that the resurrection happening and the report of the resurrection was a little bit more complex than we think it appears at least and we won’t get into this in a lesson but i’ll just tell you now it appears that though a group of women go to the tomb one of the women and maybe more actually leave the tomb without believing jesus rose from the dead and then goes back to the tomb mary magdalene specifically is highlighted in john’s gospel of not believing even when the angels tell her that jesus has risen from the dead well we’re going to be looking at matthew’s gospel again i encourage you to complement your understanding of what we talked about today with your own reading but as we investigate the resurrection again this is a crucial event a wonderful event we want to we want to pay close attention to it we want to know what happened we want to know why it’s important and we want to know what it means for us today and lord willing won’t answer those questions in our class at least to some extent let’s pray our lord and god we thank you for the resurrection but we thank you for the cross that makes the resurrection meaningful lord what incredible work you’ve done and i pray that you help me to be able to explain it help the people to be able to appreciate it be moved by it to greater sanctification in jesus name amen okay please open your bibles to matthew chapter 27.
this is where we find the account of the resurrection recall where we are on the day of jesus crucifixion around 9 00 am the gentile trials began pilate herod then pilate tried christ pronounced him innocent and yet ultimately handed him over to be crucified jesus’s crucifixion began around 12 noon and for three hours from 12 to 3 o’clock approximately there was darkness over the whole earth that was while jesus was on the cross and was suffering the wrath of god in place of sinners at the end of three hours towards the end of three hours the gospel accounts tell us that jesus cried out cried out with a loud voice and then gave up his spirit and at that moment matthew tells us and we didn’t mention this last week but matthew tells us that there was a great earthquake and that many tombs opened and righteous persons came back from the dead and went into the city of jerusalem furthermore the veil of the temple the veil that separated the holy of holies from the holy place in the temple the very place that god’s presence was meant to dwell that veil was torn in two from top to bottom and when the onlookers saw how jesus died and those other things that took place the four soldiers who had crucified jesus including their centurion confessed truly this was the son of god now there are different supporters different followers of jesus who are observing the crucifixion and those things that happen from a distance including matthew tells us right before the passage we’re about to look at including two women two mary’s mary magdalene and mary the mother of james and joseph that’s james the less one of the apostles not james the brother of john but mary magdalene and mary the mother james and joseph they’re going to be important in what matthew’s about to tell us now look at matthew 27 verses 57 to 66 we have two sections to read we’re going to read and observe both sections but we’ll do them in parts so let’s start with this first section matthew 27 verses 57 to 66.
follow along with me when it was evening there came a rich man from arimathea named joseph who himself had also become a disciple of jesus this man went to pilate and asked for the body of jesus then pilate ordered it to be given to him and joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out in the rock and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away and mary magdalene was there and the other mary sitting opposite the grave now on the next day the day after the preparation the chief priests and the pharisees gathered together with pilate and said sir we remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said after three days i am to rise again therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day otherwise his disciples may come and steal him away and say to the people he has risen from the dead and the last deception will be worse than the first pilot said to them you have a guard go and make it as secure as you know how and they went and made the grave secure and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone right let’s observe this first section note first of all the timing this is still friday still good friday this is the day before the sabbath friday is considered the day of preparation remember this is a special sabbath it was also going to be passover for many of the jews and that day would begin at sundown remember many of the jews saw the days beginning at sundown not sunrise and not midnight so passover is about to take place at sundown but it’s still friday it’s getting closer to sun now though it’s evening our text tells us so getting close to the end of the day when we hear about this man joseph of arimathea told he’s a rich man but verse 27 also tells us he is a disciple of jesus if we bring in information from the other gospels we learn that he was actually a secret disciple of jesus because he was a member of the sanhedrin and remember what the sanhedrin is that’s the governing body of the jews that condemned jesus to death it was a council of elders religious leaders rabbis pharisees and they ruled israel under rome’s jurisdiction rome also ruled israel through pilate but he’s a member of the sanhedrin but he had not consented with the people to put jesus to death consented with the other members of the sanhedrin actually joseph of arimathea asks pilate for jesus’s body now this was a risky request why would it have been a risky for him to do this yes steve well i mean jesus was crucified for being quote king of the jews and association with him would mean that you believe that also yeah and that’s very good see jesus was crucified as a criminal as as king of the jews and he would be associating with him by asking for the body seeming to suggest that he supported him and as a member of the sanhedrin that’s going to make him look bad that’s going to bring him the ire of the other sanhedrin members and perhaps the jews at large and that also puts him into a certain position with rome that is risky rome crucified you’re going to support this crucified criminal that’s true pilate said that jesus was innocent but he was a condemned criminal and he died that horrifying and humiliating death so there was a certain amount of riskedness this request from joseph but he makes the request pilate hears it and grants it so joseph then prepares jesus’s body for burial text says he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth but he actually did more than this the other gospels say that joseph and nicodemus remember nicodemus was also a member of the sanhedrin they together prepared jesus’s body and they covered it in spices precious oils and aloes just making his body extremely fragrant john’s gospel says they used a hundred pounds of these spices and perfumes now this was not for preserving or embalming the body jews didn’t do that that was nothing the egyptians did this is not to prevent decay but this was a sign of affection devotion and reverence for the one who had died by perfuming it in this way that’s how the jews showed respect for the dead and it would cover the stench of decomposition as it took place or at least somewhat cover it but it was a sign of love for the one who had died and these men do it when they place the body back to what matthew says joseph places the body in a tomb it was actually close by the cross a cave tuned out of rock and the text says it was actually joseph’s own tomb it had not been used before it was new he puts jesus’s body in the tomb wrapped in the linen cloth perfumed and he closes the tomb with a large stone i probably had some help it’s not very easy to move a large stone but it was movable if you had enough manpower and the tomb was closed now note the text says that the two marys noted the place where jesus had been buried now they didn’t know joseph of arimathea and they didn’t know even nicodemus these women were probably from galilee elsewhere and so they didn’t necessarily fully trust joseph and what he did for jesus and we’re going to see later on they want to do something for jesus themselves but they note the place which he was buried then we have this request from the pharisees towards pilate prayers request the assistance of a roman guard to prevent the disciples deceiving the people by saying jesus falsely rise from the dead pilate grants their request when he says you have a guard he’s not saying you already have soldiers he’s giving them what they want here’s a guard take a guard they wouldn’t have needed to ask him otherwise if they already had a guard but he says take a guard make as secure as you can and they do they place these guards these roman guards around the tomb and says the text says they also set a seal on the stone now what does that mean well this word for seal or set of seal has two possible meanings depending on the context it can mean to place the seal on something that is like an insignia a sign of authority by placing this symbol on something it would basically mean don’t mess with this or face the consequences and we see this exact use of this kind of ceiling in the book of daniel very similar situation what we see here in daniel chapter 6 verse 17 when daniel is placed into the lion’s den listen to what the text says daniel 6 17. a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the dead and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing would be changed in regard to daniel so this could be the sense of seal or set a seal in our passage in matthew granted daniel’s passage is an aramaic so it’s not exactly the same word but same concept there’s another meaning though of seal that could be possible here and that’s the idea of fastening something so that it cannot move to fully shut up to make totally secure so that it won’t move or it won’t open we see the greek verb that is present in our passage used in this way and another place in revelation chapter 20.
revelation chapter 20 verses 2-3 speaking of satan being put into the abyss listen to what it says revelation 20 verses 2-3 and he that’s an angel laid hold of the dragon the serpent of old who is the devil in satan and bound him for a thousand years and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed after these things he must be released for a short time so in the second passage it seems more like the idea of fastening something shut if we examine the major major translations of our passage here in matthew they seem to be divided the major english translations divided on the sense of this seal new american standard the niv they both say set a seal or setting a seal that’s more the idea of a symbol or an insignia where the esv and the king james version they have the idea of or they they translate it as sealing the stone and that’s more the idea of fastening type keeping shut what it’s worth the two premier lexical resources that i use as a seminary student the greek english lexicon in the new testament other christian literature affectionately known as bdag for the abbreviations of the authors and the new international dictionary the new testament theology and exegesis which has a huge acronym which i won’t even try to say they both lean towards the idea of fastening shut and it does fit in the context of making the grave secure which is what they intended to do the jews want to make this grave as secure as they can so i lean more to the fasten idea both are possible and actually both may have happened they may have actually prevented the stone from moving and put the roman seal saying don’t mess with this don’t open this or you will face the consequences it could have been both certainly by the time we come to the end of chapter 7 we see that the tomb is very secure the tomb has a large heavy stone at the entrance it has been sealed one way or the other by their moments it has a roman guard around the tomb these are well-trained soldiers well-armed and soldiers that know they will pay with their lives if they fail to guard properly what they’ve been assigned to guard this is a very secure tomb there’s no way that a couple of bumbling disciples could come in and get jesus out of the tomb it has been made very secure so we made these observations let’s step back for a second and just consider two interpretation questions number one what does joseph demonstrate in asking for and preparing jesus’s body for burial we noted it was a risky thing to do and yet he does it so what does that demonstrate about joseph and he roy very deeply about what happened to jesus body and the idea that it would be properly prepared in the jewish fashion even though he risked his life doing that that’s right yeah this shows his devotion to jesus it shows his love for jesus and we could even say it shows his faith in jesus he is a true disciple of the lord now what he exactly expected to come from jesus burial we don’t know jesus did say he would rise again but this man is a true disciple and he’s willing to go out on a limb so to speak for jesus he’s showing faith you know it’s interesting that this is the only time that joseph of the appears in the scriptures and just for doing this one thing and every gospel records it every gospel records what he did kind of reminds me of what jesus said about mary the sister of martha and lazarus when she anointed jesus for burial he says wherever the gospel is preached what she has done will also be told the same thing seems to apply for joseph this this act of devotion was remembered is remembered in every gospel yeah roy you’re going to say something else what may be even more significant is that you can see the comparison between joseph and the jesus own disciples where were they they were the doors locked it says we don’t know how long he was a disciple they certainly didn’t spend as much time with jesus yeah that’s a good point yeah thanks roy joseph does stand in contrast to the disciples and it won’t just be joseph but we’ll see the people who first learn of the resurrection are not jesus’s disciples it’s the women they’re the ones who are going to the tomb and they’re the ones who are going to report what they see at the tomb where are the disciples as you say roy they many of them are just cowering in fear it’s true or john the apostle seems to have been at the cross but even he doesn’t appear to be at the tomb there’s one other thing though related to joseph’s actions that’s important for us to think about what is the significance of jesus being placed in joseph of arimathea’s tomb it says it was his own why is that significant it fulfills prophecy matthew doesn’t bring it up but this is exactly what isaiah said in isaiah 53 isaiah 53 verse 9 it says his grave was assigned with wicked men yet he was with a rich man in his death because he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth you see if joseph had not stepped forward and done this and no one else did then jesus would have been given a criminal’s burial he was assigned a grave with wicked men he would have gotten a very dishonorable burial the most basic burial of anything at all but this was prevented due to joseph and he was put in and he was put in joseph’s tomb a rich man’s tomb he was with a rich man in his death this is a very specific prophecy and it was brought to pass of course we’ve been seeing this throughout jesus’s life and certainly at the cross all these fulfillments of prophecy pointing to jesus truly being the messiah and of perfectly accomplishing god’s work now let’s look at the next section we’ve seen jesus’s preparation for burial let’s see what happens on the first day of the week matthew 28 verses 1 to 10 verse 1 now after the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week mary magdalene and the other mary came to look at the grave and behold a severe earthquake had occurred for an angel of the lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it and the appearance and his appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead men the angel said to the women do not be afraid for i know that you are looking for jesus who has been crucified he is not here for he has risen just as he said come see the place where he was lying go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold he is going ahead of you into galilee there you will see him behold i have told you and they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to his disciples and behold jesus met them and greeted them and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him then jesus said to them do not be afraid go and take words my brethren to leave for galilee and there they will see me just wonderful wonderful passage let’s observe what we see here note the timing now this is not friday not saturday not the sabbath but the first day of the week this is after the sabbath has finished this is dawn towards the first day of the week so sunday in our terms around 6 a.m or so notice who goes to the tomb it’s the two mary’s that we met earlier in fact it actually was more women than this if we put all the gospels together it seems to be at least four women but mary magdalene and mary the mother james and joseph they were there and notice what they see and they see that there had been an earthquake now the it’s a little ambiguous as to whether the earthquake occurred when they arrived or when it had occurred or if it had occurred before they arrived notice the translation the nazi interpreters are given is had been an earthquake and that does seem to fit more with the details the other gospels this appears to have taken place before they arrived and they simply saw the angel once they did this angel who came down uh had a stunning appearance it says he his appearance was like lightning now think of a lightning bolt lightning flash that brilliance that uh just overpowering light and his clothes were as white as snow and he when he descends there’s an earthquake and he rolls away the stone and he just sits on it now it could be that the stone was laid flat so that it was no longer standing up and he just sits on the stone and i feel like that’s a funny detail that he just sits on the stone it’s like the angel’s just chilling there after this after the grave has been opened but when the guards see it see that what see the angel’s appearance see the earthquake see what the angel does it says that they are overcome with fear and they became like dead men what does it mean to become like a dead man yeah they’re unable to move unable to speak unable to do anything in fact they may be unconscious they may have just been so overwhelmed with fright that they just fainted so so much for elite roman guard now this reaction of just becoming like a dead man and seeing such a such a sight such a glorious sight this is similar to what john himself experienced the apostle john experiences in the book of revelation when he sees the vision of glorified jesus it says he too fell fell at jesus’s feet and became like a dead man and then jesus raises him up so that’s what happens to the soldiers they fall they become like dead men perhaps unconscious notice what the women hear from the angel guards didn’t hear anything but the women do and angel says to them do not be afraid ah what a wonderful phrase and we hear it so often from the angels and even from christ in the scriptures do not be afraid even though you see this glorious creature and you see this overwhelming light and power don’t be afraid he tells him i know you’re looking for jesus but he’s not here he’s risen you know it’s interesting john mcarthur points out in his treatment of the passage that these women when they came to the tomb they were not expecting a resurrection they just came to honor jesus’s body by putting more spices and perfumes they weren’t expecting to see a resurrection they expected to see jesus his body daniel says he’s not here he’s risen just as he told you just as he said and he invites them to come into the tomb and see for themselves look look at the place where he then the angel commands them go and tell the disciples this news and tell them that jesus is going to galilee to see them there now jesus had said that himself before he died he says i’m going to go to galilee and see you that’s going to be the regrouping place for all jesus’s disciples though he would appear to many of them before now these women according to matthew they obey they go out with fear but they also go out with great joy and it says they actually run into jesus and it says he greets them it’s actually kind of funny but if you look at the the original language it literally says they ran into jesus and jesus said greetings he actually just kind of like says hi and they take hold of him and they take hold of his feet and they worship him and jesus accepts that worship jesus speaks to them too and he says basically the same thing the angel did he says don’t be afraid go and tell my disciples to meet me in galilee that’s interesting though notice that the one of the phrases jesus used jesus uses in verse 10 he says go to my brethren now we’re kind of used to the idea of brethren but jesus almost never uses this phrase in the scriptures to describe his disciples the only three times he does one time where he’s talking about the last judgment whatever you’ve done to the least of these my brethren you have done to me but he never addresses the disciples directly as my brethren so that’s kind of like a theoretical passage until his resurrection here matthew records it and john does the same thing john chapter 20 when jesus speaks with mary magdalene he says go and tell my brethren he never used that phrase before but what does it imply what does the use of my brethren imply yeah roy and in fact they can identify the disciples can identify with him now and he can identify with them in his attendees yeah there’s a even closer identification than existed earlier in jesus’s ministry and i do think yes it has something to do with what jesus has accomplished reconciliation to the father has been completed he can he has an even closer connection with them than he did before there’s a implication of affection in this term they are my brethren close fellowship and deep identification jesus is their brother and they are his brothers and he can say that without reservation based on really what he’s done and that’s where our our text ends so let’s now consider some interpretation questions i’ve got a number of them here first jesus declared in earlier in matthew matthew 12 verses 39 to 40.
something specific about what was going to happen in the future he said this is matthew 12 39-40 an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of jonah the prophet for just as jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth however according to the timing details we observed does jesus really fulfill what he prophesied three days and three nights was jesus indeed in the grave for 72 hours well if we just pay attention to what we observed we know that that can’t work so was jesus wrong now some and considering these words from jesus and the timing details we see in the gospels they come up with a pretty radical solution they say jesus actually wasn’t crucified on friday he was crucified earlier he was crucified on thursday or even wednesday that’s how you can get these three days and three nights but there’s a better answer to this question how could jesus fulfill what he prophesied and still go in the grave on friday and come out of it on sunday the answer is that jesus phrase was emphatic but idiomatic not literal now what’s an idiom remember an idiom is just a certain phrase that a people or a culture uses that everyone knows the meaning of even though it’s not literally true for example in english in american english we often say how are you when we don’t actually mean how are you like if you go to the grocery store and you speak with the cashier they might say hi how are you and you might just say hi back and they’re not going to say hey why don’t you tell me how you are no how are you is basically another way to say hi at least in american english if you try to use this idiom however in a different country or a different culture you’re going to find you don’t get the same reaction for example if you ask in german how someone is how are you they’ll probably be offended because they don’t know you and they say oh why do you want to know how i am they’re going to be a little weirded out by you that’s just something that we have in american english it’s the same thing when it comes to this phrase three days and three nights jesus is not saying that he would be in the grave 72 hours he was simply declaring that he would be in the grave for a portion of three different days for sure now we even have a parallel expression in english to this kind of thing someone might say i worked day and night for three days in a row i work day and night now when you say that you don’t literally mean that you work for 72 hours straight what you mean is that i worked a lot for three different days we even see or so actually let me say this it’s the same idea with what jesus said we even see the same kind of usage elsewhere in the bible if you go to the book of esther you don’t have to turn there but you can esther chapter 4 verses 15 to the first verse of chapter 5.
we see esther using a similar phrase that turns out not to be literally three days and three nights esther four verses 15 and following says this is right right before esther is going to go before king of hazarus then esther told them to reply to mordecai go assemble all the jews who are found in susa and faster me do not eat or drink for three days night or day okay there’s that phrase very slim into what jesus said i and my maidens also will fast in the same way and thus i will go into the king which is not according to the law and if i perish i perish so mordecai went away and did justice esther had commanded him and now the first verse of chapter five now what came about on the third day that esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace in front of the king’s rooms and basically she goes in before the king so even though she gave the instruction and the text says mordecai followed her instruction it’s clear that she did not literally fulfill what she asked fasting began on the first day before it started so it was not a full day it was a partial day it continued through a full second day and it concluded on the third day before the third day it ended it wasn’t even a full third day it was a portion of three different days it was not a full 72 hours so the jews understood that this phrase three days and three nights didn’t literally mean 72 hours it just meant a portion of three days and this is even more explicit from a jewish rabbi from the first century here’s a little quote from the exposer’s bible commentary talking about the understanding of the jews at that time listen to what this commentator says on three days and three nights rabbi eliezer ben azariah who lived around 80 100 said quote a day and a night make an ona that is a 24 hour period and a portion of an ona is reckoned as a complete ona so this is what the rabbi said we understand that day and night make up one unit and if you use any portion of that unit it’s considered as if you using the whole unit a no not that comes from the talmud a certain section and the commentator comments this shows how these terms were used in jesus’s time and there’s no reason for thinking that this had not been the understanding of the phrase a day and a night all along the difficulty some find at reconciling the expression three days and three nights with the time jesus body was in the grave comes from undue concern with clock time and that’s where his quote ends so maybe that was a little bit of an overkill to you but we can safely say jesus was not fudging but we’re not just coming up with a convenient explanation here no that was the understanding when he said three days and three nights he was not declaring 72 hours it would be a portion of three different days and that is exactly what happened jesus fulfilled that prophecy he was in the grave for part of the day on friday it wasn’t very much of the day it was right before sundown but he was in the grave he was in the grave fully on saturday the sabbath and he was in the grave partly on sunday he was gone at dawn or slightly before dawn around six a.m craig was that a question okay did everybody follow that yes steve well we actually have it here in our text also in matthew um you know it says uh when the when they got together to talk to the roman officials they said um sir we remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said after three days i will rise again so that was jesus’s own words that they’re quoting it says after three days and then in the very next verse it says therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day so right there even in our text after three days and until the third day are equivalent yeah that’s a great observation steve yeah even in matthew’s text we see these two things made equivalent just to repeat what you said briefly the pharisees say after three days he would rise again make it secure until the third day so you’re right yeah we can make a people of skeptics those who want to find a different problems with the scriptures they have made a lot of this phrase but actually the answer is pretty pretty simple and it’s even there in the text so that’s a great observation steve so yes jesus does really fulfill what he prophesied about being in the grave three days and he was but then he rose again now we’ll move on to another question here why did the angel roll away the stone on first glance or go ahead dwane exactly at first glance you might say oh he rolled away the student the stone so jesus could get out but we see nothing about jesus leaving the tomb here we rolled away the stones so that people could go in and so that they could see that the grave was empty we see later on in the gospels that jesus is able to travel around through things without opening doors he can go through locked doors he has a glorified body he’s able to move in a special way he didn’t need the tomb door opened but if people are going to verify that he wasn’t there the stone would need to be rolled away and that’s what the angel did this is a pretty simple question and next how well did the jewish and roman preparations prevent the resurrection of jesus not very well i’d say they failed uh totally they couldn’t prevent the resurrection they couldn’t prevent anything and what does this demonstrate reinforce for us man has no power but god is full of power and is totally sovereign number four what is the implication of jesus accepting the worship of the two women has to be because he’s god we’ve seen this before in the gospels if he accepts this kind of worship he must be god the apostle john was rebuked for doing this to another being who was not god same greek verb in the book of revelation revelation 19 10 and revelation 22 verses 8-9 john falls at the feet of an angel to do this worship this special verb in greek and the angel says here’s what he says in revelation 22 do not do that for i am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book worship god now those who don’t believe in the deity of christ they’ll try and translate this verb merely as reverence but if you do that there then you have a problem with john’s words in revelation 22 because the angel says don’t do that to anybody except god but jesus accepts the worship because he is god but there’s something else there with that worship that’s important for us to think through what is the significance of the women grasping jesus’s feet on the one hand it’s a it’s part of the worship it’s a sign of reverence and affection but there’s something else they didn’t want to go well there’s that they didn’t want him to leave in in john’s account when mary magdalene apparently is grasping on jesus he says stop clinging to me for i have not yet ascended to the father and you could understand being in their shoes all that’s happened your beloved rabbi and messiah was betrayed and killed crucified put in his grave and now he’s alive and he’s back you don’t want him to go you don’t you don’t want to um you don’t want to lose him again and so they’re clinging to him but the fact that they can cling to him and this is perhaps part of the reason that they cling to him shows that he is real he’s really alive he has a real body he’s not a mere apparition he’s not a mirage he’s not a spirit is real this body’s real it’s real enough that you can grab hold of it that’s what they do and perhaps that’s also part of the reason they don’t want to let go i want to make sure that you’re real i can’t believe it i can’t believe that you’re alive and they they don’t let go it reminds me of what jesus says will say in just a few verses after this passage where he appears before his disciples in jerusalem and he says touch me and see a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that i have he’s really alive he’s really there he really has a resurrected body now what is so unique about this resurrection miracle of jesus as compared to other miracles in the bible other people were raised from the dead but what’s special about this resurrection well known before raised himself known before was raised without some other human agent acting as a razor hold on just a second apologies we have different prophets we have jesus raising people from the dead they were empowered by god to do this but no one raised himself that’s what jesus does jesus raises himself while being dead no human being can do that no human being has that kind of power this also points us to jesus being god now actually jesus’s resurrection was a trinitarian act every member of the god each person of the godhead was involved many scriptures testify that it’s the father who raised jesus for instance galatians 1 1 galatians 1 1 says paul giving an introduction here paul an apostle not sent from men nor through the agency of man but through jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead who raised jesus from the dead god the father did but we can also say the spirit raised jesus from the dead because consider what paul says in romans chapter 8 verse 11.
romans 8 11 but if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised christ jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you that’s a very significant verse not only because it verifies the spirit raised jesus but he paul is even making a theological point based on that he says if the spirit raised jesus and you have the spirit then you can be confident that you will be raised too through the power of the spirit so the father raised jesus the spirit raised jesus and yet we can also say the son raised himself because that’s what jesus claimed in john chapter 10. we saw this ourselves i think last week these same verses but let me remind you of them john chapter 10 verses 17 and 18 john 10 17-18 jesus says for this reason the father loves me because i lay down my life so that i may take it again no one has taken it away from me but i lay it down on my own initiative i have authority to lay it down and i have authority to take it up again this commandment i received from my father so jesus says the one who has authority to take up his life again is me i can do that i lay it down i take it up no one can make me do otherwise so father son and holy spirit all raised jesus from the dead it’s often noted but worth repeating even now this is one of the things that makes christianity unique jesus is the only religious leader religious founder who rose from the dead and is still alive today to my knowledge no other religion makes that spectacular claim maybe because it’s pretty easy to verify for those other religions their founders being in the grave even muhammad this wasn’t true of him even though he’s revered so much by the followers of islam you know people say answers in genesis notes this too that they like to say that all religions are the same they’re just various versions of the same same idea but no actually this is one of the things that makes christianity stand out our lord is alive he died but he rose from the dead to two other questions here how does jesus’s resurrection fulfill prophecy we hear in the new testament about jesus being raised according to the scriptures are there prophecies related to jesus’s resurrection certainly in his own lifetime he made many prophecies he told his disciples again and again i’m going to go to jerusalem and be crucified and i’m going to rise from the grave three days later so just fulfill what jesus said but it also fulfills scriptures in the old testament consider in acts chapter 2 peter makes a huge point in his sermon to the people there about something the psalmist wrote in psalm 16. psalm 16 verse 10 david speaking he says for you will not abandon my soul to shield that is the great nor will you allow your holy one to undergo decay now peter makes the point next too look david died and he’s buried his body did decay but or so these words couldn’t have applied to him they applied to someone he prophesied about they applied to one who did not decay jesus the messiah who was raised incorruptable psalm 22 also makes an allusion to jesus’s resurrection now psalm 22 that’s the one that says my god my god why have you forsaken me so many different prophecies about jesus on the cross but as you get towards the end of the song the psalmist says you’ve heard my cry i know that you have delivered me how can that be true if the person he’s talking about died well that’s because he knew that he was going to be given life again you knew that the lord heard his prayer or isaiah 53 isaiah 53 10 has a similar implication you know isaiah 53 is all about the suffering servant but isaiah 53 verse 10 says but yahweh was pleased to crush him putting him to grieve if he would render himself as a guilt offering he will see his offspring he will prolong his days and the good pleasure of yahweh will prosper in his hand wait a second if he’s going to be a guilt offering if he’s going to die how is it that he can see his offspring and prolong his days or have the good pleasure of yahweh prosper in his hand it has to be because he will rise from the dead that’s how he will prolong his days the resurrection is even implicit there it’s necessary from that scripture and even zechariah 12 10. i mentioned this verse to you last week also but speaking escadologically about israel and their future repentance one day god says in zechariah 12 10 i will pour out on the house of david on the inhabitants of jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication so they will look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over our first point how is your look on the one who may pierce if he’s still in the grave it’s because he rises from the dead for this passage to be fulfilled the messiah must rise from the dead so indeed the old testament does declare the resurrection jesus rose from the dead according to the scriptures messiah had to die but he also had to rise again from the grave and jesus fulfills it perfectly showing again he is messiah he is god now the biggest question what’s the significance of the resurrection what’s the significance of the resurrection particularly for believers this is a huge question very critical question i can only approach an answer to it in our class today student guide actually if you read the introduction to this lesson today gives a pretty good breakdown and answer to this question but i’m going to give my own version of it i want to point out three huge implications of jesus’s resurrection three huge implications number one the resurrection verifies that jesus is son of god and messiah this is what we’ve just been saying right you look at how he fulfills prophecy you look at the power he displayed only this could only be god this can only be the messiah and this is something paul says explicitly in romans 1 verses 3 to 4.
romans 1 verses 3 to 4 paul says concerning his son who was born of a descendant of david according to the flesh who was declared the son of god with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness jesus christ our lord so what did the resurrection do it declared jesus unequivocally to be the son of god because he demonstrated divine power so first of all resurrection verified jesus is son of god a messiah but secondly the resurrection verifies that jesus sacrifice for sinners was accepted by the father and that believing sinners are fully justified and righteous before god that’s kind of long so i’ll say it again second thing the resurrection does is that it verifies that jesus sacrifice for sinners was accepted by the father and those sinners stand fully righteous and justified before god this is what paul says in the book of romans chapter 4. romans 4 verses 23 to romans 4 23-25 paul writes speaking just about abraham and righteousness by faith here’s what paul says now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him but for our sake also to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raised jesus our lord from the dead he who was delivered over because of our transgressions and who was raised because of our justification see what he did there jesus died because of our sins because of our transgressions but he was raised because of our justification because of our being made righteous before god it was vindication it was full acceptance the lord’s wrath the justice of god was satisfied by jesus sacrifice the resurrection proves that jesus sacrifice wasn’t enough if he didn’t really finish the work of redemption on the cross then jesus could not have been raised he would have had to keep on suffering or he would have merely been rejected as an inappropriate sacrifice by the father the fact that he was raised shows that he perfectly pleased the father and completed the work of redemption so that’s point number two there’s a third reason third huge implication of the resurrection and i alluded to it before the resurrection also verifies that there will be a coming resurrection of all people and that believers will be raised to eternal life just as their messiah was so just covering those all again number one it verifies who jesus is number two it verifies that his work was accepted number three it verifies that there will be a resurrection of all people and resurrecting unto eternal life for those that believe in jesus peter says in his letter and you’ve probably seen these verses recently based on the pastor’s preaching first peter verses 3 to 5 the apostle peter writes blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of god through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time peter says we have a hope through jesus’s resurrection we will obtain an eternal inheritance we also will be raised paul calls jesus in first corinthians 15 the first fruits of those who are asleep that’s like he’s the initial harvest he’s a preview of what is to come as jesus was raised from the dead in power and glory so will his people be now these things i say these implications if you know jesus today this morning then they apply to you jesus is your god and messiah you recognize his authority over you he died to pay for your sins and make you fully righteous his sacrifice was accepted you are positionally righteous before god legally totally justified there is therefore now no condemnation hanging over you as romans 8 says and as jesus rose in the grave so will you like jesus said in his own ministry he’s like a life-bearing grain that is put into the ground but he has sprouted up to become a harvest of life and righteousness he goes into the ground as a bear seed he comes out with a harvest and you are that harvest if you know jesus you have eternal life with him and isn’t this what we humans have been waiting for since the garden of eden and looking for deliverance from the serpent the one who deceived us brought us into the bondage of sin we’ve been looking for deliverance from death something we could not escape we’ve been looking for reconciliation with our creator and god provided it all through jesus through the crucifixion through the resurrection as jesus said he is the resurrection and the life and everyone who lives and believes in him will never die now isn’t it amazing that these things actually happened and they did actually happen they were recorded by eyewitnesses who had no reason to lie they were foretold by jesus himself by the old testament scriptures they are these things the resurrection is one of the most well documented events in history there are all sorts of books about that you know evidence that demands a verdict and so forth the case for christ these things they they show that there’s abundant evidence of this resurrection actually taking place resurrection of jesus and these things echo what our hearts know intuitively we know that god created the world it’s it’s obvious with even a bear glance at the world we live in we know that we owe this god worship and obedience but we have not given god what he deserves we’ve failed to meet his his perfect standard we don’t even meet our own standards and we’ve loved idols and not god therefore we know we are condemned before god and we need a rescuer a supernatural rescuer to deliver us from death and from god’s wrath but god provided the savior in jesus as an undeserved gift this is the truth this is the good news what we call the gospel and if you don’t know jesus if you will let go of your old way of thinking and living and believing instead believe these things you will rise again after you die and be with your savior forever but unfortunately not everyone has accepted the good news some have ignored it rejected it or explained it away which is exactly what we see next in the gospel of matthew we don’t have time to read the text but we just glance at verses 11 to 15 you see the first resurrection conspiracy theory was born the pharisees disseminate the story that the disciples came and stole jesus’s body away while the guards slept totally implausible but it’s the story they circulated because they would not recognize they did not want to recognize that jesus is god and then he rose from the dead so let’s think about application a little bit more as we close oh i should say i’ll talk more about resurrection skepticism in two lessons from now next week though we’re going to talk about something different but application now jesus asked martha when he was speaking about himself as the resurrection of the dead do you believe this so i need to ask yourself the same thing do you believe this do you believe in jesus and his resurrection it’s not popular in our scientific world today of course the science that we exercise or that is often exercised is extremely biased and not even scientific but resurrection is foolishness to the world it’s nonetheless true and necessary for eternal life by faith we embrace it jesus did the son of god did come he lived he died he rose from the dead by faith we embrace it do you now some today especially those considered scholars have sought to promote and ascribe to a christianity in which christ did not literally rise from the dead a christianity without the resurrection why is this actually impossible an unacceptable perversion it’s because first of all it actually happened second of all it’s as we discussed without the resurrection jesus identity is compromised our justification is compromised and the hope of resurrection of our own resurrection is gone and you know this from first corinthians 15 without the resurrection the christian life is a pitiable waste if christ wasn’t raised then neither will we be but the fact is the resurrection did take place all suffering and sacrifice that we experience in this life is worth it because there will be a resurrection and those that believed in jesus they’ll be with him they will rise unto eternal life so the resurrection has always been a core part of the gospel message we cannot leave it out we cannot lay it aside it’s essential offensive but essential so do you believe this praise the lord these things are true praise the lord for jesus’s resurrection that’s all the time we have for today there are some questions or comments you have based on the lesson please email me next week we actually come to the end of the gospels we look at jesus’s great commission right before he ascends let’s pray as we close our lord and god you have risen from the dead you have conquered death and you have made it known to the world this is good news it is the hope of resurrection for all who believe in you we thank you god that we have been brought into that hope we believe in you i pray god any who are just going through the motions who have not truly embraced you and your resurrection that they would today because there’s no hope apart from you and apart from your resurrection you are god you conquered death you totally paid for sin so that those that believe you have no condemnation we thank you for that great work i pray god that we will walk worthy of it and the people of calvary be encouraged to do so themselves in jesus name amen all right thank you all see you next week