July 24 Morning Verse of the Day

TERROR

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 his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow; and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. And the angel answered and 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. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” (28:2–7)

No sooner had the women reached the tomb than they found the stone had been moved aside by a severe earthquake. This was the second supernaturally caused earthquake in connection with Jesus’ death and burial, the first one having occurred at the moment of His death (Matt. 27:51).
God caused an earthquake on Mount Sinai just before He revealed the law to Moses (Ex. 19:18) and on Mount Horeb when He revealed Himself to Elijah (1 Kings 19:11). In the end times He will also send numerous earthquakes (Joel 2:10; Matt. 24:7; Rev. 6:12; 8:5; 11:13–19). Now, within three days, He caused two earthquakes just outside Jerusalem.
This earthquake had occurred when an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, causing the earth around the grave to tremble violently. The angel had come to open the secured and sealed grave, and when he arrived he rolled away the stone and sat upon it. Although it had probably taken several strong men some time to put the stone in place, the angel removed it in an instant.
The angel did not move the stone in order to let Jesus out of the tomb, as many Easter stories and paintings suggest. If Jesus had the power to raise Himself from the dead, which He did (John 10:18), He certainly had the relatively minor power required to escape a sealed grave. As He demonstrated during several postresurrection appearances, just as He was no longer bound by death, He was no longer bound by the limitations of the physical world or of time (see Luke 24:31; John 20:26). In His glorified form He could escape a closed grave just as easily as He could enter a closed room. In comparing the gospel accounts, it becomes clear that Jesus had already left the tomb when the stone was rolled away. The angel moved the stone not to let Jesus out but to let the women and the apostles in.
From John’s gospel it seems that Mary Magdalene apparently left the garden as soon as she “saw the stone already taken away from the tomb” (20:1). Before the angel appeared, “she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him’ ” (v. 2). Obviously she had missed the angel’s announcement of Jesus’ resurrection. She was so overwrought at discovering the tomb empty that she ran frantically to the two most prominent disciples, Peter and John, to tell them what she thought was terrible news. It did not occur to her that Jesus might be risen as He had predicted, and she assumed that someone had stolen the body and hidden it. It is obvious that Peter and John did not consider the possibility of resurrection either, and they immediately ran to the tomb to find out what they could (John 20:3–4).
Meanwhile the angel had manifested himself to those who were near the tomb, and his appearance was like lightning. The description suggests that God transmitted some of His own Shekinah glory to the angel, just as He had transmitted a measure of it to Moses on Sinai when the covenant was renewed (Ex. 34:29). In a similar way, the angel’s glistening garment that was as white as snow suggests God’s purity and holiness. The angel bore the very imprimatur of the character of God in order to make clear to the observers not only that he was a supernatural messenger but that he was an agent of God and not Satan.
The guards were so awestruck that at first they shook for fear of him. Shook translates a Greek term that has the same root as “earthquake” in verse 2, indicating that the soldiers experienced personal earthquakes of both mind and body. But after a brief moment of shaking, they then became like dead men, paralyzed with fear. The idea seems to be that they not only became rigid but unconscious, completely traumatized by what they saw.
The women were also frightened, but, unlike the soldiers, they received comfort from God’s messenger. Aware of their fright, the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid.” Perhaps a better translation than answered would be “explained,” because the women, too terrified to speak, had not asked a question.
The soldiers had good reason to be afraid. Not only was the angel’s appearance terrifying in itself but, because they had been charged with protecting the grave, an empty tomb could spell their death. The women, however, had no reason to fear, and the angel’s first words were meant to give them comfort and assurance.
They had not come expecting to find Jesus raised, but in His gracious mercy God overlooked their weak faith and their lack of understanding. Acknowledging their great love, God responded with great love. “I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified,” the angel said to them; “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.”
Has risen translates a Greek aorist passive and can also be rendered, “has been raised.” Jesus Himself had power to give up His life and to take it up again (John 10:18). But Scripture makes clear that He also was raised by the power of the Father (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:3) and of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11). The entire Trinity participated in the resurrection of Jesus.
The angel gently reminded the women that Jesus’ resurrection should not surprise them, because it happened just as He said. Luke reports that they then “remembered His words” (24:8).
Next the angel invited the women to come, see the place where He was lying. At this point the women went into the tomb and observed that it was indeed empty. The angel joined them in the tomb and reiterated the same basic message, saying, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him” (Mark 16:6). Perhaps the message was repeated because the women found it so hard to believe, despite the fact that they now remembered Jesus’ predictions that He would rise on the third day.
When Peter and John entered the tomb a short while later, they “beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself” (John 20:6–7). The burial clothes were just as they were when Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body to rest, except for the face-cloth, which was set to one side. Jesus did not have to be unwrapped any more than He had to have the stone removed. At one moment He was encased in the linen, and the next He was free, leaving the wrappings unchanged.
While the women were in the tomb, another angel joined the first, “one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying” (John 20:12). Their positions are reminiscent of the two golden cherubim who were on either side of the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:18). The two angels in the garden were posted at either end of the tomb of Jesus, who, by the sacrifice He had just made of His own life, became the true and eternal Mercy Seat for sinful mankind.
The two angels gave still another reminder to the women. “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” they asked. “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of the sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:5–7). For a third time the women were told the glorious truth of Jesus’ resurrection, a truth whose fulfillment they should have been eagerly expecting.
One of the angels then said, “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.” The women’s fascination must quickly turn to proclamation. They did not have time to revel in the marvelous reality of the good news but were to go immediately and announce it to the cowering disciples, who were still hiding in Jerusalem.
It would seem more than justified for the Lord to have allowed the disciples to suffer in fear, despair, and agony for a week or so before telling them the good news. They had stubbornly refused to believe that Jesus would die and be raised, although He had told them of His death and resurrection many times. But in His gracious mercy God sent the women to tell the disciples as soon as possible, so they would not have to experience another moment of misery and grief. He did not rebuke them for their lack of faith and for their cowardice but rather sent them messengers with a gracious word of hope and comfort.
One wonders why God chose to reveal the truth of the resurrection first to those women rather than to the disciples. One commentator suggests that it was because God chooses the weak to confound the strong. Another suggests the women were rewarded for their faithful service to the Lord in Galilee. Another holds that, because death came by a woman in a garden, so new life was first announced to a woman in a garden. Others propose that it was because the deepest sorrow deserves the deepest joy or that supreme love deserves supreme privilege.
But Scripture offers no such explanations. It seems obvious that the women were the first to hear the angelic announcement of the resurrection simply because they were there. Had the disciples been there, they, too, would have heard the good news directly from the angel rather than indirectly from the women.
This is analogous to the reality that the closer a believer stays to the Lord and to His work, the more he is going to witness and experience the Lord’s power. Those who are there when the Lord’s people gather for worship and prayer, who are there when His Word is being taught, who are there when the lost are being won to Christ, who are there when others are being served in His name, who are regular in their times of private prayer-those are the ones who will most often experience first-hand the work of God.
The angel’s further instruction to the women was to tell Jesus’ disciples that “He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” Earlier in the week Jesus had told the eleven remaining disciples, “After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (Matt. 26:32). Being both Jewish and Gentile, Galilee represented the world at large. It was there that Jesus began His ministry, in “Galilee of the Gentiles,” where “the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light” (Matt. 4:15–16). It would also be in Galilee that the disciples would receive the Great Commission from the Lord to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19).
It was not that Jesus would first appear to the disciples in Galilee, because He manifested Himself to them several times before that. He appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34), to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:15; cf. Mark 16:12), to ten of the disciples as they were assembled on resurrection evening (John 20:19), to all eleven disciples eight days later (John 20:26), and to seven of the disciples as they were fishing in the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1).
But Jesus’ supreme appearance to the disciples was to be in Galilee, where He “appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time” (1 Cor. 15:6) and where He would commission the eleven to apostolic ministry.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985–1989). Matthew (Vol. 4, pp. 308–312). Moody Press.

July 23 Morning Verse of the Day

CHRIST’S APPEARANCE TO MARY MAGDALENE

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. (20:11–18)

The Lord’s appearance to Mary, the woman from the village of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, symbolizes His special love and faithfulness to all believers, no matter how seemingly insignificant they might be. Mary was not a prominent figure in the gospel accounts; before the crucifixion she appeared only as a name in the list of women who traveled with Jesus and the apostles (Luke 8:2). Yet the Lord chose to appear first to her, a woman, as He had first declared His messiahship to the woman at the well (John 4:28–29).
After Peter and John left (20:10), Mary returned and was standing outside the tomb. As noted in the discussion of 20:1 in the previous chapter of this volume, Mary apparently had arrived at the tomb before the other women. Seeing that the stone had been removed, she feared that grave robbers had broken in and stolen Jesus’ body. She immediately ran and reported the news to Peter and John. Driven by an overwhelming sense of grief and loss, Mary then returned to the tomb. But by the time she did so, the two apostles had come and gone. She did not cross paths with them or the other women on her way back to the tomb, and so did not know about the undisturbed grave clothes or the angels’ message.
Disconsolate, Mary stood there weeping uncontrollably. Her love for the Lord was greater than her faith in His promise to rise again. Despite her weak faith, however, Jesus would not leave her in sorrow (cf. 16:20–22). At last, while she still wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb. Like the other women (Luke 24:1–7), she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. She could not recognize them as angels, since they had assumed human form (Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4). Their question to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” was a gentle rebuke. The time for mourning was over; the sorrow of death was forever shattered by the joyous reality of the resurrection.
Plaintively, she addressed them, unaware of who they were and said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Mary’s despair stemmed from not knowing where the Lord’s body was. She believed He was still dead, and she had come back now that the Sabbath was over (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1) to finish burial preparations for His body. But as she was about to discover, that task was not necessary.
How Mary suddenly became aware of Jesus’ presence is not stated. Perhaps, as some have suggested, the angels gestured toward Him. In any case, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But her perplexity continued, since she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection body was more glorious than before and certainly did not match her vivid memories of Him, especially the battered, bruised, bloody corpse she had seen on the cross. There have been several suggestions for her failure to recognize the Lord. She was sure that He was dead, so the last thing she expected was to see Him alive. Further, her eyes may have been blurred from tears. Moreover she, like the others, was prevented from recognizing Him until He chose to reveal Himself to her (cf. 21:4; Luke 24:16).
Repeating the question asked by the angels, Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? then added, “Whom are you seeking?” Reflecting her continued confusion, she, assuming Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” In her single-minded devotion, Mary simply wanted to ensure that Jesus’ body had a proper burial—even if it meant moving His body by herself.
With a single word, Jesus opened Mary’s eyes. He merely spoke her name (cf. 10:3–4, 27), “Mary!” and in a flash all of her doubt, confusion, and sorrow vanished. Recognizing Jesus in that moment, she turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Rabboni is a strengthened form of “Rabbi,” and was used as a title to express great honor and supreme reverence (cf. Mark 10:51). Overcome with a profound mix of joy and relief, Mary fell at His feet. Like the other women had done (Matt. 28:9), she clung to Jesus, prompting Him to say to her, Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Having found Him again beyond her wildest hopes, she did not want to lose Him. Her physical grasp symbolized her desire to secure His presence permanently. But He would be physically present for only a brief time, forty days (Acts 1:3), after which He would ascend to the Father. How much knowledge she had of what Jesus had promised in the upper room is not known. But perhaps she had been told by the apostles that He said He was going to the Father to send the Holy Spirit (14:16–18; 16:7), so He said nothing about that, only that He could not stay, but must ascend.
The Lord then sent Mary to the apostles to tell them of His impending ascension: Go to My brethren and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” For the first time the disciples, who had been referred to as slaves or friends (15:15), are called Christ’s brethren. It was through His work of redemption on the cross that this new relationship with Him was made possible. It is “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). God adopts as His sons (Rom. 8:14–15; Eph. 1:5) those who believe savingly in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26). As a result, Jesus “is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:11), and has become “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). Reflecting this new relationship, the Lord’s message to the disciples referred to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.
Excitedly, Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. Predictably, they responded with the same dubiousness with which they had greeted the testimony of the other women who had been at the tomb. Luke reports that they considered the report as “nonsense” and they “would not believe them” (24:11).

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2008). John 12–21 (pp. 377–380). Moody Publishers.

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The Best News Ever Heard

John 20:18

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

The story of Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene and his commissioning her to tell the disciples of his resurrection concludes with the statement that she did what he told her to do. This is deceptively simple because it is actually a record of the first announcement of the best news this world has ever heard. It was an announcement of the Lord’s resurrection.
When World War II ended, the joyful news was flashed around the globe, and at once people everywhere were ecstatic. I was just a lad at the time. My father had been in the service for some years, and the family was then stationed at a large military base in the southern United States. We were far from the action. But even now I can recall the yelling and shouting that occurred when news came of the war’s end. The ending of World War II was great news. Yet, great as that news was, it did not compare with the truly stupendous news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This message was better then, and it is even better today.

Unshakable Evidence

Let me ask a very simple question and then give a few plain answers. Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ the best news the world has ever heard? The answers are: because it is true, because it came after an apparent defeat, because of all that it proves, and finally because it demands a lifesaving response from each of us.
First, Jesus’ resurrection is good news because it is true. It is always possible to have reports of events that sound like good news but later prove to be disappointments because the facts of the reports are wrong or the events did not actually happen. Referring again to World War II, this very thing occurred several times before the war really ended. False reports of the war’s end spread; they were eventually proved false and so were terribly disappointing. The same was true of reports of a near end to the war in Vietnam. This was not the case with news of Jesus’ resurrection.
We do not have space in one message to go into the evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ at length, but we can suggest a few of them. The first great evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the evidence of the narratives themselves. These stand up to the most stringent of critical scrutinies. To begin with, they are apparently four independent accounts. They were obviously not made up in collusion; for if they were, they would not possess the number of apparent contradictions they contain: the number of angels at the tomb, the number of women who went to the garden, the time of their arrival, and other things. These accounts can be harmonized, but the point is this: had the writers gotten together to make up a story, the apparent discrepancies would have been eliminated. On the other hand, it is also apparent that they did not make up the stories separately, for if they had done this, there would never have been the large measure of agreement they possess. The setting and the characters are the same, and the sequence of events makes sense. What does this mean? Just this: If the accounts were not made up in collusion and if they were not made up separately, the only remaining possibility is that they were not made up at all. That is, they are four true, independent accounts by those who knew the facts they wrote.
Next there is the evidence of the empty tomb, coupled with the evidence of the moved stone and the undisturbed graveclothes. How are we to account for these things? Some have imagined that either the Roman or Jewish authorities moved the body. But they had no reason to do this, especially since it would have involved violating the officially sealed tomb; and, had this occurred, it is inconceivable that the true circumstances would not have been revealed later after the disciples had appeared in Jerusalem, proclaiming their belief in Jesus’ resurrection. It would have been easy for Jesus’ enemies to produce a body had there been one. On the other hand, the friends of Christ did not steal the body of Jesus, for they would hardly have been willing to die (as most of them later did) for a deception.
It is possible to add the changed character of these men as an evidence, for whatever happened turned them from disillusioned cowards into mighty proclaimers of the Christian message.
Then, too, we must add the fact that Jesus appeared, not just to one or two women in a garden under somewhat eerie circumstances, but to a wide variety of people in numerous circumstances. Paul lists many such appearances, noting that one time Jesus appeared to a group of five hundred believers (1 Cor. 15:6).
Again, one of the great evidences of the resurrection is the unexpected and unnatural change of the day of worship from Saturday, the Jewish day of worship, to Sunday in Christian services. Nothing but the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday explains it.
What are we to say of these evidences? Matthew Arnold, not overstating the case, once said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best attested fact in history.” Lawyers in particular have seen this truth. Some of the best books on the resurrection have been written by lawyers, some of whom originally set out to disprove it. I am thinking of men like Frank Morison, Gilbert West, J. N. D. Anderson, and others. Sir Edward Clark, another English jurist, once wrote, “As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidences for the first Easter day. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling.… As a lawyer I accept it unreservedly as the testimony of men to facts that they were able to substantiate.”
This is the first reason why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is good news. It is good news, not merely because it is a nice story which gives us an opportunity for a holiday once a year, but because it is true. As truth it is one of the most stupendous and important facts of history.

Wellington Defeated

Second, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is good news because it came after an apparent defeat. A victory is always good news, but news of victory after news that a battle has apparently been lost is even better.
Let me illustrate this by the way in which news of the Battle of Waterloo first came to England. There were no telegrams or radio sets in those days, but everyone knew that a great battle was pending and they were anxious to hear what would happen when Wellington, the British general, faced Napoleon. A signalman was placed on the top of Winchester Cathedral with instructions to keep his eye on the sea. When he received a message, he was to pass the message on to another man on a hill. That man was to pass it to another. And so it was to go until news of the battle was finally relayed to London and then across England. At length a ship was sighted through thick fog on the English Channel. The signalman on board sent the first word—“Wellington.” The next word was “defeated.” Then fog prevented the ship from being seen. “Wellington defeated!” The message was sent across England, and gloom descended over the countryside. After two or three hours the fog lifted, and the signal came again: “Wellington defeated the enemy!” Then England rejoiced.
In the same way, Jesus’ death plunged his friends into sadness. It was an apparent defeat. But on the third day he rose again in victory. When Jesus died men might have cried, “Christ is defeated, wrong has triumphed, sin has won.” But after three days the fog lifted and the full message came through to the world: “Jesus is risen; he has defeated the enemy.”

Essential Doctrines

Third, the resurrection is good news because of all that it proves. What does it prove? The answer is: It proves all that needs to be proved. It proves the essential doctrines of Christianity.
In the first place, it proves that there is a God and that the God of the Bible is the true God. Reuben A. Torrey, who often spoke and wrote well on these themes, put it this way: “Every effect must have an adequate cause … and the only cause adequate to account for the resurrection of Christ is God, the God of the Bible. While here on earth, as everyone who has carefully read the story of his life knows, our Lord Jesus went up and down the land proclaiming God, the God of the Bible, ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ as he loved to call him, the God of the Old Testament as well as the New. He said that men would put him to death, that they would put him to death by crucifixion, and he gave many details as to what the manner of his death would be. He further said that after his body had been in the grave three days and three nights, God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of the Bible, the God of the Old Testament as well as the God of the New Testament, would raise him from the dead. This was a great claim to make. It was an apparently impossible claim. For centuries men had come and men had gone, men had lived and men had died, and so far as human knowledge founded upon definite observation and experience was concerned, that was the end of them. But this man Jesus does not hesitate to claim that his experience will be directly contrary to the uniform experience of long, long centuries.…
“That was certainly an acid test of the existence of the God he preached, and his God stood the test. He did exactly the apparently impossible thing that our Lord Jesus said he would do.… The fact that Jesus was thus miraculously and marvelously raised makes it certain that the God who did it really exists and that the God he preached is the true God.”
Second, the resurrection proves Jesus’ deity. When Jesus lived on earth, he claimed to be equal to God and that God, this God, would raise him from the dead three days after his execution by the Roman authorities. If he was wrong in this, his claim was either the raving of a deranged man or blasphemy. If he was right, the resurrection would be God’s way of substantiating the claim. Did he substantiate it? Did Jesus rise from the dead? Yes, he did! So the resurrection is God’s seal on Christ’s claim to divinity. This is why Paul, who knew that Jesus had been raised, writes that Jesus was “declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). This is good news! If Jesus is God, then God is like Jesus. It means that God is not distant, arbitrary, or unreal. He is a God who loves us and who came to earth to give himself a ransom for our sins.
Then, too, the resurrection proves that all who believe in Jesus Christ are justified before God. Paul teaches this in Romans also, for he states that Jesus “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). How does this happen? Jesus had claimed that his death would atone for man’s sin. He said that he had come “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). He died as he said. But the question still remained: Can it be true that the death of this one man is acceptable to God on behalf of others? Suppose he had sinned? In that case, he would have been dying for his own sin rather than the sins of others. Did he sin? Or was his atonement accepted? Three days pass. Christ rises. Thus, his claim is established. God has shown by the resurrection that Christ was sinless and that he has accepted his atonement.
Torrey said this: “When Jesus died, he died as my representative, and I died in him; when he arose, he rose as my representative, and I arose in him; when he ascended up on high and took his place at the right hand of the Father in the glory, he ascended as my representative and I ascended in him, and today I am seated in Christ with God in the heavenlies. I look at the cross of Christ, and I know that atonement has been made for my sins; I look at the open sepulcher and the risen and ascended Lord, and I know the atonement has been accepted. There no longer remains a single sin on me, no matter how many or how great my sins may have been.”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ also proves that the believer in Christ can have a supernatural victory over sin in this life, for Jesus lives to provide supernatural power to do it. This is an argument developed in the sixth chapter of Romans. In the opening verses of that chapter Paul writes, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:4). This means that by faith all who believe in Christ are united to Christ so that his power becomes available to them. We may be weak and utterly helpless, unable to resist temptation for a single minute. But he is strong, and he lives to give help and deliverance. Victory is never a question of our strength, but of his power. His power is what we need.
Torrey, whom I have just quoted, tells a story that illustrates this point. He tells of four men who were once climbing the most difficult face of the Matterhorn. There was a guide, a tourist, a second guide, and a second tourist, all roped together. As they went over a particularly difficult place, the lower tourist lost his footing and went over the side. The sudden pull on the rope carried the lower guide with him, and he carried the other tourist along also. Three men were dangling over the cliff. But the guide who was in the lead, feeling the first pull upon the rope, drove his ax into the ice, braced his feet, and held fast. The first tourist then regained his footing, the guide regained his, and the lower tourist followed. They then went on and up in safety.
So it is in this life. As the human race ascended the icy cliffs of life, the first Adam lost his footing and tumbled headlong over the abyss. He pulled the next man after him, and the next and the next until the whole race hung in deadly peril. But the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, kept his footing. He stood fast. Thus, all who are united to him by a living faith are secure and can regain the path.
Finally, Jesus’ resurrection is evidence for our own resurrection and of a life with Jesus in glory beyond the grave. Jesus said when he was here on earth, “I am going … to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2–3). He is preparing that place now. Can we trust him? Was he telling the truth? The resurrection vindicates these claims.

Come and Learn

I have given three good reasons why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best news this world has ever heard: (1) because it is true, (2) because it came after an apparent defeat, and (3) because of what it proves. But there is a fourth reason also. Jesus’ resurrection is good news because it demands a lifesaving response in faith from each of us. Have you responded in faith to this One who died for you and rose again on that far-off first Easter morning?
This is worth asking, because we recall that according to Mark’s Gospel those to whom Mary first gave this report did not respond positively. They did not believe her: “When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it” (16:11). It was only after Christ’s further appearances and a further proclamation of the message that they came to him.
There is some news that is restricted by its very nature. It applies to one or two individuals but not to everyone. A promotion is good news to the man who receives it but not to the two or three others who failed to get the job. The results of an election are good news to the winning party but not to the losing party. Even so generally applicable a report as a reduction of federal taxes is good only to those who pay taxes or who live in the country where the reduction is to take place. Almost all human news is so restricted. But the news of the resurrection is for all. What is your relationship to the risen Lord? Have you heard the good news? Have you believed it? Have you trusted in him? This is the heart of Christianity. It is not to be found in the liturgies of the churches, nor in the specific formulations of Christian theology, important as they may be. Christianity is Christ, the risen Christ. He died and rose again for you. Won’t you come to him?

Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 1581–1586). Baker Books.

What Happens to Your Soul When You Die? | Ligonier Ministries

We’ve all thought about it. What happens the moment we take our last breath, our heart stops beating, and our soul departs from our now dead body? Truth be told, most of us fear dying, even if we do not fear death. Dying is often a painful struggle. Dying often occurs in a sterile, clinical environment and is usually an ugly process. However, by trusting in the promise that death means entrance into eternal life in the presence of the Lord, as well as trusting in the power of Christ to raise the dead, Christians need not fear the outcome of death even if we experience trepidation regarding the process of dying.

Stories and legends about death and dying abound. This is the case, in part, because the Scriptures do not describe the process of dying, although they do speak of several individuals who died but were raised back to life by Jesus. Lazarus comes to mind (John 11) among others (e.g., the widow of Nain’s son in Luke 7:11–17). But we do not possess any firsthand account (including from Lazarus) of what these people experienced when they died. We can only but wonder what Lazarus was thinking when he died a second time, this time to enter eternal life. Now, we do know what our resurrection bodies will be like, since Paul gives us a remarkable description of the complete transformation that takes place when Christ returns and we are raised imperishable (1 Cor. 15:35–49). But there is not much biblical data on the intermediate state—that period of time when the souls of the believing dead await the resurrection of their bodies and the final and complete overturning of the curse (death).

It is also the case that the very nature of the question (What happens to our soul when we die?) lends itself to speculation. I recall my saintly grandmother (a pastor’s daughter) recounting bedside vigils with dying church members. She described how before breathing their last, a dying person would often open their eyes, look heavenward, express some sort of joy and expectation, then surrender to the inevitable. She believed these saints were given a brief glimpse of what (or who) awaited them. That may be, but it is just as likely that the biochemical reactions within the brain to a body shutting down produces all kinds of sensory activity. Such accounts, however sincere, are anecdotal and provide no basis on which to build doctrine.

We’ve all heard stories about those who supposedly died and then returned from the afterlife. Such stories are fascinating, which explains the existence of the cottage industry of books written about near-death experiences that spin tales of the author’s personal visit to heaven before returning to write a book about their experience. These books usually reveal encounters with the dearly departed, they often include descriptions of heaven (usually exaggerated earthly scenes), accounts of meeting Jesus, talking with God, and descriptions of heavenly things.

But all of these likely spurious accounts conflict with what we know the Bible says about entrance into the presence of God. Isaiah 6:1–7 comes to mind. Isaiah is overcome by his unworthiness when given a vision of the Lord. The biblical accounts of encounters with God—such as Moses’ glimpse of the Lord’s glory (Ex. 33:18–23) or Jesus’ appearance to two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:37)—produce fear if not terror at being in the presence of the Holy God. The biblical accounts do not square with the casual, if not trivial nature of the “I saw heaven” or “I walked with Jesus” genre of literature. Since the Bible does not describe the process or the reflections of the dying, many have sought to fill in the gap with fabricated stories. Sadly, they’ve been very successful. Many people accept these legends as truth.

Thankfully, the Bible gives us two points of reference regarding the intermediate state that help prepare us for death. First, in several well-known passages, Paul specifically addresses the matter of what happens to believers between the time they die and when Christ returns. According to 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul teaches that at the moment of a believer’s death, we immediately enter into the presence of the Lord. The Apostle writes, “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Paul also spoke of how he desired “to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil. 1:23). When we die, we are immediately “with Christ” and enter into the presence of God. This is usually what we mean when we speak of “heaven.”

Second, the heavenly scene described by John in Revelation 4–6 gives us a glimpse of that previously unseen reality we will experience upon dying. We who have trusted in Christ alone will join the redeemed saints before the heavenly throne in the presence of God. We are conscious, aware of where we are, and joyfully praising God. To put it simply, this heavenly scene is the clearest image we have of what happens to our soul when we die. In these three chapters, John gives a glorious image of heaven, where God dwells among His people until the resurrection of our bodies at the end of the age. This is what heaven is—the redeemed dwelling in the presence of the Holy God, ascribing all praise and glory to our Creator and Redeemer.

While the scene is wonderful, and in many ways beyond our comprehension, it is worth noting that the saints in heaven are crying out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10). Those already in God’s presence before His throne—who have died before us and are now experiencing the intermediate state, the time between death and the Lord’s return—long for that day when Jesus Christ returns to earth on the day of resurrection and judgment.

So, what happens to the souls of believers when we die? We immediately enter the glorious presence of the Lord, where we await the resurrection of our bodies at the end of the age.

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The Tender Love A Father Has: The Christian’s Comfort, Even In Death | The Heidelblog

The Tender Love A Father Has: The Christian’s Comfort, Even In Death

A Death-Averse Culture

Our culture is not one that likes to think about death. Culturally, as others have pointed out, we have done away with the traditional churchyard. No longer are we forced to walk past the graves of our family, friends, and neighbors on the way in and out of Lord’s Day worship and, thus, forced to confront our own mortality. We have sanitized death and sent it to the suburbs. While previous generations were familiar with various deathbed rituals, wakes occurring in the home, and the familiar sight of burial plots in churchyards, now cemeteries have been relegated to the neighborhood outskirts—out of sight and out of mind.

Historically, death was a more visible part of life, with many people dying at home and families, including children, participating in death-related rituals like preparing the body or attending funerals. In contrast, modern practices often involve professional funeral services and hospital deaths, which can distance children from the dying process. A 2013 article from The Guardian notes that in earlier times, “the whole cycle of life was played out at home,” with children naturally involved in death rituals, but that contemporary Western culture tends to “sanitize” death, with many adults aiming to protect children from its realities.¹ In that article, Liz Mowatt, founder of A Giving Tribute, observes that “dying is less likely than ever to happen in the home and the dead are cared for and stored by a stranger.”²

A 2018 study on funeral transformations notes that by 2010, 77.9% of deaths in Japan occurred in hospitals compared to 12.6% at home, a reversal from the 1950s when 80% died at home. This shift is also observed in Western countries like the U.S.; death increasingly occurs in medical settings rather than at home. The professionalization of funeral services, with funeral homes handling body preparation and ceremonies, means these tasks are outsourced rather than performed by families.³

Death, that tyrannical attendant of sin and foul intruder on God’s good creation, is a stark and bleak reality with which our society seems would prefer not to be confronted, it would seem. Anecdotally, in funeral services I have attended in recent years, I noted that many of the little programs provided by the funeral home have shied away from the language of “birth” and “death” when they list the deceased’s lifespan, opting instead for the language of “sunrise” and “sunset.”

And yet, the Scripture has a remarkably different—indeed, tender—perspective when it comes to death. This notion stood out to me recently while studying for a sermon from Genesis 25 for my congregation, wherein we considered the death of the patriarch, Abraham.

Gathered to His People

In Genesis 25:8–9 we read, “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him.”

Note especially that phrase, “He was gathered to his people. (v. 8)” This phrase is used of Ishmael (Gen 25:17), of Isaac (Gen 35:29), of Jacob (Gen.49:33), of Aaron (Num 20:24, 26), and of Moses (Num 27:13; 31:2; Deut 32:50). This gathering is not synonymous with death; it is not just a more poetic way of saying somebody died, for it seems to occur post-death (note especially verse 8). As Ralph Davis observes, “It is not the same as burial in an ancestral grave, because neither Abraham nor Aaron nor Moses was buried with their forefathers. Nor is it synonymous with burial, for verse 9 here seems to indicate that burial is distinct from it.”⁴

For example, in Genesis 49:33

Jacob is “gathered” but burial is maybe two months or more later [in chapter 50:7]. What does “gathered to his people” imply? Well, if Abraham . . . is gathered to his people, it implies that “his people” still exist in some way even though they are dead. Being “gathered” to one’s people implies that men and women “survive” in some way and join their forebears in the realm of the dead.⁵

After all, is not that precisely what Jesus said to the Sadducees in Mark 12:26–27 when he quoted Exodus chapter 3? “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” Again, Ralph Davis:

[This] clause does intimate that death does not mean annihilation; when you die you do not cease to exist. Why even bother [belaboring this point]? Because we’ve been told by much traditional Old Testament scholarship that the Israelite people were basically existential nincompoops who didn’t concern themselves much about life after death until very, very late in their history [That the notion of life after death was a late theological add-on, a later development in the religion]. And yet here, early on, is an oh-by-the-way recognition of ongoing existence in the face of death, of—one could say—immortality.⁶

Later on, King David says to the Lord in Psalm 139:8, “And if I should make my bed in Sheol [the realm of the dead], you are there!” Post-death you are not only “gathered to your people” like Abraham was, but are also met by your God.

Asleep in Jesus

What care; what tenderness the Father has. It strikes me that this phrase, “gathered to his people,” is, if you like, almost the Old Testament version of the phrase “asleep in Jesus.” Those “who have fallen asleep” is the phrase from I Thessalonians 4:14, 15; the “dead in Christ” is also how Paul puts it in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Or in 1 Corinthians 15:18, Paul speaks of “those also who have fallen asleep in Christ.” And far from being a stark or cold description of the state of men and women after this mortal life has ceased, it is a biblical image fraught with God’s tenderness.

I recall a few years ago, when one of our ruling elders was teaching our adult Sunday school class. He had reached chapter thirty-two of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), which teaches about the state of men after death and our anticipation of the future resurrection. And he noted how this phrase “asleep in Jesus”—in the face of the cold starkness of death—evokes this imagery of warm, fatherly, caring tenderness, as if one is tucking a child into bed at night. Patting them in—safe, secure, at rest; simply awaiting that time when they shall awake again, they are now simply “asleep in Jesus.”

As a father tucks his children safely into bed at night, so the Heavenly Father secures the body and soul of his own beloved children—even in death—rendering them safe and eternally secure in Christ, simply passing the time, awaiting that glorious day.

Is it not marvelous how God subverts such things as he does? God takes death, this hellish attendant of sin, this unwelcome tyrant that has intruded upon his creation on account of Adam’s sin, and in the glorious death and resurrection of his son, he has subverted death, that cold despot, and renders it something as innocuous as a child’s bedtime blanket.

The grief will come, and the tears will flow, surely. But the dead in Christ, those belonging to Jesus, though their bodies have expired in this life, are asleep in Jesus. The marvelous reality, as Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 15, is that, on account of Christ’s glorious resurrection, death is but God’s errand boy, ushering the believer through the portal unto “the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God” (WCF 32.1). And while that body is placed into the grave, that body is simply held in trust, asleep in Jesus, awaiting that day of future resurrection glory.

Asleep in Jesus; gathered unto his people. The Old Testament tells us in shadow what the New Testament tells us more fully: the soul of the believer is ushered into the company of innumerable saints, the people of God, to behold the face of God, “being made perfect in holiness . . . in light and glory,” as the Confession puts it—gathered unto his people, brought home, right where he belongs, with the people of God.

At Home with the People of God

Genesis is hinting at precisely the sentiment that Psalm 16:3 gets at later: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” It is as if the psalmist is saying, “This is where I belong; this is my rightful home! Among the people of God! My people!”

Psalm 16:6, 10–11 says, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. . . . You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy.”

Happy is the man who gets to spend all his days, in this life and in the life to come, among the people of God! This is a question I posed to the boys and girls [indeed, to all the members!] of our congregation: Do you believe that right here is exactly where you want to be, in the blessed company of God’s people? Do you understand that this worship service is just a tiny picture of what awaits us in eternity, the happy company of the people of God—worshipping him now, and one day forever delighting in the Lord? Is that a longing you have, that one day, when this earthly life is over, you shall be like Abraham and be gathered to your people?

Now, let us be fair. We do believe in progressive revelation. We do believe that the things of God and the Christian faith become more explicit, more clear, as we go on in the Old Testament and transition into the New Testament. We believe that the Old Testament saints only understood in shadow what we understand better from the New Testament. As Ralph Davis notes, Genesis 25 is not 1 Corinthians 15 or 1 Thessalonians 4. Genesis 25 does not pack the punch that the last chapters of the four gospels do—the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus.⁷

Yet, clearly there is hope here, and God’s covenant people should not neglect any hope that we are given in God’s holy Word. Whether it is a walloping mountain of hope, or just a tidbit—any and all hope is there for the everlasting good and assurance and comfort of God’s people. We do not want to make an exegetical mountain out of a molehill, but even this little note tells us that death is not the end for the people of God. And if that is true—and it is—it means that the Christian need not fear death because the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23 and John 10 will see his children safely through, all the way home to glory. Truly, even in the act and transition of death—that “last enemy” (1 Cor 15:26)—there is sovereign and tender care. For, as Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”

Notes

1. Kate Hilpern, “Should Young Children Go To Funerals?” The Guardian, July 12, 2013.
2. Hilpern, “Should Young Children Go To Funerals?”
3. Katsumi Shimane, “Social Bonds with the Dead: How Funerals Transformed in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries,” Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 373 (2008): 373.
4. Dale Ralph Davis, Faith of Our Father: Expositions of Genesis 12–25 (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2015), 163.
5. Davis, Faith of Our Father, 163; emphasis added.
6. Davis, 163.
7. Davis, 163.

©Sean Morris. All Rights Reserved.

Simon Greenleaf – It is impossible that the apostles persisted in affirming the gospel had not Jesus rose from the dead. | Love Truth Blog

Simon Greenleaf – It is impossible that the apostles persisted in affirming the gospel had not Jesus rose from the dead.

30. And first, as to their honesty. Here they are entitled to the benefit of the general course of human experience, that men ordinarily speak the truth, when they have no prevailing motive or inducement to the contrary. This presumption, to which we have before alluded, is applied in courts of justice, even to witnesses whose integrity is not wholly free from suspicion; much more is it applicable to the evangelists, whose testimony went against all their worldly interests. The great truths which the apostles declared, where that Christ had risen from the dead, and that only through repentance from sin, and faith in him, could men hope for salvation. This doctrine they asserted with one voice, everywhere, not only under the greatests discouragements, but in the face of the most appalling terrors that can be presented to the mind of man. Their master had recently perished as a malafactor, by the sentence of a public tribunal. His religion sought to overthrow the religions of the whole world. The laws of every country were against the teachings of his disciples. The interests and passions of all the rulers and great men in the world were against them. The fashion of the world was against them. Propagating this new faith, even in the most inoffensive and peaceful manner, they could expect nothing but contempt, opposition, revilings, bitter persecutions, stripes, imprisonments, torments and cruel deaths. Yet this faith they zealously did propagate; and all these miseries they endured undismayed, nay, rejoicing. As one after another was put to a miserable death, the survivors only prosecuted their work with increased vigor and resolution. The annals of military warfare afford ‘scarcely an example of the like heroic constancy, patience and unblenching courage. They had every possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these motives were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact. If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in this matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow their error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to them, was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could inflict, from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious guilt; with no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no expectation of honor or esteem among men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the world to come.

§ 31. Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary constitution of our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like all others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same hopes, affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the same fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities, as ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication.

§ 32. It would also have been irreconcilable with the fact that they were good men. But it is impossible to read their writings, and not feel that we are conversing with men eminently holy, and of tender consciences, with men acting und ran abiding sense of the presence and omniscience of God, and of their accountability to him, living in his fear, and walking in his ways. Now, though, in a single instance, a good man may fall, when under strong temptations, yet he is not found persisting, for years, in deliberate falsehood, asserted with the most solemn appeals to God, without the slightest temptation or motive, and against all the opposing interests which reign in the human breast. If, on the contrary, they are supposed to have been bad men, it is incredible that such men should have chosen this form of imposture; enjoining, as it does, unfeigned repentance, the utter forsaking and abhorrence of all falsehood and of every other sin, the practice of daily self-denial, self- abasement and self- sacrifice, the crucifixion of the flesh with all its earthly appetites and desires, indifference to the honors, and hearty contempt of the vanities of the world ; and inculcating perfect purity of heart and life, and intercourse of the soul with heaven. It is incredible, that bad men should invent falsehoods, to promote the religion of the God of truth. The supposition is suicidal. If they did believe in a future state of retribution, a heaven and a hell hereafter, they took the most certain course, if false witnesses, to secure the latter for their portion. And if, still being bad mèn, they did not believe in future punishment, how came they to invent falsehoods the direct and certain tendency of which was to destroy all their prospects of worldly honor and happiness, and to insure their misery in this life? From these absurdities there is no escape, but in the perfect conviction and admission that they were good men, testifying to that which they had carefully observed and considered, and well knew to be true.

– Simon Greenleaf

Cited from Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelist: Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice (New York: James Cockcroft & Company, 1874),28-30.

Simon Greenleaf argued that the apostles’ relentless testimony to the resurrection of Christ Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, despite intense persecution and forfeiture of any potential worldly gain, confirms their honesty. They had every incentive to abandon spreading their message, yet persisted in proclaiming it with courage, intelligence, and moral integrity. It is unreasonable to conclude they were either deceived or deceptive; they were convinced that the things they proclaimed were true. Moreover, their lives and sacrifices could hardly be explained asides from having witnessed their Lord resurrected.

Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) was an American lawyer and legal scholar. He instructed at Harvard Law School and co-authored The Laws of Evidence, a foundational text for legal education in America. Greenleaf applied the legal standards of evidence in the examining the Gospel accounts and concluded the apostles’ testimony about the resurrection of Jesus Christ to be credible and trustworthy. The book Testimony of the Evangelist preserves Greenleaf’s research.

WEEK 19 | Christ Is Risen!

THEME

Jesus has risen (Acts 10:34–43)! God’s love for us is unshakeable. In the most desperate situations, he will be victorious (Ps 118:1–2, 14–24). Let us then also walk in new life, putting away the old things (Col 3:1–4). Let us celebrate with the two women at the tomb Jesus’ triumph over death. He is risen, as he said (Mt 28:1–10).

OPENING PRAYER: Resurrection Sunday: Easter

O God, who by your only-begotten Son has overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life, grant us, we ask you, that we who celebrate the solemnities of our Lord’s resurrection may by the renewing of your Spirit arise from the death of the soul; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. [Amen.] The Gelasian Sacramentary

READING FROM ACTS: Acts 10:34–43

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

All May Receive Forgiveness of Sins. BEDE: He says, “It is clear that God is no respecter of persons, for he sent his only-begotten Son, who is the Lord and creator of all, to make peace with the human race. In his name, as the prophets bore witness, not only the Jews, but all who believe, may receive forgiveness of sins.” Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 10.36.

By Death He Conquered the Death of Humanity. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Therefore, since it was necessary that the good shepherd lay down his life on behalf of the sheep, so that through his own death he might destroy death, the captain of our salvation, by bringing death to pass, becomes a composite in his human nature, both as a priest and a lamb in the ability to receive a share of suffering. Against Apollinaris.

The Lord Provided Proof of His Resurrection. THEODORET OF CYR: For since eating is proper to them that live this present life, of necessity the Lord by means of eating and drinking proved the resurrection of the flesh to those who did not acknowledge it to be real. This same course he pursued in the case of Lazarus and of Jairus’ daughter. For when he had raised up the latter he ordered that something should be given her to eat and he made Lazarus sit with him at the table and so showed the reality of the rising again. Dialogue 2.

PSALM OF RESPONSE: Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24

NEW TESTAMENT READING: Colossians 3:1–4

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

Look at Heavenly Things. ISAAC OF NINEVEH: What is the resurrection of the soul, of which the apostle speaks, saying, “If then you have been raised with Christ”? When the apostle said, “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined into our heart,” he showed this resurrection to be the exodus from the old state which in the likeness of Sheol incarcerates a man so that the light of the gospel will not shine mystically upon him. This is a breath of life through hope in the resurrection, and by it the dawning of divine wisdom shine in his heart, so that a man should become new, having nothing of the old man. Then the image of Christ is formed in us through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of him. Ascetical Homilies 37.

A Sobering Reminder. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: Our life is hidden until the blessing of eternal life shall be revealed to all, when the glory of Christ shall appear in his second coming. Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church.

Solid Encouragement. AUGUSTINE: But what did he go on to say? “When Christ appears, your life, then you also will appear with him in glory.” So now is the time for groaning, then it will be for rejoicing; now for desiring, then for embracing. What we desire now is not present; but let us not falter in desire; let long, continuous desire be our daily exercise, because the one who made the promise doesn’t cheat us. Sermons 350A.4.

GOSPEL READING: Matthew 28:1–10

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

Why Was the Stone Rolled Back? PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: An angel descended and rolled back the stone. He did not roll back the stone to provide a way of escape for the Lord but to show the world that the Lord had already risen. He rolled back the stone to help his fellow servants believe, not to help the Lord rise from the dead. He rolled back the stone for the sake of faith, because it had been rolled over the tomb for the sake of unbelief. He rolled back the stone so that he who took death captive might hold the title of Life. Pray, brothers, that the angel would descend now and roll away all the hardness of our hearts and open up our closed senses and declare to our minds that Christ has risen, for just as the heart in which Christ lives and reigns is heaven, so also the heart in which Christ remains dead and buried is a grave. May it be believed that just as he died, so was he transformed. Christ the man suffered, died and was buried; as God, he lives, reigns, is and will be forever. Sermons 75.4.

Jesus Met Them. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: While they were going, the Lord “met them” and said, “Hail!” When he meets them, he does not frighten them with his power but comes before them with the ardor of his love. He does not startle them with his authority but greets them warmly. He binds them by the covenant of the bridegroom, not by the right of the ruler. He honors them with the love of a brother. He greets them with a gracious salutation. At one time he had said to his disciples, “Salute no one on the road.” So why is it that here along the way this visitor is so quick to salute them? He does not wait to be recognized. He does not demand to be understood. He does not allow himself to be questioned. Rather, he extends this greeting immediately, enthusiastically. He does this because the force of his love overcomes and surpasses all. Sermons 75.2.

They Worship Him. CHRYSOSTOM: Some among you may desire to be like these faithful women. You too may wish to take hold of the feet of Jesus. You can, even now. You can embrace not only his feet but also his hands and even his sacred head. You too can today receive these awesome mysteries with a pure conscience. You can embrace him not only in this life but also even more fully on that day when you shall see him coming with unspeakable glory, with a multitude of the angels. If you are so disposed, along with him, to be compassionate, you shall hear not only these words, “All hail” but also those others: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world.” The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 89.3.

CLOSING PRAYER

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection has delivered us from the power of the enemy, grant us to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him, in the joy of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Gregory the Great

Oden, T. C., & Crosby, C., eds. (2007). Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings: Lectionary Cycle A (pp. 101–104). IVP Books.

Life After Death: Jesus’ Encounter with Sadducees | Love Truth Blog

Life After Death: Jesus’ Encounter with Sadducees

Jesus Christ faced various opponents who sought to undermine His mission. During the final week of His earthly ministry, a group of Sadducees challenged Him on the resurrection.

The Old Testament prophet Daniel had prophesied a future time when those who sleep in the dust would awake—some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). This belief in a future general resurrection of the dead was widely held among first-century Jews. Not only did Jesus affirm the future resurrection (John 5:28–29), but His own assignment in Jerusalem that would soon come to fruition involved betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection on the third day (Luke 9:21, 43-45; 18:31-34).

However, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead (Luke 20:27) along with doctrines about angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). According to the historian Josephus (Antiquities 18.1.4; Wars 2.14), they disbelieved in the soul’s existence beyond physical death.

This post will take a closer look at Jesus’ encounter with the Sadducees concerning their expressed skepticism about the future resurrection.

A Marriage Conundrum in the Afterlife?

The Sadducees initiate their challenge to the doctrine of the future resurrection with a twofold introduction: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother” (Luke 20:28).^[1] This is a reference to the commandment on levirate marriage from Deuteronomy 25:5-10.

Next the Sadducees bring up an extraordinary case of the widow of seven former husbands: “Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died” (Lk. 20:29-32). The scenario parallels “the story line from the Jewish book of Tobit, wherein the jealous demon Asmodeus killed righteous Sarah’s first seven husbands.”^[2] Despising of levirate marriage brought calamity upon Onan the son of Judah (Genesis 38:6-11). But the spirit of the levirate statute is honored by Boaz in taking Ruth as his wife (Ruth 3-4; see especially 4:5).

“In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?” the Sadducees asked, “For the seven had her as wife” (Lk. 20:33). Their question implied that if the resurrection were true, it would lead to a most absurd situation—a woman with seven husbands in the afterlife. Such a scenario, they presumed, would be unthinkable, since polyandry would be scandalous to first century Jews. Of course, their aim was not sincere inquiry, but mockery. They posed the question to trap Jesus and discredit Him publicly.

The Best is Yet to Come in the Resurrection:

Jesus teaches that the marriages of this present age will one day give way to a new and greater order of relationships in the age to come: “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,” said the Lord (Luke 20:34–35). His words point to the future resurrection of the righteous into everlasting life. Just as a caterpillar sheds its former life to rise as a butterfly, so too will the world we know — with its familiar patterns of marriage (Genesis 2:4–25) — be transformed into a glorious new reality, where relationships will be deeper, richer, and full of wonder beyond anything we can now imagine.

Procreation takes place in the present age, ideally within the bond of marriage (Genesis 1:28; 9:1, 7; Hebrews 13:4). But the present moment for breeding eventually comes to completion. Yet, in the age to come, resurrected humanity will encounter relationships of even higher intimacy and surpassing ecstasy.^[3]

Jesus expands upon the uniqueness of the people raised to everlasting life: “for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36). God’s people will be raised immortal, imperishable, and incorruptible. The problem of sin and death will be fully and finally resolved. They will be like the angels. Not that that become angels. Nor that they metamorphize into ungendered bodies. Gender differentiation between male and female continues in the resurrection. Rather, the resurrected saints will share similar attributes with the angels. In this instance, both neither die nor marry and procreate.

Those who receive resurrection to everlasting life will be fully actualized “sons of God.” Leon Morris points out

There is a sense in which believers are already sons of God. They have been born again; they have been adopted into the family in which they can say ‘Our Father.’ But there is a sense in which their sonship will not be consummated until the age to come…The absence of marriage does not mean, so to speak, a levelling down of relations so that life is on a lower level. Rather it is a being taken up into the fullness of life in the family of God.^[4]

The Christian experience of being sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father will be fully matured in the age to come. The believer’s future intimate union with God will far surpass experience of the present age. The best is yet to come.

God is the God of the Living.

Lastly, Jesus makes a shrewd observation about resurrection from the Old Testament patriarchs: “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him,” says Jesus (Luke 20:37–38; cf. Exodus 3:15).^[5] Although Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died long ago, it makes perfect sense to regard them as very much alive, for they are presently with the God of the living. Moreover, they will be among those who rise to everlasting life.

Conclusion:

Death is the enemy—an unwelcome consequence of the fall that continues to ravage humanity. In our desperation, we search for ways to escape its shadow. Some try to romanticize death as part of a natural “circle of life,” but this only masks the sorrow it brings.

Others pursue symbolic immortality—striving to leave a legacy through good deeds, philanthropy, or lasting achievements, making significant contributions to science, industry, technology, social justice, and the arts. Yet, the bitter reality is the most significant legacies are forgotten over time.

We even attempt to extend our lives through the best science available, hoping to add a few more years, but even these efforts offer no guarantee. Death continues to rule despite our best efforts in the science of longevity.

But death is defeated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The promise of a future resurrection is not wishful thinking but is grounded in the historical reality of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection in Jerusalem. Through Christ’s triumph over death, the Christian gains a secure and lasting hope—one that extends beyond this life. It is in Him that we look forward to not merely escaping death, but rising again to everlasting life. This is our confident expectation: death does not have the final word—resurrection does.

— WGN

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Notes:

[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.

[2] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 20:29–32. See Tobit 3:7-9.

[3] C.S. Lewis points out, “The letter and spirit of scripture, and of all Christianity, forbid us to suppose that life in the New Creation will be a sexual life; and this reduces our imagination to the withering alternative either of bodies which are hardly recognizable as human bodies at all or else of a perpetual fast. As regards the fast, I think our present outlook might be like that of a small boy who, on being told that the sexual act was the highest bodily pleasure should immediately ask whether you ate chocolates at the same time. On receiving the answer ‘No,’ he might regard absence of chocolates as the chief characteristic of sexuality. In vain would you tell him that the reason why lovers in their carnal raptures don’t bother about chocolates is that they have something better to think of. The boy knows chocolate: he does not know the positive thing that excludes it. We are in the same position. We know the sexual life; we do not know, except in glimpses, the other thing which, in Heaven, will leave no room for it. Hence where fullness awaits us we anticipate fasting. In denying that sexual life, as we now understand it, makes any part of the final beatitude, it is not of course necessary to suppose that the distinction of sexes will disappear. What is no longer needed for biological purposes may be expected to survive for splendor. Sexuality is the instrument both of virginity and of conjugal virtue; neither men nor women will be asked to throw away weapons they have used victoriously. It is the beaten and the fugitives who throw away their swords. The conquerors sheathe theirs and retain them” (“Miracles if the New Creation” in Miracles [New York: HarperOne,1947, 1974], 260-261).

[4] Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Luke, vol. 3, ed. Leon Morris (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987), 318-319.

[5] The Lord, likewise, affirms the tradition of Mosaic authorship of the Book of Exodus.

WEEK 17 | The Giver of Life

Fifth Sunday in Lent

THEME

God is all-powerful, bringing life from death (Ezek 37:1–14), just as his Son, Jesus, has the power over life and death (Jn 11:1–45). We wait patiently for him to help us in the midst of our troubles, knowing that his love for us is unwavering (Ps 130); we submit to God, setting our minds on spiritual things, rather than the things of the flesh, and letting Christ dwell in us (Rom 8:6–11). Jesus is the giver of life and has the power over life and death (Jn 11:1–45).

OPENING PRAYER: Fifth Sunday in Lent

O God, who has given us the great and saving truths of your gospel: grant us, we ask you, to live amid these things, to meditate on them and to seek them; for one who goes on seeking, finds. Help us, therefore, to learn those things on earth, the knowledge of which shall abide with us in heaven. Grant this for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. Jerome

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Ezekiel 37:1–14

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

The Church Is a Community Where the Weak Are Supported by the Strong. BASIL THE GREAT: According to the same reasoning there should also be certain bones of the inner man in which the bond of union and harmony of spiritual powers is collected. Just as the bones by their own firmness protect the tenderness of the flesh, so also in the church there are some who through their own constancy are able to carry the infirmities of the weak. And as the bones are joined to each other through articulations by sinews and fastenings which have grown upon them, so also would be the bond of charity and peace, which achieves a certain natural junction and union of the spiritual bones in the church of God. Homily 16.

The Vision Portrays Future Judgment. JUSTIN MARTYR: The prophets have foretold two comings of Christ: the one, which already took place, was that of a dishonored and suffering man; the other coming will take place, as it is predicted, when he gloriously comes from heaven with his angelic army, when he also raises to life the bodies of all the men that ever were, cloaks the worthy with immortality, and relegates the wicked, who will be subjected to pain for all eternity, into the eternal fire, together with the evil demons. We will now show how these things also have been predicted as yet to happen. Thus spoke the prophet Ezekiel, “And the bones came together, bone to its bone.” Apology 1.52.

PSALM OF RESPONSE: Psalm 130

NEW TESTAMENT READING: Romans 8:6–11

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

Life and Peace. GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: “Death” is estrangement and punishment from God; “life” is immortality and “peace” is fellowship with him. Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church.

Whether the Flesh Can Please God. CHRYSOSTOM: What Paul means by the flesh in this passage is not the essence of the body but a life which is carnal and worldly, serving self-indulgence and extravagance to the full. Homilies on Romans 13.

Your Bodies Are Dead Because of Sin. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is not saying here that the Spirit is Christ but is showing rather that anyone who has the Spirit has Christ as well. For where the Spirit is, there Christ is also. Wherever one person of the Trinity is present, the whole Trinity is present too. For the Trinity is undivided and has a perfect unity in itself. Homilies on Romans 13.

He Who Raised Christ Will Raise You. POLYCARP: But he who raised Christ up from the dead will raise us up also if we do his will and walk in his commandments and love what he loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness, “not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing,” or blow for blow or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord said in his teaching. The Epistle to the Philippians 2.

GOSPEL READING: John 11:1–45

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

Jesus Grants Free Reign to the Grave. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: You see how he gives full scope to death. He grants free reign to the grave; he allows corruption to set normal course; he allows the realm of darkness to seize his friend, drag him down to the underworld and take possession of him. He acts like this so that human hope may perish entirely and human despair reach its lowest depths. The deed he is about to accomplish may then clearly be seen to be the work of God, not of man. He waited for Lazarus to die, staying in the same place until he could tell his disciples that he was dead; then he announced his intention of going to him. “Lazarus is dead,” he said, “and I am glad.” Was this a sign of his love for his friend? Not so. Christ was glad because their sorrow over the death of Lazarus was soon to be changed into joy at his restoration to life. “I am glad for your sake,” he said. Why for their sake? Because the death and raising of Lazarus were a perfect prefiguration of the death and resurrection of the Lord himself. Sermon 63.2.

Resurrecting Adam and His Descendants. ROMANUS THE MELODIST: In order that he might bring an end to the mourning of Martha,

The Savior of all spoke to her and addressed
These divine words to her:
“I exist as the Light of the world
And the resurrection of all from the dead;
It was for this end that I appeared in order to resurrect Adam
And the descendants of Adam
And on the fourth day to resurrect Lazarus
Taking pity, as a Merciful One, on
The tears of Mary and Martha.” Kantakion 15.8.

We Are Alive If We Believe. AUGUSTINE: “Whoever believes in me,” he said, “even though he dies, is alive.” He both proclaims life and does not deny death. What does it mean, “even though he dies, is alive?” Even though he dies in the body, he is alive in the spirit. Then he adds, “and whoever is alive and believes in me, will not die forever.” Well now, “even though he dies;” but how is it the case if “he will not die?” Yes, but even though he dies for a time, “he will not die forever.” That is how we solve that problem. And see how the words of Truth do not contradict each other, and how they can support our loving devotion. So then, although we are going to die in the body, we are alive if we believe. Sermon 173.1.

Jesus Weeps for All Humanity. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Jews thought that Jesus wept on account of the death of Lazarus, but in fact he wept out of compassion for all humanity, not mourning Lazarus alone, but all of humanity which is subject to death, having justly fallen under so great a penalty. Commentary on the Gospel of St. John 7.1.

CLOSING PRAYER

Almighty God, who sees that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us, both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. [Amen.] The Gregorian Sacramentary

Oden, T. C., & Crosby, C., eds. (2007). Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings: Lectionary Cycle A (pp. 91–95). IVP Books.

April 24 | THE RESURRECTION: A BELIEF THAT MATTERS

  “How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

1 CORINTHIANS 15:12

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 Without the truth of bodily resurrection, the Christian faith would not make sense.

Even though Paul and the other apostles made the resurrection of Christ and His followers from the dead a central part of the gospel message, some new Gentile converts (the Corinthians especially) had difficulty accepting the idea of bodily resurrection. That struggle resulted mainly from the effects of Greek dualism, which viewed the spiritual as inherently good and the physical as inherently bad. Under that belief, a physical resurrection was considered quite repulsive.
The only way for the doubting Gentiles to accommodate their dualism was to say that Jesus was divine but not truly human. Therefore, He only appeared to die, and His appearances between the crucifixion and ascension were manifestations that merely seemed to be bodily. But Paul knew that was bad doctrine. He wrote to the Romans, “Concerning His Son … born of the seed of David according to the flesh … declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:3–4).
To deny the actual, bodily resurrection of Christ creates some very significant doctrinal problems. Without His resurrection, the gospel is an empty message that doesn’t make sense. Without the Resurrection, Jesus could not have conquered sin and death, and thus we could not have followed in that victory either.
Without physical resurrection, a life of faith centered on the Lord Jesus is worthless. A dead savior cannot provide any kind of life. If the dead do not rise bodily, Christ did not rise, and neither will we. If all that were true, we could not do much more than conclude with Isaiah’s Servant, “I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity” (49:4). But the glorious reality is that we can affirm with Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and … .without my flesh [after death] I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26).

✧✧✧

Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God that the truth of the Resurrection makes our theology credible and the gospel powerful.

For Further Study: Sometimes Jesus’ closest followers have doubts about the Resurrection. Read John 20:19–29. How did Jesus prove to the disciples that it was really Him? ✧ What else did Jesus implicitly appeal to when He confronted Thomas’s doubts?

MacArthur, J. (1997). Strength for today. Crossway Books.

How Is Jesus the Resurrection and the Life? | Ligonier Ministries

The wise teacher of Ecclesiastes speaks about a place that grows godliness, and the location may surprise you. He says,

It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting. (Eccl. 7:2)

Again, he reminds, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” (Eccl. 7:4).

You might know what he means. Attending a funeral or visiting a cemetery can do a soul good as eternal realities press ever nearer.

John 11 brings the reader to a house of mourning. The Spirit brings us here so that we might learn something about death’s despair and defeat. The eleventh chapter of John “is one of the most remarkable in the New Testament,” writes J. C. Ryle, “for grandeur and simplicity, for pathos and solemnity, nothing was ever written like it.”¹

The Situation

The text opens with Jesus receiving a report that his friend Lazarus is sick (John 11:3). Mary and Martha had surely heard about, and maybe even seen, Jesus’ power over sickness. They believe if Jesus hurries, He can save Lazarus.

Jesus’ response is not one anyone would have expected.

John reports: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:5–6). The little word “so” is the word ordinarily translated as “therefore.” Thus, the text more literally says, “Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, therefore . . . He stayed two days longer.” Interestingly, His love led Him to wait. His delight in His disciples caused Him to delay. He stayed so that the suffering and sickness would take its full course.

We are always learning this great lesson in Christ’s school. How many times have you asked the Lord to do something, and He doesn’t answer immediately? Or He doesn’t answer in time? See that the lack of action may be nothing more than His love at work, His plan and purpose to do immeasurably more than all you can ask for or imagine.

The Statement

Four days after Lazarus died, Jesus finally arrives at the mournful house. Martha races to Jesus, and upon meeting Him says: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (John 11:21–22). The seed of faith is clearly present in Martha. Jesus assures her that “your brother will rise again” (John 11:22).

“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day,” Martha replies (John 11:24). A great debate over the resurrection raged between the Pharisees and the Sadducees during Jesus’ day. The question was whether there would be a resurrection at the end of history. Martha was on the Pharisees’ side theologically when it came to resurrection. She believed Lazarus would rise again—then, at the end of the age. But Jesus is talking about now. Thus, He says: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26).

This is the fifth “I am” statement in John—and it is stunning. Jesus is saying: “I don’t just teach the resurrection; I am the resurrection. I don’t just preach God’s power for life; I am God’s power for life. Don’t merely believe it; believe in Me.” True faith is not mere trust in information and facts about Jesus. Rather, it is belief in Him—the One in whom all truth resides.

The Certainty

When Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out,” the dead-man-come-to-life becomes a walking parable of salvation. He is a living monument to Jesus who is resurrection and life. After Lazarus rises, Jesus commands, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:43–44).

What a portrait of the gospel! The Bible says we are dead in our sin. Rags of unbelief ensnare us and garments of sin cover us. There is nothing we can do, as it was with Lazarus, to make ourselves alive. But God makes dead sinners alive when they believe in Jesus. The Savior died in the place of sinners, rose again, and so holds the keys to death and hell. He calls to us, “Come out. Turn from your sin and trust in Me. I will loose you from the bonds of sin and set you free.”

May we see the sign, hear the statement, and respond like Martha to the fifth “I am” saying: “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27).

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This article is part of The “I Am” Sayings of Jesus collection.

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1. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on John (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2012), 2:256.↩

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April 23 | A SPECIAL TESTIMONY

  “And last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

1 CORINTHIANS 15:8

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 The resurrection power of Christ transformed Paul into a preacher of the gospel.

Throughout history, reliable eyewitness testimony about a person or event has been one of the most accepted forms of courtroom evidence. The apostle Paul appeals to the eyewitness record as an important confirmation of the Resurrection’s reality. He cites the examples of Peter, the apostles (twice), 500 believers, and James (1 Cor. 15:5–7). And with today’s verse, Paul presents himself as a special eyewitness to the fact of Jesus’ resurrection.
Paul’s case was unique. He was not among the original apostles, nor the 500 other believers, all of whom had opportunities to be with the Lord during His earthly ministry and/or see Him soon after He arose. Paul was not even a Christian during his early life and career but was rather the leader of those who persecuted the early church.
Furthermore, Paul’s situation was different because Christ’s appearance to him was not only post–resurrection but post–ascension. The Lord’s dramatic manifestation to the apostle was probably several years after the forty–day period of His many other appearings.
Paul genuinely viewed the timing of Jesus’ appearance to him as coming “to one untimely born.” We know he greatly rejoiced in his conversion, but if he had not seen the risen Savior then or some other time, Paul could not have become an apostle. In other words, by gracious, sovereign provision God chose Paul to be an apostle because “He [Jesus] appeared to me also.” The longtime opponent of the church was now like the Twelve—he had seen the risen Christ.
The power of the Resurrection is always strong enough to change a life. It transformed Paul’s life in three major ways. First, he recognized his sin and saw how far removed external religion was from internal godliness. Second, his character was revolutionized. He went from a self–righteous hatred of the things of Christ to a self–giving love for the truth. Finally, Paul’s personal energy and motivation were completely redirected. He went from being a zealous opponent of Christians to one who fervently served and supported the church.

✧✧✧

Suggestions for Prayer: Ask God to help your testimony always show forth the power of the risen Christ.

For Further Study: What common elements were present in Paul’s experiences in Acts 18:9–10; 23:11? Note some things that were more unusual about Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians 12:1–7.

MacArthur, J. (1997). Strength for today. Crossway Books.

The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection – Part 2 | Cross Examined

https://player.blubrry.com/id/144837389?cache=1745354311#mode-Light&border-000000&progress-000000

Last week, Frank introduced three compelling reasons to believe in the resurrection, including embarrassing details and eyewitness testimony. In this midweek episode, he jumps back into more archaeological discoveries that include names of people involved in the death and crucifixion of Jesus and how the excruciating deaths of the eyewitnesses offer powerful evidence that they weren’t lying as well. He also answers questions like:

• Did any of the apostles recant their eyewitness testimony and is it possible that they were hallucinating?
• Were the apostles motivated to invent the resurrection story and should their testimony be dismissed because they were Christians?
• Is martyrdom also evidence that Islam is true?
• What does Spiderman have to do with the reliability of the New Testament?
• Is the New Testament just a work of historical fiction?
• Can other world religions be defended with apologetics?
• Why are skeptics and non-Christians often motivated to reject Christianity?

Later in the episode, Frank draws from major cultural events in modern U.S. history—like 9/11, the OJ Simpson trial, and the Rodney King incident—to reveal how human bias can shape the way we interpret evidence and how “impact events” can help us in evaluating the historicity of the New Testament. If you missed Part 1 of this special Resurrection Weekend mini-series be sure to check it out in the resources section listed below!

If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!

Resources mentioned during the episode:

PART 1: The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection
BOOK: I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
BOOK: On the Resurrection Volume 2: Refutations by Gary Habermas
PODCAST: Did the Apostles REALLY Die as Martyrs? with Sean McDowell

The post The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection – Part 2 appeared first on Cross Examined.

https://crossexamined.org/the-top-3-reasons-why-we-can-believe-in-the-resurrection-part-2/

April 22 Morning Verse of the Day

15:19 Christians should be pitied more than anyone if there is no resurrection, for in that case we have placed all our hopes in a falsehood. Christianity is fundamentally a resurrection faith.

15:20 Christ’s genuine, well-attested resurrection is the guarantee of our future resurrection. Firstfruits refers to the guarantee that Christ’s resurrection is the first-of-a-kind resurrection that promises others will follow in the end time (cp. Rm 8:23, where “firstfruits” can be translated “guarantee,” “first installment”). In this instance the phrase who have fallen asleep refers specifically to those who have died in Christ. For more general usage of “fallen asleep,” see note at 11:30–32.

Tomlinson, F. A. (2017). 1 Corinthians. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 1832). Holman Bible Publishers.

15:19 we are … most to be pitied. Though Paul would not deny that in the spiritual sense Christians enjoy a better present life than non-Christians, this verse emphasizes the greatness of what God has promised for the life to come. Our hope of salvation is so glorious that if we were still in our sins and lost (vv. 17, 18), we would have experienced the greatest and cruelest of all deceptions (vv. 31, 32).

15:20 the firstfruits. At harvesttime the Israelites were required to bring an offering from the first part of the crop (Lev. 23:10). This offering was a token of the whole harvest, that all belonged to God. Jesus is called the “firstfruits” because His resurrection and the resurrection of believers are closely related events. Jesus was “the first to rise from the dead” (Acts 26:23), rising as our representative. His resurrection caused us to be raised spiritually (Rom. 6:4; Eph. 2:6), and at the same time guarantees that we will be raised bodily. Another use of the metaphor is found in Rom. 8:23 (cf. also 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14).

Sproul, R. C., ed. (2005). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (p. 1665). Ligonier Ministries.

15:19 we are of all people most pitiable Refers to Paul and his companions, who endured great suffering for the sake of spreading the gospel (see note on 1 Cor 15:30).

15:20 the first fruits An allusion to the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits (see Lev 23:10). Paul uses this metaphor to present Christ’s resurrection as an example of the greatness of the future resurrection of believers (1 Cor 15:35–57). See note on Acts 26:23; compare note on Rom 8:23.

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Co 15:19–20). Lexham Press.

15:19 most to be pitied. This is because of the sacrifices made in this life in light of the hope of life to come. If there is no life to come, we would be better “to eat, drink and be merry” before we die.
15:20 first fruits. This speaks of the first installment of harvest to eternal life, in which Christ’s resurrection will precipitate and guarantee that all of the saints who have died will be resurrected also. See Jn 14:19. those … asleep. See note on v. 18.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (1 Co 15:19–20). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

15:19 If Christ is not risen, then living believers are in as wretched a condition as those who have died. They, too, have been deceived. They are of all men the most pitiable. Paul is here doubtless thinking of the sorrows, sufferings, trials, and persecutions to which Christians are exposed. To undergo such afflictions for a false cause would be pathetic indeed.
15:20 The tension is relieved as Paul triumphantly announces the fact of the resurrection of Christ and of the blessed consequences that follow. But now Christ is risen from the dead, … the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. There is a difference in the Scripture between the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection from the dead. The previous verses have been dealing with the resurrection of the dead. In other words, Paul has been arguing in a general way that the dead do indeed rise. But Christ rose from the dead. This means that when He rose, not all the dead rose. In this sense it was a limited resurrection. Every resurrection is a resurrection of the dead, but only that of Christ and of believers is a resurrection from among dead people.

MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.; p. 1805). Thomas Nelson.

19. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
    The wording of this verse gives rise to interpretations that arise from the place and significance of the adverb only. Note the following observations:
    First, the Greek text has the word only at the end of the first clause and links it to the verb construction we have hoped. The New American Bible reflects this link: “If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied.” This reading makes Paul say that the Corinthians have been wrong in placing their hope only in Christ. He certainly is not indicating that believers should put their trust in human beings, too (see Ps. 146:3). Nor does he intimate that Christians ought to fix their attention on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) for the life hereafter and show a total disregard for the present. What, then, is Paul stressing in this concluding verse of this part of the discussion? This becomes plain in the second interpretation.
    If we place the adverb only after “for this life” and before “we have hoped in Christ,” the adverb controls the entire first clause. Then the reading decisively limits our relationship with Jesus Christ to this earthly life and puts him on a horizontal instead of a vertical level. Consequently our relationship with Christ ceases when death ends our physical life, and we have no hope of resurrection.
    Paul stresses the verb to hope with a Greek construction of a perfect participle that perhaps can best be translated “we have been hoping.” The perfect tense describes an action that took place in the past and continues to the present. From the time of conversion to that of death, the Corinthians who died had been living on the basis of hope. When they died, that hope did not became reality but turned into disillusionment. Paul states that when hope is dashed, believers are deluded and are the most pitiable of all people. Unbelievers live without hope and thus seek to get as much out of the present life as possible. The believers hope for the restoration of all things in the life to come. If their hope vanishes at the time of death, they are to be pitied more than anyone.49

Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Vol. 18, pp. 545–546). Baker Book House.

20. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
    a. “But now.” The first two words in this text are important. The first one is the adversative but that changes the discourse from a series of negative statements on the resurrection (vv. 12–19) to a positive testimony on Christ raised from the dead. After writing seven conditional statements to demonstrate the effect of denying the resurrection, Paul turns from the contrary teaching of some Corinthians to the consistent doctrine of the Christian church: the tenet of Christ’s resurrection.
    The second word now can indicate a temporal reference, a logical conclusion or, in this verse, both. For Paul, the raising of Christ from the dead was a historical fact with far-reaching and lasting implications; Christ Jesus has been raised by God the Father to effect the restoration of all his people. Conversely, the adverb now signals the logical conclusion of Paul’s lengthy discussion on the denial of the resurrection that some Corinthians championed.
    b. “Christ has been raised from the dead.” This brief testimony sketches an incontrovertible fact that is rooted in history and is basic to the Christian faith: Christ arose. The evidence Paul has marshaled in the earlier part of this chapter is sufficient for believers, namely, the empty tomb and the appearances (see vv. 3–8). Granted that unbelievers continue to scoff, Christians do not need further proof for this historic truth that in their minds is irrefutable (see Acts 3:15; 26:23).
    Paul repeats the words he wrote in verse 12. There he put the statement “If Christ has been raised from the dead” in conditional form, but here he phrases it as a declaration that relates a historical fact. There he raised the theological question that some Corinthians denied this fact, while he himself attested its truth. Here he reiterates positively the truth of the resurrection; he knows that only some of the Corinthians deny Christ’s resurrection. Perhaps the readers have not understood the implications of this redemptive doctrine, but after Paul’s expansive discourse on the subject they should now be able to realize the profound importance of this teaching.
    The question remains whether Paul now excludes those who deny Christ’s resurrection or addresses all the Corinthians. Is he continuing his discourse directed against those who reject this teaching or is Paul now speaking only to those who accept it? There is no indication in the current section (vv. 20–28) that Paul excludes anyone. In effect, after thoroughly discussing the negative consequences of denying the resurrection, Paul invites all his readers to examine the positive aspects of confessing this doctrine.
    c. “The firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” This clause is a pithy statement of only three words in the Greek text, yet it is filled with meaning. Paul assumes that his readers are acquainted with the Old Testament teachings on the firstfruits. These were the earliest gathered fruits that the people offered to God in recognition of his faithfulness for providing crops in due season. Moses instructed the Israelites to offer, before the Lord on the day after the Sabbath following the Passover feast, a sheaf of the first grain that was harvested (Lev. 23:9–11). Exactly seven weeks later, they were to present an offering of new grain to the Lord (Lev. 23:15–17; see also Deut. 26:1–11). In a later century, Israel was called the firstfruits (Jer. 2:3). Paul applied this word to the first converts in western Asia Minor and in southern Greece respectively (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:15, NASB). And the 144,000 redeemed from the earth are offered as firstfruits to God (Rev. 14:3; compare James 1:18).
    The term firstfruits signals that the first sheaf of the forthcoming grain harvest will be followed by the rest of the sheaves. Christ, the firstfruits raised from the dead, is the guarantee for all those who belong to him that they also will share in his resurrection. Paul describes the people who belong to Christ as those who have fallen asleep. He is not mentioning Jesus’ resurrection with reference to either the temporal or the religious aspect of the Jewish Passover. He means that Christ’s resurrection is a down payment for his people (v. 23) or their guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22). Christ is not the firstfruits of those who have been raised but of those who have died. In fact, no human being has been raised physically from the dead. The sons of both the widow of Zarephath and the Shunammite died in later years; so did the daughter of Jairus, the young man of Nain, and Lazarus. Only Christ has conquered death and is risen from the dead. All others must wait for their bodily resurrection until the appointed time.60

Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Vol. 18, pp. 547–548). Baker Book House.

April 22 | THE CHURCH TESTIFIES TO THE RESURRECTION

  “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand.”

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1

✧✧✧

 The true church has consistently testified to the power of the Resurrection.

Kenneth Scott Latourette observed in his History of the Expansion of Christianity: “It was the conviction of the resurrection of Jesus which lifted his followers out of the despair into which his death had cast them and which led to the perpetuation of a movement begun by him.”
This statement was true for the church at Corinth, even with its many problems. The apostle Paul opens his well–known chapter on the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 by implicitly affirming the Corinthians’ testimony to that doctrine. Simply by receiving the gospel and having their lives transformed, the believers at Corinth demonstrated the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. And that resurrection is what empowered the gospel. Paul did not need to explicitly remind the Corinthians of Christ’s rising to life until verse 4, “He was raised on the third day.” The apostle was confident at the outset that the Corinthians had already believed in the truth of the Lord’s resurrection.
The fact that the Corinthian church continued to exist, though beset with problems of immaturity and other weaknesses, was a solid witness to the power of the gospel of the risen Christ. Only a living Savior could have converted some of the hardened sinners of Corinth—extortioners, idolaters, the sexually immoral—into a community of the redeemed. Paul was concerned and distressed about many of the things that did and did not happen in the church at Corinth, but he did not hesitate to call the core group of members there “brethren.”
In spite of many challenges from skepticism, persecution, heresy, and unfaithfulness, the church through the centuries has continued to testify to the reality of Christ’s resurrection. The true church celebrates that truth often, not just on Easter Sunday. Actually, because the church gathers on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week (when Jesus rose), we remember the Resurrection every week. Praise the Lord for that reminder the next time you worship on the Lord’s Day.

✧✧✧

Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God that His church was faithful in the past to testify to the truth of the Resurrection.

For Further Study: Read Acts 4, and list some things that suggest a testimony to the power of the Resurrection.

MacArthur, J. (1997). Strength for today. Crossway Books.

Most Festive Holy Week in White House History – Grand Finale Today with Easter Egg Roll | The Gateway Pundit

Most Festive Holy Week in White House History – Grand Finale Today with Easter Egg Roll

President Trump joyously unveils a mascot Easter bunny in 2018

The most festive Holy Week in White House history will conclude with the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House South Lawn, Monday.

This cherished annual event, expected to draw 40,000 people, according to a statement from President Trump, could not be held until the White House first participated in five consecutive days of prayer and service commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in 33 AD.

Suitably, the White House’s Holy Week celebrations began with President Trump hosting an Easter prayer dinner among faith leaders on Wednesday, April 16.

At the prayer dinner, President Trump told the history of Jesus Christ’s triumphant resurrection, and touted his newly created White House Faith Office.

On Thursday, April 17, the White House staff participated in a private prayer service honoring Holy Thursday.

One particularly moving moment during the service was captured by a Hillsdale College alumnus here:

Powerful moment at the White House Easter service as staff rise to sing “Amazing Grace.” pic.twitter.com/uYCjMVjNz2

— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) April 17, 2025

On Good Friday, Vice President Vance landed in Rome, Italy. Accompanied by his family, Vice President Vance attended a Good Friday service at the historic Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.

On Holy Saturday, Vice President Vance returned to the Vatican City to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and visit the Sistine Chapel.

Vice President Vance met with the now-late Pope Francis and attended Easter Sunday Mass in the Vatican City, while President Trump attended an Easter Sunday service at the White House.

To conclude the holiest week on the Christian calendar, the White House staff will volunteer to create a special and memorable day for God’s most precious gift, our children, at the annual Easter Egg Roll.

The post Most Festive Holy Week in White House History – Grand Finale Today with Easter Egg Roll appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Resurrection of Christ – Pastor Mark Fitzpatrick Sermon (1 Corinthians 15:1-22)

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore whether [it were] I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.(1 Corinthians 15:1-22)

The Resurrection of Christ – Pastor Mark Fitzpatrick Sermon (1 Corinthians 15:1-22)

Arann Reformed Baptist Church
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Source: The Resurrection of Christ – Pastor Mark Fitzpatrick Sermon (1 Corinthians 15:1-22)

APRIL 20 | THE MIRACLE OF THE RESURRECTION

SCRIPTURE READING: MARK 16:1–11
KEY VERSES: MARK 16:9–10

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.

When you read the account of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the Bible, do you ever stop to wonder why He appeared to His disciples and friends after the Resurrection? They already knew that the stone had been rolled away and that His body was not there. He had already promised them that He would rise again on the third day.
It is common belief that Jesus’ multiple appearances were to answer the questions that existed among them and to cast out disbelief. He appeared to Mary Magdalene to rule out the possibility of His body being stolen and to expound upon the scriptural prophecies that were now fulfilled. He appeared to Thomas to prove that His broken, punctured body had indeed risen from the grave. He also appeared to Peter to reestablish His love, even after being denied.
These important visitations equipped the new messengers of the gospel with further knowledge and evidence of Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God. If any had held the slightest doubts in their hearts before, they could not doubt now. Jesus suffered the death of a criminal to rise as a King. He is alive, and His love is great enough to conquer doubt.
Meditate on the miracle of His resurrection as you lift your prayers to Him today.

Lord, just as You appeared to Your followers to equip them for ministry, so, too, help my finite mind grasp the wonder of Your death as a criminal, and resurrection as a King.

Stanley, C. F. (2006). Pathways to his presence (p. 115). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

04.19.25 EChurch@Wartburg Pastor Libin Abraham: Easter | The Wartburg Watch

The Garden Tomb-Jerusalem

---

He is risen

Halleluia!
Jesus is risen!
He is risen indeed!

May this declaration
resound not only in these walls
but touch the lives
of all we meet
and forever be
the truth of which we speak.
Your love,
once sown within a garden,
tended for your own people,
neglected and rejected,
now spreads its sweet perfume
in this place
and wherever it is shown.

Halleluia!
Jesus is risen!
He is risen indeed!

The Angels of God Are Rejoicing-—St. Hippolytus of Rome link

Christ is Risen: The world below lies desolate

Christ is Risen: The spirits of evil are fallen

Christ is Risen: The angels of God are rejoicing

Christ is Risen: The tombs of the dead are empty

Christ is Risen indeed from the dead, the first of the sleepers,

Glory and power are his forever and ever.
Amen

An Ancient Easter Prayer; Roman Missal, Easter Vigil

O God of unchangeable power and light eternal,
look kindly upon the wonderful mystery of Your Church
and by the tranquil operation of Your perpetual providence,
carry forward, the work of human salvation
and let the whole world feel and see,
that things, which were cast down
are being raised up,
that things which had grown old,
are being made new
and all things are returning to perfection,
through Him, in whom they have their source,
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen

Benediction. Hebrews 13:20–25 ESV

 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,

the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
equip you with everything good that you may do his will,
working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

https://thewartburgwatch.com/2025/04/19/04-19-25-echurchwartburg-pastor-libin-abraham-easter/

6 Ways Easter Changed the Course of Humanity

Easter didn’t just change a day—it changed the destiny of humanity forever, and the question now is: has it changed you?

Two thousand years ago, on a Sunday morning that began in darkness, a stone was rolled away—changing the course of humanity forever. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not just an event; it was a cosmic upheaval. It split history in half, proved Christ’s divine nature, transformed cowards into martyrs, shattered the power of sin and death, and turned the world upside down. 

How can we be certain the resurrection really happened? Consider the evidence: It was recorded by four independent authors, with each account reporting many small details in harmony. Eyewitnesses to the risen Christ included a group of 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:7). And the resurrection accounts include inconvenient truths—like the fact that women, who were not highly regarded in Middle Eastern culture, were the first eyewitnesses (Matthew 28:1-10).

If Easter is true—and it is—then every person who has ever lived must reckon with its reality. Here are six ways Jesus’ resurrection changed the course of history:

1. The Resurrection Split History in Two.

Even the secular world cannot ignore the impact of Easter. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very reason history is divided into B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini, or “in the year of our Lord,” from the time of Jesus’ birth). The life, death, and resurrection of one man—God in the flesh—became the fulcrum upon which all of human existence pivots. Every time someone writes a date, they bear witness to the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ changed the world forever.

This singular moment in history continues to echo through the centuries, shaping not only our calendar but our understanding of life, death, and the ultimate hope of humanity. 

2. The Resurrection Proved Jesus’ Divine Nature.

No religious leader has ever conquered death. No prophet has ever risen from the grave. But Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, did exactly what He said He would do—He laid down His life, and He took it up again (John 10:18).

The tomb of Muhammad is occupied. The grave of Buddha remains full. The burial places of Confucius, Krishna, and every so-called spiritual leader are filled with bones. But outside Jerusalem stands an empty tomb. And that empty tomb is the greatest proof that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be: the Son of the living God, the only way to the Father, the victorious King who reigns forever.

3. The Resurrection Changed the Day of Worship.

The Jewish people worshiped on the Sabbath, which took place on Saturday. It was a command from God Himself, engraved in stone on the Ten Commandments. But after the resurrection, everything changed. The early Church—the very people who had been taught to keep the Sabbath—suddenly began gathering on Sunday (Acts 20:7).

What kind of event could cause thousands of devout Jews to suddenly abandon generations of law-keeping to worship on a new day? Only one: The resurrection of their Messiah! Nothing else could have overturned centuries of sacred tradition except the undeniable reality that Jesus Christ is alive.

Read more: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/slideshows/6-ways-easter-changed-the-course-of-humanity.html

The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection | Cross Examined

https://player.blubrry.com/id/144733102?cache=1744992439#mode-Light&border-000000&progress-000000

Did Jesus of Nazareth really rise from the dead? And if that’s the case, how should that impact our view of history and everything we believe about God and reality? With the colloquial Easter holiday coming just around the corner, let’s dive into the BEST evidence for the resurrection!

In this week’s solo podcast episode, Frank takes you step-by-step through three powerful reasons to believe the resurrection of Jesus is not only possible—but reasonable and true. Tune in as he unpacks the evidence that will challenge skeptics and strengthen Christians to trust and defend the Gospel with confidence. During the episode, Frank will answer questions like:

• What is the greatest miracle in the Bible? (SPOILER ALERT: it’s NOT the Resurrection)
• What are the four types of miracles that Jesus performed and what do they teach us about His divinity?
• Why could we call them the “duh”-ciples of Jesus?
• How do we know that Islam isn’t true? And what about Judaism?
• What makes the conversion of James (the brother of Jesus) so compelling?
• Why does Dennis Prager think that the Old Testament is telling the truth and what implications does this have on the historicity of the New Testament?
• Why do some people refuse to believe in the possibility of a resurrection despite the evidence?
• What 7 figures associated with the trial and crucifixion of Christ have been discovered via archaeology?

This episode will give you the tools to confidently defend the resurrection and explain why it’s the most significant event in history. As Frank explores the truth of the resurrection, listeners will discover why human life has eternal value, why Christianity stands alone among other worldviews, and how we can know the Bible is historically reliable. Plus, Frank shares a special invitation to join the CE team!

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Resources mentioned during the episode:

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The post The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection appeared first on Cross Examined.

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