I
would think you regular folks wouldn’t be here today if you didn’t believe in
the resurrection of Jesus. While maybe
overly simplistic, I find these videos helpful because we don’t always know how
to express what we believe. While we do
have to accept the resurrection of Jesus on faith, we can’t fully prove it,
evidence like this shows it can’t be disproven either. There is actually a lot of logical reason and
evidence for believing the resurrection.
The truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundational truth
of the Christian faith. We have looked
at other belief claims that are unique to Christianity, such as the concept of
the Trinity, but it is the resurrection that is the key claim of our faith for
without it, we cannot be saved from our sins—we cannot have eternal life. We might claim to be followers of Jesus
without believing in the resurrection in some moralistic human fashion, but by
the historical definition of those who were called “followers of the Way”
before they were called Christians, we could not call ourselves
Christians.
When the writers of the Creeds
included this phrase, “On the third day He rose again from the dead according
to the Scriptures,” they were merely continuing to affirm what the earliest
followers of Christ believed. When Paul
wrote the I Corinthians passage we read this morning, he tells us he was
writing down the truth that had been handed down to him. Paul didn’t make this up. He quotes an actual creed the Church was
using at the time. “Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. He was
buried. He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures.” We know
that this is a quote because of the literary style. We find a lot of these in Paul’s
letters. Then he lists a bunch of people
to whom Jesus appeared during the 40 days between the resurrection and the
ascension, including a group of 500 people at once, which was referenced in the
video. And finally, Paul Himself
received direct revelation and instruction from Jesus Christ. We affirm the truth of the resurrection. It’s what Jesus’s disciples have always
affirmed.
This earliest of confessions tells
us that Christ rose again on the 3rd day according to the
Scriptures. These believers were talking
about what we know as the Old Testament.
You remember the two disciples walking home to Emmaus and Jesus comes
and starts the Law and goes all the way through the prophets “explained to them
what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” So where do we see the promise of Jesus’s
resurrection in the OT? Psalm 16:10 is
probably the most direct allusion to Christ’s resurrection. The psalmist has hope and rejoices “because
You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see
decay.” While the first part could speak
of the psalmist’s resurrection, the Holy One speaks of Jesus. And if it weren’t for the Holy One not seeing
decay, the psalmist wouldn’t have the promise of resurrection. Psalm 49:15 reads similarly: “But God will redeem my life from the grave;
he will surely take me to Himself.” Psalm
22 has many references to Jesus’s passion and suffering, but it ends with hope
and praise by the One who had been afflicted. Isaiah 53 is the famous chapter
of the Suffering Servant which also clearly references Jesus’s passion, but
verses 10-12 say:
Yet it was the Lord’s
will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[a] his
life an offering for sin,
he will see his
offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will
prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[b] and
be satisfied[c];
by his knowledge[d] my
righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[e]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[f]
because he poured out his life
unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of
many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Only Jesus
can make intercession for the transgressors and justifies many. It is He that has seen the Light of
Life. It is His days that are prolonged,
and we are His offspring.
The only place the third day is
mentioned in the OT in regard to the resurrection other than Jesus comparing
Himself to Jonah as we mentioned last week,
is Hosea 6:1-2. Come, and let us return
unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and
he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day
he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Notice
this verse is in the plural, but prophecies always have multiple meanings. It points to the fact that because Christ is
raised we too will be raised. It can
also be read as a royal plural referring directly to Jesus. In Job 19, Job testifies to the truth that he
knows his redeemer lives and will one day again stand on the earth and that Job
will see his Redeemer in the flesh. So
not only is the Redeemer alive, but Job has sure hope of the resurrection for
himself.
We will talk much more about our
resurrection in weeks to come, but that is one of the major implications of
Christ’s resurrection. In fact, Paul is
going to spend a good portion of I Corinthians 15 affirming our resurrection
and the fact that we would have 0 hope of it if it weren’t for Christ’s
resurrection. We wouldn’t even have any purpose of following Christ even in
this life if there weren’t hope for the life to come. We might as well, “eat, drink, and be merry.” We already talked about suffering in this
life, and we are certainly seeing the suffering in our world right now. But we are called to step into the suffering
because we believe in something better. Because
Jesus is alive, we have gospel work to do.
We are commissioned to make disciples.
The resurrection of Jesus gives life meaning and purpose.
Without the resurrection, our sins would
not be forgiven. Jesus paid for them on
the cross, but it is the resurrection that gives that payment efficacy and
universality, not just covering one person’s sins but all sin. Paul says
preaching would be in vain if Christ wasn’t raised. We would still be under the law. Christ’s sacrifice would only have a limited
effect of forgiveness, not a lasting one.
Because He lives, we don’t have to fear death, as I mentioned at the end
of last week’s sermon. Because Jesus is
alive, He has been given all authority on heaven and earth. All must obey Him. All will bow down to Him. Because Christ is risen, evil has been
defeated. Even when it looks like it is
winning the battle, evil has lost the war.
Because Jesus is alive, He can help us.
He can be the agent answer of our prayers. The resurrection of Jesus
shows not only the Father’s love for the Son, but the fullness of the Father’s
love for us. A living Jesus is an active
Jesus. We will see more of this next
week when we look at the phrase, “and is seated at the right hand of the
Father.” The fact that we serve a risen
Savior makes all the difference.
The video mentioned in this sermon is: What Would You Say?
