The Resurrection of Christ
Bible Study Time 4-8-07
Church links:
Bible Study Time 4-8-07
Luke says that Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey with the people shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” During that week that followed His triumphal entry, Jesus spent many hours teaching in the temple, and of course, the religious leaders were there plotting and scheming to trap Jesus in His words. They were determined to put Jesus to death.
Toward the end of that week, Jesus and His disciples went to the upper room to observe the Passover. During the Passover meal, Jesus passed a cup of wine and said, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
The New Covenant was about to be ratified by the blood of Jesus, and the New Covenant was that which was going to make possible the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then ultimately the worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace.
The New International Version of the Bible says that when Jesus and His disciples were about to partake of the Passover meal, Jesus said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Doesn’t that seem strange? That Jesus would be eager to partake of that which would signify His death. But Jesus was indeed eager to fulfill the purpose for which had come into the world. He had come into the world to save sinners, and it would be His death, burial and resurrection which would make that possible. Romans 5:7 says:
Romans 5:6-8 (KJV)
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
After the Passover meal, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then He was taken before the chief priests. When He admitted that He was the Son of God, they accused Him of blasphemy and took Him to Pilate.
They asked Pilate for permission to put Jesus to death, but Pilate found Jesus innocent of any crime that would be worthy of death. When the chief priests and Pharisees continued to insist that Jesus be put to death, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod. When Herod also found Jesus to be innocent, he sent Jesus back to Pilate. Therefore,
Luke 23:13-18, 20-24 (NIV)
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,
14 and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.
15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."
18 (But) With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"
20 Wanting to release Jesus, (however), Pilate appealed to them again.
21 But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
22 For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand.
And so it was that Jesus was crucified between two thieves, and while he was hanging there on the cross, darkness came over all the land from noon until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It was during this three hour period of time that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, shows the intense physical suffering that the Lord Jesus endured before He went to the cross, but as horrible as that physical suffering was, it was His spiritual suffering which was by far the greatest.
At the end of that three hours of darkness, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” This reveals the intense spiritual suffering which results from being separated from the love of the Father.
We as human beings can not understand or comprehend what it is like to be totally separated from the love of God. God loves all people, whether they are saved or unsaved and we all reap the many benefits of God’s love. The sunshine and rain fall upon the saved and the unsaved because God loves us all.
But, praise the Lord, those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ will never have to know what it’s like to be separated from the love of God. We won’t have to experience that because Jesus experienced that for us. As Peter said, “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.”
It’s sad to say, but unsaved people will someday know the agony that Jesus went through there on the cross. The reason we preach the gospel today is that the love of Christ constrains us to warn people of the judgment that awaits all those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ and His finished work upon the cross.
At the end of that three hours of darkness, Jesus said:
John 19:30 (NKJ)
30 . . . "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
After the soldiers verified that Jesus was actually dead, Joseph of Arimathea took the Lord’s body and buried it in a tomb. Jesus was crucified on Friday, and His body was buried shortly before the Sabbath began at 6 o’clock on that Friday evening.
Then, according to Matthew, at 6 o’clock on Saturday evening, after the Sabbath was over, the chief priests and Pharisees made arrangements with Pilate for a soldier to guard the tomb of Jesus. Matthew says that they sealed the tomb as they placed the guard at the tomb’s entrance. But, as we know, their efforts to keep Jesus inside that tomb were to no avail. Luke 24 says:
Luke 24:1-9 (NKJ)
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning (certain women) came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 "He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 "saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"
8 And they remembered His words.
9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Later, Jesus actually appeared to two of His disciples as they walked on the road to Emmaus, and then He appeared to the rest of the disciples as they were all gathered together in one place in Jerusalem. At that time:
Luke 24:36-39, 44-46 (NKJ)
36 . . . Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."
37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.
38 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
Jesus Christ had indeed been raised from the dead, and in this event, we see the greatest miracle of all time. Through His own power, as the God of creation, He brought Himself back from the dead. It was as He had said, “I lay down my life that I may take it again. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”
Because Jesus Christ conquered death, we too have the sure hope of victory over death. In I Corinthians 15, Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 (NKJ)
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Paul said that the hope of the resurrection belongs to all those who believe the gospel. Again, in I Corinthians 15 Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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,
Sometimes Christians read these verses and assume that this has always been the gospel by which people have been saved, but that is not the case. The disciples were saved by the gospel, but they did not even understand the fact that Jesus was going to be killed and then raised from the dead. Luke 18 says:
Luke 18:31-34 (NKJ)
31 Then (Jesus) took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
32 "For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.
33 "They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."
34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
If the disciples of Jesus did not understand that Jesus was going to be killed and then raised from the dead, then they were certainly saved by a different gospel. Today, one has to understand and believe that Jesus died for our sins and that He was raised from the dead.
The gospel for that period of time was introduced by John the Baptist, who spoke of Jesus and said:
John 3:35-36 (NKJ)
35 "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
This was the gospel message for that day, and we see it again in Matthew 16 where the Lord asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” In other words, “What do you believe about me?” In response, Peter said, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Again, this was the gospel message for that day.
When Jesus spoke to Martha, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” but what was Martha’s response? Martha said, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.”
Even after the resurrection of Christ, the apostles did not understand the spiritual significance of the resurrection. To them, the significance of the resurrection was simply that Christ was no longer dead. They told the people that Christ was alive and that if they would repent, Christ would return to the earth to bring in the times of refreshing, the restitution of all things.
Even as long as seven years after the resurrection of Christ, Philip told the Ethiopian that if he believed with all of his heart, he could be baptized. To this the Ethiopian replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
That’s what they had to believe at that time in order to be saved, and that was the gospel message until the Apostle Paul revealed the true spiritual significance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried and then rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and he said, “This is the gospel by which you are saved.”
It was Paul who taught:
Romans 10:9 (NKJ)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Today, if we put our faith in the finished work of Christ, we are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We not only have the hope of the resurrection of the body, but we can experience the power of the resurrection in our everyday lives. Paul said in Romans 6:
Romans 6:4 (NKJ)
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Today, as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we can rejoice in the knowledge that anybody, anywhere can be saved by simply coming to Jesus and believing that He died for our sins and was raised from the dead so that all who believe might have everlasting life.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’s been a pleasure studying with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Toward the end of that week, Jesus and His disciples went to the upper room to observe the Passover. During the Passover meal, Jesus passed a cup of wine and said, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
The New Covenant was about to be ratified by the blood of Jesus, and the New Covenant was that which was going to make possible the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then ultimately the worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace.
The New International Version of the Bible says that when Jesus and His disciples were about to partake of the Passover meal, Jesus said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Doesn’t that seem strange? That Jesus would be eager to partake of that which would signify His death. But Jesus was indeed eager to fulfill the purpose for which had come into the world. He had come into the world to save sinners, and it would be His death, burial and resurrection which would make that possible. Romans 5:7 says:
Romans 5:6-8 (KJV)
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
After the Passover meal, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then He was taken before the chief priests. When He admitted that He was the Son of God, they accused Him of blasphemy and took Him to Pilate.
They asked Pilate for permission to put Jesus to death, but Pilate found Jesus innocent of any crime that would be worthy of death. When the chief priests and Pharisees continued to insist that Jesus be put to death, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod. When Herod also found Jesus to be innocent, he sent Jesus back to Pilate. Therefore,
Luke 23:13-18, 20-24 (NIV)
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,
14 and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.
15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."
18 (But) With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"
20 Wanting to release Jesus, (however), Pilate appealed to them again.
21 But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
22 For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand.
And so it was that Jesus was crucified between two thieves, and while he was hanging there on the cross, darkness came over all the land from noon until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It was during this three hour period of time that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, shows the intense physical suffering that the Lord Jesus endured before He went to the cross, but as horrible as that physical suffering was, it was His spiritual suffering which was by far the greatest.
At the end of that three hours of darkness, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” This reveals the intense spiritual suffering which results from being separated from the love of the Father.
We as human beings can not understand or comprehend what it is like to be totally separated from the love of God. God loves all people, whether they are saved or unsaved and we all reap the many benefits of God’s love. The sunshine and rain fall upon the saved and the unsaved because God loves us all.
But, praise the Lord, those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ will never have to know what it’s like to be separated from the love of God. We won’t have to experience that because Jesus experienced that for us. As Peter said, “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.”
It’s sad to say, but unsaved people will someday know the agony that Jesus went through there on the cross. The reason we preach the gospel today is that the love of Christ constrains us to warn people of the judgment that awaits all those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ and His finished work upon the cross.
At the end of that three hours of darkness, Jesus said:
John 19:30 (NKJ)
30 . . . "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
After the soldiers verified that Jesus was actually dead, Joseph of Arimathea took the Lord’s body and buried it in a tomb. Jesus was crucified on Friday, and His body was buried shortly before the Sabbath began at 6 o’clock on that Friday evening.
Then, according to Matthew, at 6 o’clock on Saturday evening, after the Sabbath was over, the chief priests and Pharisees made arrangements with Pilate for a soldier to guard the tomb of Jesus. Matthew says that they sealed the tomb as they placed the guard at the tomb’s entrance. But, as we know, their efforts to keep Jesus inside that tomb were to no avail. Luke 24 says:
Luke 24:1-9 (NKJ)
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning (certain women) came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 "He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 "saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"
8 And they remembered His words.
9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Later, Jesus actually appeared to two of His disciples as they walked on the road to Emmaus, and then He appeared to the rest of the disciples as they were all gathered together in one place in Jerusalem. At that time:
Luke 24:36-39, 44-46 (NKJ)
36 . . . Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."
37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.
38 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
Jesus Christ had indeed been raised from the dead, and in this event, we see the greatest miracle of all time. Through His own power, as the God of creation, He brought Himself back from the dead. It was as He had said, “I lay down my life that I may take it again. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”
Because Jesus Christ conquered death, we too have the sure hope of victory over death. In I Corinthians 15, Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 (NKJ)
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Paul said that the hope of the resurrection belongs to all those who believe the gospel. Again, in I Corinthians 15 Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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,
Sometimes Christians read these verses and assume that this has always been the gospel by which people have been saved, but that is not the case. The disciples were saved by the gospel, but they did not even understand the fact that Jesus was going to be killed and then raised from the dead. Luke 18 says:
Luke 18:31-34 (NKJ)
31 Then (Jesus) took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
32 "For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.
33 "They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."
34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
If the disciples of Jesus did not understand that Jesus was going to be killed and then raised from the dead, then they were certainly saved by a different gospel. Today, one has to understand and believe that Jesus died for our sins and that He was raised from the dead.
The gospel for that period of time was introduced by John the Baptist, who spoke of Jesus and said:
John 3:35-36 (NKJ)
35 "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
This was the gospel message for that day, and we see it again in Matthew 16 where the Lord asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” In other words, “What do you believe about me?” In response, Peter said, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Again, this was the gospel message for that day.
When Jesus spoke to Martha, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” but what was Martha’s response? Martha said, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.”
Even after the resurrection of Christ, the apostles did not understand the spiritual significance of the resurrection. To them, the significance of the resurrection was simply that Christ was no longer dead. They told the people that Christ was alive and that if they would repent, Christ would return to the earth to bring in the times of refreshing, the restitution of all things.
Even as long as seven years after the resurrection of Christ, Philip told the Ethiopian that if he believed with all of his heart, he could be baptized. To this the Ethiopian replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
That’s what they had to believe at that time in order to be saved, and that was the gospel message until the Apostle Paul revealed the true spiritual significance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried and then rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and he said, “This is the gospel by which you are saved.”
It was Paul who taught:
Romans 10:9 (NKJ)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Today, if we put our faith in the finished work of Christ, we are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We not only have the hope of the resurrection of the body, but we can experience the power of the resurrection in our everyday lives. Paul said in Romans 6:
Romans 6:4 (NKJ)
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Today, as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we can rejoice in the knowledge that anybody, anywhere can be saved by simply coming to Jesus and believing that He died for our sins and was raised from the dead so that all who believe might have everlasting life.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’s been a pleasure studying with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
4 comments:
Excellent message Jim Bob. I really like the clear definition of salvation at the end and explanation of how it changed from simply believing that Jesus was the Son of God, to that of a four-part belief that he is not only the Son of God, and that he died, was buried, and was raised. It seems to me that today (in our post-resurrection era), if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you would have to believe in his death, burial, and resurrection. As if by default. Is there anyway that someone could believe one part and not the others? I plan to read some more of your April blogs in the near future hopefully come up with some thought provoking questions. :)
Jake
Awesome question. Daddy and I were discussing that very issue the other day, and he may post another comment here after mine. I hope so.
I guess it boils down to whether a person really believes that Jesus was the only begotten of the Father and not just a Son of God.
Someone might say that Jesus was the Son of God, when they really believe that Jesus was a Son of God.
At this point, the real test would be whether or not they believe that Jesus actually died and came back from the dead to deliver us from sin and the penalty of sin.
I feel that the resurrection of Christ is the key to salvation. Others who claim to be god (not God) base their following on a foundation of works: Muhammed, Hinduism, Buddahism and others are based on a process toward perfection. Ephesians 2:8 - 10 says
8* For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9* not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10* For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
A faith based salvation is foreign to those who seek self-justification.
km
Thanks Kerry. That goes along with what Paul said in Romans 10:
Romans 10:9 (NKJ)
9 . . . if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
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