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It would be no exaggeration to say that the
question of Jesus' resurrection has been one of the great
controversies of the church over the past few years. Did
Jesus really rise from the dead? Was it a bodily
resurrection, or was it just his spirit that appeared to
the disciples? Or did they perhaps imagine it, or make it
up? And does it matter? Some scholars seem to think that
all that matters is that the church survived Jesus'
crucifixion and continued his work here on earth,
irrespective of whether Jesus actually rose from the dead
or not. But to my mind that sounds like a very
unsatisfactory answer. It does matter whether Jesus rose
from the dead. Here's a quote I saw this week. I don't
know who said it but it summed up this issue well. They
said: "The Easter story ends not with a funeral but
with a festival. It demands not our applause but our
allegiance, not our compliments but our
capitulation." |
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When Paul
was writing to the Corinthians he said this: "Now I
would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news
that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in
which also you stand, ... 3For I handed on to
you as of first importance what I in turn had received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that
he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas,
then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most
of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7Then
he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last
of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to
me." (1 Cor 15:1-8 NRSV) Paul is in no doubt, first
of all, that Jesus' resurrection is an historical fact.
He appeared at various times to a whole range of people.
To Mary, to Peter, to all the disciples except Thomas,
then to the disciples including Thomas. He appeared to a
couple of otherwise unknown disciples going to Emmaus. He
appeared to James, the brother of Jesus, and he appeared
to more than 500 people all at once. And Paul points out
that what he's reporting is easily verifiable. Most of
these people are still alive. His readers could go and
check the facts for themselves. |
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So
there's no question in his mind that the facts around the
resurrection are true. Jesus did rise in a bodily form.
That's shown by the way he asked for food on a couple of
occasions. It was shown in the fact that they could touch
him; put their fingers in the holes in his hand; put
their fists in the hole in his side. |
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That his
resurrection body was different to our bodies is also
clear from the way he could just appear in a room, or
disappear in a moment, as he did at Emmaus. Or the way he
could be unrecognisable, as on the road to Emmaus; as in
the garden with Mary, until he chose to reveal himself.
Well, these are the historical facts as Paul and the
other disciples report them. Jesus was alive. He had a
physical body, but a body that at the same time wasn't a
normal earthly body. |
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But then,
it isn't just the facts that Paul is sure about. He's
also quite sure that if the resurrection didn't happen
then the rest of Christianity is just hot air, in fact
it's a waste of time. Jesus' death and resurrection, he
says, are the lynch pin on which the whole of
Christianity hangs. Paul goes on in 1 Cor 15 to say that
if the resurrection didn't happen then our faith is
futile and our preaching is a waste of time. In fact
we're found to be misrepresenting God, if God didn't
raise Jesus from the dead. What's more, we're still under
condemnation for our sin. So if we've trusted in Christ
for this life only, then of all people we're most to be
pitied. After all don't we face death every day in his
name and gladly, because we have the hope of eternal
life? But if that weren't our hope, why would we do it? |
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Now it
seems to me that things are no different now to the way
they were in Paul's day. It may be a little more socially
acceptable to be a Christian these days, but we're really
only tolerated at best. And there are plenty of places in
the world still, where to profess Christ is likely to
lead to physical suffering if not your death. Yet people
still maintain their faith in Christ and his
resurrection. Why is that so? Well, in the passage we
read from Acts 10, we find the apostle Peter talking to
Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, about Jesus and what he
says highlights the importance of the resurrection. Have
a look at his summary in vs 42 & 43. What does he
tell us that Jesus has commanded them to preach? |
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1 All people, living and dead,
will face Jesus. |
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He talks
about the living and the dead. In other words there will
come a day when God will raise all people to face Jesus.
Jesus' resurrection is important because it means that
everyone else, every other human being on earth can now
be raised from death. Now that might sound like a good
start, until we see what it is they're to face. |
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2. All people will be judged |
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What
they'll face is Jesus the judge. Notice this applies to
all people, both the living and the dead. That is, both
those alive now and those who have gone before. Now
that's a wake up call for those people who think that if
they forget about God then he'll forget about them. Or
that as long as they live a good life it doesn't matter
whether they actually think about Jesus Christ or seek to
follow him. But there's no escaping the implications of
Jesus as the risen Lord. |
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3 The Risen Jesus will be the
judge in that day |
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Peter
tells Cornelius that God has appointed Jesus to be the
judge of the living and the dead. This is one reason why
Jesus' resurrection matters. It matters because it not
only guarantees that we can be raised, but it also means
that Jesus is alive and is able to be the judge to whom
we'll be held accountable. What's more, it's Jesus'
resurrection that shows that he's qualified to judge. Do
you see why that is? |
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The
reason God was able to raise Jesus from death on that
first Easter Day was because Jesus alone, of all people
in history, was without sin. He alone was able to conquer
Satan. And it's that freedom from sin that qualifies him
to judge. It's his victory over Satan that allows him to
sit in judgement over the works of Satan. If any one else
were to sit in judgement, we could claim to be as good as
they are. Or perhaps even better. But when Jesus judges,
it's as the sinless Son of God, the one who was tempted
in every way as we are yet without sinning; the one who
showed where the measuring line is. |
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4 All
people will be accountable for how they respond to Jesus. |
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In fact
on that last day, all people will be separated into two
groups: |
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A. Those who believe in Jesus
now. Who are
forgiven their sins now and will be received by him then.
He says "All the prophets testify about him that
whoever believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name." |
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B. Those who reject Jesus now will find themselves rejected
by Jesus then. Now, that sounds fairly harsh but in fact
if you think about it's quite reasonable. Listen to what
Jesus says in Mark 8:34-38 "He called the crowd with
his disciples, and said to them, 'If any want to become
my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me. 35For those who want to
save their life will lose it, and those who lose their
life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will
save it. 36For what will it profit them to
gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed,
what can they give in return for their life? 38Those
who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also
be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with
the holy angels.'" (NRSV) How can anyone expect
Jesus to welcome them into his kingdom if they've
rejected him all through this life? No-one would expect
to be treated as someone's friend if they'd spent their
whole life working against them, would they? At most they
might hope to be treated cordially when they met them,
but they certainly wouldn't expected to be treated like a
friend. They wouldn't be waiting around for an invitation
to their birthday party or their wedding or something
like that. And yet some people seem to think that they
can go through life ignoring Jesus, doing what they like,
and still expect to be invited to the wedding feast of
the Lamb just because they exist, irrespective of the
relationship they have to Jesus, the Son of God. |
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But no,
there's a bit more justice in the world than that. It's
those who believe in Jesus in this life, who are his
followers, his friends, in this life, who will be
welcomed in on the last day. And for those others, there
awaits an eternity of separation from God. This is why
the imperative to share the gospel with people is so
great. We were talking about this last Monday in the last
of the Everyday Evangelism studies. Someone commented
that they weren't sure that we really take seriously the
fate of those who don't believe in Jesus now. Well, we
should take it seriously. Those people will discover too
late that Jesus is the Lord of all the earth and the
judge of all people. We need to warn them now if we care
about them. |
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Finally,
the resurrection is important because |
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Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God, now frees us and
empowers us to serve God properly. |
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What does
it mean, when Jesus says, at the end of that passage in
Matthew 28, "Remember, I am with you always, to the
end of the age?" How is he with us? Those who
question the bodily resurrection of Jesus would say he's
with us in his teaching and in the example he's left us
of a godly life. But those things, as helpful as they are
don't actually help us to live that godly life.
What we need is a new heart, a heart that's in tune with
God. What we need is a new spirit that will help us
follow God's will. And how can we get such a new heart?
Only if God gives it to us. Only God can change our
hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. And that's what Jesus
does in his resurrection power. He sends his own spirit
to dwell within us. The risen Son of God sends the Holy
Spirit to dwell within us, to empower us, to be with us
to the end of the age, to enable us to be right with God
again, to be a guide through life. |
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It's as
though a great corner has been turned. No longer are we
in the darkness of death wondering what the future might
hold. Now we see Jesus risen from death and glorified at
the Father's right hand and we see what can happen to us
as well, if we're part of God's family; if we're among
those who believe in Jesus' risen power, if we're among
those who have God's own Spirit dwelling within us. |
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There was
a time when the southernmost point of Africa was known as
the "Cape of Storms," because of the tremendous
storms that would blow around it. In fact up until a few
centuries ago no one in the west even knew what lay
beyond that cape, because no ship attempting to round it
had ever returned to tell the tale. But then a Portuguese
explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco Da Gama,
successfully sailed around that very point and found
beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and
beyond that, the shores of India. The name of the cape
was changed after that from the Cape of Storms to the
Cape of Good Hope. |
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Well,
until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the
cape of storms that blocked us from what might be on the
other side. No one knew what lay beyond that point until,
on Easter morning, those ancient prophecies of the Old
Testament and the predictions of Jesus himself came true
and death was swallowed up in the victory of Jesus over
our last great enemy. Jesus defeated Satan. Suddenly,
like those ancient explorers, we can see beyond human
death to the hope of heaven and eternal life with the
Father. Suddenly we have a new hope that we can live
lives that please God. More than that, we dare to believe
that we'll experience in our own human lives exactly what
the Son of God experienced in His, for the risen Christ
says to us, "Remember, I am with you always, to the
end of the age." |
