Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 35. The Future Resurrection in the Epistles.
We have seen in the Gospels the teaching of Jesus regarding his Second Coming and the events known as the Rapture and first Resurrection. We found in the Gospels that the only Coming Jesus taught about was the event outlined in:
Matthew 24:30,31
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Matthew 25:31.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.”
* This is clearly his coming at the end of the age, after the Great Tribulation, on the Day of the Lord.
* The associated parables must be interpreted in context to refer to that coming.
* This description of Christ’s Coming on the Day of the Lord is universally held to be a classic description using OT terminology and symbols.
Our task in this chapter is to look at this same question in the epistles: When does the Second Coming of Christ occur in the witness of the Epistles?
THE SECOND COMING IN THE EPISTLES OF PAUL.
There is a wealth of material in the writings of Paul on the Second Coming. It is clear that Paul lived with a vibrant hope that this event would be “soon”. The difficult question is, “Where do we start?” In answer to this question we need to fall back on our principles of Bible interpretation as discussed in chapter 6. There we made several preliminary guidelines including:
1. We must gather all the relevant material on any subject.
2. We must start with the plain, clear statements and interpret the more obscure statements in the light of those.
3. We need to interpret statements in context.
We will cover all of the material as we progress but where to start?
The answer is not as difficult as we might think. There was actually quite a debate about aspects of the Second Coming in the Early Church and Paul addressed this in his letters in some depth. In particular the Church at Thessalonica had several problems and Paul wrote two letters to them to clarify the truth. It is generally agreed by Bible scholars that these two letters were written only a few months apart. The first letter was written to address a specific issue raised by the fact that some people in the Church had died. The question being asked was, “What has happened to them? Have they missed out on salvation?” Paul writes to answer this question in 1 Thessalonians.
As a result of this letter other questions were raised and Paul later wrote 2 Thessalonians to clarify his teaching. This means that, as far as we can tell, the clearest, most detailed teaching on the Second Coming in Paul’s letters is that found in 2 Thessalonians. It is there we should start.
The question being asked in Thessolanica that led to Paul writing this letter (2 Thessalonians) was different to the question that prompted 1 Thessalonians. The question Paul is answering here is this:
"Has the Second Coming of Christ, the Day of the Lord, already come and we have all misssed it." It is a question about timing - has the event happened or is it still to come?
Paul indicates this by the way he introduces the subject: "we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come."
It is this question Paul is answering - we need to keep this in mind. Knowing the question being answered to a large extent determines how we read and interpret the answer Paul gives.
2 Thessalonians. 2:1-12.
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
As the question we are examining is the timing of the Second Coming we will ignore the details of the career of the man of lawlessness. The only things we are interested in are:
* The fact of his existence and
* The timing of his life in relation to the Second Coming of Christ.
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him,”
Two things are mentioned here. It is clear that, in Paul’s mind, they are one and the same event:
* "The Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
* "Our gathering together to meet him." This is a clear reference to the resurrection of the saints and the rapture of the Church. The word “our” here means Paul and his readers, the Church. If this does not refer to the rapture/resurrection of the Church it is hard to imagine what it might refer to.
So this is as clear a clear statement about the Second Coming and rapture/first resurrection as we could hope for. This is clearly the subject Paul is intending to address. He says so!
“…saying that the day of the Lord has already come.”
This is in the same sentence as the reference to the Second Coming and Rapture. This indicates that, in Paul’s mind, the Second Coming and rapture are to be on the “day of the Lord”, i.e. the great last day of this age when the Messiah appears in power and glory and establishes his kingdom.
There is no indication that he has suddenly changed subjects, i.e. from the rapture/resurrection to a different event, i.e. the day of the Lord. To suggest he has done so would be ludicrous. To say he is talking about two different things in the same sentence without qualifying what he is saying is unlikely to say the least. Common sense interpretation, interpreting in context, suggests that the "coming of the Lord" and the accompanying rapture of the Church are the same thing as "the day of the Lord". You may wonder why I am emphasising this point, it is only that one school of thought, the Pre-Tribulation Rapture/Dispensational school, has said that the two events are different. The Dispensational position can only be maintained by breaking the fundamental rules of Bible interpretation, particularly the rule of interpreting in context.
“…that day will not come until…”
Paul immediately denies that the Day of the Lord has already come and then here tells us that it “will not come until” and then he goes on to list several events that have to happen first – before Christ comes again and before the rapture. Included in this list is the life and career of the “man of lawlessness”, i.e. the Antichrist.
The Dispensational interpretation at this point has real problems because it is fundamental to that school of thought that "there are no known prophetic events to happen before the Rapture/Resurrection of the Church." Paul's words here plainly contradict that assertion. The way Dispensational teachers overcome this problem is to say Paul has "changed subjects" in mid sentence. Where he started talking about the rapture he is now talking about the coming of Christ on the day of the Lord. To me this interpretation makes Paul's words a seedbed of confusion and makes Paul into some sort of idiot who couldn't keep his train of thought. Clearly I am not impressed with this line of argument. The problem seems to be in the interpreters not in Paul - after all, as we shall see, Paul's teaching agrees completely with Jesus' in Matthew 24,25.
“…the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”
* The reference to Christ’s “coming” here with no qualifying explanation means that we have to understand this as referring back to the Second Coming and Rapture at the beginning of the passage.
* The Jewish literary feature of bracketing, that I have talked about before, also demands that we see the references to the Coming of Christ in verse 1 and verse 8 as referring to the same thing. The description of the Antichrist’s career in between the two verses is thus an explanation, a filling out of detail, of that Coming of the Lord.
So the “programme” of the end of the age, as envisaged by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 is as follows:
(a) First there will be great rebellion, or apostasy (v3). A falling away from religion, or at least the worship of thge true God.
(b) The Antichrist, the man of Lawlessness, will appear, proclaiming himself to be God (v4). His appearance will come with all sorts of wonders and sign and deception (v9).
(c) Antichrist sets himself up to be worshiped in the temple (v4). Whether this means a Jewsih temple in Jerusalem or the spiritual temple of the Church, in the form of a "One World Religion", is not specified. It could be both.
(d) Antichrist will be destroyed by the coming of Christ (v8).
(e) At this time the Church will be “gathered to meet” Christ, i.e. raptured.
This passage, then, presents us with the same sequence of events as does Matthew 24:1-31. Paul is in complete agreement with Jesus.
The Coming of the Lord and the Gathering of the Saints is on the day of the Lord at the end of the age.
This is confirmed by the other reference to the Second Coming in 2 Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”
“He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.”
This is steeped in the language of Jewish jurisprudence. We will cover this in more depth in the chapters on Eternal Judgement. Briefly, in Hebrew justice two things happen, the guilty are punished and the righteous/innocent are rewarded – but these have to happen together (in time). The punishment of the wicked at the end of the age must therefore coincide in time with the reward of the righteous. Justice will be seen to be done all round.
This indicates, however, that the righteous cannot be rewarded (i.e. raptured/resurrected, as that is part of our reward) until the time for the wicked to be punished. We cannot “jump the gun”. Thus Paul goes on to say:
“This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God… on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”
* The Reward of the saints does not happen until the day of the Lord - Paul says so!
* Again this is clearly the “day of the Lord”.
* That this is the “day of the Lord” is confirmed by Paul by his use of the phrase ”revealed from heaven.” This is not some hidden event.
* The word “revealed” means ‘A public disclosure, revelation, unveiling”. The “revelation of Christ” at the end of the age is when “all men shall see him”. Scholars of all schools of thought are agreed that the “revelation of Christ” or “the day he is revealed” refers to the day of the Lord at the end of the age. It is the appearance of Jesus in power and glory as recorded in the book of Revelation.
As 2 Thessalonians was written to fill in and explain details left out in 1 Thessalonians it is to there we should turn next to see what Paul says. But we should be aware: Paul is hardly likely to say something in 1 Thessalonians that contradicts the explanation/elaboration he gives in 2 Thessalonians. The key passage in 1 Thessalonians is as follows:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:5.
“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”
Again our focus is on the timing of the Second Coming and Rapture so we will ignore side issues.
The root question raised by the Church was: “What has happened to our fellow believers who have died?”
Paul answers this immediately:
"God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him…we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
* Those who sleep, i.e. have died as Christians, will have some sort of priority over those who are alive at the time of Christ’s coming.
* Christ will bring with him (the souls?) of those who have already died and they will rise first.
* Then those Christians who are alive will be caught up – also “changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51) – to be with them (Christ and the resurrected ones) in the air.
* We shall then all descend together to earth with Christ.
* “caught up” The word “rapture” is derived from the Latin word for this phrase. This is the only place in the NT where the phrase is used. This, then, is the fundamental passage referring to “the rapture” as such.
When will this happen? It will be when Christ comes:
* “with a loud command,”
* “with the voice of the archangel and”
* “with the trumpet call of God,”
In all it doesn't sound very quiet!
Notice in all of the references we have looked at the clear mention of the trumpet, and the archangel's call. Clearly all of these passages are talking about the same event.
C/f Matthew 24:30,31, 25:31 (above). The Day of the Lord when Christ comes on power and glory. In fact Paul confirms this is so as he continues:
“Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night…”
* Having talked of Christ’s coming and the resurrection/rapture Paul immediately talks of “the day of the Lord”. There is no indication that he has changed subjects so we must assume he is still talking about the same thing. Context demands it. For Paul Christ’s coming for the Church, the rapture, is on the day of the Lord.
* Paul uses the metaphor of a “thief in the night”. By this he clearly means that Christ’s coming will be “unexpected” as he goes on to elaborate the thought. The idea is not that “the thief comes and goes and no one notices”, rather the idea is that “the coming of the thief is unexpected.” But the question is: “Unexpected by who?” Paul clearly does not think Christ’s coming will be unexpected for everyone alive at the time of his coming. It is only those who don’t believe in Christ who will find it to be unexpected. Christians are not caught out by surprise.
“But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”
Paul never suggests that the timing of the Second Coming of Jesus is so surrounded in mystery that Christians will be taken by surprise. Rather he expects that we should be aware of the times and season, the events leading up to it, and so be prepared for Christ’s coming. This, then, is in complete accord with 2 Thessalonians 2 where he gives detailed events leading up to Christ’s coming. We need to take note and be on the alert.
We will not be caught out unawares because there are events prophecied in scripture that immediately preceed the Second Coming and therse will warn us that Christ's coming is almost on us.
Paul refers to the Second Coming several other times in 1 Thessalonians (1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 5:23). Context demands they must refer to the same event as chapters 4 & 5.
Paul’s other major teaching on the Second Coming and Rapture is found in:
1 Corinthians 15:51-57.
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
This is probably the classic reference to the rapture in which the details of what happens then are revealed.
* Those of us who are alive will have our bodies transformed (v51, 52).
* Those who have already died in Christ will be raised to life again (v52).
But what clues are there as to when this event happens - the timing? The answer is in the chapter.
(a) "Death is swallowed up in victory".
When we receive our resurrection bodies Paul tells us that "Death is swallowed up in victory". However earlier in the chapter we are told that "the last enemy to be destroyed is death" (v24-26). Here is a clear revelation. All of Christ's enemies will be destroyed before DEATH - including the Antichrist and False Prophet. Death is the “last” enemy. Thus “Death” is not destroyed until the End, after Antichrist. Thus our “mortality” will not be “swallowed up by immortality” until after Antichrist is destroyed.
(b) "AT THE LAST TRUMPET".
Logic drives us to understand that this must be the seventh trumpet of REVELATION.
* It could not come before the seven trumpets of Revelation or it would not be the “last”.
* If it is the “last” it implies that there must be some before it, it is the last, i.e. in a series. If it is not one of the Seven Trumpets then we know nothing about the rest of the series.
* If it is not the seventh trumpet then it must come after the seventh trumpet, otherwise it could not be the "last". If this is so then:
(i) We do not know anything else about it.
(ii) It would happen after the Millennium, as we are told that the seventh trumpet blows until all prophecy is fulfilled (Revelation 10:7), which is after the Millennium, in the eternal state. This is impossible and doesn’t make sense. Thus the “last trumpet” cannot come after the “seventh trumpet”, the “last” must be the “seventh”.
* We are told that the seventh trumpet ushers in the day of the Lord and the coming of the Lord on that day (Revelation 11:15ff). It seems logical to identify it with other trumpets referred to at Christ's coming.
So the three passages in Paul’s letters that specifically mention the rapture all place it on the day of the Lord, at the end of the Tribulation. In this Paul agrees with the teaching of Jesus.
Other References in Paul’s Epistles that teach we are waiting for the Day of the Lord:
Romans 8:18,19.
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Though this does not directly refer to the Second Coming it does refer to events that are the consequence of the Second Coming:
* The “revelation of the sons of God”. This is clearly the same thing as “our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies”. This is said here to be our “hope”.
* The Creation will be released from its “bondage to decay”. The timing of this is clearly meant to be the same as when we receive our resurrection bodies. Again this is tied in with the Hebrew idea of justice. The Earth was subjected to futility by the sin of man. When the final consequences of man’s sin are dealt with, and we are released from sinful bodies, justice will be done to the earth also. So the earth “waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God” knowing that when we are set free so too will the earth. Just as the earth will not be set free until the day of the Lord, so too we will not be set free until the day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:7.
“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”
* Paul is writing here to the Corinthian Church, but also “to all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 2), that includes us.
* Paul says we are “waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” The use of the word “revealed” here refers us to the events of the day of the Lord. We are awaiting the coming of the Lord on the day of the Lord, not some other event. This is as plain a statement as we could hope for.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5.
Paul here is talking about a situation needing Church discipline. The details of this are not important for our discussion here but he concludes in verse 5 with a reference to our theme:
“hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.”
* The person concerned is clearly a Christian – after all it is only Christians that the Church has the right of discipline over - and Paul affirms the person’s eventual eternal salvation, “his spirit saved”.
* But alongside eternal salvation there are other consequences of his sin “that the sinful nature may be destroyed”. The coupling of this with ”his spirit saved” shows that Paul envisages both events happening at the same time.
* This will happen “on the day of the Lord”.
* Thus this verse indicates that Paul expected the resurrection/rapture to be on the day of the Lord.
1 Timothy 6:14.
“...to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
* The phrase “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” is an equivalent of “the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” and refers to Christ’s coming in power and glory on the day of the Lord.
* Paul thus expected that Christians should continue to be obedient until then – indicating he expected us to be around until then. “Until” is a time determining word.
2 Timothy 4:8.
“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
* It is on "that day", this is an OT phrase meaning “the day of the Lord.”
* It is when he “appears”.
* That’s when Christ will reward his saints.
Titus 2:13.
“while we wait for the blessed hope- the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ,“
* This is “our blessed hope”. The “our” means all Christians.
* The hope is “the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ” – not some secret hidden event. It is the day of the Lord.
* This is what we are waiting for.
Other Verses:
Philippians 1:6,10.
"The Day of Our Lord Jesus Christ". Gods' work will continue in us until then.
Philippians 3:14,20,21.
The Changing of our bodies. But there is no direct time clue in this passage as to when it occurs. Therefore we must interpret it according to passages which are plain.
Note: In arriving at a doctrine the rule is ALWAYS as follows: Start with the clear statements of scripture and build up the general picture. Only then should the more obscure verses be reconciled with the clear.
Most of the theories on the Second Coming are a result of building a theory out of an obscure passage, and then trying to fit everything else into it. You can see here that we have started with the clear passages that give the order of events and timing and have arrived at a consistent picture in them. You will find that every other passage referring to the Second Coming fits into this general picture we have drawn.
The Dispensational interpretation argues that while "revelation" and "appearing' refer to the day of the Lord, "coming" refers to the secret rapture which happens prior to then.
We have already mentioned several passages where this does not hold true.
In fact “coming” is regularly identified with the day of the Lord and with other words such as revelation and appearing.
OTHER REFERENCES TO THE RAPTURE.
1 Peter 1:7,13.
“These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed…Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
* "Revealed" implies the day of Lord.
2 Peter 3:4-12.
Clearly about the Day of the Lord.
Jude 14,15.
Clearly about the Day of the Lord.
There are a handful of other references to the Second Coming but none of them add anything to what we already know. The Second Coming of Christ, and the attending events of the Rapture and First Resurrection, occurs on the day of the Lord, the last day of this age. At that time Antichrist will also be destroyed.
SUMMARY:
(1) Many times we are told we are waiting for the glorious appearing of Christ on the day of the Lord.
(2) Every NT reference we have looked at, if they have a time clue at all, refers to the day of the Lord. The Second Coming and the Rapture are placed there several times.
(3) Nowhere is it even hinted that there is an earlier coming and rapture for the Church, or for part of the Church.
This would rule out any theories such as a Pre tribulation rapture, Mid tribulation rapture or any partial rapture theories.
In these last two chapters what I have tried to do is just say what the scriptures say. I have deliberately avoided giving interpretation of things, except where such interpretations are agreed on by all interpreters. It seems to me that the issue is not really controversial at all – if one lets the scripture speak for itself. It is only when a person comes to the scriptures with a predetermined viewpoint that they then set out to prove that problems and disputes arise. Invariably disputes boil down to a failure by someone to stick with the basic principles of interpretation that we outlined in Chapter 6.
In conclusion we can safely say that the teachings of a Pre-tribulation rapture, or a partial rapture, or a mid-tribulation rapture do not stand in the light of Scripture. The only evidence we have ALL points to a post-tribulation rapture.
One thing is for sure, the teaching of both the gospels and the epistles is so clearly for a post-tribulation rapture of the Church that it is hard to miss the point. Another thing is for sure – there is no clear evidence for a partial rapture or for a pre or mid tribulation rapture. Nor is there any clear inferences for these positions. One has to read the idea into the scriptures to find it there.
There is no scripture that would indicate other than a post tribulation rapture, unless it is wrested out of its context and given a meaning that it will not sustain when left to speak for itself.
Recommended Reading:
George Eldon Ladd: The Blessed Hope.
Showing posts with label resurrection of the dead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resurrection of the dead. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
Friday, 23 March 2007
Foundations Of The Christian Life
Chapter 33: - Death And Resurrection.
Author's note:
Recently I have been busy and haven't posted to this blog as often as I would have liked. To cover this lack I am posting this post as a draft so you can see where I am thinking of going with it. However it is definitely not in its final form. I will return to it.
A. THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF DEATH.
The Hebrew idea of man is important here. They see man as an animated body not an incarnated soul. The "incarnated soul" idea is from Greek philosophy and has its roots in a religious philosophy including reincarnation.
Man is spirit, soul and body. Man is not man without any of these three.
The Bible depicts "soul" as the result of "spirit" and "body" coming together (Genesis 2). Thus when the spirit leaves the body, in death, the soul dies, i.e. it ceases to exist. The spirit, coming from God, is eternal, but the soul is not. Hence "souls" will be resurrected along with the body.
(1) Death Came by Sin.
When God created man, he made him with the POTENTIAL to live eternally, but also with the POTENTIAL to die. Man was not created eternal. This is the meaning of the Garden of Eden story. The tree of Life granted eternal life, but one had to have continuous access to it. (Genesis 2&3). Man was created by God into a perfect situation in which there was no DEATH in man's personal life experience. However we should assume that in the animal world and vegetable world the processes of growing old and dying were existent. Physical death in the animal kingdom was not unknown to Adam, so he had some idea what God meant when he warned Adam of possible death through disobedience.
It is hard to imagine that there was no death at all, though this view is held by many Godly Bible teachers and may be considered to be the normal evangelical position. However I contend this was not the case - rather there was death before the fall - but not in the life of man. For instance, it is hard to imagine that insects did not die. Most insects have a limited life span of only a few days. If insects had not died before the Fall it would not have taken very long for them to be living in numbers impossible for other animals to dwell with. So it would seem that death was part of God's plan for creation, at least for some aspects of creation. If you have never considered this possibility before you may need to stop and think a bit about different aspects of life in the animal world - insects, "creeping things", plankton, and so on. It doesn't take long to realise that death is part of the natural cycle and without death operating some lifeforms would reproduce so quickly as to overwhelm others. Once the idea that death is part of creation is accepted then it is not difficult to see that this would probably be true for the whole animal and vegetable realm. Thus God's words to Adam "in the day you eat of it you will surely die" would have meaning. Adam could see what death was to some extent.
Man was created physically mature, but morally he was immature. He had not learned to make choices between good and bad. There was the potential of bad in existence - God knew that Lucifer was soon to rebel and became the agent of DEATH. DEATH waited in the wings to invade the universe, only man could let it in as he was made to be priest of creation before God.
Adam was given the choice - eat of the tree of life, and live eternally, or eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and let DEATH into his personal existence.
It may be that God created man mortal at the beginning - this is not clear from the story - but it is clear that man was not created immortal in the sense of eternal, as the Greeks thought. Immortality was resident in the tree of life, and not in the man. It may be true that man could have died even without the Fall, but as a result of the Fall death took on a whole new nature and became DEATH.
Romans 5:12. "Death entered through sin".
It is usually taught, from this passage, that death was foreign to Adam's experience and only entered the world through Adam's sin. Some teachers even include the animal world in this freedom from death. However that is not necessarily what is meant here. The prospect of death through disobedience had to have some meaning to Adam for it to be a real deterrent, indicating he had some idea of what it was about. This passage could mean a variety of things:
(i) Death did not exist on earth before the Fall - even in the animal kingdom.
(ii) Death became certain for man because of Adam's sin, until then it was only a possibility.
(iii) Physical death - already a real possibility - took on a whole new horrible meaning, including eternal separation from God. It became DEATH.
(2) Sin Means Man is Already Dead.
Because of sin, man is already dead, cut off from God, and destined to DEATH. So all mankind are, in fact, dead before their bodies even die.
Ephesians 2:1.
However to cap this off Christ came as the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) - the last of the race of Adam - and he died, putting to death the whole of the Adamic race.
2 Corinthians 5:14.
All people out of Christ are already dead, even if their bodies live. Physical death does not change anything fundamentally about your condition, but it only alters the SPHERE of your existence, we step from time into eternity at death.
Non-Christians are already living in Hell, the fact of that will only become clearer with physical death.
The Christian, likewise, has died (Romans 6:6) but because of the resurrection of Christ has passed from DEATH into LIFE. Life has taken on a new element and has become LIFE. We are already living in the kingdom of God, the fact of that will also become clearer at death.
(3) What Happens at Physical Death?
On physical death the non-Christian apparently goes to SHEOL, or HADES, which is a place of waiting. In it is torment as they await judgement (Luke 16:19-24). The torment comes from the realisation of truth - there will soon be a judgement.
Prior to Christ's resurrection Believers also went to Hades, but apparently there was a division, for them Hades was a place of rest. This area of Hades is now, apparently, uninhabited.
Hades (or Sheol) and Hell are not the same. The KJV translates them the same when they are not. Hades will be cast into Hell after the final judgement (Revelation 20:14) so logically it cannot be the same.
In Jewish belief (Enoch 22) Sheol was a place beneath the Earth consisting of four large pits. Three were dark, for the unrighteous, one was light for the righteous.
Psalms 16:10; 18:5; 86:13; 139:18
Proverbs 15:11 15:24 23:14 27:20.
Isaiah 5:14 14:9,15 28:15.
However it is a spiritual place not a physical one. We are not intended to think of it as a place underground, rather it exists in the spiritual realm somewhere.
For a description of Hell see Chapter 16.
At the time of Christ's resurrection the Believers in God rose From the dead and went to be with Christ in heaven (Matthew 27:51-53). Christ was like a seed of wheat planted in the ground (John 12:24). When he died he went to Sheol and made a proclamation of freedom (1 Peter 3:19). When he rose he took with him all of those who could respond to his call of freedom, these were the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:21-23).
Christians at death now go to a place of waiting, under the altar in the throne room of heaven (Revelation 6:9-11). There they are "asleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30) - not meaning a state of unconsciousness, but it is a place of restricted activity because they do not yet have their resurrection bodies. In Biblical thought, man IS spirit, soul AND body. Man is not man without a body. Thus there is a sense in which we must understand the dead saints awaiting the resurrection as being in an intermediate state. They cannot function as human beings in the life to come until they receive their resurrection bodies.
(4) What of the Future?
There will be a future resurrection of the dead body - both for the Christian and the non- Christian (Revelation 20:4-6). This will be followed by judgement; the righteous going to Heaven, the sinner to Hell.
This raises the question: What is the nature of the body we have in the next life?
B. THE RESURRECTION - WHAT KIND OF BODY?
Is the resurrection body physical, or is it some sort of ghostly apparition?
(1) Christ the Pattern.
1 Corinthians 15:21-23.
Christ is the first fruits, he is the pattern we are to follow.
John 20:19ff.
(a) His body was recognisable as his own, and still bore the marks of this life.
Hence this is not a reincarnation. Reincarnation is not a scriptural teaching, it is the Satanic counterfeit of the truth of the resurrection. Reincarnation denies the continuity of our consciousness, hence of our guilt and liability to judgement on the "other side" for things done in this life. It denies Heaven and Hell, suggesting only that if we try hard enough we will come back as a better being or get to share in the "Great Light" of perfection.
It denies the Atonement of Christ, in that it teaches that if we try harder we will make it into a better life.
(b) He Breathed.
John 20:22.
How else could he talk?
(c) The disciples could touch him.
John 20:27.
(d) He ate and drank.
Luke 24:13ff.
John 21.
It does not actually say that Christ ate on these occasions, but the symbolism of his actions requires that he did so. What we see in John 20 is a form of Peace offering, or Covenant Sacrifice, which the worshipers of a God shared with their God. Normally the portion for God would be burnt, but here God in the person of Jesus is present to eat it, in fact he provides it.
(e) The difference between the old and new body.
This new body does not seem to be limited to the confines of time and space. He could step in and out of the spiritual realm (he did not walk through doors!). Hence he could travel long distances in no time at all (Luke 24:28ff).
We are left with a concept that the “Spiritual body” belongs to a realm that is actually more real than the sphere we live in. The spiritual realm is not “airy-fairy” but has a reality that is so much greater than what we know that it incorporates our present reality. Thus Christ can eat the physical food of this world, breathe the physical air of this world, etc. In other words the spiritual reality is greater than our reality and includes our reality in it.
Illustration: From set Theory in Maths.
The best way we could understand the relationship between the present reality and the reality of God is to understand our sphere as a subset of the total reality of existence.
(2) The Teaching of Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:35-57.
Briefly Paul's argument is this:
(a) To get the new you have to let the old die, yet what rises from the dead is not the same as what died. Yet in a sense it is the same - there is a continuing relationship. The relationship is like that of a seed to the harvest it produces. We can see that it is the same but it is much more.
(b) Every form of life has been given a body, suitable for its purpose and sphere in life.
(c) Our present earthly body is physical, perishable, weak, dishonorable, earthly, made of dust. It is corrupted by sin and cannot be renovated. Yet it is suitable to life on earth, being earthy.
(d) Our resurrection body will be:
- Imperishable - not subject to death and decay.
- Glorious - radiating God's life.
- Powerful - not limited by its dimensions.
- Spiritual - not meaning here "a spirit", but a body suitable for living in the spiritual realm. Man is not, nor will he be, pure spirit like the angels. Man is by nature and function a physical being. His resurrection body will also be physical.
- It will be like Christ's.
(e) The relationship between the present body and the future body is like the relationship between the seed and the harvest. There is a clear similarity, i.e. the resurrection body can be recognised as being the same person as the present physical body, but there is also a vast difference between them – just as the harvest is greater than the seed.
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5.
We are preparing it now, like a house we are building. What we do in obedience to God builds it (1 Corinthians 3. Revelation 19:5,6).
What about those who haven’t died before Christ comes?
This is the exact opposite of the question Paul was answering in I Thessalonians 4,5. There the issue was, “What about those who have died, will they miss out on the Coming of Christ?” Paul’s explanation of the events there gives the answer.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
(i) Christ will come bringing with him those who have died “in him”.
(ii) As Christ descends these dead will be resurrected.
(iii) Those of us alive at his coming will be “caught up” (Greek: raptured) to be with him in the air.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52.
MEMORY VERSE.
RESURRECTION.
ROMANS 8: 11.
IF THE SPIRIT OF HIM WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD DWELLS IN YOU,
HE WHO RAISED CHRIST JESUS FROM THE DEAD
WILL GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES ALSO
THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WHICH DWELLS IN YOU.
Chapter 33: - Death And Resurrection.
Author's note:
Recently I have been busy and haven't posted to this blog as often as I would have liked. To cover this lack I am posting this post as a draft so you can see where I am thinking of going with it. However it is definitely not in its final form. I will return to it.
A. THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF DEATH.
The Hebrew idea of man is important here. They see man as an animated body not an incarnated soul. The "incarnated soul" idea is from Greek philosophy and has its roots in a religious philosophy including reincarnation.
Man is spirit, soul and body. Man is not man without any of these three.
The Bible depicts "soul" as the result of "spirit" and "body" coming together (Genesis 2). Thus when the spirit leaves the body, in death, the soul dies, i.e. it ceases to exist. The spirit, coming from God, is eternal, but the soul is not. Hence "souls" will be resurrected along with the body.
(1) Death Came by Sin.
When God created man, he made him with the POTENTIAL to live eternally, but also with the POTENTIAL to die. Man was not created eternal. This is the meaning of the Garden of Eden story. The tree of Life granted eternal life, but one had to have continuous access to it. (Genesis 2&3). Man was created by God into a perfect situation in which there was no DEATH in man's personal life experience. However we should assume that in the animal world and vegetable world the processes of growing old and dying were existent. Physical death in the animal kingdom was not unknown to Adam, so he had some idea what God meant when he warned Adam of possible death through disobedience.
It is hard to imagine that there was no death at all, though this view is held by many Godly Bible teachers and may be considered to be the normal evangelical position. However I contend this was not the case - rather there was death before the fall - but not in the life of man. For instance, it is hard to imagine that insects did not die. Most insects have a limited life span of only a few days. If insects had not died before the Fall it would not have taken very long for them to be living in numbers impossible for other animals to dwell with. So it would seem that death was part of God's plan for creation, at least for some aspects of creation. If you have never considered this possibility before you may need to stop and think a bit about different aspects of life in the animal world - insects, "creeping things", plankton, and so on. It doesn't take long to realise that death is part of the natural cycle and without death operating some lifeforms would reproduce so quickly as to overwhelm others. Once the idea that death is part of creation is accepted then it is not difficult to see that this would probably be true for the whole animal and vegetable realm. Thus God's words to Adam "in the day you eat of it you will surely die" would have meaning. Adam could see what death was to some extent.
Man was created physically mature, but morally he was immature. He had not learned to make choices between good and bad. There was the potential of bad in existence - God knew that Lucifer was soon to rebel and became the agent of DEATH. DEATH waited in the wings to invade the universe, only man could let it in as he was made to be priest of creation before God.
Adam was given the choice - eat of the tree of life, and live eternally, or eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and let DEATH into his personal existence.
It may be that God created man mortal at the beginning - this is not clear from the story - but it is clear that man was not created immortal in the sense of eternal, as the Greeks thought. Immortality was resident in the tree of life, and not in the man. It may be true that man could have died even without the Fall, but as a result of the Fall death took on a whole new nature and became DEATH.
Romans 5:12. "Death entered through sin".
It is usually taught, from this passage, that death was foreign to Adam's experience and only entered the world through Adam's sin. Some teachers even include the animal world in this freedom from death. However that is not necessarily what is meant here. The prospect of death through disobedience had to have some meaning to Adam for it to be a real deterrent, indicating he had some idea of what it was about. This passage could mean a variety of things:
(i) Death did not exist on earth before the Fall - even in the animal kingdom.
(ii) Death became certain for man because of Adam's sin, until then it was only a possibility.
(iii) Physical death - already a real possibility - took on a whole new horrible meaning, including eternal separation from God. It became DEATH.
(2) Sin Means Man is Already Dead.
Because of sin, man is already dead, cut off from God, and destined to DEATH. So all mankind are, in fact, dead before their bodies even die.
Ephesians 2:1.
However to cap this off Christ came as the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) - the last of the race of Adam - and he died, putting to death the whole of the Adamic race.
2 Corinthians 5:14.
All people out of Christ are already dead, even if their bodies live. Physical death does not change anything fundamentally about your condition, but it only alters the SPHERE of your existence, we step from time into eternity at death.
Non-Christians are already living in Hell, the fact of that will only become clearer with physical death.
The Christian, likewise, has died (Romans 6:6) but because of the resurrection of Christ has passed from DEATH into LIFE. Life has taken on a new element and has become LIFE. We are already living in the kingdom of God, the fact of that will also become clearer at death.
(3) What Happens at Physical Death?
On physical death the non-Christian apparently goes to SHEOL, or HADES, which is a place of waiting. In it is torment as they await judgement (Luke 16:19-24). The torment comes from the realisation of truth - there will soon be a judgement.
Prior to Christ's resurrection Believers also went to Hades, but apparently there was a division, for them Hades was a place of rest. This area of Hades is now, apparently, uninhabited.
Hades (or Sheol) and Hell are not the same. The KJV translates them the same when they are not. Hades will be cast into Hell after the final judgement (Revelation 20:14) so logically it cannot be the same.
In Jewish belief (Enoch 22) Sheol was a place beneath the Earth consisting of four large pits. Three were dark, for the unrighteous, one was light for the righteous.
Psalms 16:10; 18:5; 86:13; 139:18
Proverbs 15:11 15:24 23:14 27:20.
Isaiah 5:14 14:9,15 28:15.
However it is a spiritual place not a physical one. We are not intended to think of it as a place underground, rather it exists in the spiritual realm somewhere.
For a description of Hell see Chapter 16.
At the time of Christ's resurrection the Believers in God rose From the dead and went to be with Christ in heaven (Matthew 27:51-53). Christ was like a seed of wheat planted in the ground (John 12:24). When he died he went to Sheol and made a proclamation of freedom (1 Peter 3:19). When he rose he took with him all of those who could respond to his call of freedom, these were the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:21-23).
Christians at death now go to a place of waiting, under the altar in the throne room of heaven (Revelation 6:9-11). There they are "asleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30) - not meaning a state of unconsciousness, but it is a place of restricted activity because they do not yet have their resurrection bodies. In Biblical thought, man IS spirit, soul AND body. Man is not man without a body. Thus there is a sense in which we must understand the dead saints awaiting the resurrection as being in an intermediate state. They cannot function as human beings in the life to come until they receive their resurrection bodies.
(4) What of the Future?
There will be a future resurrection of the dead body - both for the Christian and the non- Christian (Revelation 20:4-6). This will be followed by judgement; the righteous going to Heaven, the sinner to Hell.
This raises the question: What is the nature of the body we have in the next life?
B. THE RESURRECTION - WHAT KIND OF BODY?
Is the resurrection body physical, or is it some sort of ghostly apparition?
(1) Christ the Pattern.
1 Corinthians 15:21-23.
Christ is the first fruits, he is the pattern we are to follow.
John 20:19ff.
(a) His body was recognisable as his own, and still bore the marks of this life.
Hence this is not a reincarnation. Reincarnation is not a scriptural teaching, it is the Satanic counterfeit of the truth of the resurrection. Reincarnation denies the continuity of our consciousness, hence of our guilt and liability to judgement on the "other side" for things done in this life. It denies Heaven and Hell, suggesting only that if we try hard enough we will come back as a better being or get to share in the "Great Light" of perfection.
It denies the Atonement of Christ, in that it teaches that if we try harder we will make it into a better life.
(b) He Breathed.
John 20:22.
How else could he talk?
(c) The disciples could touch him.
John 20:27.
(d) He ate and drank.
Luke 24:13ff.
John 21.
It does not actually say that Christ ate on these occasions, but the symbolism of his actions requires that he did so. What we see in John 20 is a form of Peace offering, or Covenant Sacrifice, which the worshipers of a God shared with their God. Normally the portion for God would be burnt, but here God in the person of Jesus is present to eat it, in fact he provides it.
(e) The difference between the old and new body.
This new body does not seem to be limited to the confines of time and space. He could step in and out of the spiritual realm (he did not walk through doors!). Hence he could travel long distances in no time at all (Luke 24:28ff).
We are left with a concept that the “Spiritual body” belongs to a realm that is actually more real than the sphere we live in. The spiritual realm is not “airy-fairy” but has a reality that is so much greater than what we know that it incorporates our present reality. Thus Christ can eat the physical food of this world, breathe the physical air of this world, etc. In other words the spiritual reality is greater than our reality and includes our reality in it.
Illustration: From set Theory in Maths.
The best way we could understand the relationship between the present reality and the reality of God is to understand our sphere as a subset of the total reality of existence.
(2) The Teaching of Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:35-57.
Briefly Paul's argument is this:
(a) To get the new you have to let the old die, yet what rises from the dead is not the same as what died. Yet in a sense it is the same - there is a continuing relationship. The relationship is like that of a seed to the harvest it produces. We can see that it is the same but it is much more.
(b) Every form of life has been given a body, suitable for its purpose and sphere in life.
(c) Our present earthly body is physical, perishable, weak, dishonorable, earthly, made of dust. It is corrupted by sin and cannot be renovated. Yet it is suitable to life on earth, being earthy.
(d) Our resurrection body will be:
- Imperishable - not subject to death and decay.
- Glorious - radiating God's life.
- Powerful - not limited by its dimensions.
- Spiritual - not meaning here "a spirit", but a body suitable for living in the spiritual realm. Man is not, nor will he be, pure spirit like the angels. Man is by nature and function a physical being. His resurrection body will also be physical.
- It will be like Christ's.
(e) The relationship between the present body and the future body is like the relationship between the seed and the harvest. There is a clear similarity, i.e. the resurrection body can be recognised as being the same person as the present physical body, but there is also a vast difference between them – just as the harvest is greater than the seed.
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5.
We are preparing it now, like a house we are building. What we do in obedience to God builds it (1 Corinthians 3. Revelation 19:5,6).
What about those who haven’t died before Christ comes?
This is the exact opposite of the question Paul was answering in I Thessalonians 4,5. There the issue was, “What about those who have died, will they miss out on the Coming of Christ?” Paul’s explanation of the events there gives the answer.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
(i) Christ will come bringing with him those who have died “in him”.
(ii) As Christ descends these dead will be resurrected.
(iii) Those of us alive at his coming will be “caught up” (Greek: raptured) to be with him in the air.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52.
MEMORY VERSE.
RESURRECTION.
ROMANS 8: 11.
IF THE SPIRIT OF HIM WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD DWELLS IN YOU,
HE WHO RAISED CHRIST JESUS FROM THE DEAD
WILL GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES ALSO
THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WHICH DWELLS IN YOU.
Foundations of the Christian Life.Chapter 32. The Resurrection of the Dead #3. The Victory of Christ.
Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 32. The Resurrection of the Dead #3. The Victory of Christ.
Author's Note:
I have recently been busy with other things and so my additions to this blog have slowed below the pace I desired. Also this particular study has been particularly exercising to me. This present version is only a draft to indicate where I feel it should go. However I have not, at this point in time, arrived at a point where I feel happy that it is written in a final form. Put simply, I don't yet feel I have had the revelation from God for it to be as he wants it. I am aware that I do not yet know enough or understand enough about the subject to be happy with what I have written. So it is still a work in progress. However I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it. Any comments may help me in drafting a more complete form.
INTRODUCTION.
Throughout the NT the death and resurrection of Christ are depicted as a great victory over evil. It is important for us to understand the significance of the resurrection in the great plan of God.
George Eldon Ladd puts it this way:
“Jesus’ resurrection was not a return to physical earthly life; it was an emergence within history of the life of the world to come.”
To help us understand this I want to return to the central theme of these studies that I have been developing, namely, the work of Christ as High Priest.
In reality, by Biblical reckoning, there have only been two true priests of God. The task of priesthood is to mediate between God and the created world. To do this the priest has to partake of both spheres of life – God’s life and the physical life of this earth. Only two men have ever fully done this.
1. Adam, before the Fall, was made from “the dust of the earth” and had breathed into him “the Spirit of God”. There was a oneness in Adam brought between the physical and the spiritual worlds that was unique. Because of this oneness he could act as priest of God on earth. He was a king-priest.
The Fall destroyed this oneness. In rebelling against God’s word Adam divorced himself from the word of God so that mankind lost his grounding in the Word of God. As a result of the Fall of Adam the whole physical universe lost its grounding in the Word of God. In a sense the whole physical universe, in the words of St Athanasius, hangs suspended above nothingness – it call fall at any moment into nothingness.
No man since then has been able to be a true priest of God because all men are fallen in virtue of their relationship to Adam, and so have lost contact with the Word and the Spirit of God. This was true until Christ appeared.
2. Christ, through the incarnation, has made one again the relationship between the Word and the physical universe. This happened in two ways:
* Christ took on this creation in order to redeem it. In the act of the incarnation, where the Word entered into the physical body of a virgin, thus establishing a new relationship with mankind and the physical realm.
* Throughout the life of Christ he was tempted in every way as we are. But at each point he identified with the Word of God, thus grounding human life again in the Word of God in a living way. We discussed this in Chapter 9.
Thus Christ has regrounded, in himself, the nature of man to the Word, and as man is the divinely appointed representative and ruler of the physical universe, he has regrounded the whole physical universe in the Word. At least this is true in potential.
3. On the Cross Christ took on himself the death and destruction that belonged to this physical creation because of man’s sin and rebellion. This he put to death on the Cross, thus putting and end to it all. He submitted to the power of death in order that he might defeat it. Thus, he who “had the power of death, the Devil”, is also overcome, along with all of his demonic hosts.
4. God raised Christ from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus showing that the power of death – and hence the whole curse brought on the physical universe by Adam’s sin – had been defeated once and for all.
But the work of Christ does not end there. The Church has always seen the resurrection as only one part of a great “movement upwards” that Christ took. The resurrection and the ascension are two parts of the one great act:
* In the resurrection he came from the depths of the earth, Hades - the place of the dead, back to earth. In doing so he overcame the power of death.
* In the ascension he moved up from earth to heaven, to the throne of God. To do this he passed through the heavenlies, the place where evil spiritual powers dwell. In doing so he overcame every evil power. They could not stop his ascent to heaven.
* In heaven he ascended the throne of God and was crowned king of all.
Thus he has, in himself, encompassed all there is, The Heavens (the Spiritual Realm), earth (the physical universe) and Hades (the place of the Dead). He thus rules over all.
But there is more: The recreation has begun in him. When Christ rose from the dead he rose with his physical body, and with that body he ascended to heaven. Thus, in Him, the physical universe has received a new grounding; the grounding of the physical universe in the Word has been reestablished - but in a greater way, a resurrection power.
So the universe is now grounded in the very nature of God himself. As a result of the work of Christ there has been a fundamental – and permanent – change in the nature of the Trinity. Where Christ, before he came to earth, had no physical body; now, as a result of his work, he – in heaven – has a physical body. As a result the physical universe is grounded in God in a new way. The physical universe has, in a sense, been given eternal life. The danger of “falling into nothingness”, that Athanasius wrote of, no longer exists.
Thus a recreation has begun – but it comes in stages:
1. Christ, and the first fruits (see Chapter 34).
2. Those who receive the new birth are “a new creation”. The process of recreation has already begun in those who have accepted Christ.
3. At the Second Coming the process of recreation in humanity will be completed and the “sons of God” will be revealed as God intended.
4. Eventually all creation will be renewed by the power of God: A New Heavens and a New earth.
But this new creation will be energised by a different life force – it will be a power of resurrection life, not subject to the power of death ever again. The resurrection of Christ is the first stage of a whole new creation.
This act of resurrection that brought Christ back from the dead was a work of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 1:4.
“…and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
But what we have said here means that, for those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, we are already living in the process of resurrection. There has been released into our lives a resurrection life that is not subject to the power of death – and not to the one who, in this world, has the power of death – the Devil.
As Filson (in “Jesus Christ the Risen Lord”) puts it:
“This risen Christ is Lord of the church and is ascended to God's right hand, exalted. He is Lord…
“In his position at God's right hand he is not on vacation but his active in the life of the Church… He acts with supreme authority as God’s supreme and central agent in carrying out God's will. He is an active Word.
“…He continues his work through the Holy Spirit. To accept Christ's lordship is to accept the Spirit, the risen Christ gives the Spirit so that Christ is the Spirit in our experience.”
RESURRECTION LIFE - NOW!
The future resurrection is already at work in us - reaching back into time and transforming our lives now.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - we are a new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
We have a life force suitable to the age in which we will live.
Romans 8:11
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
Ephesians 1:19-20.
“…and his incomparably great power for/in us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,…”
This new power comes to us through the Holy Spirit. Baptism - death, burial and resurrection - is the door to this new life.
We are in a process of resurrection now. It began at conversion and will be completed when our bodies are transformed, but it is still real now. What we build out of resurrection life power now will last into the age to come.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15.
“If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
This means that resurrection power should affect our lives now. How?
(1) Renewed Strength.
Romans 8:11
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
Isaiah 40:31.
“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
We do not need to live in a state of physical decay. Moses (Deuteronomy 34:7) and Caleb (Joshua 14:10,11) both lived in a principle of resurrection life that renewed their strength and prevented physical decay.
(2) Resurrection life in us should be touching others.
Mark 16:16-18.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
(3) Because of this new life we can know a hope for the future.
We covered this in chapter 30.
This hope means we can suffer persecution and trial with joy. hope generates joy. This is not a hopefulness but is a solid anticipation based on KNOWN FUTURE EVENTS. This is why over half of the Bible is prophetic. It is in knowing God's plan that we can have hope, and hence joy.
"Hope" is used in the Bible in two different ways:
(i) The OBJECT on which we set our expectations, i.e. Christ.
(ii) The ATTITUDE and STYLE OF LIFE we adopt in the light of that expectation.
Hope in the sense of (ii) without (i) is a delusion. Unless we understand and have a living hope in Christ then any attempt of lifestyle change we make will only be legalism and religion. True Christian lifestyle arises out of the consciousness of Christ as our Hope. It comes from relationship with him. In that relationship we obey his commands – but not out of legalism, rather we do so out of love for him.
Hope of Christ's return fills our life with purpose, and it lays bare the ultimate issues of life: the kingdom of God, righteousness and love.
In the light of the kingdom we should live differently.
1 Peter 1:13.
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 John 3:3.
“Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
(4) Resurrection life at work in us overcomes sin and evil.
Romans 6:4-11.
“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. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 2:12-14.
“…having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
The real power of the resurrection should be seen in victorious Christian living.
HOW DO WE LIVE IN RESURRECTION LIFE?
1. We need to walk in the light of what we know of God’s will for us.
* Keep cleansed from all sin. Don’t leave sin unconfessed and unresolved.
* Be baptised in water.
* Be an active member of a church.
* Daily ask to be filled with the Spirit.
* Be baptised in the Spirit.
* Daily – as often as you can speak in tongues.
* Meditate on – memorise and confess – the word of God.
TRANSFORMER VERSES.
RESURRECTION LIFE NOW.
Romans 8: 11.
If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.
HOMEWORK:
1. Think deeply about the fact of the coming of the Age to Come in Christ. How is the reality of living in the Age to Come affecting your life? Is it affecting you? Think about what sort of changes you might need to make to become an active member of the Age to Come?
2. Look at the pointers to living in Resurrection life. Are you daily, or at least several times weekly, engaging in the disciples listed:
(a) Speaking in Tongues.
(b) Meditation on the Word.
(c) Experiencing being regularly filled with the Spirit.
(d) Dealing with sin in your life.
(e) Related to a local church?
(f) Aware of walking in obedience to Biblical principle and the direct leading of the Spirit in your daily life.
PRAYER:
Chapter 32. The Resurrection of the Dead #3. The Victory of Christ.
Author's Note:
I have recently been busy with other things and so my additions to this blog have slowed below the pace I desired. Also this particular study has been particularly exercising to me. This present version is only a draft to indicate where I feel it should go. However I have not, at this point in time, arrived at a point where I feel happy that it is written in a final form. Put simply, I don't yet feel I have had the revelation from God for it to be as he wants it. I am aware that I do not yet know enough or understand enough about the subject to be happy with what I have written. So it is still a work in progress. However I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it. Any comments may help me in drafting a more complete form.
INTRODUCTION.
Throughout the NT the death and resurrection of Christ are depicted as a great victory over evil. It is important for us to understand the significance of the resurrection in the great plan of God.
George Eldon Ladd puts it this way:
“Jesus’ resurrection was not a return to physical earthly life; it was an emergence within history of the life of the world to come.”
To help us understand this I want to return to the central theme of these studies that I have been developing, namely, the work of Christ as High Priest.
In reality, by Biblical reckoning, there have only been two true priests of God. The task of priesthood is to mediate between God and the created world. To do this the priest has to partake of both spheres of life – God’s life and the physical life of this earth. Only two men have ever fully done this.
1. Adam, before the Fall, was made from “the dust of the earth” and had breathed into him “the Spirit of God”. There was a oneness in Adam brought between the physical and the spiritual worlds that was unique. Because of this oneness he could act as priest of God on earth. He was a king-priest.
The Fall destroyed this oneness. In rebelling against God’s word Adam divorced himself from the word of God so that mankind lost his grounding in the Word of God. As a result of the Fall of Adam the whole physical universe lost its grounding in the Word of God. In a sense the whole physical universe, in the words of St Athanasius, hangs suspended above nothingness – it call fall at any moment into nothingness.
No man since then has been able to be a true priest of God because all men are fallen in virtue of their relationship to Adam, and so have lost contact with the Word and the Spirit of God. This was true until Christ appeared.
2. Christ, through the incarnation, has made one again the relationship between the Word and the physical universe. This happened in two ways:
* Christ took on this creation in order to redeem it. In the act of the incarnation, where the Word entered into the physical body of a virgin, thus establishing a new relationship with mankind and the physical realm.
* Throughout the life of Christ he was tempted in every way as we are. But at each point he identified with the Word of God, thus grounding human life again in the Word of God in a living way. We discussed this in Chapter 9.
Thus Christ has regrounded, in himself, the nature of man to the Word, and as man is the divinely appointed representative and ruler of the physical universe, he has regrounded the whole physical universe in the Word. At least this is true in potential.
3. On the Cross Christ took on himself the death and destruction that belonged to this physical creation because of man’s sin and rebellion. This he put to death on the Cross, thus putting and end to it all. He submitted to the power of death in order that he might defeat it. Thus, he who “had the power of death, the Devil”, is also overcome, along with all of his demonic hosts.
4. God raised Christ from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus showing that the power of death – and hence the whole curse brought on the physical universe by Adam’s sin – had been defeated once and for all.
But the work of Christ does not end there. The Church has always seen the resurrection as only one part of a great “movement upwards” that Christ took. The resurrection and the ascension are two parts of the one great act:
* In the resurrection he came from the depths of the earth, Hades - the place of the dead, back to earth. In doing so he overcame the power of death.
* In the ascension he moved up from earth to heaven, to the throne of God. To do this he passed through the heavenlies, the place where evil spiritual powers dwell. In doing so he overcame every evil power. They could not stop his ascent to heaven.
* In heaven he ascended the throne of God and was crowned king of all.
Thus he has, in himself, encompassed all there is, The Heavens (the Spiritual Realm), earth (the physical universe) and Hades (the place of the Dead). He thus rules over all.
But there is more: The recreation has begun in him. When Christ rose from the dead he rose with his physical body, and with that body he ascended to heaven. Thus, in Him, the physical universe has received a new grounding; the grounding of the physical universe in the Word has been reestablished - but in a greater way, a resurrection power.
So the universe is now grounded in the very nature of God himself. As a result of the work of Christ there has been a fundamental – and permanent – change in the nature of the Trinity. Where Christ, before he came to earth, had no physical body; now, as a result of his work, he – in heaven – has a physical body. As a result the physical universe is grounded in God in a new way. The physical universe has, in a sense, been given eternal life. The danger of “falling into nothingness”, that Athanasius wrote of, no longer exists.
Thus a recreation has begun – but it comes in stages:
1. Christ, and the first fruits (see Chapter 34).
2. Those who receive the new birth are “a new creation”. The process of recreation has already begun in those who have accepted Christ.
3. At the Second Coming the process of recreation in humanity will be completed and the “sons of God” will be revealed as God intended.
4. Eventually all creation will be renewed by the power of God: A New Heavens and a New earth.
But this new creation will be energised by a different life force – it will be a power of resurrection life, not subject to the power of death ever again. The resurrection of Christ is the first stage of a whole new creation.
This act of resurrection that brought Christ back from the dead was a work of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 1:4.
“…and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
But what we have said here means that, for those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, we are already living in the process of resurrection. There has been released into our lives a resurrection life that is not subject to the power of death – and not to the one who, in this world, has the power of death – the Devil.
As Filson (in “Jesus Christ the Risen Lord”) puts it:
“This risen Christ is Lord of the church and is ascended to God's right hand, exalted. He is Lord…
“In his position at God's right hand he is not on vacation but his active in the life of the Church… He acts with supreme authority as God’s supreme and central agent in carrying out God's will. He is an active Word.
“…He continues his work through the Holy Spirit. To accept Christ's lordship is to accept the Spirit, the risen Christ gives the Spirit so that Christ is the Spirit in our experience.”
RESURRECTION LIFE - NOW!
The future resurrection is already at work in us - reaching back into time and transforming our lives now.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - we are a new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
We have a life force suitable to the age in which we will live.
Romans 8:11
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
Ephesians 1:19-20.
“…and his incomparably great power for/in us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,…”
This new power comes to us through the Holy Spirit. Baptism - death, burial and resurrection - is the door to this new life.
We are in a process of resurrection now. It began at conversion and will be completed when our bodies are transformed, but it is still real now. What we build out of resurrection life power now will last into the age to come.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15.
“If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
This means that resurrection power should affect our lives now. How?
(1) Renewed Strength.
Romans 8:11
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
Isaiah 40:31.
“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
We do not need to live in a state of physical decay. Moses (Deuteronomy 34:7) and Caleb (Joshua 14:10,11) both lived in a principle of resurrection life that renewed their strength and prevented physical decay.
(2) Resurrection life in us should be touching others.
Mark 16:16-18.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
(3) Because of this new life we can know a hope for the future.
We covered this in chapter 30.
This hope means we can suffer persecution and trial with joy. hope generates joy. This is not a hopefulness but is a solid anticipation based on KNOWN FUTURE EVENTS. This is why over half of the Bible is prophetic. It is in knowing God's plan that we can have hope, and hence joy.
"Hope" is used in the Bible in two different ways:
(i) The OBJECT on which we set our expectations, i.e. Christ.
(ii) The ATTITUDE and STYLE OF LIFE we adopt in the light of that expectation.
Hope in the sense of (ii) without (i) is a delusion. Unless we understand and have a living hope in Christ then any attempt of lifestyle change we make will only be legalism and religion. True Christian lifestyle arises out of the consciousness of Christ as our Hope. It comes from relationship with him. In that relationship we obey his commands – but not out of legalism, rather we do so out of love for him.
Hope of Christ's return fills our life with purpose, and it lays bare the ultimate issues of life: the kingdom of God, righteousness and love.
In the light of the kingdom we should live differently.
1 Peter 1:13.
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 John 3:3.
“Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
(4) Resurrection life at work in us overcomes sin and evil.
Romans 6:4-11.
“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. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 2:12-14.
“…having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
The real power of the resurrection should be seen in victorious Christian living.
HOW DO WE LIVE IN RESURRECTION LIFE?
1. We need to walk in the light of what we know of God’s will for us.
* Keep cleansed from all sin. Don’t leave sin unconfessed and unresolved.
* Be baptised in water.
* Be an active member of a church.
* Daily ask to be filled with the Spirit.
* Be baptised in the Spirit.
* Daily – as often as you can speak in tongues.
* Meditate on – memorise and confess – the word of God.
TRANSFORMER VERSES.
RESURRECTION LIFE NOW.
Romans 8: 11.
If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.
HOMEWORK:
1. Think deeply about the fact of the coming of the Age to Come in Christ. How is the reality of living in the Age to Come affecting your life? Is it affecting you? Think about what sort of changes you might need to make to become an active member of the Age to Come?
2. Look at the pointers to living in Resurrection life. Are you daily, or at least several times weekly, engaging in the disciples listed:
(a) Speaking in Tongues.
(b) Meditation on the Word.
(c) Experiencing being regularly filled with the Spirit.
(d) Dealing with sin in your life.
(e) Related to a local church?
(f) Aware of walking in obedience to Biblical principle and the direct leading of the Spirit in your daily life.
PRAYER:
Sunday, 11 March 2007
Foundations of the Christian Life. Chapter 31. The Resurrection of the Dead. #2. The Resurrection of Christ.
Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 31. The Resurrection of the Dead. #2. The Resurrection of Christ.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IS THE BASIS OF OUR HOPE.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20.
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Paul makes it quite plain here that the whole of the Christian faith hinges on Christ's resurrection being a historical reality. Indeed, if it is not so, the "our faith is futile, we are still in our sins... and we are of all men to be most pitied".
Indeed if Christ has not been raised from the dead to eternal life then we have no guarantee that it will ever happen to us. He is the prototype and the guarantee that we also will rise in the same way.
Because our hope is based on the claim that Christ’s resurrection is historical we need to look at his death and resurrection to see if they really did happen. This will be the focus of this chapter.
CAN WE PROVE THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST HISTORICALLY?
George Eldon Ladd in “I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus” talks of two types of historical “proof”.
1. The Facts of our modern, so-called “History-as-a-Science”.
Ladd points out that modern “scientific” study of history there are two guiding principles, which are common to all “scientific” research.
* All facts can only be established using data that can be observed, or, in the case of historical events, that was observed at the time.
* All events of history are to be understood only in the context of strict “cause and effect” relations of natural events. In other words this universe is a closed, natural system. There is no room for the action of God, or other non-natural causes.
By these standards of modern historical study we cannot “prove” the resurrection of Christ to be a historical fact because:
* No one can see now, nor did anyone see back then see, the resurrection of Christ.
* For such an event to occur there would have had to be action from God, and that is ruled out of the discussion from the start. One cannot “see” God therefore one cannot prove his action.
So by the standards of modern historical study the resurrection can never be proven to be fact. But, then, very little we know about the past could be proven to be fact by this standard.
2. Ladd notes that there is another approach to history altogether, an approach which gathers the data we have and arrives at the best probable explanation of the historical events. In actual fact most history is of this sort, especially when we are dealing with ancient history.
This is the approach of forensic investigators in the courts of law of modern societies. Often there is no eyewitness to an event, a murder or a theft for instance. But the gathering of data which points to a logical conclusion is accepted as "proof of the facts of the events".
By using this approach Ladd argues that the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the best explanation of the data we actually have.
Modernity would still argue at this point that the resurrection implies action of God and that is not admissible. But what if the assumptions of modernism are not correct? Modernism assumes there is no God, or if there is he has nothing to do with the world as it now is. Everything has to be explained by natural causes.
But what if there is a God and he does act in the affairs of men? What if miracles do actually occur. I personally have seen enough miracles, in answer to prayer, to know – as a fact, as far as I am concerned – that there is a God and he does act in the affairs of men.
The problem with modernism and its denial of God and the resurrection of Christ is not that the evidence is not there, rather the assumptions of modernism rule out miracles like resurrection as a possibility before they even start to discuss the facts and the interpretation of them. But we need to remember the assumptions of modernism are just that -–assumptions. There is no proof that those assumptions are true – in fact there is plenty of evidence that they are not.
CHRIST’S RESURRECTION – A FACT?
GOOD READING:
F. Morison: Who Moved the Stone?
George Eldon Ladd: I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus.
The resurrection is not something we can historically prove in the modern scientific sense. It is an event which we accept by faith and believe in. In spite of this we are not called to be intellectual martyrs. The fact that we cannot historically prove the resurrection does not mean that the belief is intellectually unsound, nor does it prove it did not happen. The available evidence demands that Christ rose from the dead, if we are prepared to examine the evidence as if it were in a court of law.
My understanding (I may be wrong) is that Morison was a non-Christian lawyer who set out to prove the resurrection of Christ to be a fallacy using the methods of forensic research and proof. However in his research he became convinced that the resurrection of Christ actually happened and so he became a Christian. His book remains one of the classic defenses of the resurrection of Christ. I highly recommend everyone to read it.
The whole Christian faith rests on the belief in Christ's resurrection. But did it, in fact, happen?
The Bible never sets out to prove it, it simply assumes it is true. However the fact of it is really irrefutable.
The Events.
These are the Historical facts as we know them. There are few historians that would disagree with these.
(1) Christ was crucified.
There is some debate as to whether this was the Wednesday, or the Friday, of Passover week. The year is uncertain. The fact of the event is not. No one has seriously suggested that the crucifixion never happened. We do know that it happened on "the day before the Sabbath" (John 19:31).
(a) John says this Sabbath was a "High Day", meaning it was not only a Sabbath but also it was a holy festival, i.e. Passover. Hence the crucifixion appears to have happened on Friday.
(b) The other gospels seem to indicate that it happened on a Wednesday, the reference to the Sabbath meaning simply that Thursday was a Holy Day, being a Festival.
The debate about this is technical and needn’t concern us now.
The Fact is Jesus was crucified on the day before the Passover. He died, on the Cross, at around 3.00p.m. – at the time the Priests were killing the lambs for the Passover celebration in the temple.
Matthew 27:45.
“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.”
Matthew 27:50.
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.”
That Jesus had died was confirmed by the Romans twice.
(i) By the Roman soldiers who were given the task of speeding up the death of the victims. Death by crucifixion could take several days but the Jews had their reasons for wanting the process to be completed earlier.
John 19:31-35.
“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.”
* The soldiers found Jesus already dead so did not break his legs; instead one threw a spear into Jesus side.
* John tells us that he saw this happen – this is an eyewitness account.
(ii) By the Roman Centurion overseeing the crucifixion.
Mark 15:43-45.
“Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.”
* The Centurion was a man of war and had seen many dead bodies – he knew Jesus was dead.
(2) Christ was Buried.
We read that his body was removed from the cross quickly so that it would not remain on the cross during the festival, and so pollute the land according to the Law of Moses (John 19:31-37).
Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and embalmed it, placing it in Joseph's own new tomb.
Mark 15:46.
"So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”
This clearly happened before 6.00.p.m. on the day of the Crucifixion, as the Sabbath started then, and they would not have been allowed to do such work on the Sabbath.
(3) Christ's body remained in the tomb throughout the Sabbath.
We know this because on the Saturday evening the Jewish leaders asked for the tomb to be sealed and a guard to be set to prevent the theft of the body.
Matthew 27:62-66.
“The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first." "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”
They would not do this without first checking to see if the body was still there, and they could not have done this until after the Sabbath was over, i.e. after 6.00.p.m. on Saturday. Opening the tomb would have constituted “work” and was forbidden on the Sabbath.
(4) On Sunday morning at dawn the tomb was found empty.
The body has disappeared, the guard has gone.
THE BIG QUESTION - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODY?
SUGGESTED POSSIBILITIES.
(1) He never died.
This has been suggested by some who have contended that he recovered in the tomb, somehow escaped and appeared to his disciples, then escaped to foreign lands, in particular India.
This suggestion fails to deal with the real issue. If he hadn't died he was still in a tomb sealed with a massive stone, under Roman guard. How could he get out from the inside? Where was he after that? No one could find him unless he wanted them to.
The evidence demands that he did, in fact, die.
(a) No one at the time ever questioned the fact of his death.
The issue always was, "Has he come back to life again?" The fact of his death was always assumed to be true, even by his opponents.
(b) The Centurion affirmed that he was dead.
This was a man who had seen many dead men, he would know!
(c) The Jews have never questioned it.
(d) Medically it is provable.
When a person dies, the blood often separates, the red cells gathering in the heart, the bulk of the clear liquid in the lungs.
John 19:34.
“Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”
This verse indicates that death was at an advanced stage when the spear struck him. The spear then passed through at least one lung and his heart, releasing both of the blood parts.
He had no medical attention after this.
The suggestion by some, that Jesus only "swooned" on the cross and later recovered in the tomb, demands more faith than believing that he died. It is ridiculous!
We must remember that he had holes in his hands and feet, his back had been torn apart by a whip, and a spear through his lung and heart. Even with the best of modern medical attention he could not have survived.
(2) Someone stole the body.
But who?
(a) The Disciples.
This was suggested by the Jewish leaders.
Matthew 28:11-15.
“When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”
The story is ridiculous on several fronts:
1. If the soldiers were asleep how would they know it was the disciples who came and stole the body away (if indeed it was stolen away)? All the soldiers could know, if they had been asleep, would be that when they awoke the body was gone. How it went, and whether or not it went with human help, is not something they could know. They were asleep!
2. Roman soldiers did not sleep while on duty. Because of the need of vigilance from rebels a sentry who fell asleep, if found by one of his fellow soldiers, would have a sword put through him - in case it happened again. They just would never wake up again. The lives of the whole company of soldiers depended on vigilance. One could not let a sleeper-on-duty risk everyone else’s life.
3. The Bible presents the disciples at this point in time as being absolutely shattered and demoralised. Ladd demonstrates convincingly that even though Jesus had tried to prepare them for his coming death and resurrection they simply could not “hear” what Jesus said. They had predetermined ideas that stopped them understanding. As a result they were not expecting the cross let alone a resurrection.
4. Imagine that group of scared, demoralised men hiding in a room, who in no way even believed Jesus was going to die, let alone rise from the dead. Could they steal the body and perpetuate such a fraud? If they did so, then they all died as martyrs for a cause they knew to be false, yet the accounts of them do not give the indication that they were mentally unstable.
(b) The Soldiers.
Why would they? They would have been executed if caught doing so, and for no motive.
(c) The Jewish Leaders.
If they had done so they would have produced it at the time that the disciples claimed he had risen. They did not, proving they didn't know where it was.
(d) Grave Robbers.
Why? And why risk death at the hands of a Roman guard for a (criminal's) body which was worthless? Why leave behind all of the valuable spices he was embalmed in? Why go to all the trouble to unwrap the body then rewrap the grave clothes to look as if the body had just "passed through"?
(3) It rotted away.
Overnight?
Wrapped in preservatives?
(4) Christ rose again from the dead by the power of God.
This remains the only other possibility. No man could have moved the body; it must have moved itself. All other explanations are exhausted.
PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION.
(1) Witnesses saw Christ alive after the crucifixion.
1 Corinthians 15:4-9.
“…that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
On top of this there are several other recorded resurrection appearances of Christ.
The Women, particularly Mary Magdalene.
Matthew 28:8ff.
“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Mark 16:9-11.
“When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”
The Disciples.
Matthew 28:16,17.
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”
The Two on the road to Emmaus.
Mark 16:12,13.
“Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.”
The Eleven.
Mark 16:14.
“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”
John 21:1.
“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way:…”
QUESTION: - What do we make of the resurrection appearances?
(a) Were they Hallucinations?
No! The disciples were in the wrong frame of mind psychologically for "seeing things". They had no expectation of such an event. Moreover 500 people at one time saw him. Such a mass hypnosis could not occur. We must remember that most of the people Paul was writing about were still alive when he wrote. You could still check up on their stories.
(b) Were they only a spiritual appearance, a vision.
No. Again they were in the wrong frame of mind for this. But consider, this appearance ate and drank, they touched it, it breaks bread.
(c) There must have been a real physical appearance of Christ to produce in the disciples the change of character we see in the Bible.
(d) Paul argues that his own experience of seeing Christ was a real appearance. It was not just a vision.
(2) The Shape of the Grave Clothes.
John 20:6,7.
“Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.”
The description here indicates that they had fallen flat as if the body inside them had simply disappeared, c/f Jesus entering the room after his resurrection (John 20:19).
It could be that the Turin Shroud is the cloth in question. There is plenty of evidence to suggest it is, and the so-called "scientific tests" done on it recently are themselves suspect. If it is not the cloth, then the Turin shroud is in itself a great mystery that defies any rational explanation.
(3) The Physical Appearance of Christ After his Crucifixion.
His activities on the day of the resurrection bore no relationship to a man who had just suffered such physical torture and destruction. He had been whipped, beaten, nailed to a cross, speared in the heart and lung with a spear yet:
(a) He apparently "walked" a 14 mile journey to Emmaus and back.
(b) He gave to those who saw him the appearance of absolute health and strength, as if he had indeed overcome death and destruction.
(4) Our Experience of Salvation.
When we put our faith in Christ our own personal experience of his power proves that the event actually happened.
Chapter 31. The Resurrection of the Dead. #2. The Resurrection of Christ.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IS THE BASIS OF OUR HOPE.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20.
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Paul makes it quite plain here that the whole of the Christian faith hinges on Christ's resurrection being a historical reality. Indeed, if it is not so, the "our faith is futile, we are still in our sins... and we are of all men to be most pitied".
Indeed if Christ has not been raised from the dead to eternal life then we have no guarantee that it will ever happen to us. He is the prototype and the guarantee that we also will rise in the same way.
Because our hope is based on the claim that Christ’s resurrection is historical we need to look at his death and resurrection to see if they really did happen. This will be the focus of this chapter.
CAN WE PROVE THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST HISTORICALLY?
George Eldon Ladd in “I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus” talks of two types of historical “proof”.
1. The Facts of our modern, so-called “History-as-a-Science”.
Ladd points out that modern “scientific” study of history there are two guiding principles, which are common to all “scientific” research.
* All facts can only be established using data that can be observed, or, in the case of historical events, that was observed at the time.
* All events of history are to be understood only in the context of strict “cause and effect” relations of natural events. In other words this universe is a closed, natural system. There is no room for the action of God, or other non-natural causes.
By these standards of modern historical study we cannot “prove” the resurrection of Christ to be a historical fact because:
* No one can see now, nor did anyone see back then see, the resurrection of Christ.
* For such an event to occur there would have had to be action from God, and that is ruled out of the discussion from the start. One cannot “see” God therefore one cannot prove his action.
So by the standards of modern historical study the resurrection can never be proven to be fact. But, then, very little we know about the past could be proven to be fact by this standard.
2. Ladd notes that there is another approach to history altogether, an approach which gathers the data we have and arrives at the best probable explanation of the historical events. In actual fact most history is of this sort, especially when we are dealing with ancient history.
This is the approach of forensic investigators in the courts of law of modern societies. Often there is no eyewitness to an event, a murder or a theft for instance. But the gathering of data which points to a logical conclusion is accepted as "proof of the facts of the events".
By using this approach Ladd argues that the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the best explanation of the data we actually have.
Modernity would still argue at this point that the resurrection implies action of God and that is not admissible. But what if the assumptions of modernism are not correct? Modernism assumes there is no God, or if there is he has nothing to do with the world as it now is. Everything has to be explained by natural causes.
But what if there is a God and he does act in the affairs of men? What if miracles do actually occur. I personally have seen enough miracles, in answer to prayer, to know – as a fact, as far as I am concerned – that there is a God and he does act in the affairs of men.
The problem with modernism and its denial of God and the resurrection of Christ is not that the evidence is not there, rather the assumptions of modernism rule out miracles like resurrection as a possibility before they even start to discuss the facts and the interpretation of them. But we need to remember the assumptions of modernism are just that -–assumptions. There is no proof that those assumptions are true – in fact there is plenty of evidence that they are not.
CHRIST’S RESURRECTION – A FACT?
GOOD READING:
F. Morison: Who Moved the Stone?
George Eldon Ladd: I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus.
The resurrection is not something we can historically prove in the modern scientific sense. It is an event which we accept by faith and believe in. In spite of this we are not called to be intellectual martyrs. The fact that we cannot historically prove the resurrection does not mean that the belief is intellectually unsound, nor does it prove it did not happen. The available evidence demands that Christ rose from the dead, if we are prepared to examine the evidence as if it were in a court of law.
My understanding (I may be wrong) is that Morison was a non-Christian lawyer who set out to prove the resurrection of Christ to be a fallacy using the methods of forensic research and proof. However in his research he became convinced that the resurrection of Christ actually happened and so he became a Christian. His book remains one of the classic defenses of the resurrection of Christ. I highly recommend everyone to read it.
The whole Christian faith rests on the belief in Christ's resurrection. But did it, in fact, happen?
The Bible never sets out to prove it, it simply assumes it is true. However the fact of it is really irrefutable.
The Events.
These are the Historical facts as we know them. There are few historians that would disagree with these.
(1) Christ was crucified.
There is some debate as to whether this was the Wednesday, or the Friday, of Passover week. The year is uncertain. The fact of the event is not. No one has seriously suggested that the crucifixion never happened. We do know that it happened on "the day before the Sabbath" (John 19:31).
(a) John says this Sabbath was a "High Day", meaning it was not only a Sabbath but also it was a holy festival, i.e. Passover. Hence the crucifixion appears to have happened on Friday.
(b) The other gospels seem to indicate that it happened on a Wednesday, the reference to the Sabbath meaning simply that Thursday was a Holy Day, being a Festival.
The debate about this is technical and needn’t concern us now.
The Fact is Jesus was crucified on the day before the Passover. He died, on the Cross, at around 3.00p.m. – at the time the Priests were killing the lambs for the Passover celebration in the temple.
Matthew 27:45.
“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.”
Matthew 27:50.
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.”
That Jesus had died was confirmed by the Romans twice.
(i) By the Roman soldiers who were given the task of speeding up the death of the victims. Death by crucifixion could take several days but the Jews had their reasons for wanting the process to be completed earlier.
John 19:31-35.
“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.”
* The soldiers found Jesus already dead so did not break his legs; instead one threw a spear into Jesus side.
* John tells us that he saw this happen – this is an eyewitness account.
(ii) By the Roman Centurion overseeing the crucifixion.
Mark 15:43-45.
“Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.”
* The Centurion was a man of war and had seen many dead bodies – he knew Jesus was dead.
(2) Christ was Buried.
We read that his body was removed from the cross quickly so that it would not remain on the cross during the festival, and so pollute the land according to the Law of Moses (John 19:31-37).
Joseph and Nicodemus took the body and embalmed it, placing it in Joseph's own new tomb.
Mark 15:46.
"So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”
This clearly happened before 6.00.p.m. on the day of the Crucifixion, as the Sabbath started then, and they would not have been allowed to do such work on the Sabbath.
(3) Christ's body remained in the tomb throughout the Sabbath.
We know this because on the Saturday evening the Jewish leaders asked for the tomb to be sealed and a guard to be set to prevent the theft of the body.
Matthew 27:62-66.
“The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first." "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”
They would not do this without first checking to see if the body was still there, and they could not have done this until after the Sabbath was over, i.e. after 6.00.p.m. on Saturday. Opening the tomb would have constituted “work” and was forbidden on the Sabbath.
(4) On Sunday morning at dawn the tomb was found empty.
The body has disappeared, the guard has gone.
THE BIG QUESTION - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODY?
SUGGESTED POSSIBILITIES.
(1) He never died.
This has been suggested by some who have contended that he recovered in the tomb, somehow escaped and appeared to his disciples, then escaped to foreign lands, in particular India.
This suggestion fails to deal with the real issue. If he hadn't died he was still in a tomb sealed with a massive stone, under Roman guard. How could he get out from the inside? Where was he after that? No one could find him unless he wanted them to.
The evidence demands that he did, in fact, die.
(a) No one at the time ever questioned the fact of his death.
The issue always was, "Has he come back to life again?" The fact of his death was always assumed to be true, even by his opponents.
(b) The Centurion affirmed that he was dead.
This was a man who had seen many dead men, he would know!
(c) The Jews have never questioned it.
(d) Medically it is provable.
When a person dies, the blood often separates, the red cells gathering in the heart, the bulk of the clear liquid in the lungs.
John 19:34.
“Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”
This verse indicates that death was at an advanced stage when the spear struck him. The spear then passed through at least one lung and his heart, releasing both of the blood parts.
He had no medical attention after this.
The suggestion by some, that Jesus only "swooned" on the cross and later recovered in the tomb, demands more faith than believing that he died. It is ridiculous!
We must remember that he had holes in his hands and feet, his back had been torn apart by a whip, and a spear through his lung and heart. Even with the best of modern medical attention he could not have survived.
(2) Someone stole the body.
But who?
(a) The Disciples.
This was suggested by the Jewish leaders.
Matthew 28:11-15.
“When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”
The story is ridiculous on several fronts:
1. If the soldiers were asleep how would they know it was the disciples who came and stole the body away (if indeed it was stolen away)? All the soldiers could know, if they had been asleep, would be that when they awoke the body was gone. How it went, and whether or not it went with human help, is not something they could know. They were asleep!
2. Roman soldiers did not sleep while on duty. Because of the need of vigilance from rebels a sentry who fell asleep, if found by one of his fellow soldiers, would have a sword put through him - in case it happened again. They just would never wake up again. The lives of the whole company of soldiers depended on vigilance. One could not let a sleeper-on-duty risk everyone else’s life.
3. The Bible presents the disciples at this point in time as being absolutely shattered and demoralised. Ladd demonstrates convincingly that even though Jesus had tried to prepare them for his coming death and resurrection they simply could not “hear” what Jesus said. They had predetermined ideas that stopped them understanding. As a result they were not expecting the cross let alone a resurrection.
4. Imagine that group of scared, demoralised men hiding in a room, who in no way even believed Jesus was going to die, let alone rise from the dead. Could they steal the body and perpetuate such a fraud? If they did so, then they all died as martyrs for a cause they knew to be false, yet the accounts of them do not give the indication that they were mentally unstable.
(b) The Soldiers.
Why would they? They would have been executed if caught doing so, and for no motive.
(c) The Jewish Leaders.
If they had done so they would have produced it at the time that the disciples claimed he had risen. They did not, proving they didn't know where it was.
(d) Grave Robbers.
Why? And why risk death at the hands of a Roman guard for a (criminal's) body which was worthless? Why leave behind all of the valuable spices he was embalmed in? Why go to all the trouble to unwrap the body then rewrap the grave clothes to look as if the body had just "passed through"?
(3) It rotted away.
Overnight?
Wrapped in preservatives?
(4) Christ rose again from the dead by the power of God.
This remains the only other possibility. No man could have moved the body; it must have moved itself. All other explanations are exhausted.
PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION.
(1) Witnesses saw Christ alive after the crucifixion.
1 Corinthians 15:4-9.
“…that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
On top of this there are several other recorded resurrection appearances of Christ.
The Women, particularly Mary Magdalene.
Matthew 28:8ff.
“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Mark 16:9-11.
“When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”
The Disciples.
Matthew 28:16,17.
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”
The Two on the road to Emmaus.
Mark 16:12,13.
“Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.”
The Eleven.
Mark 16:14.
“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”
John 21:1.
“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way:…”
QUESTION: - What do we make of the resurrection appearances?
(a) Were they Hallucinations?
No! The disciples were in the wrong frame of mind psychologically for "seeing things". They had no expectation of such an event. Moreover 500 people at one time saw him. Such a mass hypnosis could not occur. We must remember that most of the people Paul was writing about were still alive when he wrote. You could still check up on their stories.
(b) Were they only a spiritual appearance, a vision.
No. Again they were in the wrong frame of mind for this. But consider, this appearance ate and drank, they touched it, it breaks bread.
(c) There must have been a real physical appearance of Christ to produce in the disciples the change of character we see in the Bible.
(d) Paul argues that his own experience of seeing Christ was a real appearance. It was not just a vision.
(2) The Shape of the Grave Clothes.
John 20:6,7.
“Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.”
The description here indicates that they had fallen flat as if the body inside them had simply disappeared, c/f Jesus entering the room after his resurrection (John 20:19).
It could be that the Turin Shroud is the cloth in question. There is plenty of evidence to suggest it is, and the so-called "scientific tests" done on it recently are themselves suspect. If it is not the cloth, then the Turin shroud is in itself a great mystery that defies any rational explanation.
(3) The Physical Appearance of Christ After his Crucifixion.
His activities on the day of the resurrection bore no relationship to a man who had just suffered such physical torture and destruction. He had been whipped, beaten, nailed to a cross, speared in the heart and lung with a spear yet:
(a) He apparently "walked" a 14 mile journey to Emmaus and back.
(b) He gave to those who saw him the appearance of absolute health and strength, as if he had indeed overcome death and destruction.
(4) Our Experience of Salvation.
When we put our faith in Christ our own personal experience of his power proves that the event actually happened.
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