Read Mark 16:1-8
Jesus rose
bodily from the grave.
It is
necessary to say bodily, because there are inventive storytellers in the world.
There are
those who say that Jesus never died.
The
theories, explanations and denials are too numerous to list. Some say the disciples stole the body. Some say that Jesus fainted. Some say that Jesus is a mythical figure that
never really existed.
There have
been recent claims that the tomb of Jesus has been discovered and that He
stayed dead.
The very
morning He rose from the dead the resurrection was attacked. The soldiers came back to Jerusalem with the
report of the resurrection and immediately the Jewish leaders invented a story
and paid the soldiers to tell everyone that the disciples had stolen the body.
Muslims
dispute the fact of Jesus's crucifixion, arguing that Allah would never have
dishonored His prophet by allowing Him to undergo such a death. Muslims believe
that Jesus was miraculously caught up into heaven and that someone (perhaps
Judas Iscariot) surreptitiously took His place on the cross.[i]
It is not
surprising that there is such a concentrated attack on the resurrection. It is the single most significant event of
history.
I am not
going to try to give all the historical proofs and evidence for the
resurrection in the short time we have together. Rather, I am going to point out some relevant
facts that can help us in our lives. Lee
Strobel recently wrote a book titled, The
Case for the Real Jesus, where he brilliantly lays out many convincing
arguments and evidences for the historical facts surrounding the life of Jesus.
What is
significant for you and me today is that Jesus rose bodily from the grave.
Notice, I said, “Bodily.” This is
an important point. To deny that Jesus
rose bodily from the grave is to deny the resurrection. The body is not evil. However, the body also must be redeemed. It has been corrupted or damaged by sin. The consequences of sin are far reaching.
What God created perfect is now subject to pain, suffering, disease and
death. The body also has to be freed
from the effects of sin.
Notice that
I say, “the body also.” The soul is
separate from the body and is also subject to death because of sin. A resurrected body is no good to a condemned
soul. The resurrection is the proof that
God accepted Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf.
The bodily
resurrection also shows us that Jesus was completely human.
One might
think that it would not be necessary to say this. However, we tend to forget just what it means
that Jesus was human.
Hebrews 5:8
speaks of Jesus learning obedience from the things that He suffered. Isaiah 53 speaks of Him growing up before
Him. Jesus was not born with the ability
to speak. He was not preaching after 3
days on Earth, nor was He doing advanced calculus within the first weeks of His
birth.
We cannot
comprehend how Jesus could be fully God and fully man, but this is the truth
that we learn from Scripture.
The women
were bringing burial spices to the tomb to anoint a dead body. The spices would have been used to cover up
the smell of a corpse. While the
Psalmist said that God would not allow His chosen one to undergo decay, these
women were not thinking in these terms.
They were thinking “dead body.”
This serves
to point out the fact that Jesus was very human and that His death was very
real.
Hebrews
4:15 teaches us one of the meanings of this fact. “For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.” (NIV)
We worship
Jesus. He is our Savior and our
God. Yet, during His time on earth His
stomach would have gurgled when it was empty. In John 4, John tells us that
Jesus was tired from the journey as He sat by the well. The gospel writers tell us that Jesus was
asleep in the back of the boat, apparently tired from a long day of teaching.
It is
essential to our faith that we understand that Jesus was a historical
person. That He had a body with needs,
appetites and desires like you and me.
This is
important for us to be able to understand how He can both identify with us and
intercede for us. This is what Hebrews
4:15 points out. He understands.
However, the
bodily resurrection is also important to us for our understanding of our hope.
1
Corinthians 15:22-23 says, “22Just as everyone dies because we all
belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23But there is an order to this
resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who
belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
We who are
believers live in hope of the resurrection of the dead. We speak of heaven quite frequently. The stories of people who have apparently
died and come back to life are fascinating and spark our imagination for what
life will be like after death. However,
this is not the end of the story. 1
Corinthians 15 goes on to tell us:
51But let me
reveal to you a wonderful secret. We
will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52It will happen in a moment, in
the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have
died will be raised to live forever. And
we who are living will also be transformed.
53For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that
will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54Then, when
our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this
Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55O death,
where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
This is
it! Victory over death!
Jesus is
still fully God and fully man.
We will
have a body like His resurrection body.
He is the first to be raised, and we will all be raised with Him. Please do not misunderstand. We will not become God like Him. We will have a resurrection body like His.
This is the
great hope of the believer and we must not lose sight of it. One reason we must not lose sight of this hope
is given in 1 John 3:3, “All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just
as He is pure.” (NIV) Our joyful hope in the resurrection is a
purifying influence in our lives. It
gives us perspective. It helps us to see
and choose what is truly good, rather than having vision limited only to what
our physical eyes can see.
Jesus was
completely human and we see it gives us hope that He can identify with our
weakness. It also promises us the great
and final victory over death.
I want us
to notice one more thing. It has to do
with His bodily resurrection and His humanity.
It is His consideration of His friends.
Jesus had
just won a tremendous battle. He had
sweat drops of blood. He had cried out,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”
Now He was on the other side of that battle.
The women
came to the tomb. Mark tells us they
entered the tomb and were shocked to see a young man clothed in a white robe
sitting on the right side. Mark also
tells us this is an angel, a messenger of God.
There are so many miraculous details: the stone rolled away, the empty
tomb and the announcement that Jesus had risen.
Mark tells us that the women left so terrified that they did not speak
about it.
In all this
victory and all this joy, Peter’s name comes up. The angel said, “Now go and tell his
disciples including Peter . . .”
Peter had
failed Jesus. When Jesus was going
through the worst part of the battle, Peter had denied he even knew Jesus.
We can see ourselves
like Peter. Easter and the resurrection
are exciting for the rest of the world, but Jesus cannot love me. I have done something that I cannot forgive
myself for; why would Jesus forgive me?
One of
Jesus’s first concerns upon His resurrection was Peter.
Jesus told
a story about a shepherd who at the end of the day was missing one sheep. That shepherd left ninety-nine sheep alone in
their pen to go and search for the one missing sheep.
At the
resurrection, He showed what this meant.
His first order of business was to check on His friend. Can’t you see He does the same for you?
Whatever
your failure, put your name in here:
Go tell my disciples and
____________.
He is just
that human.
He is just
that Divine.