The Meaning of the Resurrection

He’s baaacck! And better than ever!

Today we celebrate the fact that Jesus returned from the dead. A couple of nights ago, we struggled with the fact that Jesus was killed. We tried to imagine what life would be like without Jesus in it. Doing that was enough to bring most people to sadness and mourning.

However, today, we celebrate because the mourning is over, the sadness is done. A new era has dawned, an era of knowing what the future holds and not just wondering about it. Jesus, who had been killed, is back! This is the celebration of the Resurrection!

As we discuss the Resurrection today, let’s recognize three things that Jesus’ resurrection must mean:

1 – that he is not dead, but alive
2 – that everything he said prior to his death can be viewed as fact
3 – that we can have an idea of what is in store for us in the future Resurrection

Luke 24:1-35

Here we read two facts: the first is that they cannot find the body. The second is that Jesus is no longer dead!

The women go to the tomb to perform the rituals of burial that are done to all dead bodies. But when they get there, instead of having a dead body beginning to smell, they find nothing. Nothing but two spiritual beings telling them that Jesus is not there anymore but that he is risen, just like he said was going to happen. The women run back to tell the disciples but the disciples aren’t exactly saying, “I told you so…” In fact, they don’t believe the women. Peter gets up and out and runs down to the tomb and does not find the body there either.

Remember, Peter had just denied Jesus three times and was not just mourning the death of his friend and Lord, but regretting that the last time he saw Jesus. He was rebuked several times for not being able to stay awake and for striking the high priest’s servant on the ear with his sword. Probably most of all, he was remembering that Jesus said he would deny him three times, but Peter vehemently disagreed that he would ever do such a thing and then he did. How Peter must have agonized that Jesus was now dead and that he had died on such bad terms with him. What Peter wouldn’t have given to do those last few hours over again! The regret was going to affect him for the rest of his life. So he runs over to the tomb to see what is going on. He also finds no body.

Then the next description Luke gives us is that of two disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. On their trip, they run across a man, who they later find out is Jesus. They are amazed that there is someone who doesn’t know what just happened in Jerusalem. They tell Jesus of the events that have happened, including the women coming back to tell them that they cannot find the body. Jesus responds by telling them of all the prophecies in the Jewish scriptures that told the Christ would have to die to enter into his glory.

The death of Christ had occurred. And now the glory of Christ can be entered into. The glory of Christ is the Resurrection! How could he be resurrected without first dying? As the angels had said to the women, “he is alive”. The empty tomb is interesting, but it is only part of the story. The important part is, why is the tomb empty? And the answer to that question is because Jesus is alive.

And since Jesus was resurrected, we know he is alive today! If he was resurrected back to a regular life, the old life, that would have been different – there have been several people who have been resurrected from the dead – including Lazarus. But this was not a return to the old life, but a transition to a new kind of life – an eternal life. Since Jesus was resurrected in his body - a changed, different body - there is no indication that he died again. If he didn’t die again, then he is still alive.

The resurrection of Jesus also provides us with another interesting thought. If Jesus was right about his death and resurrection, then it would seem awfully credible that he were right about other things as well.

It’s funny how we like to take Jesus’ words and put them into two categories – the things Jesus says that we agree with and the things he says that we disagree with. So things like “Love your neighbor as yourself” and “Give your money to the poor” and “whatever you did for the least of these, you did also to me,” we have no problem with. But things like “I am the Truth, the Way and the Life and no one come to the Father except through me” and “Whoever lusts after another has committed adultery” and “Father, Glorify me with the glory which I had with You before the world was,” we decide we don’t need to pay attention to. Too bad we can’t have it both ways – either Jesus was right when he said things or he was wrong. The fact that he was right about something as uncontrollable and unpredictable as his death and resurrection implies that Jesus had an in; he had inside information that we don’t have and can’t get. Luckily for us, Jesus told us what we needed to know.

So what are some other things that Jesus wanted us to know, specifically about this life and the next and how resurrection fits into all of this? John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Well do you? It was important to Jesus to share this information with us and being that he seemed to have a clue about how to handle the whole death thing, it would probably make sense to listen to what he said. So in this case, Jesus is telling us that we need to believe in him to have eternal life. What does he mean by “believe in him”? We have to believe that he is who he said he is – the Son of God, the only way to the Father and the Word through whom all things were created, with the Father from the beginning before time.

What else does he say about the next life? Luke 14:13-14 "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." We will be repaid at the resurrection for the things we did here on earth for those who were unable to repay us now. The implications are two-fold. First, there is a resurrection and we will continue to live after we die in our renewed and resurrected bodies. Second, that we will be repaid in that life for things we did in this life. I know some Christians have a hard time with the concept of rewards in heaven, but Jesus said that this is how it goes. Our rewards are stored up in heaven and we should set our minds on things above and not on earthly things. We will be so amazed at what Heaven is like, both now and the eternal heaven, that we will be glad enough that we are there. Agreed. If our God wanted only to give us eternal life, He would be a Good, Gracious and Loving God. But our God wants to give us more than that, He wants to give us blessings and rewards, which is why He is a Great, more than Gracious and love-overflowing God.

In John 14:1-3 Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Jesus tells us that there is a place we will go, that he will go to first to prepare for us and then that he will come back to take us there. This is a picture of life after this life. There is a place that we will go and that it will be a place in the Father’s house. The implication is that we will live with the Father at that time. We see this as a sign of the rapture, Jesus returning to take us with him.

Lastly, Matt 22:30-32 says “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." Here Jesus tells us a little fact about the coming life we will live, namely that there will not be marriages. More to his point, he tells us that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. In other words, right now, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and since He is the God of the living and not the dead, the implication is that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are all alive right now – though not in their resurrected bodies yet, since the resurrection of the dead has not yet occurred.

All that said, one of the most interesting things we learn from the resurrection of Jesus is that we get a hint of what it will be like for us in that resurrection. We see that Jesus obviously has, not only a real body, but the same body that he had his whole life. John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." The resurrected body of Jesus still had the nail holes in the hands and the spear hole in his side. It is also a real body – Thomas wouldn’t have been able to place his fingers in the holes of a non-physical body. So it’s the same, physical body that Jesus had before his resurrection.

It’s the same, but different. Jesus was always able to perform miracles: walking on water, healing people, multiplying fish and bread and turning water into wine are all examples of how Jesus was able to manipulate the physical world before his death. But we never saw him do some of the things we see him do after the resurrection: Disappear right before the eyes of the men in Emmaus, appear out of nowhere in the upper room (John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"). John 21:1 says that “Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias”

Then, in addition to the things Jesus can do with his resurrected body, we also see that everyone knows he is Jesus, but it takes them time to recognize him. Mary Magdalene at the tomb is the first to see Jesus, but she mistakes him to be the gardener (John 20:14-15), the men on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognize him (Mark 16:12) until he broke the bread and blessed it, the disciples fishing on the boat do not recognize him at first (John 21:4). So even though they knew he was Jesus, they didn’t recognize him immediately. This should lead us to recognize that although his body was the same body, it was also a different body.

1 Corinthians 15:35, 42-44, 50-54 God teaches us the mystery through the example of Jesus. We see all the things that Paul writes about regarding the mystery of the resurrection and we see that Jesus has gone through these things already. Revelation 1:5 “Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. Again, there were others who had been brought back to life before Jesus, but Jesus is the first one to have his resurrected body. Jesus is an example for us and gives us an understanding and a hope for the future.

However, this hope is only for those who believe what he said before he died. The promise is only to those people who believe in Jesus and turn their lives over to him and follow him and carry their cross. It is only for those who recognize that Jesus is Lord and the God raised him from the dead. It is only for those who trust only in Jesus to bring them to this point because they recognize that they cannot do it themselves. It is only for those who accept that Jesus is the only way to the Father and that no one can go there except through him.

Today, for those of us who do believe, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus the Christ, let us not only remember that he is alive but that he had taught us much about the coming resurrection and has given us an example by his own resurrection. This truly is cause for celebration!

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Last modified: April 16, 2006