Author Archives: Gary Davenport

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The truth never loses its power. People, however, often lose their grip on truth. The struggles in the Corinthian church made it clear to Paul that they needed to refocus their attention on the gospel. He brought his letter to a close with a vigorous proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were wandering; Paul called them back to the center. Like the Corinthians, we can’t afford to stray from Christ. Every claim about Christianity has roots in his resurrection. What we believe about this life and the afterlife depends on what Jesus did with death. God’s Word calls us back to the center

In this final section of the letter, Paul gave a masterly defense of the resurrection of Christ and its importance to the Christian faith. The gospel message that he had preached to them, that they had received, on which they had taken their stand was the message that had saved them. Paul wanted to remind them of that gospel, because apparently some (probably false teachers) had been distorting it. In fact, some of the Corinthians had come to believe that there would be no resurrection of the dead (15:12). Not only was the church in Corinth having problems with unity (as Paul tried to clear up in the previous chapters), it was also dealing with basic problems of theology. This, too, would tear apart the church. As an apostle who had himself seen the risen Christ (15:8), Paul took these Corinthian believers back to the basics of the message that they had welcomed and received. Because acceptance of that gospel had saved them, they should hold firmly to it.

To do otherwise would mean that they had believed in vain. If they could be so easily swayed to other messages, tangents, and untruths, then perhaps what they claimed as belief was not belief at all. If the faith they thought they had could not assure them of salvation, then that faith was worthless.

The Gospels do not explain the Resurrection; the Resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the Resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith. John S. Whale

Paul’s devotion to the Word of God and to the good news of the gospel causes him to be as alert and vigilant as an anti-virus program. There is one “file” (so to speak) which is always searched out by the virus of false teaching, and that is the “gospel” file. Every action, every teaching, is scrutinized by Paul to make sure it does not seek to modify or set aside the “gospel file.” Thus, when certain teachers insist that Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to keep the Law of Moses, they find immediate opposition from Paul, who would not allow men to corrupt the “gospel file” (see Acts 15:1-1). When some insist that Titus be circumcised, Paul will not allow it, for the sake of the gospel (Galatians 2:1-5; see 5:3). And when Peter stops sitting at the Gentile table and begins to sit with the Jews, Paul publicly rebukes him (and those who followed him) for his (their) hypocrisy, because his actions imply that Jewish Christians are better than Gentile Christians—and this Paul recognized as a corruption of the gospel (Galatians 2:11-21).

It should come as no surprise then that before Paul takes on the error of the denial of the resurrection of the dead, Paul first lays a foundation for his argument by reiterating the gospel. Whatever practice or teaching Paul might encounter, he always judges it by the gospel he and the apostles preach. That gospel must never be corrupted or altered in any way. Several characteristics of the gospel are emphasized in verses 1-11, which we can summarize.

(1) The gospel is not a message devised by the minds of men, but a revelation from God, received by the apostles and delivered to men by them (see 15:1, 3, 11).

(2) The gospel is the only message by which men are saved and by which they stand (15:1-2).

(3) The gospel is “good news” concerning the grace of God, which informs men concerning the only way they, as undeserving sinners, may experience the forgiveness of their sins (15:3, 9-10).

(4) The gospel is the message which is based solely upon the person and work of Jesus Christ, the One who died for our sins on the cross of Calvary, who was buried, and who was literally and bodily raised from the dead on the third day (15:3-4).

(5) The sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ are events which were prophesied in the Old Testament, foretold in the Gospels by our Lord, and then fulfilled by Him as God’s promised Messiah.

(6) The gospel is the message which is of the highest magnitude of importance (15:3).

(7) The gospel saves and keeps only those who receive it and hold fast to it by faith (15:1-2).

(8) The gospel is false and our faith is vain if any element of it is proven to be false (15:2; 12ff.).

(9) The gospel is established on the literal, bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, as witnessed by more than 500 people.

When Jesus spoke of His sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary, He always spoke of His resurrection as well. The enemies of our Lord knew this, and from the day of His resurrection attempted to pass it off as a deception perpetrated by His followers (Matthew 27:62-66; 28:11-15). Paul wants his readers to remember that the resurrection is based upon the most irrefutable evidence possible—the eyewitness testimony of over 500 people on various occasions and over a period of time.

Paul does not appeal to circumstantial evidence to prove the resurrection of Christ from the dead but rather to the testimony of more than 500 eyewitnesses, most of whom are still alive at the time he writes this Epistle to the Corinthians. Few facts in history have been so well attested. The Corinthians should be reminded of the firm basis which the resurrection of our Lord has in history. Luke, the great historian, sums it up in these words: “To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

The resurrection is a matter of great import to the apostle Paul. Few men can claim to have been more impacted by the resurrection of our Lord than Paul. First, the resurrection of our Lord was the means by which Paul was converted from an enemy of Christ to a true believer. Three times in the Book of Acts (chapters 9, 22, and 26) Paul’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus is reported. This appearance of the risen and glorified Christ blinded Paul, stopping him in his tracks, and led to his conversion. No wonder Paul saw the resurrection of our Lord as such a significant event. It turned Paul’s life upside-down.

The resurrection was important to Paul in yet another way—the resurrection appearance of our Lord to Paul on the road to Damascus was the means by which Paul was qualified to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. You will recall that Judas, the disciple who betrayed our Lord, killed himself, leaving a vacancy among the apostles (see Matthew 19:28; Acts 1:15-26). The disciples chose not to wait for “what the Father had promised” (Acts 1:4) and went ahead to select two men who seemed qualified as candidates to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:12-26). It is my opinion that it was not Matthias whom God had appointed to this position, but Paul. I believe Paul’s words in our text (15:7-11) indicate that he was appointed as the replacement for Judas.

Who would have ever imagined such a thing? The apostles were those whose task it was to be witnesses of our Lord’s resurrection (Acts 1:22; 2:32). How could Paul (or anyone else who had not been with the eleven disciples) possibly qualify? What seemed humanly impossible was possible with God. He arranged a private resurrection appearance for Paul. It was as a result of our Lord’s post-resurrection appearance to Paul on the road to Damascus that Paul was qualified to be an apostle.

Just how important was the resurrection of our Lord to Paul? It was not only the basis for his salvation and apostleship, it was a constant theme in his preaching (Acts 17:30-31; 24:15, 25). It was the reason for Paul’s imprisonment and trial before Caesar (Acts 23:6; 24:21; 26:6-8; 28:20). No wonder Paul is so emphatic about the resurrection of our Lord and about the error of those who say there is no resurrection of the dead. The gospel is the starting point and standard for all Christian teaching and practice. Paul takes us back to our origins to reinforce the vital role which the resurrection of our Lord plays in our salvation and Christian life.

Paul is recapitulating the good news which he first brought to the Corinthians. It was not news which he had invented but news which had first been delivered to him, and it was news of a Risen Lord.

In verses 1 and 2 Paul says an extremely interesting series of things about the good news.

(i) It was something which the Corinthians had received. No man ever invented the gospel for himself; in a sense no man ever discovers it for himself. It is something which he receives. Therein indeed is the very function of the Church. The Church is the repository and the transmitter of the good news. As one of the old fathers had it, “No man can have God for his Father, unless he has the Church for his mother.” The good news is something that is received within a fellowship.

(ii) It was something in which the Corinthians stood. The very first function of the good news was to give a man stability. In a slippery world it kept him on his feet. In a tempting world it gave him resistance power. In a hurting world it enabled him to endure a broken heart or an agonized body and not to give in. Moffatt finely translates Job 4:4, “Your words have kept men on their feet.” That is precisely what the gospel does.

(iii) It was something in which they were being saved. It is interesting to note that in the Greek this is a present tense, and not past. It would be strictly correct to translate it not, “in which you have been saved,” but, “in which you are being saved.” Salvation goes from glory to glory. It is not something which is ever completed in this world. There are many things in this life which we can exhaust, but the meaning of salvation is something which a man can never exhaust.

(iv) It was something to which a man had to hold tenaciously. Life makes many an attempt to take away our faith. Things happen to us and to others which baffle our understanding; life has its problems to which there seems no solution and its questions to which there seems no answer; life has its dark places where there seems to be nothing to do but hold on. Faith is always a victory, the victory of the soul which tenaciously maintains its clutch on God.

(v) It was something which must not be held haphazardly and at random. The faith which collapses is the faith which has not thought things out and thought them through. For so many of us faith is a superficial thing. We tend to accept things because we are told them and to possess them merely at secondhand. If we undergo the agony of thought there may be much that we must discard, but what is left is really ours in such a way that nothing can ever take it from us.

15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.^NIV Paul had received the gospel message from Christ himself, as had all the other apostles; then he passed on to all his listeners that same message. These words indicate the careful and literal way that Christian teachers passed on tradition from one generation to the next.

The central theme of the gospel is given here. It is the key text for the defense of Christianity. The three points that are of first importance are as follows:

1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Without the truth of this message, Christ’s death was worthless, and those who believe in him are still in their sins and without hope. However, Christ as the sinless Son of God took the punishment of sin, “dying for sin” so that those who believe can have their sins removed. The phrase “according to the Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament prophecies regarding this event, such as Psalm 16:8-11 and Isaiah 53:5-6. Christ’s death on the cross was no accident, no afterthought. It had been part of God’s plan from all eternity in order to bring about the salvation of all who believe.

Paul restated the gospel because there were unbelievers in the Corinthian church. Most churches contain people who do not yet believe. Some are moving in the direction of belief, and others are simply pretending. Impostors, however, are not to be removed (see Matthew 13:28-29), for that is the Lord’s work alone. The Good News about Jesus Christ will save us if we firmly believe it and faithfully follow it. The preaching of the gospel, then, accomplishes two purposes: (1) The message offers salvation to those who have not yet responded; and (2) the message challenges believers to remain faithful.

Pray for the communicators in your church. Perhaps you are one yourself. Remember that every believer is a living sermon. Pray that the gospel will be heard and understood clearly in your fellowship.

2. He was buried. The fact of Christ’s death is revealed in the fact of his burial. Many have tried to discount the actual death of Christ, from the false teachers of Paul’s day to false teachers today. But Jesus Christ did die on the cross and was buried in a tomb. (For more information on the facts of Jesus’ death, see the Life Application Commentary Mark, in Mark 16:9, the chart called “Evidence That Jesus Actually Died and Arose”)
3. He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Christ “was raised” permanently, forever; his Father raised him from the dead. He came back to life from being a dead person in a grave “on the third day” as noted in the Gospels (Friday afternoon to Sunday morning—three days in Jewish reckoning of time). This also occurred “according to the Scriptures.” Jesus had quoted the prophet Jonah: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40 niv; see also Jonah 1:17) to show the connection to “three days” as prophesied in the Old Testament. Psalm 16:8-11 and Psalm 110 also foretell the resurrection of the Messiah.

15:5 He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles.^NLT Jesus made several appearances to various people after his resurrection, some of which Paul included here. He first mentioned the appearance to Peter, noted in Luke 24:34 (see also Mark 16:7). Peter had denied his Lord and then had wept bitterly (Mark 14:72). Jesus forgave Peter and still considered him to be one of his disciples. Jesus had great responsibilities for Peter to fulfill in the church that had not yet been born.

Jesus had also been seen by the twelve apostles. The expression “twelve apostles” was a title for the original disciples—sometimes they are called “the Twelve.” But this title doesn’t always signify that twelve apostles were present. By the time of the Resurrection, Judas Iscariot and another apostle, Thomas, were not present at Christ’s first appearance. These appearances are recorded in Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-31.

There will always be people who say that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. Those who seek to deny the Resurrection are neither courageous nor novel in their thinking. They have nothing but hopelessness and despair to offer those who believe them. Their efforts simply highlight the importance of Christ’s victory.

Paul wrote that many people saw Jesus after his resurrection: Peter; the disciples (the Twelve); more than five hundred Christian believers (most of whom were still alive when Paul wrote this, although some had died); James (Jesus’ brother); all the apostles; and, finally, Paul himself. The Resurrection is an historical fact. Don’t be discouraged by doubters who deny the Resurrection. Be filled with hope because of the knowledge that one day you, and they, will see the living proof when Christ returns.

15:6 After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now.^NLT This event is recorded nowhere else. It most likely occurred in Galilee, and the sheer number of eyewitnesses, more than five hundred, should cause doubters to stop and think before dismissing the Resurrection accounts of a few followers. All these people saw him at one time, and at the time of Paul’s writing, most of them were still alive. Paul could appeal to their testimony to back up his own.

JESUS’ APPEARANCES AFTER HIS RESURRECTION

Jesus appeared to

1. Mary Magdalene	Mark 16:9-11; John 20:10-18
2. The other women at the tomb	Matthew 28:8-10
3. Peter in Jerusalem	Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5
4. The two travelers on the road	Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-35
5. Ten disciples behind closed doors	Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25
6. All eleven disciples (including Thomas)	Mark 16:14; John 20:26-31; 1 Corinthians 15:5
7. Seven disciples while fishing on the Sea of Galilee	John 21:1-14
8. Eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee	Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18
9. A crowd of 500	1 Corinthians 15:6
10. Jesus’ brother James	1 Corinthians 15:7
11. Those who watched Jesus ascend into heaven	Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:3-9

15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.^NRSV This James is Jesus’ brother (actually, half brother), who at first did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah (John 7:5). After seeing the resurrected Christ, he became a believer (as did Jesus’ other brothers, Acts 1:14). James ultimately became a leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13). He also wrote the New Testament book of James. (For more information on James, see the Introduction to the Life Application Commentary James.) This next mention of all the apostles must describe an event separate from that recorded in 15:5, as well as designating the James mentioned here from the two apostles of that name.

In Paul’s list of appearances of the Risen Lord two are specially interesting.

(i) There is the appearance to Peter. In the earliest account of the Resurrection story, the word of the messenger in the empty tomb is, “Go, tell his disciples and Peter.” (Mark 16:7). In Luke 24:34 the disciples say, “The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.” It is an amazing thing that one of the first appearances of the Risen Lord was to the disciple who had denied him. There is all the wonder of the love and grace of Jesus Christ here. Others might have hated Peter forever, but the one desire of Jesus was to set this erratic disciple of his upon his feet. Peter had wronged Jesus and then had wept his heart out; and the one desire of this amazing Jesus was to comfort him in the pain of his disloyalty. Love can go no further than to think more of the heartbreak of the man who wronged it than of the hurt that it itself has received.

(ii) There is the appearance to James. Without doubt this James is the brother of our Lord. It is quite clear from the gospel narrative that Jesus’s own family did not understand him and were even actively hostile to him. Mark 3:21 tells us that they actually sought to restrain him because they believed him to be mad. John 7:5 tells us that his brothers did not believe in him. One of the earliest of those gospels which did not succeed in getting into the New Testament is the Gospel according to the Hebrews. Only fragments of it remain. One fragment, preserved by Jerome, reads, “Now the Lord, when he had given the linen cloth unto the servant of the priest, went unto James and appeared unto him (for James had sworn that he would not eat bread from that hour wherein he had drunk the Lord’s cup until he should see him risen again from among them that sleep).” So, the story runs, “Jesus went to James and said, ‘Bring ye a table and bread.’ And he took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it unto James the Just and said unto him, ‘My brother, eat thy bread, for the Son of Man is risen from among them that sleep.’” We can only conjecture what lies behind this. It may well be that the last days turned James’s contempt into wondering admiration so that when the end came, he was so torn with remorse for the way in which he had treated his brother that he swore that he would starve unless he came back to forgive him. Here once again we have the amazing grace and love of Christ. He came to bring peace to the troubled soul of the man who had called him mad and who had been his opponent.

It is one of the most heart-moving things in all the story of Jesus that two of his first appearances, after he rose from the tomb, were to men who had hurt him and were sorry for it. Jesus meets the penitent heart far more than halfway.^[1]

15:8 Last of all, I saw him, too, long after the others, as though I had been born at the wrong time.^NLT One of the credentials to be an apostle was to have been an eyewitness of Jesus Christ. Paul could call himself an apostle (1:1) because he had seen Jesus last of all . . . long after the others. This event is recorded in Acts 9:3-6. The phrase “as though I had been born at the wrong time” (literally, “miscarriage”) means that Paul’s opportunity to see Jesus Christ was a special case. The other apostles saw Christ before the Resurrection; they lived and traveled with him for nearly three years. Paul was not one of the original twelve apostles, yet Christ appeared to him.

15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.^NIV As a zealous Pharisee, Paul had been an enemy of the Christian church—even to the point of capturing and persecuting believers (see Acts 9:1-3). Here Paul reminded the Corinthian believers of the magnificent grace of God in drawing sinners out of sin and into his kingdom. By calling himself the least of the apostles, Paul was not putting himself down (see 2 Corinthians 11:5; Galatians 2:11). Instead, he realized that although all of the apostles had been drawn from sin, Paul had actively persecuted the church of God. He fully realized the depth of the error and sin from which he had been saved, so much so that he knew he did not even deserve to be called an apostle. Only God’s grace had handed him such a privilege and responsibility.

APOSTOLIC ATTITUDE

Paul felt unworthy to be called an apostle of Christ. Though undoubtedly the most influential of the apostles, Paul was deeply humble. He knew that he had worked hard and accomplished much, but only because God had poured kindness and grace upon him. True humility is not convincing yourself that you are worthless but recognizing God’s work in you. Take God’s perspective on who you are and acknowledge his grace in developing your abilities.

15:10-11 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.^NIV Neither Paul nor any of the apostles could take credit for achieving the position of apostle. They had all been called to that position by the grace of God. Only by God’s “grace”—his undeserved favor poured out on sinners—was Paul saved and enabled to serve. And Paul certainly did so! He wrote of having worked harder than all of the other apostles. This was not an arrogant boast because he knew that his hard work was a result of the grace of God that was with him. Because of his previous position as a Pharisee (Acts 23:6; Philippians 3:5) and his previous occupation of persecuting Christians, Paul’s conversion made him the object of even greater persecution than the other apostles; thus he had to work harder to preach the same message. He wrote to Timothy, “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16 nrsv).

Whether, then, it was I or they who brought the gospel message, they all brought the same message as noted in 15:3-4. This is what we preach, explained Paul, and the apostles never strayed from that message. This is what you believed, he reminded them, so they must not stray from the message that had brought them salvation.

Finally, in this passage we have a vivid light thrown on the character of Paul himself. To him it was the most precious thing in the world that Jesus had appeared also to him. That was at one and the same time the turning point and the dynamic moment of his life. But verses 9–11 tell us much about him.

(i) They tell us of his utter humility. He is the least of the apostles; he has been glorified with an office for which he is not worthy. Paul would never have claimed to be a selfmade man. It was by the grace of God that he was what he was. He is perhaps even accepting a taunt made against him. It would seem that he was a little and an unhandsome man (2 Corinthians 10:10). It may be that the Jewish Christians who wished to impose the law upon Christian converts and who hated his doctrine of free grace, declared that, so far from being born again, Paul was an abortion. He, for his part, was so conscious of his own unworthiness that he felt no one could say anything too bad about him. Charles Gore once said, “On a general review of life we can seldom feel that we are suffering unmerited wrong.” Paul felt like that. His was not the pride which resented the criticism and the taunts of men, but the humility which felt that it deserved them.

(ii) They tell us at the same time of the consciousness of his own worth. He was well aware that he had laboured beyond them all. His was not a false modesty. But even at that, he spoke always, not of what he had done, but of what God had enabled him to do.

(iii) They tell of his sense of fellowship. He did not regard himself as an isolated phenomenon with a message that was unique. He and the other apostles preached the same gospel. His was the greatness which bound him closer to the Christian fellowship; there is always something lacking in the greatness which divides a man from his fellows.^[2]

^[1] William Barclay, ed., The Letters to the Corinthians, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1975), 143–145.

Introduction

The gospel of Jesus Christ has as its central theme and message the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and the resulting hope of resurrection and eternal life for every Christian. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul deals with the subject of death and the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. In so doing, Paul gives one of the clearest, most concise definitions of the “gospel” found anywhere in the Bible. He shows how a denial of the resurrection of the dead is a denial of the gospel itself, and how believing in the gospel gives one hope for the next world as well as for the present.

The Problem at Corinth

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

Verse 12 discloses the problem which prompts Paul to write this chapter: some of the Corinthian saints are saying there is no “resurrection of the dead.”[1] Denying the resurrection of the dead is seen in several different forms in the New Testament. The Greek pagans denied the resurrection of the dead, as we can see from the Book of Acts. In his sermon to those in the market place of Athens, Paul preached these words:

30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this” (Acts 17:30-32).

The Greeks may have believed in the immortality of men, as spirits, but they did not seem responsive to the teaching that God raises the dead so that they may stand in judgment before God.

The Jewish Sadducees did not embrace the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead either:

6 But perceiving that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 And as he said this, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there arose a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” (Acts 23:6-9)

The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection of the dead, and in spirits and angels, but the Sadducees did not. Basically, the Sadducees were anti-supernaturalists—they did not believe in miracles. It would almost seem the Sadducees were farther from the truth (at least about the resurrection of the dead) than the Gentile pagans.

There were those in the church who professed to believe in the resurrection of the dead but who insisted that this “resurrection” had already taken place:

16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some (2 Timothy 2:16-18).

This “resurrection” was a present possession rather than a future hope. It must therefore have been some kind of mystical or spiritual “resurrection” rather than a literal, bodily resurrection. In saying that there has already been a spiritual resurrection, these heretics were denying that there was a future bodily resurrection. And for this they receive Paul’s indictment that they have “gone astray from the truth” (2 Timothy 2:18). The error is so serious that it “upsets the faith” (verse 18) of those who embrace this error.

We are not told exactly what form the denial of the resurrection of the dead took at Corinth. I am inclined to think it was the same kind of error Paul exposed in Ephesus (2 Timothy 2:16-18), where Paul told Timothy that such error would “lead to further ungodliness” (verse 16). We can see some forms of ungodliness this doctrinal deviation took in the earlier chapters of 1 Corinthians. While the theological error regarding the resurrection of the dead is not exposed until chapter 15, the fruits of this error are everywhere apparent in chapters 1-14.

In the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with the divisions and factions which had disrupted the unity of the church at Corinth. These divisions were based upon the pride which some took in certain leaders and their teachings. The Corinthians were puffed up because their leaders “were the greatest” and their teachings were so “wise.” Their esteem for these leaders resulted in a corresponding disdain for Paul and the other apostles:

6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. 7 For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 8 You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now (1 Corinthians 4:6-13).

Paul’s gospel (which was one and the same with the gospel proclaimed by the other apostles) was disdained because it was too simplistic, too naive, too foolish. The “new gospel,” proclaimed by the Corinthians’ new leaders, was much more sophisticated, much more acceptable and appealing to the pagan culture of that day.

Just what was the problem the Corinthians had with Paul, his theology, and his practice? The key is found in the word “already” in verse 8.[2] The Corinthians seem to be claiming that they have already arrived, spiritually speaking. Christianity has three dimensions or tenses: past, present, and future.[3] We were chosen in Christ in eternity past, and 2,000 years ago, Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins and our eternal salvation. We are now being saved;[4] we are currently being sanctified, daily being transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. Our final salvation comes when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth, and when we, with glorified and transformed bodies, live eternally in His presence.

Difficulties arise whenever we confuse these three tenses. Some Christians live as though Christ’s atoning work at Calvary (in the past) has no great impact on our day-to-day living in the present. Such people live out their lives naturalistically, as though the supernatural power of God has no practical relevance to daily living. They go about their daily living little different from atheists. They employ merely huan methods and mechanisms. They raise funds, for example, using the same methods as the Red Cross or the United Fund. They seek to sanctify and utilize secular marketing techniques to evangelize and to produce church growth. They use human management techniques to run the church and Christian organizations.

Other Christians go to the opposite extreme. They confuse the future blessings, which Christ has promised and purchased, with His present blessings. In short, they think the Christian can and should experience heaven on earth. They believe no one needs to be sick (or perhaps even to die), because of the atoning work of Christ at Calvary (see Isaiah 53:5). According to this version of “spirituality,” we should expect to be happy, healthy, and wealthy now. They claim the future blessings of Revelation 21 and 22 as their present rights, and they tell us that if we do not experience these blessings now it is due to our lack of faith.

This health and wealth doctrine does not find its origin in the Scriptures, but in the wishful thinking of those who do not want to face up to a life of suffering, a life that is lived out in a fallen world. The context of 2 Timothy 2 and 3, the teaching of the Book of Hebrews and 1 Peter, and the example set forth by Paul and the apostles points to a different view of spirituality in the present age (see also Romans 8). The Scriptures speak of our identification with Christ in this age through our participation in His sufferings (see Philippians 1:12-26; 3:10; Colossians 1:24-29; 1 Peter 4:12-19), rather than in our escape from them.

No wonder the “spiritual” Corinthians looked down upon Paul. They had already arrived; Paul had not. They were kings; Paul was homeless. Paul and the apostles were a disgrace, and the proud Corinthians were ashamed of them. The apostles did not look nor act like royalty, but like the “scum of the world” (1 Corinthians 4:8-13). To speak of the resurrection of the dead as a future certainty meant they had not already arrived, that the kingdom of God had not yet come. It meant that they must identify with Christ in His earthly humiliation and rejection and not in His triumphant reign. And so they set aside the literal bodily resurrection of the dead, embracing in its place some kind of spiritual resurrection which already brought them into their kingdom, a kingdom of this age and not the next, a kingdom which the apostles and their gospel would not embrace or sanction.

Symptoms of the Rejection of the Resurrection of the Dead in the Corinthian Church

Everywhere we look in 1 Corinthians we can see the fruit of this doctrinal error of rejecting the resurrection of the dead. In chapters 1-4, we are not surprised to learn that the Corinthians have formed cliques based upon the pride they took in new mentors, in their new message, and in their new methods. These “new messengers” will eventually prove to be “false apostles,” as Paul will indicate in 2 Corinthians 11. Their message will not be the foolish and weak message of Christ crucified (1:23-24), but one which appeals to the pride and arrogance of lost men. Their method was not a simple proclamation of the truth of the gospel; it was the same kind of methodology the heathen used to market everything from fish to philosophy (see 2 Corinthians 2:17; 4:2). Paul’s method was to simply proclaim the truth of the gospel and then to depend on the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit to enlighten men’s minds and to convince them of the truth (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, 10-16).

In chapter 5, Paul exposes one professing Christian at Corinth who is living in such a degraded fashion that even the pagan Corinthians blush at his behavior (5:1-2). The Corinthian church, on the other hand, is not ashamed at all, but proud (5:2). How could they be proud? Just as the Corinthians distinguished between a spiritual resurrection and a bodily resurrection, they also distinguished between a “spiritual” spirituality and a bodily “spirituality.” It seems as though many of the Corinthians thought they could be spiritual in spirit but immoral and self-indulgent in the flesh. And so they not only tolerated shocking sexual immorality among their membership (chapter 5), they practiced all kinds of sensual and bodily indulgences themselves (chapter 6).[5]

In addition, the Corinthians are taking one another to court (6:1-11). The Scriptures teach that the literal, bodily resurrection of all men is prerequisite for divine judgment which follows (Acts 17:30-32; 24:14-16, 21, 24-25; Revelation 20:11-14). The false teachers are the ones who deny or minimize the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead because they wish to comfort themselves with the deception that there will be no future judgment (see 2 Peter 3:3-4). If we truly believe there is a resurrection of the dead and that the wicked will be punished, we can abandon our desire to have revenge and leave retribution to God (Romans 12:17-21; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; 1 Peter 2:12). But when our vision concerning the resurrection of the dead is dimmed, we will want justice here and now, and if that means taking our case against a Christian brother before a pagan court, so be it. So it was in Corinth.

The Corinthians seem dull to the dangers of indulging their bodily appetites in spite of the lessons they should have learned from their predecessors, the Israelites (1 Corinthians 10:1-13). They feel free to participate in the pagan idol-worship rituals, even though this might cause a brother to stumble (chapter 8), and in spite of the fact that participating in this meal meant involvement with the demonic powers (10:18-22).

They are so enticed by the thought of eating a festive meal that they disregard all the dangers associated with doing so. When it came to satisfying their bodily appetites, the Corinthians just couldn’t say “no” (see 9:24-27).

Even at the Corinthians’ celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the most sacred part of their gathering together, they do not wait for their brethren to arrive, and so indulge themselves that they become drunk, making their celebration an abomination (11:17-34). The same excesses are evident in the exercise of their spiritual gifts at the meeting of the church (chapters 12-14). The Corinthians indulge themselves by exercising their gifts in a disorderly and chaotic fashion so that the edification of the church was set aside. And in the midst of this, they seem oblivious to the fact that divine judgment is causing many to become sick and a good number to die (1 Corinthians 11:30). We have no monopoly on being the “now generation.” The Corinthians minimized the future and majored on the present moment. Their motto: “Seize the day!”

An Overview of Paul’s Response to the Corinthians’ Denial of the Resurrection of the Dead

In chapters 1-14, Paul uncovers much of the dirty laundry of the Corinthian church and deals with each problem in particular. Now in chapter 15, Paul introduces the subject of the resurrection of the dead, not as an entirely new subject, mind you, but as the root problem underlying the sins he previously discussed. Is it any wonder that in chapter 14 Paul upholds the gift of prophecy as the greatest of the gifts for the church? I think not. Prophets fulfilled many roles and carried out various functions, but who would dispute that one of the tasks of a prophet was to speak of future things—to prophesy? Is the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead not a matter of prophecy? If, as I have assumed and alluded, the Corinthians have exalted the gift of tongues and minimized the gift of prophecy, is it surprising that Paul first extols the virtues of the gift of prophecy and then presses on to a particular element of prophecy—the resurrection of the dead?

In chapter 15, Paul approaches the denial of the resurrection of the dead indirectly at first. In verses 1-11, Paul lays a foundation by reiterating the role of the bodily resurrection of our Lord in the gospel message and in his own conversion. The resurrection of our Lord is a doctrine with which every Corinthian Christian heartily agreed. Then in verses 12-19, Paul exposes the real problem, the denial of the resurrection of the dead. If one believes there is no resurrection of the dead at all, then this means that Christ could not have been raised from the dead at all. If Christ was not raised from the dead, then the apostles are deceivers and the Corinthians are deceived and to be pitied, for their faith is futile. But in verses 20-28, Paul returns to the certainty of our Lord’s resurrection and plays out its implications. Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead was the first fruits of resurrection, and other resurrections will follow as a divinely-purposed result. The first to rise will be those who have trusted in Him, followed later by those who have not (15:23-25). It is only after death is finally defeated by the resurrection of all men that the kingdom can be handed over to the Father.

Any hope of the kingdom of God has as a prerequisite the resurrection of the dead (15:26-28). The practice of some of being baptized for the dead (verse 29) and the dangerous living of Paul (verses 30-32a) make sense only if there is a literal resurrection of the dead. Otherwise, one might just as well “grab all the gusto he can get” if we only “go around once” (verse 32b). The source of the Corinthians’ error regarding a bodily resurrection is revealed in verses 33 and 34. Illicit fellowship has caused them to become soft on sin and thus vulnerable to doctrinal deviation, which tended to validate their sin.

In verses 35-49, Paul takes on the objections which some have raised concerning the resurrection of the dead. Do they wonder how the dead can be raised? Are they perplexed that the bodies we place in the ground decay and that an imperishable body resulting from this decay seems scientifically untenable? Let them simply refresh their memories as to how, with grain, new life sprouts from the “death” and “decay” of the seed that is buried or planted in the ground. The physical body must come first and then be replaced by the spiritual. The objections to the resurrection of the body are simply the result of a lack of faith in the God who is the Creator of all “bodies” and who raised our Lord from the dead. Adam’s sin brought about bodily death and decay; Christ’s righteousness produces life and bodily transformation.

In verses 50-58, Paul builds to a triumphant climax. Physical death and the setting aside of our mortal bodies is a necessity, because these earthly bodies have no place in heaven. The bodies of those saints who have died and been buried will be resurrected as transformed bodies, and the mortal bodies of those alive at Christ’s coming will also undergo the same transformation, so that both will be clothed with bodies fit for eternity in the presence of God. All of this removes the sting of sin and of death and assures the saint of victory. In the light of this truth of the resurrection from the grave, we know that our earthly toil and labor is not in vain but is an eternal investment.

AN OVERVIEW: BE WISE ABOUT … THE RESURRECTION. 1 Corinthians 15

Corinth was a Greek city, and the Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. When Paul had preached at Athens and declared the fact of Christ’s resurrection, some of his listeners actually laughed at him (Acts 17:32). Most Greek philosophers considered the human body a prison, and they welcomed death as deliverance from bondage.

This skeptical attitude had somehow invaded the church and Paul had to face it head-on. The truth of the resurrection had doctrinal and practical implications for life that were too important to ignore. Paul dealt with the subject by answering four basic questions.

Are the Dead Raised? (1 Cor. 15:1–19)

It is important to note that the believers at Corinth did believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ; so Paul started his argument with that fundamental truth. He presented three proofs to assure his readers that Jesus Christ indeed had been raised from the dead.

Proof #1—their salvation (vv. 1–2). Paul had come to Corinth and preached the message of the Gospel, and their faith had transformed their lives. But an integral part of the Gospel message was the fact of Christ’s resurrection. After all, a dead Saviour cannot save anybody. Paul’s readers had received the Word, trusted Christ, been saved, and were now standing on that Word as the assurance of their salvation. The fact that they were standing firm was proof that their faith was genuine and not empty.

Proof #2—the Old Testament Scriptures (vv. 3–4). First of all means “of first importance.” The Gospel is the most important message that the church ever proclaims. While it is good to be involved in social action and the betterment of mankind, there is no reason why these ministries should preempt the Gospel. “Christ died … He was buried … He rose again … He was seen” are the basic historical facts on which the Gospel stands (1 Cor. 15:3–5). “Christ died for our sins” (author’s italics) is the theological explanation of the historical facts. Many people were crucified by the Romans, but only one “victim” ever died for the sins of the world.

When Paul wrote “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3) he was referring to the Old Testament Scriptures. Much of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament pointed to the sacrifice of Christ as our substitute and Saviour. The annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) and prophecies like Isaiah 53 would also come to mind.

But where does the Old Testament declare His resurrection on the third day? Jesus pointed to the experience of Jonah (Matt. 12:38–41). Paul also compared Christ’s resurrection to the “firstfruits,” and the firstfruits were presented to God on the day following the Sabbath after Passover (Lev. 23:9–14; 1 Cor. 15:23). Since the Sabbath must always be the seventh day, the day after Sabbath must be the first day of the week, or Sunday, the day of our Lord’s resurrection. This covers three days on the Jewish calendar. Apart from the Feast of Firstfruits, there were other prophecies of Messiah’s resurrection in the Old Testament: Psalm 16:8–11 (see Acts 2:25–28); Psalm 22:22ff (see Heb. 2:12); Isaiah 53:10–12; and Psalm 2:7 (see Acts 13:32–33).

Proof #3—Christ was seen by witnesses (vv. 5–11). On the cross, Jesus was exposed to the eyes of unbelievers; but after the Resurrection, He was seen by believers who could be witnesses of His resurrection (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32). Peter saw Him and so did the disciples collectively. James was a half brother of the Lord who became a believer after the Lord appeared to him (John 7:5; Acts 1:14). The 500 plus brethren all saw Him at the same time (1 Cor. 15:6), so it could not have been a hallucination or a deception. This event may have been just before His ascension (Matt. 28:16ff).

But one of the greatest witnesses of the Resurrection was Paul himself, for as an unbeliever he was soundly convinced that Jesus was dead. The radical change in his life—a change which brought him persecution and suffering—is certainly evidence that the Lord had indeed been raised from the dead. Paul made it clear that his salvation was purely an act of God’s grace; but that grace worked in and through him as he served the Lord. “Born out of due time” probably refers to the future salvation of Israel when they, like Paul, see the Messiah in glory (Zech. 12:10–13:6; 1 Tim. 1:16).

At this point, Paul’s readers would say, “Yes, we agree that Jesus was raised from the dead.” Then Paul would reply, “If you believe that, then you must believe in the resurrection of all the dead!” Christ came as a man, truly human, and experienced all that we experienced, except that He never sinned. If there is no resurrection, then Christ was not raised. If He was not raised, there is no Gospel to preach. If there is no Gospel, then you have believed in vain and you are still in your sins! If there is no resurrection, then believers who have died have no hope. We shall never see them again!

The conclusion is obvious: Why be a Christian if we have only suffering in this life and no future glory to anticipate? (In 1 Cor. 15:29–34, Paul expanded this idea.) The Resurrection is not just important; it is “of first importance,” because all that we believe hinges on it.

When Are the Dead Raised? (1 Cor. 15:20–28). Paul used three images to answer this question.

Firstfruits (vv. 20, 23). We have already noted this reference to the Old Testament feast (Lev. 23:9–14). As the Lamb of God, Jesus died on Passover. As the sheaf of firstfruits, He arose from the dead three days later on the first day of the week. When the priest waved the sheaf of the firstfruits before the Lord, it was a sign that the entire harvest belonged to Him. When Jesus was raised from the dead, it was God’s assurance to us that we shall also be raised one day as part of that future harvest. To believers, death is only “sleep.” The body sleeps, but the soul is at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:1–8; Phil. 1:21–23). At the resurrection, the body will be “awakened” and glorified.

Adam (vv. 21–22). Paul saw in Adam a type of Jesus Christ by the way of contrast (see also Rom. 5:12–21). The first Adam was made from the earth, but the Last Adam (Christ, 1 Cor. 15:45–47) came from heaven. The first Adam disobeyed God and brought sin and death into the world, but the Last Adam obeyed the Father and brought righteousness and life.

The word order in 1 Corinthians 15:23 originally referred to military rank. God has an order, a sequence, in the resurrection. Passages like John 5:25–29 and Revelation 20 indicate that there is no such thing taught in Scripture as a “general resurrection.” When Jesus Christ returns in the air, He will take His church to heaven and at that time raise from the dead all who have trusted Him and have died in the faith (1 Thes. 4:13–18). Jesus called this “the resurrection of life” (John 5:29). When Jesus returns to the earth in judgment, then the lost will be raised in “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29; Rev. 20:11–15). Nobody in the first resurrection will be lost, but nobody in the second resurrection will be saved.

The kingdom (vv. 24–28). When Jesus Christ comes to the earth to judge, He will banish sin for a thousand years and establish His kingdom (Rev. 20:1–6). Believers will reign with Him and share His glory and authority. This kingdom, prophesied in the Old Testament, is called “the Millennium” by prophetic teachers. The word comes from the Latin: mille—thousand, annum—year.

But even after the Millennium, there will be one final rebellion against God (Rev. 20:7–10) which Jesus Christ will put down by His power. The lost will then be raised, judged, and cast into the lake of fire. Then death itself shall be cast into hell, and the last enemy shall be destroyed. Jesus Christ will have put all things under His feet! He will then turn the kingdom over to the Father and then the eternal state—the new heavens and new earth—shall be ushered in (Rev. 21–22).

Good and godly students of the Word have not always agreed on the details of God’s prophetic program, but the major truths seem to be clear. Jesus Christ reigns in heaven today, and all authority is “under His feet” (Ps. 110; Eph. 1:15–23). Satan and man are still able to exercise choice, but God is sovereignly in control. Jesus Christ is enthroned in heaven today (Ps. 2). The resurrection of the saved has not yet taken place, nor the resurrection of the lost (2 Tim. 2:17–18).

When will Jesus Christ return for His church? Nobody knows; but when it occurs, it will be “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). It behooves us to be ready (1 John 2:28–3:3).

Why Are the Dead Raised? (1 Cor. 15:29–34, 49–58)

The resurrection of the human body is a future event that has compelling implications for our personal lives. If the resurrection is not true, then we can forget about the future and live as we please! But the resurrection is true! Jesus is coming again! Even if we die before He comes, we shall be raised at His coming and stand before Him in a glorified body.

Paul cited four areas of Christian experience that are touched by the fact of the resurrection.

Evangelism (v. 29). What does it mean to be “baptized for the dead”? Some take this to mean “proxy baptism,” where a believer is baptized on behalf of a dead relative; but we find no such teaching in the New Testament. In the second century, there were some heretical groups that practiced “vicarious baptism,” but the church at large has never accepted the practice. To begin with, salvation is a personal matter that each must decide for himself; and, second, nobody needs to be baptized to be saved.

The phrase probably means “baptized to take the place of those who have died.” In other words, if there is no resurrection, why bother to witness and win others to Christ? Why reach sinners who are then baptized and take the place of those who have died? If the Christian life is only a “dead-end street,” get off of it!

Each responsible person on earth will share in either the resurrection of life and go to heaven, or the resurrection of judgment and go to hell (John 5:28–29). We weep for believers who have died, but we ought also to weep for unbelievers who still have opportunity to be saved! The reality of the resurrection is a motivation for evangelism.

Suffering (vv. 30–32). I die daily does not refer to “dying to self,” as in Romans 6, but to the physical dangers Paul faced as a servant of Christ (2 Cor. 4:8–5:10; 11:23–28). He was in constant jeopardy from his enemies and on more than one occasion had been close to death. Why endure suffering and danger if death ends it all? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die” (Isa. 22:13).

What we do in the body in this life comes up for review at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). God deals with the whole person, not just with the “soul.” The body shares in salvation (Rom. 8:18–23). The suffering endured in the body will result in glory at the resurrection (2 Cor. 4:7–18). If there is no future for the body, then why suffer and die for the cause of Christ?

Separation from sin (vv. 33–34). If there is no resurrection, then what we do with our bodies will have no bearing on our future. Immorality was a way of life in Corinth, and some of the believers rejected the resurrection in order to rationalize their sin. “Evil company corrupts good morals” is a quotation from the Greek poet Menander, a saying no doubt familiar to Paul’s readers. The believer’s body is the temple of God and must be kept separated from the sins of the world (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1). To fellowship with the “unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:6–17) is only to corrupt God’s temple.

It was time for the Corinthians to wake up and clean up (see 1 Thes. 5:4–11). The believer who is compromising with sin has no witness to the lost around him, those who “have not the knowledge of God.” What a shameful thing to be selfishly living in sin while multitudes die without Christ!

Death (vv. 49–57). The heavenly kingdom is not made for the kind of bodies we now have, bodies of flesh and blood. So when Jesus returns, the bodies of living believers will instantly be transformed to be like His body (1 John 3:1–3), and the dead believers shall be raised with new glorified bodies. Our new bodies will not be subject to decay or death.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychiatry, wrote: “And finally there is the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been found, nor probably ever will be.” Christians have victory in death and over death! Why? Because of the victory of Jesus Christ in His own resurrection. Jesus said, “Because I live, ye shall also” (John 14:19).

Sin, death, and the Law go together. The Law reveals sin, and the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus bore our sins on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and also bore the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). It is through Him that we have this victory, and we share the victory today. The literal translation of 1 Corinthians 15:57 is, “But thanks be to God who keeps on giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We experience “the power of His resurrection” in our lives as we yield to Him (Phil. 3:10).

First Corinthians 15:58 is Paul’s hymn of praise to the Lord as well as his closing admonition to the church. Because of the assurance of Christ’s victory over death, we know that nothing we do for Him will ever be wasted or lost. We can be steadfast in our service, unmovable in suffering, abounding in ministry to others, because we know our labor is not in vain. First Corinthians 15:58 is the answer to Ecclesiastes, where thirty-eight times Solomon used the sad word vanity. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” wept Solomon; but Paul sang a song of victory!

How Are the Dead Raised? (1 Cor. 15:35–48)

Being philosophers, the Greeks reasoned that the resurrection of the human body was an impossibility. After all, when the body turned to dust, it became soil from which other bodies derived nourishment. In short, the food that we eat is a part of the elements of the bodies of generations long gone. When the body of the founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, was disinterred, it was discovered that the roots of a nearby apple tree had grown through the coffin. To some degree, the people who ate the apples partook of his body. At the resurrection, then, who will claim the various elements?

Paul’s reply to this kind of reasoning was very blunt: “You fool!” Then he made the important point that resurrection is not reconstruction. Nowhere does the Bible teach that, at the resurrection, God will “put together the pieces” and return to us our former bodies. There is continuity (it is our body), but there is not identity (it is not the same body).

Paul knew that such miracles cannot be explained, so he used three analogies to make the doctrine clear.

Seeds (vv. 35–38, 42–48). When you sow seed, you do not expect that same seed to come up at the harvest. The seed dies, but from that death there comes life. (See John 12:23–28 for our Lord’s use of this same analogy.) You may sow a few grains of wheat, but you will have many grains when the plant matures. Are they the same grains that were planted? No, but there is still continuity. You do not sow wheat and harvest barley.

Furthermore, what comes up at the harvest is usually more beautiful than what was planted. This is especially true of tulips. Few things are as ugly as a tulip bulb, yet it produces a beautiful flower. If at the resurrection, all God did was to put us back together again, there would be no improvement. Furthermore, flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom. The only way we can enjoy the glory of heaven is to have a body suited to that environment.

Paul discussed the details of this marvelous change in 1 Corinthians 15:42–48. The body is sown (in burial) in corruption, because it is going to decay; but it is raised with such a nature that it cannot decay. There is no decay or death in heaven. It is buried in humility (in spite of the cosmetic skill of the mortician); but it is raised in glory. In burial, the body is weak; but in resurrection, the body has power. We shall be like Jesus Christ!

Today, we have a “natural body,” that is, a body suited to an earthly environment. We received this body from our first parent, Adam: he was made of dust, and so are we (Gen. 2:7). But the resurrection body is suited to a spiritual environment. In His resurrection body, Jesus was able to move quickly from place to place, and even walk through locked doors; yet He was also able to eat food, and His disciples were able to touch Him and feel Him (Luke 24:33–43; John 20:19–29).

The point Paul was making was simply this: The resurrection body completes the work of redemption and gives to us the image of the Saviour. We are made in the image of God as far as personality is concerned, but in the image of Adam as far as the body is concerned. One day we shall bear the image of the Saviour when we share in His glory.

First Corinthians 15:46 states an important biblical principle: first the “natural” (earthly), and then the “spiritual” (heavenly). The first birth gives us that which is natural, but the second birth gives us that which is spiritual. God rejects the first birth, the natural, and says, “You must be born again!” He rejected Cain and chose Abel. He rejected Abraham’s firstborn, Ishmael, and chose Isaac, the second-born. He rejected Esau and chose Jacob. If we depend on our first birth, we shall be condemned forever; but if we experience the new birth, we shall be blessed forever.

Flesh (v. 39). Paul anticipated here the discovery of science that the cell structure of different kinds of animals is different; and therefore, you cannot breed various species indiscriminately. The human body has a nature of one kind, while animals, birds, and fish have their own particular kind of flesh. The conclusion is this: If God is able to make different kinds of bodies for men, animals, birds, and fish, why can He not make a different kind of body for us at the resurrection? (Pet lovers take note: Paul did not teach here that animals will be resurrected. He only used them as an example.)

Heavenly bodies (vv. 40–41). Not only are there earthly bodies, but there are also heavenly bodies; and they differ from one another. In fact, the heavenly bodies differ from each other in glory as far as the human eye is concerned. Paul is suggesting here that believer may differ from believer in glory, even though all Christians will have glorified bodies. Every cup in heaven will be filled, but some cups will be bigger than others, because of the faithfulness and sacrifice of those saints when they were on earth.

These illustrations may not answer every question that we have about the resurrection body, but they do give us the assurances that we need. God will give to us a glorified body suited to the new life in heaven. It will be as unlike our present body in quality as the glory of the sun is unlike a mushroom in the cellar. We will use this new body to serve and glorify God for all eternity.

We must remember that this discussion was not written by Paul merely to satisfy the curiosity of believers. He had some practical points to get across, and he made them very clear in 1 Corinthians 15:29–34. If we really believe in the resurrection of the body, then we will use our bodies today to the glory of God (1 Cor. 6:9–14).

Finally, the lost will be given bodies suited to their environment in hell. They will suffer forever in darkness and pain (Matt. 25:41; 2 Thes. 1:7–10; Rev. 20:11–15). It behooves us who are saved to seek to rescue them from judgment! “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11).

If you have never trusted the Saviour, do so now—before it is too late!^[6]

[1] In this case, the denial of the resurrection of the dead was verbalized (“how do some among you say … ?”).  At Corinth, the denial of the resurrection of the dead was a doctrine consciously held and openly professed to others.  There are times when the gospel is unconsciously denied.  For example, when Peter ceased to eat with the Gentile saints and moved to the Jewish table, he was unconsciously denying the gospel, and for this he was strongly rebuked (Galatians 2:11-21).  This denial of the resurrection of the dead at Corinth was not unconscious, but deliberate.

[2] Essentially the same error is found in 2 Timothy 2.  The context in 2 Timothy is the suffering and hardship God calls us to endure in this present age in order to enter into the eternal blessings of the next (see verses 3, 10-12).  Those who insisted that the resurrection had already come were those who maintained that Christians should be presently experiencing all of the pleasures and blessings of eternity and should not be suffering.

[3] All three tenses of our salvation are referred to in 1 Peter 1:3-9.

[4] Actually the verb translated “saved” in verse 2 is in the present tense, and thus the New Revised Standard Version renders it, “you are being saved.”

[5] Paul’s belief in the resurrection of the dead is evident in 1 Corinthians 5:5, where he indicates that church discipline may result in the physical death of the sinning saint, and yet this one thus judged will ultimately be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  This can only happen if the dead are raised.

^[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 617–621.

In about the year A.D. 52, a preacher of a new and little-known religion became the center of a great controversy in the ancient Greek city of Athens. The man had arrived in Athens from Berea, where his presence had caused such an uproar that he had been forced to flee for his life.

No sooner had he entered Athens than he again began to stir up controversy. In the local Jewish synagogue, he plunged into lively religious discussion. Also, he began a series of daily debates with those in the Athenian agora, or “market place.”

It was not long before his activities attracted the notice of the intellectual community. Stoic and Epicurean philosophers sought him out to learn what he had to say. That they expected nothing of real significance to come from their encounter with him was evident from their attitude to- ward him: “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” (Acts 17:18b).

They led him away to Mars’ Hill, the Athenian courtroom, located on a steep, rocky hillside above the city. The courtroom itself was an open air platform on the rock, complete with benches carved in the solid stone. It was reached by a long flight of steps from the marketplace below.

Standing in the midst of a hostile audience with the evidence of Greek learning and religion all around him, the stranger began to speak. His words still challenge our thinking after 20 centuries.

Paul’s sermon in Athens centered on the resurrection of Christ from the dead. He emphasized the resurrection as the focal point of the Christian faith. He realized that nothing about Christianity could be true if the resurrection were not true.

The very essence of the gospel—the “good news”—is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1– 4). In Athens, as in every other place, Paul justified Christianity on the grounds of its risen Lord.

As might be expected, those who heard Paul’s sermon reacted to the doctrine of the resurrection in different ways. That day in Athens, three attitudes toward the resurrection were exhibited.

People today still respond to the preaching of the resurrection in the same ways that the people of Athens did. As we consider their reactions, let us ask ourselves, “How have I responded to the good news of a risen Savior?”

SOME SNEERED AT IT: “I REFUSE TO BE CONVINCED”

“Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer” (Acts 17:32a). They were unconvinced; they laughed about it.

There are always people who are ready to dismiss the “good news” of the resurrection as a preposterous impossibility. One recent claim was made by a researcher named Suzanne Marie Olsson. In 2002, she announced that she had found the final resting place of the body of Jesus in the Muslim shrine of Rozabal in India. She wanted to exhume the body and take DNA to compare with samples from a body in Pakistan which was purported to be the body of Mary, Jesus’ mother.

Some years ago, a movie called The Passover Plot was released. It was based on a book with the same title by Hugh J. Schonfield. According to this book, Jesus was a clever political schemer who used cheap tricks to convince people He was a miracle-worker and manipulated His own crucifixion for political effect.

According to the text, which is a variation of the “swoon theory,” Jesus plotted to have Himself dosed with a drug which slowed down His respiration and heartbeat and made it appear that He had died. His plan was thwarted, the book claims, when a Roman soldier thrust a spear into His side.

The theory presented by Schonfield is that Jesus revived briefly in the cool of the tomb and managed to recruit an understudy to make His post-resurrection appearances before succumbing to His wound and being buried in another tomb.

The fundamental implausibility of these notions makes them harder to believe than the Bible’s account of the resurrection. Why would the body of Jesus have been stolen and taken to India? How could this have happened under the watchful eyes of Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers without someone’s noticing?

What about the idea that Jesus survived His ordeal on the cross? Are we to accept that experienced Roman executioners could not distinguish a dead body from a live one and that no one realized a mistake had been made until a “scholar” figured it out 20 centuries later?

According to the testimony of eyewitnesses, blood and water flowed from the spear wound in Jesus’ side. Forensic pathologists say this likely indicates that the spear had pierced the heart (see John 19:34).

Jesus died on the cross and then appeared, alive again, to many eyewitnesses. How could an imposter have fooled these witnesses—especially Thomas, who apparently examined the nail prints and the wound in Christ’s side?

Such theories must be seen for what they are: the unfounded sneers of those who will go to desperate lengths to keep from having a risen Lord rule over them.

People do not scoff at the resurrection because of a lack of evidence, but because of an unwillingness to consider the evidence. Famed scholar Brooke Foss Westcott said, “. . . there is no single historic incident better or more variously supported than the Resurrection of Christ.

Those who seek to dismiss the resurrection as a ridiculous fairy tale only succeed in making themselves ridiculous in the process.

SOME SHRUGGED AT IT: “I AM INDIFFERENT”

While some mocked, others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this” (Acts 17:32b). They were not antagonistic toward the gospel message, but they were indifferent. They were polite, but not sincerely interested.

Indifference is far more common than mockery. Most people are not so much hostile to Christianity as they are unconcerned about it. Whether or not Christ was raised from the dead is not nearly so important to them as living in a nice house, having a good  job,  or  sending  their  children  to  good schools.

Tragically, some people today who claim to be Christians fall into this category of the “indifferent.” They may still go to church on special religious holidays, but the resurrection of Christ makes no real difference in their everyday lives. They are living as though Jesus remained dead. They do not even really want a risen Lord.

They would like to forget about the resurrection so they can live on their own terms, enjoying life and making themselves comfortable. They want to do as they please, with no concern for serving others or a living God.

If we took the resurrection as seriously as the early Christians did, it would change everything. It would have a profound effect on the way we live every day. For all practical purposes, many choose to live as though Jesus were still dead. The resurrection has no impact on their lives. These “Christians” live side by side with unbelievers, and no one can really see any difference between the two groups.

SOME WERE SURPRISED BY IT: “I AM AMAZED. First-century disciples were not looking for a resurrection. They were disappointed when Jesus died; but with human nature being what it is, some were probably a little bit relieved too.

Following  Christ  had  been  an  exciting,  exhilarating experience—but it had also been demanding. Perhaps they were ready to get back to their usual work. They wanted Jesus to be a beautiful memory, not a living reality.

When the women went to the tomb on the first day of the week, they were not planning to greet a risen Savior, but to  but perfume on a corpse. When they found the tomb empty, they were amazed, astonished, and afraid. (See Mark 16:5, 8.)

When Paul received the shocking revelation that Jesus had been raised, he saw that his life was going in the wrong direction. When he became convinced of the resurrection, his life was completely changed. He gave up family, friends, home, job, and security; he put his life in constant peril in order to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Acts 15:26 (ESV) men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:24–29 (ESV)  Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

He saw himself as a “debtor” (Romans 1:14). He felt obligated to tell the world about the saving grace of Jesus. What could compel a man to brave the fury of an enraged mob in Ephesus; to endure the ridicule of sneering philosophers in Athens; to suffer stoning in Lystra, beating in Philippi, imprisonment in Jerusalem, and shipwreck in the Mediterranean? He was amazed by the transcending reality of the resurrection.

Of the fourteen witnesses of the resurrection who can be identified by name from 1 Corinthians 15:5–8, thirteen of them died violently for the sake of the “good news.” The Greek word for “witness” is the source of the word “martyr” (see Acts 2:32). What does the resurrection mean to us? Unless we are amazed and convicted so that it makes a difference in our daily lives, it really means nothing at all.

SOME SURRENDERED TO IT: “I WILL ACT” “But  some  men  joined  him  and  believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others  was one of the twelve members of the great court of Athens.”  Of  the  woman  named  “Damaris,” nothing more is known. Thanks be to God that there are always some who will consider the evidence honestly and accept the reality of the resurrection.

What does it mean to believe and accept the resurrection? We became participants (in a symbolical way) in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the act of baptism.

Romans 6:3 (ESV) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul referred in Romans 6:17 to a “form [tupos] of teaching.” This word for “form” means a mold, a die, or a stamp—a pattern which must be imitated or obeyed. The gospel is  summed  up in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We submit to that pattern when we die to sin in baptism and are raised to “walk in newness of life.”

Paul  wrote that, “having been buried with Him in  baptism,” we “were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).

Baptism is faith’s response to the resurrection. It is the re-creation of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection in the life of the believer.

It is a response of faith in the God who raised Christ and who invites and empowers those who are dead in sin to turn to Him and receive life.

Baptism is followed by a new life lived in submission to the risen Lord Jesus. The victory of Christ over death assures those who will respond to it that they can be victorious over sin.

CONCLUSION In reacting to the resurrection, some laugh about it, some brush it aside, and some take it in with awe, dedicating their lives to the risen Lord.

Which reaction is yours? Your reaction to the resurrection will determine your eternal destiny. Can you afford to scoff? Do you dare to look the other way?

Why not respond to the good news that Jesus has been raised from the dead by obeying “from the heart that form of doctrine” presented in the New Testament? with them” (Acts 17:34).

A few thoughtful Athenians weighed the evidence and believed what Paul preached about the resurrection.

At dawn, on a distant Sunday morning, a band of grieving women, on their way to visit the grave of Jesus of Nazareth, came upon an incredible sight. They found the stone rolled away from  the  entrance  of  a  deserted  tomb  (Luke 24:1–3). Suddenly, they were confronted by two men in “dazzling clothing” who spoke these words: “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen” (24:4–6a).

“He is not here.” These words sum up the hope and glory of the Christian faith 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV) ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Christianity centers on a blood-stained cross and an empty tomb. The resurrection lies at the very heart of all that we are, believe, and do as followers of Christ.

Unfortunately, some people have found the doctrine of the resurrection to be more of an embarrassment than a cause of celebration. The apostle Paul found this to be true in His own day. His proclamation of the resurrection was met with sneers (Acts 17:32), with jeers (Acts 26:24), and with angry fears (Acts 23:9). The same occurs today. We must take the resurrection seriously if we believe in God and His Word.

According to 1 Corinthians 15:16, 17, if Christ was not raised, then preaching is worthless, faith is vain, we are still in our sins, and we are of all men most to be pitied.

We must believe in the resurrection as a fact of history, and we are also to participate in it (see Philippians 3:7–11). Our belief should make a difference in our lives. We must demonstrate our faith in the resurrection by the way we live.

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10 (ESV)  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The word translated “attain,” katanta¿w (katantao¯ ), means “to reach a condition or goal, . . .arrive at.” To attain to the resurrection” is to become a partaker of it, that is, to tie it in with our own lives. Paul was not speaking just of the resurrection in the hereafter. He was also talking about the total identification of the believer with Christ’s resurrection in this present life.

How do we become participants in the resurrection? How do we get involved with it here and now? The Scriptures suggest a number of ways.

THROUGH THE LORD’S DAY ASSEMBLY. Jesus was raised on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9). On that first Sunday of His resurrection appearances, Jesus met with the assembled disciples (Luke 24:33, 36).

From that time until this present moment, Christians have come together on the first day of every week to celebrate the resurrection and worship the risen Lord (see Acts 20:7). Because the Lord was raised on Sunday, early Christians spoke of it as “the Lord’s Day.”

Ignatius (A.D. 20–117) wrote a letter in which he explained why Christians regularly assembled on  Sunday for worship:  . . . therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death. (Ignatius Magnesians 9).

The resurrection of Christ is to be commemorated weekly in the assembly of disciples as we partake of the Lord’s Supper. In the early church, believers came together each first day of the week to celebrate Christ’s victory over the grave.

What Jesus did was so colossal, so stunning, and so unprecedented that every first day of the week was eternally touched with its glory! Coming together every Sunday is one way we participate in and identify with the resurrection.

When we assemble, the risen Lord is among us (see Matthew 18:20). In partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we commune with a risen, reigning Lord.

Weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper makes the resurrection real in our own lives. That is why faithful attendance at the Lord’s Day assembly is so important: It ties us to the resurrection and unleashes the power of the resurrection in our lives.

THROUGH BAPTISM. When we are baptized, we participate in the resurrection (Romans 6:3 (ESV) ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been  baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Baptism is an act by which we identify with Christ and His return from the dead. We are “united” with Him in baptism, Paul said in Romans 6:5. In baptism, we are so closely identified with Christ that what happened to Him happens to us. Before baptism, we are dead in our transgressions; but in the act of baptism, we die to sin and are buried with Christ to be raised to live a new life (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12, 13).

Tragically, many people have missed this great truth about baptism. They have failed to see that it is in the act of baptism that we get involved with the resurrection and actually become resurrected people.

In Romans 4:25 we are told that Christ was raised so we could be justified from our sins. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:17 remind us that without the resurrection there could be no forgiveness or justification of sins. It is in baptism, then, that the blessings made possible by the death and resurrection of Christ become ours.

Baptism is not optional for the one who wants to receive these blessings. It is the time and the place that we identify ourselves with the resurrection of Christ. In baptism we re-create the “form” of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection in our own lives (Romans 6:17). Before being baptized, we were dead; now we have newness of life because we got involved with the resurrection when we obeyed Christ in baptism.

THROUGH CHANGED LIVES. We must demonstrate our involvement with the resurrection by our lives. It is not enough just to believe that a man named “Jesus” was raised from the dead one Sunday morning twenty centuries ago.

The resurrection must make a practical difference in our lives. It is tragic that many who profess to follow Christ are living as if He were still dead. Their basic attitudes, values, and lifestyles are not really different in any substantial way from those of their unbelieving neighbors.

Colossians  3:1– 4  says  that  those  who  are “raised up with Christ” must “keep seeking the things above.” When we get involved with the resurrection, we must live changed lives. We have a new direction: to seek those things that are above (3:1).

Christians are not raised up from baptism to continue being the same persons as before. We have a new nature, a new purpose, and a new destination. We also have a new perspective. We are told, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (3:2).

We must no longer live as though this life were all that matters. Instead, we must learn to see this world against the background of eternity. If we really begin to live the resurrection, it will give us a new standard of values, a new way of judging what is happening, a new sense of proportion. If we really begin to live the resurrection, we will set giving above getting, serving above ruling, and forgiving above avenging. We will learn to look at life as it appears to God, not as it appears to those around us.

When we begin to live the resurrection, we have a new relationship with God. “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (3:3). The risen Christ takes up His abode in each Christian (see Galatians 2:20). We have a new attitude toward death because “Christ . . . is our life” (Colossians 3:4a). The fact that Christ was raised from the dead means we will be raised also, and we “will be revealed with Him in glory” (3:4b).

We live and die in the hope of the resurrection, when Christ, “by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21; NIV). We do not have to fear death or grieve over it as do those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). That explains why early Christians could face  fire, sword,  persecution,  and  death  with songs in their hearts. They lived and died in the hope of the resurrection.

Legends are told of the famous Twelfth Legion of the Roman army, called the “thundering legion.” This event took place during the bitter winter of A.D. 320 at Sebaste, in Armenia.

An edict was read in the camp, proclaiming that every soldier must hail Caesar as lord and burn incense in his honor. Forty of these soldiers were Christians; and they refused to sacrifice, saying that Christ alone is Lord and that they would not value their physical bodies above their immortal souls.

In punishment, they were beaten, their sides were rent with iron hooks, and then they  were  imprisoned. After  some  days,  still resolute, they were sentenced to be stripped of their uniforms and marched out into the bitterly  cold night to die on a frozen pond. As they marched they prayed, “Lord, we are forty who are engaged in this combat. Grant that we may be forth crowned, and that not one be wanting to this sacred number.”

The guards continued trying to persuade the men to sacrifice and provided a warm bath for any who would submit. Only one was overcome by this temptation and left; but a sentinel who was shaken by the devotion of these men threw off his clothes and joined the thirty-nine, making their number forty again.

He was drawn by the power of the hope of the resurrection he had seen in the lives of these men whose involvement in the resurrection had changed their attitude toward death!

The resurrection is real. We are called to participate in that victory—not only in the life to come, but in this life as well. Do you believe in the reality of the resurrection? Are you involved with it in your daily life? If you have not been resurrected with Christ, decide now to be buried with Him in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

Of Easter Sunday, it has been said that it is the only time of the year “when anyone can go to church without being accused of being religious!”

We turn to a section in the book of Acts, where we can trace the tremendous explosion of radical Christianity which burst out upon a decadent and weary world in the First Century.

We note the power and the excitement which prevailed because of this message, and discover that the same thing can occur today whenever authentic Christianity is proclaimed.

In Acts 3, Peter and John go up to the temple to pray. There they found a cripple, a man who had been lame from his birth, who asked them for some money. But Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give unto you: in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise and walk,“ {Acts 3:6}.

Immediately strength came to this man’s ankles, and he began to leap and to jump and to shout. All this drew a crowd, and Peter seized the occasion and began to preach to them in the name of Jesus, saying that it was by the power of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, that this man was made whole.

He gave a great message, which had tremendous effect. But in the midst of it, an interruption occurred. We pick up that story now as it is given to us by Luke, the author of the book of Acts, in the 4^th chapter:

Acts 4:1–4 (ESV) And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, ² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

There is something strangely familiar to us about that, is there not? It sounds most contemporary. Here were the apostles, speaking to the people from the steps of the temple, and out in the crowd you can almost (using today’s vision) see banners and signs proclaiming: POWER TO THE PEOPLE! DOWN WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT!

Here also was the presence of the police, and the representatives of the establishment. The captain of the temple guard was there, and the Sadducees, who were the ruling class in Jerusalem. And there was a tremendous popular response to the message of Peter on that day.

We are told that five thousand men believed. In the midst of all this there was this sudden display of annoyed authority, of authoritative, iron-fisted power, when the temple guard suddenly elbowed their way through the crowd and, surrounding Peter and John, arrested them, dragged them off, and put them in jail until the morrow.

But the most remarkable thing about this occasion was the message. The message was the proclamation that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

They did not proclaim the overthrow of the Roman government. Such a reaction of authority might be expected if that were their message. But it was not. They were not advocating the violent overthrow of the establishment.

Nor were they protesting against some of the social evils of the day.

There is not a word of protest raised against the widespread practice of slavery throughout the empire. Half of the Roman empire at this time were slaves — every other person was a slave. But nothing is said about that.

There is nothing said about the burdens of excessive taxation which the Romans had placed upon this people. There is no such protest.

The message which was so threatening that the authorities regarded it as too radical to tolerate was nothing more than the proclamation of Jesus and the resurrection from the dead. For this, Peter and John were thrown into jail before they could even finish the message.

And yet, because of this message, five thousand men in that great crowd in Jerusalem became believers in Jesus Christ.

Now, let me ask you: Do you think this could happen today? Would the authorities oppose a message like this today? Well, the clear answer of current history is: Yes, they would, and they do.

Two-thirds of believers around the world live under governments more repressive than the Roman Empire of the first century.

Believers everywhere face misunderstanding, ridicule, and even harassment by unbelieving friends, employers, teachers, and family members.

In some countries, converting to Christianity is punishable by death. No one is exempt from catastrophe, pain, illness, and death—trials that, like persecution, make us lean heavily on God.

First, of course, they proclaimed the great and exciting fact that Jesus Christ had himself risen from the dead — only seven weeks before this event took place –– and that they were witnesses to this fact. And not only Peter and John, but a band of a 120 disciples and then more than 500 could bear sterling witness to the fact that they had seen the risen Lord — not once, but many times.

And so powerful was that testimony, so convicting was that witness, that not one voice in all this vast crowd is raised to protest or challenge it. Instead, 5,000 are convinced of the truth of it, as 3,000 had been just a few days before, on the day of Pentecost.

They understand that this is true, that this dramatic event had occurred, that Jesus Christ, the man of Galilee, the prophet from Nazareth, had solved man’s most difficult problem — the problem of death.

Once in all history it had taken place. It had never occurred before; it has never occurred since. Oh, it is true that some have been brought back from the dead before by the power of God — a handful or so in history. But they were only returned to the same life they had before, and we would believe that they died again.

But here is One who comes back to a different level of life, who is resurrected, not merely resuscitated. He never dies again, and never will. This is the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus.

Here is a whole new level of life, a whole new realm of possibility for humanity. This dramatic breakthrough, they declared, had occurred in their own city just a few weeks earlier.

Second, they also preached the fact that the promise of the resurrection had been extended by Jesus to others as well, that he himself had said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” {John 11:25}.

He said, “Because I live, you shall live also,” {John 14:19}. And out of that open tomb has arisen a blazingly radiant, flaming hope which has gripped and held the hearts of thousands and millions since, through the centuries, who have had to face the fact and the experience of death.

Yet if that were all these apostles had to say, I do not think they would have created quite the stir they did. Because Judaism had a hope beyond death, as well.

This crowd was made up mostly of Jews, and they already knew from the Old Testament Scriptures that there was a hope beyond death. Pagan Romans and others were not aware of this, but the Jews knew.

But there was a third element that Peter and John proclaimed on this day which made all the difference in the world. It is the most dramatic element of all about the truth of the resurrection of Jesus.

They undoubtedly explained to these people that the death of the body, some day, is strangely linked, in a way that we do not fully comprehend, with the death which is at work in our inner lives, right now.

That is, death is all one thing, whether it takes place and affects the physical body some day, or whether it is taking place within the spirit of man today.

It is all of a piece. And that inner death is what we experience in a thousand ways — sometimes as loneliness, sometimes as bitterness, sometimes as emptiness and despair, as depression of spirit.

Sometimes it is a boredom, sometimes it is hate, sometimes it is malice and resentment and violence. Whatever it may be, it is not what God intended for man.

It is an enemy which has seized man and lives with him, sleeps with him, and eats with him, and haunts him in everything he does. The glorious proclamation of the truth as it is in Jesus we have peace instead of restlessness, acceptance rather than guilt, love in place of lust or hate, power to replace weakness, joy for mourning, beauty for ashes, hope for despair, courage in place of cowardice, and cleansing from all dirt and filth of spirit.

Now, would you not think that the authorities would be pleased with such a development? Would you not think that the rulers of the city would be happy that men and women were finding the answer to their life-long search? Why are they so irritated? Why are they annoyed and threatened by this event?

Well, it is clear that they sense something about it is a threat to them.

Acts 4:5–12 (ESV) On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, ⁶ with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

¹¹ This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. ¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

A tremendous declaration! You can see how seriously the authorities took all this by Luke’s careful list of those who were present. There was Annas, who was the honorary high priest, the father of Caiaphas. Then there was Caiaphas, who was the official high priest. And with them were gathered two of his brothers, John and Alexander — all of one family.

This confirms what we know from secular history — that this family of the high priest intermarried with one another and constituted a ruling class in Jerusalem, controlling the vast wealth of the temple and certain profitable monopolies connected with the sacrifices.

So here was the class that sat in power and authority in the city, who had great vested interests politically and economically throughout this city. And they are disturbed. They sense a threat to their power.

They are so disturbed, in fact, that without realizing what they are doing, they give Peter an open door for testimony such as he never had before. They ask him, “Tell us, by what power or what name have you done this thing?“

This is just what Peter is waiting for. He is delighted to tell them. And look how bold he is. What a contrast with that cringing disciple who was afraid of a little maid in the high priest’s courtyard a few weeks earlier!

Now there is a difference. He is filled with the Holy Spirit. The life of Jesus is being imparted to him by that Holy Spirit.

This is what the Holy Spirit does. When he comes into a human heart, his business is to take a risen Lord’s life and give it to you, to empower you, to encourage you, to strengthen you, to do whatever you need have done to make you adequate to cope with life. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

So Peter, filled with the Spirit, is bold — bold as a lion. Evidently the formerly lame man was right there with them, as well. In fact, later on the account says so. He was “Exhibit A” of the power and authority of the name of Jesus Christ.

Then to drive the point home Peter quotes from Psalm 118: “This is the stone which was rejected by your builders, but which has become the head of the corner,“ {cf, Psa 118:22}. This is the prediction of the resurrection in that amazing Psalm. It is where we get the verse we often quote: This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  has  made; let  us  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it.  {Psa  118:24  RSV}

What day? Why, the day of Christ’s resurrection, when God took that Stone which had been rejected by the builders, and made him the Head of the corner.

God had designed that Jesus of Nazareth would be the cornerstone of his government on earth, the rock upon which all human government should rest, and from which it would take its authority.

But the builders of various nations have rejected the Cornerstone. This is why no government can stand very long, why God’s program through history has been one of overturning, overturning, overturning, as Ezekiel says, until he shall come whose right it is to reign.

And  there  is  salvation  in  no  one  else,  for  there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given among  men  by  which  we  must  be  saved.  {Acts  4:12  RSV}

This is a startling declaration! It says that there is no other who can fulfill the place of being the cornerstone of authority in the world. No other name! None of the religious leaders, none of the political leaders of all time could possibly do this work.

There is only One adequately equipped, qualified to be the foundation of human government, the basis of human authority. You take all the religious names of history — Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Mahatma Gandhi, Ramakrishna, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy — whoever and whatever.

The most that can be said of these men and women is that they are moral teachers. The best we can say of them is that they taught what is right. Many of them did. They could tell us what was right; but they could not enable us to do it.

That is the difference between Jesus of Nazareth and any other name that can be named in this world. That is why we can never consent to considering any other name to be equal with that of Jesus of Nazareth.

No other has solved the problem of death. No other has broken through this ghastly terror that hangs over the human race — only Jesus of Nazareth. God has made him the head of the corner, and there is no other name by which we can be saved.

You see, we do not need someone to tell us what to do; we know what to do. Most of us know better than we are doing!

Mark Twain said, “I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do. I’m not doing half of what I know to do, now.”

This is exactly the truth. What we need is One who will change us, give us a new motivation, make us want to do what we ought to do, and make us over, give us a new heart, a new outlook, a new ability, a new capacity, a new life. This is what Jesus of Nazareth does again and again.

And this, my friends, is political heresy. Whenever this takes place it threatens all oppression and tyranny and totalitarianism, wherever it may be established.

The life of Jesus Christ is never against government; but it is against oppressive government. It is the foundation of Christian liberties, everywhere. There has never been a force more powerful and more vital to assure the liberation of men and women from oppression than this dramatic power of the resurrection. This is why it is hated by the totalitarian forces of the day, wherever they may be.

But the glorious thing is: This is what God intends. This is what he is going to build his kingdom on. Christ is the head of the corner. God, through the course of history, behind the scenes, as it were, of all the tumultuous events of our own day, all the tyranny and heartbreak and tears and anguish and sorrow that is going on all around us in the world, behind that facade,

God is working out his purposes. He is building a new humanity. And everywhere he is inviting men and women to become a part of it, by sharing in the risen life of Jesus Christ, and experiencing now the glory of a life of peace and joy and rest and strength and adequacy and power and meaning and fullness — now. This is what the resurrection means.

Now, you will never know that kind of power, and that kind of joy and love and peace, until you come to grips with Jesus Christ personally, yourself, until there comes a time when you ask Jesus of Nazareth, risen from the dead, to be part of your faith response that leads to being immersed in water in order to have sins forgiven…and be Lord of your life.

When you do that, earnestly and sincerely, he comes in, and you begin a new life in Jesus Christ. There is no other name — there is no one else — no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

Charles Hodges made this statement when beginning a discussion of John 11: “Take off your shoes, for John 11 is holy ground.” This is a “Hall of Fame” chapter. It requires the heart as well as the head. John 11 reveals the heart of Jesus.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was not our Lord’s last miracle before the Cross, but it was certainly His greatest and the one that aroused the most response both from His friends and His enemies.

John selected this miracle as the seventh in the series recorded in his book because it was really the climactic miracle of our Lord’s earthly ministry. He had raised others from the dead, but Lazarus had been in the grave four days. It was a miracle that could not be denied or avoided by the Jewish leaders.

If Jesus Christ can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing.

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable’ (1 Cor. 15:19). Death is man’s last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but Jesus Christ has defeated this horrible enemy totally and permanently.

1. THE FAMILY (read John 11:1-8)

Jesus had family and made disciples. John 11 reveals this “special family.” Bethany was a quiet suburb about two miles outside Jerusalem.

Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (11:3, 5, 36) So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

We usually think the reverse: “We love Jesus.” This is crucial. It is not our love for Christ; it is His love of us!

The sisters did not manipulate, obligate, or threaten Jesus with, “You know what he has done for You.” No! They knew Jesus loved him.

If only we could grasp this. The issue is not “self esteem.” The issue is “Jesus loves me.” This also touched John! Five times John entitled himself, “The disciple Jesus loved.”

This does not suggest “a pet” or “special disciple.” This really grabbed John! Jesus loved him! This will change your life too. Do not brag only about how much you love Jesus; grasp how much He loves you!

Then Jesus stayed away! This is shocking! He healed strangers but not His best friend! No doubt the disciples were perplexed about several matters. First of all, if Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why did He permit him to get sick? Even more, why did He delay to go to the sisters?

For that matter, could He not have healed Lazarus at a distance, as He did the nobleman’s son? (John 4:43–54).

God’s love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting love. The fact that He loves us, and we love Him is no guarantee that we will be sheltered from the problems and pains of life.

After all, the Father loves His Son: and yet the Father permitted His beloved Son to drink the cup of sorrow and experience the shame and pain of the Cross. We must never think that love and suffering are incompatible. Certainly they unite in Jesus Christ.

He saw in this sickness an opportunity to glorify the Father. It is not important that we Christians are comfortable, but it is important that we glorify God in all that we do.

Then Jesus told His disciples, “Let’s go.” They thought it was too risky and too dangerous. Then they thought that if Lazarus had merely “fallen asleep” it meant that he would get well.

Jesus said, “Lazarus is dead!” This totally shocked them! Jesus let His best friend die without any effort to aid! Read verse 37: ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Here is one insight: Martha had many friends. People like Jesus make friends. Many came to mourn.

2. MARTHA and MARY. (read John 11: 17-27).

Martha was quick to affirm her faith in Jesus Christ vs. 22), and Jesus responded to that faith by promising her that her brother would rise again. He was thinking of the immediate situation, but she interpreted His words to mean the future resurrection in the last day.

Our Lord’s reply is the fifth of John’s “I AM” statements. It is important to note that Jesus did not deny what Martha said about the future resurrection. The resurrection of the human body is a cardinal doctrine in the orthodox Jewish faith.

But in this I AM statement, our Lord completely transformed the doctrine of the resurrection and, in so doing, brought great comfort to Martha’s heart.

* To begin with, He brought the doctrine of the resurrection out of the shadows and into the light. The Old Testament revelation about death and resurrection is not clear or complete; it is, as it were, “in the shadows.” There are some passages in Psalms and Ecclesiastes that almost make one believe that death is the end and there is no hope beyond the grave.

* By His teaching, His miracles, and His own resurrection, Jesus clearly taught the resurrection of the human body. He has declared once for all that death is real, that there is life after death, and that the body will one day be raised by the power of God.

* He transformed this doctrine in a second way: He took it out of a book and put it into a person, Himself. “I am the resurrection and the life”! (John 11:25) We realize that we are saved by the Redeemer and not by a doctrine written in a book.

When we know Him by faith, we need not fear the shadow of death.

Jesus Weeps (John 11:28-35).

Martha cried over Lazarus; she also cried over Jesus. She rebuked Him; yet she still trusted Him. One must not determine the actions of Jesus. One must allow Him freedom to do His divine will. One cannot dictate to leaders. One must give leaders room to breathe.

It was not abstract theology; it was personal. Lazarus had to die for death to be grasped. A week prior to this, Jesus could have lectured to Martha about death. He could have diagrammed it on the blackboard. It would have meant little.

Our Lord’s message to the sisters did not say that their brother would not die. It promised only that death would not be the ultimate result, for the ultimate result would be the glory of God.

He wanted them to lay hold of this promise; in fact, He reminded Martha of this message when she balked at having the tomb opened (vs. 40).

When we find ourselves confronted by disease, disappointment, delay, and even death, our only encouragement is the Word of God. We must live by faith and not by sight.

Their situation seemed hopeless, yet the sisters knew that Jesus was the Master of every situation.

Conclusion.

John 11:25 (ESV) : Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus affirmed that believers would one day be raised from the dead. Then He immediately revealed the added truth that some believers would never die (and it is a double negative, “never never die!”) (vs. 26).

How is this possible? The answer is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 18. When Jesus Christ returns in the air to take His people home, those who are alive at His coming shall never die. They shall be changed and caught up to meet Him in the air!

This is the greatest statement on immortality: Jesus is the resurrection and the life! Jesus is not saying, “I will be resurrected.” He said, “I am resurrection.”

Lazarus was resuscitated or reconstructed. Time came, and he aged and died.

Jesus is resurrection. Lazarus had to die before Martha could wrestle with resurrection.

Then comes that million-dollar verse: “Jesus wept.” Jesus cares! He saw the hurt in Martha and Mary that He could have prevented. His friend lay a corpse. Others mourned.

“Jesus wept” is the shortest and yet the deepest verse in Scripture. His was a silent weeping (the Greek word is used nowhere else in the New Testament) and not the loud lamentation of the mourners.

But why did He weep at all? After all, He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:11).

Our Lord’s weeping reveals the humanity of the Savior. He has entered into all of our experiences and knows how we feel. In fact, being the perfect God-Man, Jesus experienced these things in a deeper way than we do.

His tears assure us of His sympathy; He is indeed “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3).

Today, He is our merciful and faithful High Priest, and we may come to the throne of grace and find all the gracious help that we need.

We see in His tears the tragedy of sin but also the glory of heaven.

Perhaps Jesus was weeping for Lazarus, as well as with the sisters, because He knew He was calling His friend from heaven and back into a wicked world where he would one day have to die again.

Jesus had come down from heaven; He knew what Lazarus was leaving behind.

Jesus sensed His mission—life in the presence of death.

Jesus could cry! We need shepherds who can cry! We need ministers who can cry! We need a church who can cry!

The church must not be suspicious of emotion. Look at the pathos, the profound humanity of Jesus! John 11 exposes the depth of Jesus!

3. Lazarus (Read John 11:38–44). Lazarus was dead! Since Palestine is hot without embalming procedures, the dead were buried quickly. To Jews the spirit also departed on the fourth day. Lazarus was dead! No question about it. This was the seventh miracle or sign of Jesus in John.

Jesus prayed. He preached in prayer. He gave thanks, and then He “hollered.”

Jesus “hollered” eight times in the New Testament (six times in John). From the depths of His soul, He cried with authority! Jesus is life! His best friend, Lazarus was held by death! You find, literally, life face to face with death.

Jesus saw the entire focus of His life and ministry. He called Lazarus back with profound fervor. The raising of Lazarus not only reveals how Jesus thinks but also how He feels.

A quaint Puritan writer said that if Jesus had not named Lazarus when He shouted, He would have emptied the whole cemetery!

Jesus called Lazarus and raised him from the dead. It was an unquestioned miracle that even the most hostile spectator could not deny.

Lazarus was raised from the dead by the power of God, and all who trust Christ have been given new life and lifted out of the graveyard of sin (see John 5:24).

Because of the great change in Lazarus, many people desired to see him; and his “living witness” was used by God to bring people to salvation (John 12:9–11).

There are no recorded words of Lazarus in the Gospels, but his daily walk is enough to convince people that Jesus is the Son of God. Because of his effective witness, Lazarus was persecuted by the religious leaders who wanted to kill him and get rid of the evidence.

The “trigger” to the cross was the resurrection of Lazarus, the seventh sign! The life of Lazarus is the death of Christ!

CONCLUSION. There are so many lessons in John 11:

When delays occur, God has a better time and a better way.

When death occurs, God has a better plan and better place.

A man is not ready to live until he is ready to die.

 

There is a beautiful moment in John 11:25-26 when Jesus decides to raise Lazarus from the dead. He looks at Martha and says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” This is the gospel message – Jesus is the resurrection, He is the life. Even though believers in Him will die, they will live eternally in Heaven because of Him.

Jesus resurrected three people during his ministry on earth. He raised the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17), the daughter of Jairus (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56), and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Although these individuals were given an extended life on earth, they would each still face death again. What Jesus offered through His death and resurrection was eternal relationship and security through Him.

If you have ever participated in an Easter church service, then you might be familiar with the call and response, “He has risen” “He has risen indeed.” This comes from the message of the angel at Jesus’ tomb. In multiple places we read “He is not here; he has risen” (Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:7). Jesus was on a mission, we see His death, resurrection, and ascension in Scripture. Jesus raised Himself back to life and then ascended to Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we too will be resurrected one day. The Gospel Project says, “Our resurrection will take place at the future return of Christ. When we die, we immediately enter the presence of the Lord, but the final resurrection has not yet happened. When it does, we will know it because Christ’s return will be known by all.”

New Testament Verse about Resurrection

1 Peter 1:3-5 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

2 Corinthians 5:15 – “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Romans 6:4 – “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.”

Although resurrection literally means to rise up or stand up, to a believer, resurrection means that their eternity is sealed in Jesus. Resurrection is one of the foundational beliefs of the Christian faith. It is by the grace of God that we have been saved though faith in Jesus and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. This means that we can live in victory – today, right now, in this moment – because of the finished work of Christ. Romans 8:11 says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

Just as Jesus resurrected Lazarus from his dead state, maybe there is an area that is dead in your faith right now? Ask the Holy Spirit for help, for anything idle in your faith to be renewed and that your life can be one of victory in Jesus. It is by His resurrection that we can live life in victory each day.

Jesus’ Resurrection as Evidence of His Divinity

What are other proofs that Jesus is God? One of the greatest proofs is the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, Paul said, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty.” Without the resurrection, there is no Christian faith. It is the crux of Christianity.

What are evidences for Christ’s resurrection? Specifically, there are documented eye-witness testimonies. It has often been said that there is more historical evidence for Christ’s resurrection than that Julius Caesar lived.[1]  In fact, Brooke Foss Westcott, a British scholar who lived from 1825-1901, said this: “Indeed taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.”[2] If we reject the evidence of Christ’s resurrection, then we will have to reject much of what we know about ancient history. We’ll consider evidences for the resurrection below.

The Case of the Empty Tomb

It is well attested historically that Christ died on the cross. Not only do we have the testimony of New Testament authors, but also ancient, secular historians like Josephus and Tacitus who recorded the event in their writings.[3] In addition, medical experts, using scientific research, have examined the circumstances of Christ’s crucifixion, including the fact that he was beaten to disfigurement before his crucifixion (Is 52:14, John 19:1-3), that people crucified typically died by asphyxiation (not being able to breath), and that he was pierced by a professional executioner to confirm his death (John 19:34), and concluded that Christ couldn’t have survived.[4]

After Christ’s crucifixion, he was buried in a rich man’s tomb. The tomb was sealed and guarded by soldiers. When Christ resurrected, there was a great earthquake, an angel appeared and rolled away the stone, and the guards ran away. Christ was no longer present in the grave, but his clothes laid on the ground (Matt 28:1-10, Mk 16:1-8, Lk 24:1-8, John 20:1-18). The empty grave was first found by some women followers, and then, they told Christ’s disciples. To account for the missing body, the Pharisees accused the disciples of stealing it and paid the guards a large sum to remain quiet (Matt 28:11-15).

Since Christ, without a doubt, died and was buried, we must ask the question, “Was there really an empty tomb?” This is a fundamental question that must be answered affirmatively to prove that Christ did in fact rise from the dead. We’ll consider a few evidences below:

1. Proof of an empty tomb is the fact that Christ’s body was never produced as evidence against the resurrection. Paul taught that the resurrection is the crux of the Christian faith. If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our faith is in vain (1 Cor 15:14, 17). Therefore, in order to stop Christianity from growing, all the authorities had to do was prosecute the disciples (including having the soldiers testify) and produce the body. However, there is no historical record of the disciples ever being charged for stealing Christ’s body.[5] Instead, the disciples were threatened to stop preaching the resurrection, flogged, jailed, exiled, and most were ultimately martyred. If the Jews had produced the body or even given an adequate explanation for the fact that it was missing, it would have ended Christianity before it began. However, they didn’t. The tomb was empty, and the body was never found.
2. Proof of an empty tomb is the fact that women were the first and primary witnesses of Christ’s resurrection (Matt 28:1-10, John 20:1, 14-18). Since women had such a low standing in ancient Jewish and Roman societies, it wouldn’t make sense for the disciples to fabricate a resurrection story with women witnesses. In fact, in a Jewish court of law, a woman’s testimony was not even admissible.[6] If the disciples were going to fabricate a resurrection story, they would have surely chosen the initial witnesses to be male. This shows that the Gospel writers faithfully recorded what happened even if it would have been embarrassing or unconvincing in their culture.[7] When women went to see Christ’s body at the tomb, it was empty. Christ had resurrected.
3. Proof of an empty tomb is the historical lack of tomb veneration. During the period Jesus lived, there were at least fifty tombs of prophets or holy persons which served as sites of religious worship and veneration.[8] With Jesus being the founder of Christianity, certainly early followers would have regularly visited his grave if his body was still there. However, there is no record of that.[9] This is further proof that the body was never found and that the tomb was empty.

The empty tomb is a necessary evidence of Christ’s resurrection. What are other evidences?

The Case of the Original Apostles

A strong evidence is that of the original apostles. Who were the apostles? They were twelve devoted followers of Christ who lived and served with him during his three years of ministry. However, when Christ was betrayed by Judas (one of the twelve) and taken by the Jewish and Roman authorities to be put to death for claiming to be the messiah, they all ran away, and some denied him overtly. Though they believed in him, they were not willing to die with him.

While the disciples served Christ, he spent a considerable part of his ministry preparing them for his death. He told them that he was going to die and be raised from the dead three days later (John 2:19). He told them that the Jewish authorities were going to put him to death (Matt 16:21) and warned that they would be persecuted for following him (Matt 24:9). He even taught them that to be his disciples, they had to be willing to take up their crosses—being willing to die for their faith (Lk 14:27). However, when everything Christ taught them happened, they fled. None were willing to die with him.

With that said, this leads to one of the strongest evidences for the resurrection. After Christ rose from the dead and appeared to his apostles, each of the remaining eleven were willing to be hated, beaten, jailed, exiled, and even die for their belief. Each of the remaining eleven died for Christ—declaring that he had been resurrected—with the exception of John, who spent the last part of his life exiled on an island for prisoners because of his faith (Rev 1).

If the resurrection were not true and was simply made up, one must ask, “Why would they die for something they knew was a lie?” If the resurrection was false, surely somebody would have broken and said, “OK, OK! We lied! We stole the body and hid him!” But none did. Not only Peter, the head apostle, but also his wife died for Christ. When his wife was being taken to be crucified, he encouraged her with, “Remember the Lord!” And when it was his time to die, he requested to be crucified upside down because he didn’t deserve to die like Christ. From a historical perspective, the apostle’s willingness to die for their belief in the resurrection means that they truly believed it. The apostles suffering for their belief in the resurrection is a strong proof that it really happened, especially when considering that each of them fled or denied him while he was still alive.

Michael Green, Principal of St. John College, Nottingham, said this:

[The resurrection] was the belief that turned heart broken followers of a crucified rabbi into the courageous witnesses and martyrs of the early church.  This was the one belief that separated the followers of Jesus from the Jews and turned them into the community of the resurrection.  You could imprison them, flog them, kill them, but you could not make them deny their conviction that on the third day he rose again.[10]

The Case of James, Jesus’ Brother

Further support for the resurrection is the conversion and martyrdom of James, the brother of Jesus. During Christ’s ministry, James did not believe in him, even though he witnessed the miracles. In fact, John 7:3-5 shares this about James’ and Christ’s other brother, Jude:

 So Jesus’ brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)

However, after Christ’s resurrection, he appeared to James. First Corinthians 15:3-7 says:

For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

After seeing the resurrected Christ, James converted. He not only became a follower of Christ but also an apostle—an official witness of the resurrection. He became the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13-21) and was known as “James the Just” because of his righteous character. Tradition says his knees were hard like a camel’s knees because of the callouses developed from long periods in prayer.

James even wrote his own epistle which begins with “From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad…” (Jam 1:1). James considered himself a slave of Christ. His belief in Christ not only attests to the resurrection but also to many other doctrines about Christ. It provides evidence for Christ’s sinless life and the virgin birth. James would have known more about these things than anybody else, and yet, he still believed in Christ. He not only believed in Christ, but tradition says he died a martyr, stoned by the Jews around AD 62.[11]

The Case of the Apostle Paul

Another evidence that must be considered is that of the apostle Paul. Paul was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). He was raised knowing Jewish law and the Greek and Hebrew languages. He studied under a renowned rabbi named Gamaliel (Acts 22:3 cf. Acts 5:34). As Christianity grew in popularity among the Jews, Paul zealously persecuted all who believed and taught it. He believed Christians were perverting the true way to salvation which came through the law, and not through faith in Jesus Christ. When Stephen attempted to preach the gospel to the Jews and was stoned for it, the Jews threw his clothes at Paul’s feet (Acts 7:58, 8:1)—demonstrating his consent of their actions. Later, Paul received permission from the Jewish authorities to imprison anybody who professed Christ. However, while on his way to Damascus, Paul had a vision of the resurrected Christ which blinded him. Acts 9:3-5 describes this experience:

As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!

In addition, in 1 Corinthians 15:7-8, Paul shared this about seeing the resurrected Christ and his call to apostleship: “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.” Paul considered himself “born at the wrong time” or “abnormally born” (NIV) because his call to apostleship happened after the resurrection, not before, like the original apostles.

Historians throughout the ages have been baffled at the historic figure of Paul—a Pharisee persecuting Christians, who professed to have seen the resurrected Christ, consequently converting, then becoming an apostle who preached to the Gentiles. He wrote almost half of the New Testament, was constantly persecuted for his faith, and died a martyr. It’s like the historical figure of Hitler, who persecuted Jews, becoming a Jew and the greatest proponent of Judaism because he claimed to have seen a resurrected Moses. It sounds ridiculous! Yet, that is what Paul claimed about Christ, which has always baffled historians.

Consider how drastic Paul’s change was: Not only did he profess Christ who he previously hated, but he also began to love Gentiles. Faithful Jews despised Gentiles. Jewish men commonly prayed a morning blessing thanking God they were Jews and not Gentile dogs, men and not women. But, after Paul’s conversion, he was now the apostle to the Gentiles, spending his life on missionary journeys throughout Asia and Europe, seeking to reach them. In addition, Paul was considered the liberator of women. Most Jewish teachers would not teach women, and some wouldn’t even look at them, to prevent lust; however, Paul championed the teaching of women and their dignity. In 1 Timothy 2:11, he says, “A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness.” This was radical during those days. Paul the persecutor of Christians, the racist, and misogynist now loved Jesus, Christians, Gentiles, and women!

Elias Andrews, a noted historian, said this:

Many have found the radical transformation of this Pharisee of the Pharisees the most convincing evidence of the truth and power of religion to which he was converted, as well as the ultimate worth and place of the Person of Christ.[12]

In Paul’s writings, he constantly spoke of his conversion and commitment to the resurrected Christ:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:7-8

But not only did Paul preach the resurrection, he also died for it. Tradition says he was decapitated in his second Roman imprisonment, around the mid-60s AD. His life is a tremendous evidence for the resurrection.

In fact, a story about two professors at Oxford who were initially antagonistic to Christianity shows the importance of Paul’s conversion. As stated by Josh McDowell in his book, More than a Carpenter:

Two professors at Oxford, Gilbert West and Lord Lyttleton, were determined to destroy the basis of the Christian faith. West was going to demonstrate the fallacy of the resurrection and Lyttleton was going to prove that Saul of Tarsus had never converted to Christianity. Both men came to the opposite conclusion and became ardent followers of Jesus. Lord Lyttleton writes:

The conversion and apostleship of Saint Paul alone, duly considered, was of itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a Divine Revelation.

He concludes that if Paul’s twenty-five years of suffering and service for Christ were a reality, then his conversion was true, for everything he did began with that sudden change. And if his conversion was true, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, for everything Paul was and did he attributed to the sight of the risen Christ.[13]

The Case of the Jews in Acts

Possibly, the strongest evidence for the resurrection is the conversion of many of the Jews who convinced Pilate to murder Christ. How is it possible that only weeks after Christ died, these Jews became followers of Christ? In Acts 2, Peter proclaimed the resurrection of the one they killed and called for their repentance and 3,000 of them were converted. Consider the following verses:

Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know—this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. Acts 2:22-24

Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:36-38

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added. They  ere devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:41-42

Why were they converted? They had to be convinced that the resurrection was true. Not only did 3,000 convert, but in Acts 4:4, the number grew to 5,000. Historically, the early church boomed in Jerusalem, and then because of persecution, it spread throughout the ancient world and exists today as the biggest religion in the world.

How is this possible? It’s baffling. (1) Some have tried to explain it away as a mass hallucination or dream. However, that makes no sense. How can thousands of people have the same hallucination? (2) Some have tried to explain it away as the development of a myth or legend. But again, that is illogical. Myths and legends can take generations to develop. They don’t develop while the original audience is still alive and, certainly, not a few weeks after the event. Conclusions that deny a literal resurrection just don’t make sense.

Again, the New Testament declares that after the resurrection, Christ appeared to the apostles and then 500 people over a period of forty days (1 Cor 15:6, Acts 1:3). These witnesses were throughout Jerusalem. The tomb was empty. The Roman soldiers, who typically would have been executed for failing to protect the tomb apparently were still alive (Matt 28:11-15), and the body of Christ was never found. The Jews who consented to Christ’s death had to be totally convinced of his resurrection, because after publicly committing to Christ, they would have been persecuted for their newfound faith. Probably, contributing to their quick conversion was the fact that right after Christ’s death, there was a major earthquake in Jerusalem and the bodies of other believers were resurrected (Matt 27:50-54). These Jews were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God and that he had resurrected.

Now it must be remembered, this isn’t just something the Bible teaches. These are historical facts about the birth of the early church, well-attested by ancient Jewish and Roman historians. Jesus resurrected from the grave! No other conclusion makes sense.

Conclusion

How do we know Jesus is God? What are some evidences?

Evidence for Jesus’ deity is his teachings. It is impossible to accept him as a good man, moral teacher, or prophet, which are the most common views of Jesus, while knowing the things he claimed, including being the Son of God. With the things he said and taught, he would either be a liar, lunatic, or demon.

Evidence for Jesus’ deity is the resurrection. As mentioned, there is no ancient historical event more variously supported than the resurrection. If we reject the historical evidence for the resurrection, we must reject much of what we know about ancient history, including the fact that Julius Caesar lived.

[1] Accessed 7/22/20 from https://billygraham.org/devotion/evidence-of-jesus/

[2] Bright, Bill. A Journey Home. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 2003.

[3] McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands a Verdict (p. 276). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[4] McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands a Verdict (p. 276-277). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[5] McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands a Verdict (p. 268). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[6] Accessed 7/24/2020 from https://www.gotquestions.org/why-believe-resurrection.html

[7] Accessed 7/24/2020 from https://www.gotquestions.org/why-believe-resurrection.html

[8] McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands a Verdict (p. 262). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[9] McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands a Verdict (p. 262). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[10] Accessed 1/13/2020 from https://www.josh.org/wp-content/uploads/Easter-Articles-Who-Would-die-for-a-lie.pdf

[11] Accessed 1/13/2019 from https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/did-james-the-brother-of-jesus-die-as-a-martyr

[12] McDowell, Joshua. More Than a Carpenter. Chapter “Did You Hear What Happened to Saul?”

[13] McDowell, Joshua. More Than a Carpenter. Chapter “Did You Hear What Happened to Saul?”

When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Matthew 16:13-18

Who was Jesus? In Matthew 16:13-18, when Jesus asked the disciples who people said he was, they gave various answers: He was a prophet, John the Baptist, the second coming of Elijah. Essentially, the answer people came up with was that Jesus was a righteous man or a good prophet.

But, when Peter was asked about Jesus’ identity, he replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now we should understand that this was a very controversial claim, one which ultimately led to Christ’s execution. Consider how the Jews responded to Christ’s claim of God being his Father in John 5:17-18:

So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

Jesus claimed to be equal with God, which was blasphemous to Jews. Likewise, in John 10:30, he claimed that he and the Father were one. His followers taught this also. In John 1:1-3, John said: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

The “Word” was John’s favorite name for Jesus. Jesus was the very communication of God. He was with God in the beginning and was God. He created the earth. Likewise, in 2 Peter 1:1, Peter called Jesus “our God and Savior.” This is what separates Christ from many other founders of religions such as Buddha and Muhammad; he claimed to be God and his followers taught the same.

Who was Jesus? Though Jesus taught that he was the Son of God and died because of it and his disciples taught the same and were persecuted for it, most today would not answer the question the way they did. Like the early Jews, they would say Jesus was a good man, a wise teacher, or a prophet but not God. For example, a secular book published by Cambridge Press in 2013 called Who’s Bigger? ranked Jesus as the most significant figure in all of human history by using quantitative analysis.[1]

Likewise, the Koran calls Jesus “the greatest above all in this world and in the world to come” (Imran v. 45) and describes him as “holy”—meaning without sin (Sura 19:19). However, when considering these high praises written about Jesus, both fall short of saying what Jesus and his followers said—that Jesus was God.

In this study, we will answer the question, “Was Jesus God?” We will do this by considering several evidences that point to his deity.

Jesus’ Teachings as Evidence of His Deity

As mentioned, the most commonly accepted view of Jesus is that he was simply a good man, moral teacher, or prophet from God. Something we must then ask: “Are these common conclusions about who Jesus was really feasible, considering all that Jesus said and taught?” Let’s reflect on a few controversial statements Jesus said:

1. Jesus’ Claim of Resurrecting Himself

Hypothetically, let’s say that during dinner time at a restaurant, a person stood on a table and started publicly declaring, “Shoot me! Shoot me! And, in three days I will raise myself from the dead!”  What would everybody think? They would probably question, “Is this guy OK? Did he forget his medications?” People would think the man was crazy, immediately call 911, and try to get him help.

However, that scenario is very similar to something Christ did while alive. In John 2:19, he said to a crowd, “Destroy this temple [referring to his body] and in three days I will raise it up again.” When considering Christ’s words, it would be illogical to call Jesus a good man, or wise, moral teacher. Good, moral people don’t go around encouraging people to kill them and declaring they will resurrect themselves.

2. Jesus’ Claim of Forgiving Sins

In addition, consider another illustration about the same hypothetical man. Outside of the downtown courtroom, this man is now claiming to forgive people who have been charged with crimes. As robbers, prostitutes, and murderers are escorted to jail, the man continually says to them, “I forgive you.” This would be fine if he had a personal relationship with these criminals and they had harmed him in some way, but the man doesn’t know these people and hasn’t been harmed by them. Only a person hurt by another can forgive his or her sins. Again, this would be strange.

However, this again mirrors something that Christ did. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus forgave the sins of a paralytic, which angered the religious leaders who were watching. Mark 2:5-7 details this:

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the experts in the law were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

As mentioned, the religious leaders were baffled by Christ’s words and considered it blasphemy. Who can forgive sins but God?

Most of us would find a person professing to forgive our sins whom we have not harmed very strange. Again, this is exactly what Christ did. Is it really possible that Christ could be a great moral teacher and say ridiculous things like this?

3. Jesus’ Claim of Judging the World

In addition to the previous scenarios, this hypothetical man is now standing at a major intersection and declaring to all who pass by that he is going to judge the world—separating people like a shepherd separates sheep and goats. The sheep will go to heaven and the goats to hell. Again, wouldn’t this seem strange and possibly scary? To make this even worse, this man claimed to be the Son of God and that only those who follow him are sheep who will go to heaven. Because of his teaching, many left their friends, families, and careers to follow this man.

These are all things that Christ taught and did (Matt 25:31-46, John 14:6). Is it really reasonable to accept Christ as a good man, moral teacher, or prophet from God considering his teachings? This is what C.S Lewis, a former professor at Cambridge University, said in his book Mere Christianity:

I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.  That is one thing we must not say.  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.  He would either be a lunatic… or else he would be the Devil of Hell.  You must make your choice.  Either this man was and is the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. … You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

It is impossible to consider what Christ said and did and yet take the common view that he was a good man, moral teacher, or prophet from God. He is either God, like he said, or he was a liar, lunatic, or demon. There is no middle ground.

What Jesus claimed and taught is an evidence for his deity. By itself, it is not very convincing, but it is an important evidence, especially for those who reject Christ’s claim of deity and yet accept him as either a good man, moral teacher, or prophet from God. What Christ taught and did doesn’t leave those as reasonable options.

What does the Bible say about resurrection?

What we know for certain is that the Bible says everyone who has lived will live again, and there are only two types of resurrection, one for believers and one for unbelievers. The only variable in all this is the type of resurrection we will participate in. Jesus said we will either rise to live, or rise to be condemned, and it will all come down to what we believe about Him.

What Does Resurrection Mean?

Growing up in church, we hear about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Do we ever think about how if Jesus simply died, we would not have Christianity today? The resurrection is everything to our faith. The death of Jesus was the necessary sacrifice for our sins, but the resurrection was the victory. Today we are going to study what this key word, resurrection, means.

When we think about resurrecting something, we are bringing back to life. Ephesians 2:1 tells us that we were once dead in our sins, but then Ephesians 2:4-5 goes on to say, “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!”

Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world, with perfect bodies, and there was no sin. When they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they sinned and death was the consequence. Our sins lead to death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ. Jesus had to resurrect Himself; He needed to defeat death for us so we could be brought back and restored to the life God intended for us. Sin separates, but Jesus resurrects.

Anastasis is the word for resurrection in the Greek. Strong’s Concordance says that Anastasia is “a standing up, i.e., a resurrection, a raising up, rising.” Helps Word Study shares, “Christ’s physical resurrection is the foundation of Christianity, which also guarantees the future resurrection of all believers (see Jn 6:39,40,44).”

Resurrection Seen in the Old Testament

Although resurrection is mostly thought to be in the New Testament, the concept is intertwined throughout the entire Bible.

James Street from Masters Seminary shares “Job himself in Job 14:14 says, ‘If a man dies, will he live again?’” He shares Job 19:26, which says, “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God.” Street explains, “Job does not know how God is going to do it, but he believes in his heart that somehow God will raise him from the dead.” Street brings up the point that Psalm 91:16 references David’s belief in salvation and that in Psalms 49:15 and 103:4 he believers resurrection would come through the Redeemer.

Of all people, Hosea knew what it was like to show forgiveness and reconciliation. He was called by God to marry a prostitute named Gomer who was continuously unfaithful to him, however he remained faithful and pursued her. This was God’s way of showing His relationship and loyalty to us as humanity. Hosea 6:2 says, “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.”

One of the most popular instances of Jesus’ foreshadowing is seen in the life of Abraham and Isaac. In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his one and only son of the covenant. Abraham believed that God would make a way, but was obedient to the point right before he struck his son dead on the altar. Jewish tradition holds that Isaac about around 25 years old. This meant that he was willing to allow His older father to slay him as a sacrifice for the Lord.

I cannot even imagine the pain and sorrow both father and son were going through. Thankfully, God stopped Abraham and provided a ram caught by the horns to be the sacrifice instead of Isaac. This moment of rescue represents the rescue that we have because of Jesus. This scenario did not play out the same way when God the Father sacrificed Jesus the Son on behalf of our sins. God gives us a glimpse into the pain and difficulty to send His one and only Son to the cross at Calvary to slay Him on our behalf.

Old Testament Verse about Resurrection

Isaiah 26:19 – “Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”

Ezekiel 36:26 – “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Daniel 12:2 – “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”

[1] Accessed 1/13/2020 http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975_2112269_2112278,00.html

I always am fascinated to watch footage of engineers taking down an old building by placing dynamite charges at strategic points so that the building implodes. By finding just those few load-bearing points in the foundation, the entire building collapses into a heap of rubble.

The entire Christian faith rests on one historically verifiable point: the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The apostle Paul says (1 Cor. 15:17), “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” Everything in the Christian faith rests on the historical truth that Jesus was raised from the dead. If you can explode that one truth, the Christian faith collapses.

But I need to clarify that we’re talking about objective truth. We live in an age that holds to a subjective, experience-oriented view of truth. But if Jesus was raised bodily from the dead, then He is the only truth and the only way to the Father (John 14:6). And this truth applies to every person. As Paul proclaimed to the Athenian philosophers, they should repent because (Acts 17:31), God “has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Jesus’ resurrection was at the center of the apostles’ witness. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached (Acts 2:32), “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.” He told the crowd that gathered after God used him and John to heal the lame man at the temple gate (Acts 3:14-15), “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” When the apostles were dragged before the Jewish Sanhedrin, Peter boldly proclaimed (Acts 4:10), “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.” (See also, Acts 4:33; 5:30; 10:40; 13:32-37; 17:18, 31; 26:23).

The emphasis on Jesus’ resurrection led church historian Philip Schaff to conclude (History of the Christian Church [Eerdmans], 1:173, cited by Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict [Campus Crusade for Christ], p. 190), “The resurrection of Christ is therefore emphatically a test question upon which depends the truth or falsehood of the Christian religion. It is either the greatest miracle or the greatest delusion which history records.”

At the same time, we must acknowledge that there are some difficulties harmonizing the gospel accounts of the resurrection. John lacks stories that the other gospels have and he includes stories that they lack or do not report exactly as he does. For example, Luke 24:12 mentions Peter’s visit to the tomb, but doesn’t mention that John went with him. John tells of Mary Magdalene’s early morning visit to the tomb, but doesn’t mention the other women who accompanied her. More differences could be cited. But as Leon Morris explains (The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans], p. 828), “The differences between the Gospels amount to no more than a demonstration that here we have the spontaneous evidence of witnesses, not the stereotyped repetition of an official story.”

Eyewitnesses report what they have seen and heard, but different eyewitnesses to the same event can report seemingly contradictory details that still are all true. For example, the late theologian Kenneth Kantzer had a friend whose mother was killed. Kantzer first heard about her death through a trusted mutual friend who reported that the woman had been standing on the street corner, was hit by a bus, and died a few minutes later. Later he heard from the dead woman’s grandson that she was riding in a car that was in a collision, she was thrown from the car and killed instantly. The boy was quite certain of his facts. Which story was correct?

Dr. Kantzer later learned from the dead woman’s daughter that her mother had been waiting for a bus, was hit by another bus and critically injured. A passing motorist put her in his car and sped off to the hospital. En route, he was in a collision in which the injured woman was thrown from the car and killed instantly. Although the accounts seemed contradictory, both were true! (Christianity Today [10/7/88], p. 23.) So while there are harmonistic problems, we can trust the different resurrection accounts.

John’s purpose for writing what he saw concerning Jesus’ resurrection, as well as all of the other miracles he reports, is (John 20:31), “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Thus,

The evidence for Jesus’ bodily resurrection should lead us to believe in Him as Savior and Lord.

So let’s consider five evidences in John’s Gospel for Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead.

1. The first evidence for Jesus’ resurrection: the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.

John (20:1) reports that Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb “and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.” This was a large, round stone placed in a groove in front of the tomb to secure it from grave robbers. It would have taken several strong men to roll that stone out of the groove. The Jewish leaders feared that the disciples would come and steal Jesus’ body and claim that He was risen. So they went to Pilate and got a Roman guard to secure the tomb (Matt. 27:63-66). They set a seal on the stone and were there guarding the tomb when an angel came and rolled away the stone (Matt. 28:1-4)—not so that Jesus could get out, but so that the witnesses to the resurrection could get in to verify that the tomb was empty! The guards reported what had happened to the Jewish leaders, who gave them a large sum of money and told them to tell anyone who asked that the disciples came at night and stole Jesus’ body while the guards slept (Matt. 28:11-15).

There are several problems with that story. The Roman guards would have faced the death penalty if they had fallen asleep while on guard. Even if they had dozed off, the sound of a group of men moving the heavy stone would have awakened them. Besides, after the crucifixion, the disciples were too depressed and fearful to pull off a grave robbery. And even if they had stolen Jesus’ body or bribed the guards to take it away, they wouldn’t then have endured persecution and eventual martyrdom to proclaim what they knew to be a hoax.

In addition to the stone being rolled away, the tomb was empty. Mary Magdalene was not expecting the resurrection, but when she saw that the stone was rolled away, she assumed that somebody had taken Jesus’ body. She immediately ran to the disciples to report (John 20:2), “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” This caused Peter and John to run to the tomb to see for themselves. John outran Peter, but he hesitated to go into the tomb. He stooped and looked in, seeing the grave clothes. Typically impetuous Peter brushed past John and went in. Then John went into the tomb and they both confirmed that Jesus’ body was not there.

If the Jewish leaders knew where Jesus’ body was, they would have produced it the instant that the apostles began proclaiming the resurrection. So the stone rolled away and the empty tomb both bear witness to Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead.

2. The second evidence for Jesus’ resurrection: the grave clothes.

John goes into more detail concerning the grave clothes than the other gospels do. In telling the story, John uses three different Greek words meaning “to see.” When John first arrived at the tomb, he stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in (John 20:5). He uses the common Greek word that suggests nothing more than sight. But when Peter got there, he entered the tomb and saw the linen wrappings (John 20:6). Here the Greek word has the nuance of looking carefully or examining something. We get our word theater from it. Audiences at a theater watch carefully so as not to miss any part of the play. Finally, John went in, saw, and believed (John 20:8). Here John uses a word that means to see with understanding.

What did Peter and John see? Jewish burials involved wrapping the corpse with linen strips and tucking spices into the folds to offset the stench of the corpse. The head was wrapped separately. Peter and John saw the linen wrappings with the face cloth rolled up by itself in an orderly manner, but Jesus’ body was gone. Grave robbers would not have taken the time to remove the grave clothes at the scene, but would have grabbed the body with the grave clothes and left. Or, if they had removed them, they would have left them scattered in a disorderly fashion. D. A. Carson (The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans/Apollos], pp. 637-638) observes, “The description is powerful and vivid, not the sort of thing that would have been dreamed up; and the fact that two men saw it (v. 8) makes their evidence admissible in a Jewish court (Dt. 19:15).”

When Jesus raised Lazarus, he was raised in his old body which was still subject to disease and death. So Lazarus couldn’t pass through the grave clothes, but had to be unbound by bystanders (John 11:44). But Jesus was raised with a resurrection body that is no longer subject to death. That new body is physical, yet could pass through the grave clothes, leaving them lying there intact. He later could pass through closed doors without opening them, as well as appear and disappear suddenly at will (John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:15, 31).

3. The third evidence for Jesus’ resurrection: His post-resurrection appearances.

Here I’m looking ahead to the rest of John’s narrative. He cites four post-resurrection appearances of Jesus: To Mary Magdalene (20:11-18); to the disciples except Thomas (20:19-23); to the disciples, including Thomas (20:24-31); and, to seven of the disciples, by the Sea of Galilee (21:1-25). Paul mentions several other appearances, including one to over 500 people at one time, many of whom were still alive when he wrote (1 Cor. 15:6-8). The varied circumstances of the appearances and the different personalities of the witnesses militate against hallucinations or visions. Even Thomas, who at first was skeptical, became convinced when he saw the risen Lord (John 20:27).

John Warwick Montgomery (History and Christianity [IVP], p. 19, cited by McDowell, ibid., p. 233) commented:

Note that when the disciples of Jesus proclaimed the resurrection, they did so as eyewitnesses and they did so while people were still alive who had had contact with the events they spoke of…. It passes the bounds of credibility that the early Christians could have manufactured such a tale and then preached it among those who might easily have refuted it simply by producing the body of Jesus.

A skeptic might counter that the reports of Jesus’ resurrection are all given by believers. Why didn’t Jesus appear to any unbelievers so that they would come to faith? Peter alludes to this when he preached to the Gentiles gathered in Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:40-41): “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.”

But the risen Savior did later reveal Himself to one militant unbeliever: Saul of Tarsus, later known as the apostle Paul. The only way to explain Paul’s dramatic conversion is that he saw the risen Lord Jesus. But he was shown unusual grace. Normally, God doesn’t reveal Himself to proud skeptics, especially when they have already rejected the light that He has given them. The Jewish leaders had rejected many witnesses to Christ (John 5:31-40), so He did not show Himself to them after His resurrection, except through the witness of the apostles, which they also rejected. They refused to come to Jesus to receive life, so they were given over to judgment. But for those willing to submit to Jesus as Lord, His post-resurrection appearances are a strong evidence of His resurrection.

4. The fourth evidence for Jesus’ resurrection: the changed lives of the witnesses.

John shows that none of the witnesses was expecting a resurrection. Mary Magdalene thought that someone had taken Jesus’ body (John 20:2, 15). Neither John nor Peter at first understood the Scripture that Jesus must rise again from the dead (John 20:9). All the disciples were fearful and confused. Thomas was depressed and doubting. But all were transformed into the bold witnesses of the Book of Acts because they became convinced that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. They were so convinced that the resurrection was true that many of them went on to die as martyrs.

John calls attention here (John 20:8) to his own change of belief when he saw the empty tomb and the grave clothes: “So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.” John and the other apostles obviously had already believed in Jesus, as evidenced by their following Him. So what did John here believe? He believed in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (see John 20:25, 27, 29). Dr. Carson (p. 638) points out that most of the early witnesses came to believe the resurrection after they saw Jesus alive from the dead, but John came to such faith before he saw Jesus in resurrected form.

Also, John 20:9 explains, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” The apostles’ understanding of the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus’ resurrection came later. What Scripture was John referring to? Isaiah 53:10-12 speaks of the Messiah alive and seeing His offspring after He has been led like a sheep to the slaughter. Psalm 22 describes Christ’s death by crucifixion, but in verse 22 the mood shifts abruptly as He proclaims, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” And in Psalm 16:10 Messiah proclaims, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” On the Day of Pentecost, Peter cited that verse and explained that it could not refer to the author, David, who was still in his tomb. Rather, it spoke of Jesus, whom God raised from the dead (Acts 2:25-32).

Also, there is another subtle change in the lives of the witnesses alluded to in our text. John 20:1 mentions that Mary came to the tomb on the first day of the week (Sunday). Church history affirms that the early church gathered for worship on Sunday, not on the Jewish Sabbath (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). Why would they change an institution that had been in place for centuries? They did it to proclaim and celebrate the Lord’s resurrection from the dead.

Thus the stone rolled away and the empty tomb; the grave clothes; the post resurrection appearances; and the changed lives of the witnesses, are all evidence that Jesus is risen. Finally,

5. The fifth evidence for Jesus’ resurrection: His unique Person and amazing claims.

Study the Gospel accounts of who Jesus was, what He taught, His astounding claims, the miracles He performed, and the prophecies He fulfilled. On more than one occasion He predicted His own death and resurrection (Matt. 16:21; Luke 9:22; John 2:19-22; 16:16-20, 28). His encounter with doubting Thomas shows that His purpose was to bring Thomas into a place of full faith in His deity. When Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God,” Jesus did not rebuke or correct him for overstating things. Rather, Jesus commended Thomas’ correct perception and faith (John 20:27-29). A merely good teacher, especially a devout Jewish rabbi, would never accept such worship from a follower.

Everything in the Gospel accounts about Jesus’ person and teaching argues against His being a charlatan or lunatic. The only sensible option is that He is who He claimed to be: the eternal Son of God in human flesh, the Messiah of Israel. He offered Himself for our sins and God raised Him bodily from the dead. He wants those of us who have not seen Him to believe in Him (John 20:29).

The British New Testament scholar, B. F. Westcott (cited by Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter [Living Books], pp. 96-97) said, “Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.” You may wonder, “If the evidence is so convincing, why don’t more people believe it?” The answer is: people refuse to believe in Jesus’ resurrection because it has personal implications that they do not want to face. If Jesus is risen, then He is the rightful Lord of all and I must turn from my sin and live under His lordship. Because people don’t want to do that, they refuse to believe in Jesus in spite of the evidence.

Conclusion: Here are four concluding applications:

1. Our faith in the risen Savior is grounded on solid historical evidence: Believe it and proclaim it!

Faith in Christ is not a blind leap in the dark. It is based on the apostolic witness, which is to say, the eyewitness testimony of credible men. I’ve always been bothered by the line in the hymn, “He Lives”: “You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart.” That is completely subjective. The reason I know He lives is that he predicted His resurrection and the apostles and many others saw Him after He arose.

Wilbur M. Smith concluded (Therefore Stand [Baker], p. 419, cited by McDowell, Evidence, p. 187): “If our Lord said, frequently, with great definiteness and detail, that after He went up to Jerusalem He would be put to death, but on the third day He would rise again from the grave, and this prediction came to pass, then it has always seemed to me that everything else that our Lord ever said must also be true.” When you tell people about Jesus, emphasize that they need to believe in Him because He truly is risen and He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.

2. Our faith in the risen Savior must include repentance and surrender to His lordship.

The demons believe that Jesus is risen from the dead, but such faith does them no good. Saving faith in the risen Savior means repenting from sin and bringing every area of life under His rightful lordship (Acts 17:30-31).

3. Be encouraged that the Lord does not cast us off when our faith is weak and our understanding is shallow, but He graciously leads us to deeper faith and understanding as we seek Him.

Mary did not yet expect the resurrection, but she loved the Lord and wanted to give Him a proper burial. Peter’s and John’s faith and understanding were very weak at this point, but the Lord graciously nurtured them along and later used them mightily. We serve a gracious and loving Savior who can sympathize with our weaknesses. Draw near to Him, especially when you’re confused or doubting (Heb. 4:15-16).

4. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the guarantee of our future bodily resurrection; so in your bodily weakness, hope in Him.

It is not news, especially to us who are getting up in years, that our bodies are subject to aging, sickness, and death. But the promise of Scripture is that since Jesus is risen, all who believe in Him will be raised and given new resurrection bodies that are not subject to sickness and death (1 Cor. 15:12-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 21:3-4).

The evangelist D. L. Moody told of a 15-year-old girl who was suddenly hit with an illness that left her paralyzed on one side and almost blind. As she lay in bed one day, she heard the family doctor say to her parents, “She has seen her best days, poor child.” But she was a believer and she quickly responded, “No, doctor, my best days are yet to come, when I shall see the King in His beauty.” (In James Boice, The Gospel of John [Zondervan], p. 1,400.) Her hope is your hope if your trust is in the risen Savior!