Death To Life – The Resurrection of Jesus and Me
Good Friday was a day of darkness and hopelessness for the followers of Jesus. During their three years with Jesus they watched Him do amazing miracles: cast demons out of people (and into pigs), heal the sick and the lame, give sight to the blind, cure leprosy, calm storms on the Sea of Galilee, turn water into wine, feed 5000 with a few fish and loaves of bread, even raise the dead, and more. They thought they knew who this guy was – Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, sent to restore Israel to its former power and glory (OK, they got that last part wrong). So how was it possible that Jesus was dead, hanging on a cross, while the world around them scorned Jesus or even worse, paid no attention to Him at all? “What”, they probably asked, “is going on? Was He for real, or was He the greatest con man ever?”
The sight of Jesus, bloody, stumbling through the streets of Jerusalem on His way to Golgotha, hanging on the cross, speared in His side, and dying was so traumatic that all they could do was run and hide, fearful that they were next. Scripture does not tell us where they went. But on Sunday, 10 of the 11 had gathered in the upper room. Perhaps they all met there on Friday evening. Wherever they went, they were probably terrified.
So on Sunday morning, when Mary Magdalene told them that the tomb where they had laid Jesus was empty they probably thought the worst – someone stole the body. Probably disbelieving, Peter and John ran to the tomb. John looked in, but at first did not enter. But Peter, as impetuous as always, got to the tomb after John, ran right in. John followed. Sure enough, Jesus was gone. The tomb was empty. All that was left were the strips of linen that had been wrapped around His body. Jesus had been laid there Friday night, and now, Sunday morning, He was gone!!
They returned to the other disciples and reported what they had seen. But what did it mean? “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes” (John 20: 9, 10 NIV). They went back to their homes? What were they thinking?
But Mary Magdalene remained outside the tomb. And there she encountered the risen Jesus. He was alive! After speaking with Him, she ran to tell the disciples – Jesus is alive! Luke records how the disciples reacted to the Mary’s encounter with Jesus (in Luke’s Gospel Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and others brought the news of the resurrection to the disciples. In John’s account it was only Mary Magdalene): “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24: 11). I like the Message translation of this verse: “But the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it up.” I am sure that would be my reaction also. Friday had been so dark, hopeless, and brutal. “How is it possible”, I would think, “given that terrible Friday when it seemed that Jesus and all of His ministry had been totally destroyed, that Sunday could be so full of life?” But that is often God’s way.
Later that evening they gathered again together in the room with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. It was then that the risen Jesus appeared among them. Apparently He had ‘walked’ through the walls into the room. Scripture says, “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” That might be the greatest understatement in the entire Bible. I would have fainted. Now they believed!! They had seen Jesus – fully alive and well. I can only imagine (by the way, I saw that movie last night. A+) what they were experiencing – joy for sure, celebration, relief, guilt, some shame perhaps, and faith come to my mind.
The disciple Thomas was not with them that night. When the others told Thomas they had seen Jesus he was skeptical. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hand and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it” (John 20: 25 NIV). In spite of the testimony of 10 of his closest friends and partners in ministry, Thomas doubted.
A week later, while they, including Thomas, were in the same room, Jesus came and stood among them again. Thomas was able to touch Jesus, to put his hands in the nail holes. “Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” And then Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20: 29 NIV).
I suspect a lot Christians today are in the same place that Thomas was. I have heard a lot of Easter sermons. Many of them have attempted to prove that the resurrection happened, almost like the Church is on the defensive. Usually they remind us of what Paul wrote:
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith . . . But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins . . . If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. “
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15: 12 – 20 NIV).
The resurrection of Jesus is the proof and the promise that we too will be resurrected after we die; death is not the final word in our lives. Jesus defeated death. We, His followers, will experience the same victory! When we believe this truth, it profoundly changes how we live and experience life now.
More than most men, the apostle Paul experienced the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. In his letter to the church in Rome he wrote this about the resurrection:
“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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” (Romans 6: 1 – 4 NIV).
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5: 17 NIV).
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3: 1 – 3 NIV).
The resurrection of Jesus radically impacts our lives today, in this world, not just our eternal lives.
When we repent, believe, and choose to follow Jesus we enter into His death. We choose to deny ourselves, which means to pick up our crosses and crucify our self- lives. We experience our own, personal Calvary – in some cases, every day. But by entering into His death through the crucifixion of our self-life, we also experience His resurrection – we are resurrected now, not just after our lives come to an end. Our resurrection is manifested in the “new life” that Paul wrote about; we begin to live the new life the moment we repent and believe. In other words, we enter and live with Jesus in the Kingdom of God.
Has your life been transformed by Christ? Are you living a new life? Do you know men or women whose lives have been radically transformed by their relationship with Jesus? These new lives, yours and theirs, are resurrected lives. We were all living in death and darkness – in a tomb – cut off from life and light. Paul tells us that we were dead in our transgressions and sins in the life we were born into. When Jesus touched us with His Holy Spirit, He “qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1: 12 – 14 NIV).
Jesus brought us from darkness into light, from the kingdom of the world into the Kingdom of God; He brought us from death to life. That is resurrection — supernatural transformation from anger to peace, hatred to love, resentment and bitterness to acceptance and forgiveness; fear and worry to confidence and trust. True, it is a process, but it is real change. It is tangible and demonstrable. This new life is only possible when we are ‘in Christ’.
And that resurrection is not possible unless Jesus was resurrected first. My resurrection and the resurrection of all the followers of Jesus – billions of us over the millennia – is proof that Jesus was resurrected 2000 years ago.
The resurrection of Jesus transcends time and space. His resurrection is the proof and the promise that we too will be resurrected after death – in another time/space continuum. John tells us that this resurrected life will be lived here, on a new earth, when the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and the old heaven and old earth pass away.
But, our resurrection here on earth in this time/space continuum – the new life that we live today when we repent and believe – is the proof that Jesus was resurrected in the past. If the resurrection of Jesus did not occur, then our new life and faith would not be possible.
There can be no true life for any of us – a life of freedom, power, hope, joy, and peace – apart from resurrection. We were all born into a life of slavery and bondage — life in the kingdom of the world. We all need, and most of us want, to be resurrected, even unbelievers. But the truth is that people cannot resurrect themselves, although mankind has been trying to do just that since expulsion from the Garden of Eden. No, we need a savior, One who makes our resurrection possible by laying down His life so that we can be born again. With His death and resurrection, my new life is possible. When I receive His gift, I can experience the life Paul describes: “it is for freedom that Christ has set me free” – freedom from death, sin, fear, and worry as I follow Jesus and live a repentant life.
That gift is available to every human being – all races, ethnic groups, independent of economic and educational status, sexual orientation, and country-of-origin – any human being, no matter what their ‘old life’ was like, who is willing to receive the gift of resurrection life, repent of their sins, and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior — who are willing to live their lives from this point on ‘in Christ, which means living within the sphere of His power and authority. In other words, living in an intimate relationship with the resurrected Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God.
The resurrected life now and for eternity is the free gift from God paid for by the death of His Son on the cross, marked by Good Friday; and the raising to life of Jesus, marked by Easter. The two are connected – there can be no resurrection without death. This was true for Jesus; it is also true for me. The death of my ‘old life’ was followed by resurrection to my ‘new life’. The new life begins now and lasts for eternity. At some point I, and all of the followers of Jesus, will experience a second resurrection back on a restored earth. Beginning now, I will never live under the shadow of death again. That is Good News. And that is why we call the day Jesus died “Good Friday” and why we celebrate Easter or Resurrection Sunday with such joy, thanksgiving, and anticipation.
Like the Disciples, living the resurrected life,
John