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The Resurrection of Christ: The Power Behind it All! Introduction: This was sent to me over the internet: A man and his ever-nagging wife went on vacation to Jerusalem. While they were there, the wife passed away. The undertaker told the husband, "You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here, in the Holy Land, for $150." The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home. The undertaker asked, "Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend only $150?" The man replied, "Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead. I just can't take that chance." Let me quickly say, these are not my sentiments. I would pay the $150. It goes without saying that this man did not know the nature of the resurrection of Christ. A. The Scriptures without hesitation reveal that not only did Christ die for us; He was raised bodily from the grave. This underscores everything that we believe about Jesus, the Godhead, doctrine, life, and hope for the child of God. Nothing is as important as this fact from Scripture. Without the resurrection, Christ’s death means nothing. For in the resurrection we see the hope of all the promises of God revealed and declared. Resurrection powerfully declares that our sins have been forgiven, that punishment has been rendered, that there is a life after we are dead and gone from this earth. B. We will begin this brief study with a quick look at the resurrection in the Old Testament, then the teaching of Jesus, followed by the resurrection of Christ in early Christian preaching. C. After that we will look at some of the important theological implications and practical applications of the resurrection of Jesus. I. Old Testament Understanding of the Resurrection A. It must be understood that many of the passages that we interpret from Job and Psalms and a few of the other books of the OT are understood in the light of NT revelation. In other words we read back into the passages our understanding of the resurrection of the righteous. However, the resurrection of the dead was not clearly understood or revealed in the OT. If you were a Hebrew, up until the revelation by Christ and the apostles, “resurrection” would have still been a mystery. B. Certainly there are some passages which speak of Christ’s resurrection, and a few of the resurrection of the righteous, otherwise we would not have the division of beliefs between the Sadducees, who did not believe in the after life, and the Pharisees who did. 1. David, in the Psalms did not fully understand his words when he wrote the passage quoted by Peter in Acts 2. (cf. Ps 16:10; Acts 2:31). 2. Nor did the prophet Jonah understand he would be used as an example of the resurrection by Jesus (Mt 12:40). And I doubt that any of the Jews or the disciples of Jesus perceived that Jesus was speaking of His own resurrection in using the illustration of Jonah. 3. For most of the Jews (Pharisees), Daniel 12:1-2 becomes the principle text which speaks of a general resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. C. In the NT era, one religious group in Palestine did not embrace the resurrection as a true doctrine: the Sadducees (cf. Mark 12:18). 1. The Sadducees believed in the Law, but only as it pertained to teaching them how to live morally. But for the most of them, you could adjust the Law as customs dictate. The supernatural such as angels, spirits beings, resurrection, etc. were all subject to question and often, especially the leaders, rejected. The Sadducees of Jesus’ day the primary rulers in charge of the temple. They derived their income from monies collected from the sale of sacrifices, and in some cases bribes for political favor. They were the rich aristocrat with political ties. 2. They had it made. They were the elite, so why should they be thinking about the world to come, of some spiritual realm where creatures fly around with wings! They had it good in this life. 3. Nowadays, the new elite are the intellectual elite. They, even more than the wealthy, are the ones who typically reject the supernatural. (Just note the majority of professors in the American universities today.) D. The Pharisees were those who believed in the resurrection. They could see through their constant study of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms that there were things beyond this world. Sheol was a place not only for the dead but departed spirits. Spirits could be summoned from the dead (2Sam 28), and there would one day be a resurrection (Dn 12:1-2). 1. But what they did not understand and believe is that Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, being just a man, could and would be raised from the grave. 2. They were more concerned with “swearing by the temple,” than believing in “He who dwells in the temple;” more concerned with “the offering” than that which sanctifies the offering; more concerned with cleaning the “outside” of the container than the inside. And in Jesus case, they were more concerned that He keep the Sabbath than that He was the “Lord of the Sabbath.” (cf. Mt 23) 3. They were sticklers for the Law yet rejected the resurrection that gave the Law it’s power. E. Christians should prize the resurrection as the crown and power of all doctrines of the Bible. 1. To the extent that the resurrection is not significant to you, to that extent you are not considering yourself a citizen of heaven. 2. As Paul told the Colossians (3:1-2), “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” II. The Resurrection of Christ in Early Christian Preaching A. In this series of lessons we have put great emphasis on the death of Christ and rightfully so. But to only emphasis the death and neglect the resurrection is to make the gospel powerless. B. The gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. Why? 1.Both because it is a message about a dead Jew hanging on a Roman cross that purports to have some relevance to my life; and because that a dead Jew allegedly came to life again. 2. And precisely because of this, He can forgive my sins! Now that is a foolish message . . . to those who are on their way to hell. And admittedly, it took plenty of persuasive powers for God to convince us otherwise. C. The early church took the resurrection of Christ seriously. It was the cornerstone of their preaching. Look at the sermons in Acts: 1. Acts 1:22 (criterion for selection of an apostle)--”one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 2. Acts 2:23-24, the keynote in Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost: “this Jesus, who was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, having destroyed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” 3. Acts 3:15 (Peter’s second sermon)--”you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” 4. Acts 3:26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” 5. Peter and the disciples proclaimed the resurrection. Acts 4:2 “they were preaching in Jesus the resurrection from the dead”-.“And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.” (4:33). 6. At the beginning of the preaching of Paul he proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 13:30, 34) 7. Luke writes concerning Paul’s preaching, “he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’” (Acts 17:2-30). (cf. 17:18, 31; 23:6; 24:21; 26:23). 8. Paul made it abundantly clear that the church embraced the resurrection as both true and central to the preaching of the gospel. “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you holdfast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered 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 buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures . . . “ (1Co 15: 3-5). D. What does it matter if we believe or do not believe in the resurrection? 1. There are some in our society who say, “Don’t we want to make the gospel acceptable to the ‘modern’ mind? Wouldn’t it be easier to teach if there were no supernatural intervention or event that would make people question our sanity? Isn’t it better to appeal to the ‘intelligent’ mind by showing them a better way to live and not bring up this notion or myth of resurrection?” 2. Paul and the early church would have a hard time with such an attitude. They faced the same barriers of belief that we face today. Nothing has changed. There are “intellectuals” who still reject the resurrection. 3. There are individuals, some of a “Christian” religious persuasion, who argued that even if Christ were not raised from the dead, Christians are better off than others because we have embraced a great ethical system that kept our lives clean. 4. Paul argued that we, of all people, should be pitied the most. For him, ethics meant nothing if Christ were still dead. To Paul, truth was the cornerstone of ethics, not a lie. (1Co 15:12-19). Transition: What are the ramifications of the resurrection? Why does it matter? (That’s what we will find out tomorrow as we read Scriptures tomorrow.)