Resurrection Continued

By Titto Thomas

In the last couple of posts, Sidharth introduced the biblical reality called resurrection. In this post we delve deeper into this. 

Let’s start with this key verse “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV).

To fully understand the term resurrection, we must first comprehend the term ‘death’. Death simply means separation–separation of the body from the soul (physical death), or separation of the spirit from God (spiritual death, Romans 5:17). Resurrection, however, is just the opposite–it is a reunion.

We know that Jesus defeated death and rose again, but we also ought to remember that he was not the first person to do so. There are a number of references in the Old Testament where people rose from the dead. For example, a dead man sprang back to life when his body was thrown onto Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:21). In the Gospels too, we find people being raised from the dead, the most documented of which was the resurrection of Lazarus’s. Even at the time of Jesus’ death, a multitude of people rose from the dead (Mathew 27:52).

So, how is the resurrection of Jesus unique? How does it stand out from the rest of the cases we pointed out? To answer this, let me ask you if those resurrected people are alive today. The obvious answer is “of course not!” Everyone who was resurrected is no longer around today, because they died later on–except for Jesus. He was the first person to conquer death and rise back to immortality (never to die again).  And by doing so, he defeated death itself. But what is this claim based on?

Although we witnessed the resurrected savior when we first met with the Lord, there are other tangible proofs which clearly document Jesus’ resurrection. We are well acquainted with historical, prophetical (Matthew 12:40), and archeological proofs, but there is one logical proof which demands recognition. Many people are willing to die for the truth, many actually die for a lie they believe to be true, but it goes beyond reason to die for something which you know is a lie. Consider then how Jesus’ 11 disciples died. They all chose death (save John, but then he received persecution for the same question) over renouncing their faith in Jesus.

All of them claimed witness to the resurrected Lord, meaning one of two things: either the disciples believed it to be true, or they knew it to be true. But if they merely believed, there is room left for doubt and uncertainty. I am fully convinced that a person would not give their life for something they were uncertain of. In other words, the disciples were not delusional or uncertain about it. Rather, they witnessed the resurrected Christ and they died for the truth! These lowly fisher folk—one of whom could not even summon the courage to talk to a servant girl—that went around turning the world upside down and then laying down their very lives for the Gospel. If, as the Jews claimed, they had hidden Jesus, they would never have been able to stand like they did. But rather, they had seen the risen Lord, and had in fact dined with him. This knowledge of the truth is what changed them for eternity. Anyone who denies the resurrection is obliged to justify the disciple’s response.

Now that we know why Jesus’ resurrection was so unique, let us consider its significance. Right from Jesus’ birth, He had numerous attempts on his life. But God had appointed a time for his death and when that time came he was crucified. Just like scriptures foretold, Jesus rose back from the dead on the third day. Death could not contain him, Hallelujah! This resurrection is the testament of his complete victory on the cross. Yes, He had died (bodily) for your sin and mine, but now he is alive(bodily alive) for your justification and mine (Romans 4:25). He won the battle and the enemy was defeated. Hence the resurrection was a sign of His victory and proof of His everlasting kingdom.

The resurrection factor is what makes the Christian faith so unique over all other philosophies, ideas and religions of the world. Our Lord did not just claim to be Lord but proved it by conquering death itself. Many ‘good’ people have come and gone, some of them have preached a lot of ‘good things’. But when their time was up, they died. Death had conquered them all!

 You can sense the euphoria in Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 15 as he speaks about the Lord’s resurrection. Paul patterns it to show that the resurrection factor is what portrays the supremacy of Christ. He then goes on to say that our very faith rests on this fact. He was resurrected for our justification and is now seated at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-60). In the next post I will show you how this relates to our future hope.

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