DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS?
SERIES: JESUS, SAVIOR OF THE LOST
by Ron Ritchie
Last Sunday was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of us who were
able to join with the Ray C. Stedman family to celebrate in his memorial
services. Those services reflected our love for our Lord Jesus Christ and
our thankfulness to him for allowing Ray to live in our generation with
his wonderful and faithful wife Elaine, his four daughters and their families.
Many of the men and women attending those services publicly acknowledged
that they were part of the Stedmans' extended spiritual family and that
Ray and Elaine were either their spiritual parents, friends, teachers or
mentors. As we listened to the many voices thanking God for Ray's life and
ministry we repeatedly heard the same theme: he sought to live out his life
before his ever present but invisible risen Lord and by his resurrection
power. And then he sought to encourage any who were willing to listen to
do the same thing. The last days of his physical life on earth were lived
by faith in the promise as spoken by Peter, "Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused
us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) Ray is now in the eternal presence of
the One whom he loved and chose to serve with his whole heart.
But we are left here, still on earth. And the question we need to ask ourselves
is, "Do we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ?"
The answer will determine how we live our earthly lives and where we will
spend our lives in eternity. With that in mind, let's look at Luke 23:50-24:12
to see what evidence we find for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
grave.
Jesus buried in a borrowed grave
Luke 23:50-53
And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council,
a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action),
a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom
of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he
took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut
into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
What we now call Good Friday was a dark, fearful, and strange day for the
disciples of Jesus Christ, as well as the people of Jerusalem, as they stood
around the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. The heavens were dark at
noon, a major earthquake followed, and the curtain that hung in the temple
between the holy place and the holy of holies was torn in half. The earthquake
opened the graves of recently buried saints, and they walked around Jerusalem
as a witness of the resurrection to come for all believers. Fifty days later
on the feast of Pentecost, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, would summarize
that dark Friday when he stated to the people within the temple area, "Men
of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to
you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through
Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-this Man, delivered up by
the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by
the hands of godless men and put Him to death." (Acts 2:22-23)
The burial of Jesus was most unusual in the context of those days. Roman
funeral ceremonies were dignified but simple among both the rich and the
poor. After a corpse was washed and anointed, it lay-in-state for a few
days and then was cremated. However, when criminals were crucified, they
were left on the cross as a warning to any who might be planning an assault
against the state. Once their flesh was picked off by the birds, their bones
were taken down and handed over to the family for burial. An exception would
be on the eve of festive occasions, when the family could ask for the body
of the one crucified so it could be buried. In the case of Jesus, not only
were the Romans involved but also the Jews, who wanted to have the body
of Jesus buried before Sabbath began that evening because of the Law as
stated in Deuteronomy 21:22-23, "And if a man has committed a sin worthy
of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse
shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the
same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile
your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance." (One
of the reasons the Jews have a theological problem with acknowledging Jesus
as the Messiah was because they believed he was cursed by God once he was
placed on the cross. The Christian answer is found in Galatians 3:13-14
which states that Jesus became a curse for us.)
If we look at the parallel accounts of the gospels (Matthew 27:57f; Mark
15:43f; John 19:38f), we are introduced to a wonderful man named Joseph
of Arimathea. He was a rich man and a prominent member of the Jewish supreme
court. We also know him to be a righteous man who was waiting for the kingdom
of God and who, in time, became a secret disciple of Jesus. Apparently,
during the trial Joseph did not agree with his fellow rulers concerning
their plan to crucify the Lord, and finally, after our Lord's death he decided
to come out in the open and declare himself a follower of Christ. This bold
step of courage came when he went before Pilate and asked for the body of
Jesus. Pilate, surprised that Jesus was already dead, had a centurion check
out Joseph's report, and when it was confirmed he released the body to him
(probably because he never believed Jesus was a criminal). This disciple
was joined by a fellow Pharisee named Nicodemus (John 3) who apparently
also had come out in the open as a disciple of Jesus. He was willing to
help Joseph bury our Lord and had brought about a hundred pounds of a mixture
of myrrh and aloes with which to anoint the body. This was to counter the
stench of decomposition which occurs quickly in a warm climate. After wrapping
Jesus' body in a linen cloth, they took him into a nearby garden, laid him
in a new tomb cut into the rock and "rolled a large stone against the
entrance of the tomb and went away." (Matthew 27:60) The prophecy of
Isaiah 53:9 was fulfilled to the letter: "His grave was assigned with
wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death."
Those of you who have had the privilege of visiting Jerusalem probably were
taken to a place called the Garden Tomb, discovered by Sir Gordon in the
nineteenth century. Ray Stedman and I visited that Garden Tomb in 1972,
and there I told him the story of my first visit some seventeen years earlier.
It was October of 1955 and I was a young Air Force corporal on leave in
Jerusalem. One cold morning, as I walked alone along the small side streets
just outside the Old City walls, I saw a door marked "The Garden Tomb."
I rang the bell, and an Arab gardener opened the door and invited me in.
When I asked him about the history of the garden, he told me that this was
the place where many scholars thought Jesus could have been buried. It was
close to the hill of Calvary and several tombs had been found carved in
the side of the cliff which matched the description in the Scriptures. As
I walked alone around that empty garden my mind went back over all the stories
that I had heard about Jesus, the cross, his burial and resurrection. Finally,
as I came up to the cave I realized that as a nonbeliever my life was spiritually
bankrupt. Stooping down, I entered that tomb dead in my trespasses and sins.
After sitting on the cold stone flooring for about half an hour, I stood
up and turned towards the small opening prepared to stoop again in order
to get out of the grave. But before I did I saw a small sign on the cave
wall that said, "He is not here for He has risen." And I agreed,
for during that half hour I had invited the risen Jesus into my heart as
my personal Lord and Savior.
It would be very difficult to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ
if you were the disciples who physically took his beaten and bruised body
down from the cross and wrapped that lifeless corpse in a burial linen.
It would be difficult to believe as you carried that body to a graveyard
and placed it in a new tomb. Eventually, they would believe that Jesus rose
from the dead, but first, others would confirm the empty tomb.
The women confirmed the tomb was empty
Luke 23:54-24:1-3
And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to
begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after,
and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. And they returned and prepared
spices and perfumes.
And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb,
bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled
away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of
the Lord Jesus.
Because the Sabbath was about to begin that Friday at sunset, the women
who had followed after Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb could not do anything
more. So they left to prepare spices and perfumes in order to return after
Sabbath to anoint the body of Jesus.
Matthew 27:62-66 points out that the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered
together with Pilate on Saturday and reminded him that Jesus, the "deceiver,"
had said, "After three days I am to rise again." They told Pilate
to "...therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until
the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the
people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse
than the first." Pilate gave them permission to send their guards and
seal the stone that was covering the tomb where Jesus lay.
These two days had to be the longest days in the disciples' lives-days of
fear, pain, and despair. All their hopes, dreams, and promises were scattered
to the wind.
On Sunday, at early dawn, the women came to the tomb, hearts heavy with
grief and sorrow, bringing the spices which they had prepared. They had
followed Jesus, cared about him, and even contributed to the financial support
of Jesus and his disciples. Yet, despite these relationships with Jesus,
and knowing all that the prophets told of the Messiah's life, death and
resurrection, as well as all the times Jesus told them about his death and
resurrection, they were not acting in accordance with this knowledge. This
was clearly illustrated a few weeks before the cross when our Lord's best
friend Lazarus died. Jesus met Martha, his sister, on the way to the tomb
and encouraged her with the words "Your brother shall rise again."
When she replied, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection
on the last day," Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and
the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone
who lives and believes in Me shall never die." (John 11:25-26) Martha
knew about the resurrection at the end of time, but she had not grasped
the reality that Jesus would be raised on the third day. It had not penetrated
her understanding.
It was the same with these women who were on their way to the tomb. Resurrection
was far from their thoughts. Their concern was over who would roll away
the stone for them from the entrance of the tomb. At that time they could
not know that the graveyard where the body of Jesus lay had been affected
by a second severe earthquake, "for an angel of the Lord descended
from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his
appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow." (Matthew
28:2,3) As they came into the graveyard in the breaking light and walked
toward the cave, they could see that the stone had already been rolled away.
And when they entered the tomb, they did not find the body of Jesus. The
stone was not removed for the Lord to get out of the tomb, but for the women
and the disciples to look in and see that he was risen.
The empty tomb of Jesus has created great conflict in thehearts of men and
women in every generation. They don't mind hearing the stories of Jesus'
life, ministry, death and burial, because they satisfy a need for some religious
tradition in their lives. These stories also do not challenge their philosophy
of life in which they believe they are "the captains of their own lives"
and accountable to no one but themselves. But the story that does challenge
them is the one about the resurrection of Jesus. For if he has been raised
from the dead, then that makes him the Son of God, the resurrection and
the life, mankind's only Savior, the King of kings and their final Judge
to whom they are accountable for their lives on this earth.
Not only does the world want to eliminate the possibility that Jesus has
risen from the grave, but many within the church struggle with this foundation
stone of the Christian faith. Some twenty years ago Ray Stedman and I took
a long walk on a warm fall day in Canton, Ohio. We found ourselves in a
section of that town where the trees were displaying their wonderful fall
colors and strolled past many churches. As we walked by one small church
Ray stopped and looked at it for a few moments and then said, "You
know, Ron, this town is filled with churches. In fact, there is almost one
on every street corner. And yet most of these congregations struggle with
the reality that Jesus has risen from the grave and now lives in their hearts,
and wants to release his "resurrection power" within them and
then through them to all they come in contact with each day to his glory
and their spiritual healing and joy." Here were churches, closed except
on Sunday, whose people did not seem to realize that day by day, by living
in the power of the resurrection, God could use them to change the community
in which they lived.
The women who had believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, could
not understand that he had risen from the grave on the third day as he said
he would. These women, at that moment, reflected the hearts of the great
majority of Christians today who are also living as if Jesus had never been
raised from dead by his Father. And yet, as written in a hymn by Alfred
Ackley in 1933, the key message of Christianity is:
"He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart."
So, not only did the women finally confirm the empty grave, but...
The angels confirmed the tomb was empty
Luke 24:4-8
And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold,
two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were
terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why
do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.
Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that
the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again." And they remembered His words...
This was the second time angels brought good news about Jesus. At his birth
angels appeared to shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem and said to
them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great
joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there
has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)
Now, at his resurrection, the angels show up again and ask the women, "Why
do you seek the living One among the dead?" Why do you seek the one
who said he was "the resurrection and the life" in a graveyard?
This was not a spiritual resurrection, but a bodily resurrection. It was
not the spirit of Christ which came out of the tomb, it was the body of
Christ. At the time of the death of her brother Lazarus, Martha had told
Jesus that she believed in the resurrection on the last day. Believing in
the resurrection was not difficult for the Jews to understand, but being
raised on the third day was. Jesus had told his disciples earlier, "Behold,
we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the
prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered
to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after
they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise
again." (Luke 18:31-34) At that time the disciples did not understand
what he was saying for it was hidden from them. But on that final Passover
God's plan of redemption was accomplished; followed by the burial of his
Son, who experienced the wages of sin which is death; followed the bodily
resurrection from the dead as the prophets foretold in the Scriptures.
Some two months before Ray passed from this life into eternity he came down
to Stanford Hospital for a checkup. Calling together the elders from PBC
Cupertino and PBC North, we met with him in the Fireside Room for prayer
and encouragement. As we sat in a circle I do not believe any of us will
ever forget his words to us. He told us he had cancer and that it was inoperable.
But he also said he was not afraid to die and that he was willing to "drink
the cup" the Lord had handed him. At the same time, he was willing
to have the elders anoint him with oil and pray for his recovery. But the
bottom line was not his will but that the will of the Lord be done. It was
a very moving and amazing hour as we sat with a brother who believed with
his whole heart, soul, mind and strength that Jesus had risen from the grave,
and because of that resurrection and the fact that he had placed his faith
in Jesus as his Lord, he also would be raised from the grave and live to
serve Jesus forever in eternity.
So the women and the angels confirmed that the tomb was empty and then....
The disciples confirm the tomb was empty
Luke 24:9-12
...and returned from the tomb and reported all these things
to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna
and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling
these things to the apostles. And these words appeared to them as nonsense,
and they would not believe them. [But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; stooping
and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his
home, marveling at that which had happened.]
The women, excited after having had this incredible experience, and though
they had not seen Jesus yet, by faith ran to the disciples to tell them
Jesus had risen from the dead. When they arrived at the place where the
disciples were staying they found Peter filled with remorse, Thomas' mind
filled with doubts, John's heart filled with grief, and the rest of the
men and women struggling with doubts and fear. The group was leaderless,
their hopes shattered, their future gone. Not one among the many hiding
behind locked doors believed that Jesus had risen from the dead though they
had been told over and over again by the Master himself that "...just
as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the seamonster,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth." (Matthew 12:40) The words of the women appeared to them as
nonsense but Peter arose and ran to the tomb to look for himself. There
he saw only the linen wrapping and went away to his home marveling. Over
the next forty days the Lord Jesus would appear to all the disciples, and
finally they would believe that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, and
the resurrection and the life.
Today, people in the world still think that the resurrection of Jesus Christ
is nonsense and continue to live in their sin of unbelief. This is in spite
of the fact that: (1) The women confirmed that the tomb was empty-telling
the disciples the good news, "He is Alive!" (2) The angels confirmed
that the tomb was empty-telling the women the good news, "He is Alive!"
and (3) the disciples confirmed that the tomb was empty-telling the world
in time the good news, "He is Alive!"
Paul wrote twenty years later to the new Christians in Corinth, Greece about
the absolute certainty of the resurrection of Jesus Christ: "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 raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that
He appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. After that He appeared
to more than five hundred brethren at one time...then He appeared to James,
then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born,
He appeared to me also." (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) Paul continues, "...if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your
sins....If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men
most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man
also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also
in Christ all shall be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:17, 19-22)
Some thirty years after he saw the empty tomb, Peter wrote, "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) A few months after the
resurrection Peter and John stood before the Jewish supreme court on charges
of healing a lame man. The judges wanted to know by what power, or in what
name, they had healed the man. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter answered,
"...by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom
God raised from the dead...And there is salvation in no one else; for there
is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we
must be saved." (Acts 4:10,12) He recognized and testified that it
was not by his power this man was healed, but that the resurrected Christ
was working in him and through him. And Christ is the only one who can heal
any of us. The word for saved is the same as the word for healed. This man
was healed physically to show that you can be healed spiritually.
Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? The angels did,
the women did, and the disciples finally did. Every Christian down through
the centuries has believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, for his resurrection is our only hope for eternal life, now and in
the life to come.
The afternoon memorial service for Ray C. Stedman closed with a moment of
silence. Then quietly but clearly we all heard the first haunting notes
of Amazing Grace from a lone Scottish bagpipe. We turned toward the
back of the room and watched spellbound as a tall Scotsman in a full Scots
plaid uniform marched slowly down the aisle as each note fell distinctly
on our ears and into our hearts. The fourth verse of Amazing Grace
reads:
"Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hast brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home."
Ray had lived his whole life and now it was time to go home. And he trusted
in the grace of God while he was living, while he was dying, and when he
arrived in eternity. He lived it out. There was a richness in his life because
he lived in the belief that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. But it
wasn't like a belief in fable or myth. It was a belief based on evidence
that had been presented. Ray's work on earth is done, but I can still hear
him reading the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:6-9: "...being always
of good courage, and knowing that while we are home in the body we are absent
from the Lord-for we walk by faith, not by sight-we are of good courage,
I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with
the Lord. Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent,
to be pleasing to Him." Ray has experienced his own personal resurrection
into the very presence of God because he had placed his faith in Jesus who
is the resurrection and the life.
In whom have you placed your faith for this life and the life to come? My
prayer is that you have placed your faith in Jesus, the risen and reigning
Son of God, and the only one in the universe who can offer you and me eternal
life.
Catalog No. 4280
Luke 23:50-24:12
65th Message
Ron Ritchie
November 1, 1992
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