The Resurrrected Christ

The first fifteen verses of Matthew 28 present in very specific detail the events surrounding the Resurrection of Jesus on that wonderful first day of the week.  Matthew says, "After the Sabbath, at dawn..."(vs. 1), the first Lord’s Day.  I cannot imagine the emotions felt by those women who went to the tomb.  Obviously, there was a sense of confusion and great sadness...however, that sadness quickly turned to wonder and amazement.  They were invited by an angel to enter the tomb and examine it contents.  What was found in the tomb were the strips of linen and the face cloth, accompanied by the declaration from the angel, "...go quickly and tell His disciples: 'He has risen from the dead" (vs. 7).

The empty burial cloths that had once bound Jesus' body and lay there on that stone bench are not unlike an empty cocoon. Once bound to this earth in the form of a caterpillar, a beautiful butterfly has emerged and flown away.  Jesus, in His physical body was bound to this earth but following His death, burial and resurrection, the beauty of His glory, which He sought so much as voiced in His prayer to the Father in John 17:1, has left the cloths and grave behind.  Mark's record of the Resurrection Day tells us of the angel’s words: “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.” (Mark 16:6-7)

The victory that we have over this life is accomplished in that glorious day...the day of Resurrection.  When the angel declared to the women at the grave that “Jesus was risen just as He said,” every one of us who would believe in Him as God’s sacrifice for Sin became recipients of God’s promise of eternal life with Him. (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 28; 3:5, 12, 21).

To those of us who believe on the Name of Jesus, the significance of the Resurrection:

1. Proves that Jesus is the Son of God

2. Verifies that the Word of God is true

3. Assures our future resurrection

4. Proof of a future judgment for those who reject Christ

5. Basis for Christ’s heavenly priesthood interceding for us

6. Gives power for Christian living

7. Assures our future inheritance – a living hope making possible hopeful living

When the followers of the Lord gathered that first Lord’s Day, they were discouraged and defeated.  However, when God’s people gather today on the Lord’s Day, we bear witness that Jesus is alive, is with the Father in heaven, and is coming again to call us home. *

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* Wiersbe, Warren, “Be Loyal”, The King’s Victory (chp. 26), pg. 265-66



Jesus Crucified

"Man of Sorrows"

by Phillip Bliss, 1875

1 Man of sorrows what a name
for the Son of God, who came
ruined sinners to reclaim:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
2 Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
in my place condemned he stood,
sealed my pardon with his blood:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
3 Guilty, helpless, lost were we;
blameless Lamb of God was he,
sacrificed to set us free:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
4 He was lifted up to die;
"It is finished" was his cry;
now in heaven exalted high:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
5 When he comes, our glorious King,
all his ransomed home to bring,
then anew this song we'll sing:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Phillip Bliss lost his life in a train wreck in Ohio in 1876 at the age of 38. One year prior to his death, he wrote "Man of Sorrows."  From a deep movement of the Spirit of God, Bliss penned these words and we continue to be blessed by the picture they present.  The suffering that Jesus bore on that cross cannot be imagined in the mind of the today's believer however it was a kind of suffering that caused even the Roman populace to refuse to mention the word "cross."

King David wrote in Psalm 22:16 "they pierced my hands and my feet."  Jesus was made a curse for us, for "cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree." (Deut. 21:23).  The evil that took place that day was overcome by the work God was accomplishing according to His divine purposes.

Mocked by the soldiers; mocked by the Jews; and rejected by the Father, this Man of Sorrows was crucified on a cruel cross fulfilling the prophetic plan of God set in motion from the beginning of creation.  Jesus was led outside the city to the place of execution.  Awake all night; scourged and abused by the soldiers...Jesus was in a very weakened state and unable to carry His cross...He was exhausted.  Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, had come to Jerusalem to sacrifice his Passover lamb however he was recruited to carry the cross for the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Immediately on Golgotha's hill, Jesus was hung on His cross and over His head was a sign (placed by the Roman soldiers) that read: "This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."  In that darkest hour of recorded history it seemed that all was lost, it was that moment when it seemed that all was lost...the Father turned His back on His Son!  Sin so engulfed Him that God could not look upon His beloved, only begotten Son.

Yet, it was at this very moment when hope for all generations was provided.  The death of Jesus gave "victory" over the judgment of sin whose condemnation was destroyed for all who would call upon the Name of Jesus in faith.  The concomitant resurrection sealed the fate of Satan and gave life everlasting to those who would believe and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Indeed, "death was swallowed up in victory!" 

The "Man of Sorrows" has truly become "King of kings and Lord of lords."

Jesus:Majestically Silent

After being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was taken to a hastily arranged meeting of the Jerusalem, or Great, Sanhedrin. The word Sanhedrin means "gathering" and as the governing body in Judea under Roman rule, the Chief Priest, a Sadducee, had called together the 70 other members of this body to both illegally and unjustly confront Jesus.

On many occasions, Jesus had condemned these men as "white washed sepulchers" and as "evil leaders of an evil people."  The stings of His jabs at them had brought them to this point of condemning Him and calling for His death.

Caiaphas' arranged and paid for so-called witnesses were quickly shown to be unreliable and the hour was drawing close to daylight, so he challenged Jesus to answer the charges.  Sometimes, silence can be deafening and this night presented itself to be just such a time.  Majestically standing before his accusers, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter; and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."

Dr. John MacArthur wrote, "It was the silence of innocence, the silence of dignity, the silence of integrity, the silence of infinite trust in His heavenly Father.  It was a silence in which the lying words against Him reverberated in the ears of the guilty judges and of the false witnesses they had bribed. Goaded by that silence, which accentuated the travesty of justice over which he presided, the enraged high priest continued to badger Jesus, saying, 'I adjure You by the living God, that you tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.'"

Seeking to induce Jesus into self-incrimination, Caiaphas appealed to the most sacred oath a Jew could offer demanding that Jesus either affirm or deny His messiahship and deity.  He was saying, in effect, "Answer my question truthfully, on the basis that You are standing before the living God, who knows all things."

None of these men believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but what they were seeking was a statement from this man which would incriminate Himself.  As recorded in Leviticus 24:16, God told Moses, "Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death."

At this question, Jesus breaks His silence and says, "You have said it yourself."  Mark's account is even more explicit when he wrote of Jesus' response: "I am!" (14:62).  These are the same words Yahweh spoke to Moses from the burning bush and Jesus previously had said, "Before Abraham was, I am."  (John 8:58). What He was saying is, "I am the everlasting One."

To the high priest and the rest of the Sanhedrin present, this was enough to convict Jesus.  Caiaphas tore his robe and they pronounced a sentence of death against Jesus.  They convicted Him of blasphemy, when in reality they were the ones who were blaspheming the name of the Son of God who stood before them.  They had sealed their doom to face Him at the end of time as their Judge and Executioner. The accused would then become the accuser, and the judges would become the judged.

Condemned by the hatred in their hearts, they took Him to Pilate for the judgment they sought: "Crucify Him!"  Following His death and resurrection, Jesus proved Himself to be the everlasting One, the One in whom men must choose to either follow as Lord and Savior, or to reject to their own condemnation.  Victory is ours when we choose to confess our sins...our failures...and receive Him into our lives. 

In the Garden

Matthew, once a tax collector, now a disciple of Jesus...Matthew, the Apostle of the King...Matthew the writer of the introductory gospel to the New Testament, shares with his readers the passion of our Lord as He prepared Himself for the impending torment which was to come.
In Matthew 26:36-46, we find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples on Thursday night as He talks with the Father about His upcoming suffering and death followed by the resurrection.  In His perfect, yet true humanity, Jesus is overwhelmed by the fact that He must bear something that He has never encountered before...Sin! (Isaiah 53:6)
In order to get us beyond our self imposed condemnation to the perfect eternal life God intended for us from the beginning, Jesus...whom the Father chose as the only acceptable sacrifice (the Lamb of God)...had to bear our sins, our condemnation on His shoulders.  In the Garden, He came face-to-face with the reality of Sin.  Was it the impending suffering and excruciating painful death on a cross or the weight of my sin and yours that caused Him to cry out, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!" (Matthew 26:39b)
Luke, as a medical doctor, describes in painful detail the condition of the Lord as He pleads His case with the Father.  Luke wrote, "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44)  I cannot imagine such agony...I choose not to picture it for in that scene my sin becomes so overwhelming beyond comprehension.  Yet, in His mournful cry, Jesus said, "...not My will but Yours be done!"
Luke tells us that an angel came into the Garden and ministered to Jesus.  The King...humbled by the weight of the sin of the world needed comfort from the Father, and this He received through the ministry of an angel.  Then, after getting up, He called to the disciples..."Get up! The hour is at hand!  The Son of Man is betrayed!  We must go!"  And so He went...arrested at the hands of sinners.
Some 50 days later, Peter would stand up and proclaim to the Jews gathered on the day of Pentecost, "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God...YOU CRUCIFIED AND KILLED!" (Acts 2:23)  But this is not just to those Jews gathered at that time...He was crucified and killed by my sin and yours! 
Praise God that there is forgiveness and redemption in the heart of God.  If it were not so, we would be guilty of that unjust death and condemned to eternal punishment and separation from God.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore, there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!" (Romans 8:1)
From the Garden to the Cross...from the Cross to the Grave...from the Grave to right hand of God, Jesus has accomplished all that He came to do.  Now glorified, He waits and we anticipate that glorious gathering of all who call upon His name.  Now, with the saints long since passed, I look forward to that Trumpet call when we will see Him face-to-face.