He is Risen!

He is Risen!

Matthew 28:1-10 (NASB)

1  Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

2  And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

3  And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

4  The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

5  The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

6  "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.

7  "Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."

8  And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

9  And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.

10  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."

He is risen!

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the seminal event of human history. Its importance and significance cannot be overstated.

We focus a great deal of attention on Jesus’ crucifixion, and rightly so. The wages of sin is death, and at the cross Jesus, who was completely without sin, paid the awful price for the sin of all mankind.

His resurrection however, is the capstone; the culmination of God’s redemptive plan. With the resurrection, the victory is complete and the kingdom of God is ushered in. The resurrection changed forever how mankind relates to God.

Although the Bible introduces the book of Matthew with the words “New Testament”, the resurrection marks the beginning of the new covenant.

It’s important that we have this clear in our minds. If we don’t, we may think that everything Jesus taught reflects what’s expected of us. Little is more dangerous to our faith.

When Jesus taught about plucking out eyes and cutting off hands in response to sinful behavior, He was showing those under the old covenant of the Law that it was impossible for them to be righteous by their behavior. He was also teaching the Law when He taught that God will forgive us only if, and in the same measure to which, we forgive others.

After the resurrection, no such teaching ever makes an appearance again because under the new covenant we are dead to sin and completely liberated from the Law. This could happen because, by His sinless life, sacrificial death, and resurrection Jesus fulfilled the Law on our behalf, making us free indeed.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18 (NASB) "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

From the cross, Jesus said “It is finished.” At the resurrection, the “all” from Matthew 5:18 was accomplished. This is why Paul could later write, in Romans 6:14-15 (NASB) “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”, and in Galatians 5:18 (NASB) “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”

The way we relate to God has been changed forever because He is risen. Let’s review Matthew 28:10, which we read earlier. It reads, “Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."”

The status of the disciples had changed. Jesus was not ashamed to call them brethren, as Scripture points out in Hebrews chapter 2, because now they were family having the same Father.

Jesus had referred to the disciples as his brothers only once before. We find that in Matthew 12:48-50 (NASB) where we read that Jesus said, “’Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’”

Jesus isn’t talking about those who keep the old testament Law. We know this because He said in John 6:40 (NASB) that the will of God is “that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.” Those who believe are doing the will of God.

The same point is made in John 3:14-15 (NASB) "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

All the people had to do to be saved from the serpents in the wilderness was believe God’s promise and look at the bronze serpent on the staff.

It’s significant that the serpent on the staff was made of bronze. Bronze is an amalgam of two metals. This is a picture of Jesus. He is an amalgam of God and mankind—the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and in Him all the fullness of the deity dwelt in bodily form.

The serpent on a staff in the Old Testament was a model of how we would relate to God under the yet-to-be-revealed new covenant. To become part of God’s family, all that is needed is for us to look at Jesus, who was lifted up on the cross and believe that we have been reconciled to God just as He said.

In Galatians 4:4-7 (NASB) Paul lays it out for us. “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”

The resurrection gave us life, as we read in Colossians 2:12-13 (NASB)

12  having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

13  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

And this is real life—everlasting, never-ending life. John 3:16 (KJV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Everlasting life is not just for someday when we all get to heaven. It starts as soon as you believe in Jesus—who He is and what He has done for you—and accept His gracious gift. Jesus discussed this with Martha, the sister of Lazarus in John 11:25-26 (NASB)

25  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

26  and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

This may sound a little cryptic, but Jesus is telling Martha, and us, that physical death is nothing but the destruction of the earthly body. To those who do not believe in Him, that means judgment and what Revelation calls “the second death”; but to all who believe, it simply means relocation, or as Paul puts it, “to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.”

Paul spends some time on this in 1 Corinthians 15 where he lays out the good news of Jesus Christ and the importance of the resurrection at length. (NASB) Let me read some of the text.

3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

He then goes on for a few verses presenting evidence for the resurrection by listing some of the many times Jesus was seen afterward. With the fact of the resurrection firmly established he begins to clarify the importance of it.

17  and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

18  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

20  But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

21  For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Just a note of clarification here. When the passage says that in Christ all will be made alive, it is not teaching that everyone inherits eternal life, or that everyone goes to heaven. It’s saying that everyone in Christ will inherit eternal life and go to heaven. Belief in Jesus Christ is required. That’s how we get to be in Christ.

As Paul is making his point about resurrection, he says that if we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. In making that argument about the future hope we have, Paul implies that the benefits of salvation begin in this life.

Jesus put it this way, “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

The resurrection provides entry into the kingdom of God, which Romans tells us is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This righteousness, peace, and joy are found while still here in this world.

Romans 1:17 (NIV)

17  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." This is clearly talking about our earthly life. If we are to live by faith in our earthly life, then we must also be righteousness right here and right now. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)

21  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus said, John 14:27 (NASB)

27  “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  Jesus told the disciples that He was leaving His peace with them. They were staying behind here on earth, and His peace stays here on earth in all who believe too.

John 17:13 (NASB)

13  "But now I come to You (speaking to God the Father); and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

These statements are talking about a lot more than happiness in the afterlife. They make clear that the effects of the resurrection are available now. Eternal life begins the moment we believe.

John 5:24 (NASB)

24  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

The resurrection of Jesus makes eternal life possible. As Jesus says in John 5:24 eternal life begins when we believe. At that moment, we have passed out of death and into life everlasting. At that moment, we are taken out of Adam—we die to that lineage and the death we inherited from it—and we are placed into Jesus Christ—we are made alive to His lineage and begin participating in the divine nature.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)

17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

By the death and resurrection of Jesus, God the Father reconciled us all to Himself and forgave all our sins. 2Corinthians 5: 18-19 (NASB)

18  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

19  namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

This is the good news of Jesus Christ. This is why we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.

Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV)

1  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

He is risen! You are risen with Him! Believe it; if you do,“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – Colossians 3:4 (NIV)

He is risen indeed!