The Resurrection of Jesus

At the risk of giving away the ending, Jesus is no longer dead.

For days now, I've been debating how to deal with the topic of the resurrection of Jesus - mainly, trying to decide what to write first:

There's the topic of apologetics....that is, defending the reality of the resurrection. I could bring up the historic and logical support of Jesus' rising from the dead. I could trot out the arguments of the skeptics and illustrate why they don't hold up to scrutiny.

Then, there's the topic of theology....that is, explaining why the resurrection is important to believers. I could show how the power of Christianity stems from Jesus' defeat of death itself. I could explain from scripture how it's faith in Jesus resurrection - not merely His death - that brings salvation.

I could also talk about how the message of the church should focus on the resurrection. I could illustrate how this was the theme of every major sermon in the book of Acts. I could warn against the mantra of "relevant Christianity" that tends to skip over the resurrection - claiming that "Jesus died for our sins, but now He lives in our hearts."

But for our first dive into this subject, lets walk through the different Biblical narratives and see how this event went down. We're going to look at the different accounts of Jesus' resurrection and piece them together in order. When we do this, we get a complete picture of what happened after Jesus rose from the dead.

At the Tomb

Before the sun came up on Sunday morning, an earthquake occurred. An angel stepped out of heaven and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb. The Roman guards that were posted there (as an attempt to keep Jesus body from being stolen) saw the angel and were overcome with fear! Mind you, these were experienced Roman soldiers...part of the garrison at Jerusalem. They were ready to fight anyone who came to take Jesus' body out of the tomb. But when they saw this lone angel, they fainted!

Later, when they came to their senses, they abandoned the tomb and ran back to the city. Interestingly, they didn't go to their superiors with the news, but went to the priests instead. Clearly, they wanted to know what happened and Who this body was that they were guarding! When the priests heard their story, they bribed them to say that the disciples stole Jesus' body out of the tomb. Apparently, this became a common early argument against the resurrection of Jesus.

That same morning, a group of women arrived at the tomb to pay their respects - and to make sure that He was buried in honor. The whole way to the tomb, they spoke about how they could get in to see His body. After all, they were expecting a large stone to be rolled in front of the door - sealed under the authority of Rome itself. Anyone caught breaking that seal would be executed immediately. They must've been planning on appealing to the guards mercy....but they never even saw the guards.

When they arrived at the tomb, they saw that the stone was rolled away, the tomb was wide open, and the guards were nowhere to be seen. Mary Magdalene assumed that someone came the night before and stole the body away. She immediately left the other women and ran back to the disciples to tell them that His body was gone. 

After she left, the other women were met by an angel sitting inside the tomb. This angel announced the good news to these women - that Jesus had risen from the dead! Then a second angel appeared outside the tomb and told them to go back to the disciples and tell them this good news. At first, we see that they were too afraid to do this...but later they found the courage to go to the disciples and tell them what the angels said.

In the meantime, Mary Magdalene arrived at the house where the disciples were and told them, "Someone stole His body away last night!" When they heard this, Peter and John rushed to the tomb with Mary to see for themselves. When they arrived, they saw the stone rolled away and the body gone, just like Mary described. We know that while he was standing in the tomb, John became the first disciple to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.....but we're not told what Peter thought of the situation...

While Peter, John and Mary Magdalene were at the tomb, the group of other women finally arrived at the house of disciples. They told the disciples what the angels said about Jesus' resurrection. But, having already heard Mary say that the body was stolen, the disciples didn't believe what these women were saying.

When Peter and John left the tomb to return to the house, Mary Magdalene stayed behind to mourn. She still believed that someone had taken His body away, not even letting the man's body rest in peace! As she cried, she looked into the tomb for the first time. To her surprise, it wasn't empty! The same two angels that appeared earlier were now both standing inside the tomb. They asked her, "Why are you crying?"

She answered them, "Because they took my Lord away, and I don't know where they put Him!"

When she said this, she realized that Someone was standing behind her. As she turned to look, the Man said, "Why are you crying?" Mary, assuming that He was a worker in the garden, asked Him if He could tell her where the body was. When He responded by calling her name, she immediately realized Who it was - Jesus was standing right in front of her!

Imagine what she must've felt at at that moment! All the pain of watching Jesus die, all the sorrow of thinking someone stole away His body....all the grief that she felt instantly vanished as she realized that He was alive! She fell down at Jesus' feet and clung to Him. She held onto Him so tightly that Jesus eventually had to tell her to let go of Him. He then instructed her to go back to the disciples and tell them about Him.

Travelers

Back at the house, the women finally gave up trying to convince the disciples of what the angels told them. They left the house, maybe going back to their home, maybe returning to the tomb. While they were walking, Jesus appeared to them! He told them the same thing He told Mary, "Go back and tell My disciples."

Later that day, after all these events occurred, there was undoubtedly some excited discussions going on at the house! In the middle of it all, two of Jesus disciples decided to leave Jerusalem and travel to a small outlying village named Emmaus. We don't know why they were going: Maybe there was some business there that they had to attend to. Or maybe they were still afraid of the authorities that crucified Jesus and wanted to escape out of town. It's even possible that they couldn't stand the way the conversation was going at the house, and decided to leave rather than stay and listen.

As they walked down the road, they spoke of Jesus' crucifixion. No doubt they must've been talking about the reasons Jesus couldn't be alive again - no matter what the women were talking about, or who claimed to have seen Him.

While they were walking along, Jesus Himself walked up beside them. Like Mary at the tomb, these men were not aware of who He was. He asked them what they were talking about and why they were sad. Then Jesus bore with them as they began to pour out their heart to Him. They told Him about their crushed hope of Jesus being the Messiah. They described the crucifixion and burial of their great Teacher. And then finally, they related the reports of the women who claimed to see Him alive that very day.

After they had finished speaking, Jesus took His turn and began to teach them from Scripture. While they walked along, He told them why the Messiah had to be crucified and buried. He then explained that the scriptures prophesied of His resurrection. While He spoke, their hearts stirred...maybe these women were right, then?

When they arrived in town, it was about dinner time. The two disciples invited Jesus into the home they were staying at. Most likely, they wanted to continue hearing this Stranger teach the scriptures. Jesus came in to eat with them...but when He blessed their dinner, their eyes were immediately opened. Suddenly, they realized Who they had been talking to this whole time! When they recognized that it was Jesus, He vanished.

These men rushed back to Jerusalem that evening...they just had to tell the disciples that the women were right! But when they got back, there was already an intense conversation going on. Apparently, other things were happening in Jerusalem while these men were out on the road.

At the House

At some point on that Sunday, Peter must've gone off by himself to think. While he was away from the other disciples, Jesus appeared to Him alone to speak with Him. We don't know what happened during that appearance....the Bible simply tells us that it happened. I wonder if Peter - the man who had denied Jesus three days earlier - had to get his failure out of the way by Jesus appearing specifically to Him.

After that visitation was over, Peter rejoined the disciples to tell them what He saw. While they were still speaking, the two disciples had returned from Emmaus and rushed into the house. Now there was a buzz in the atmosphere! The women were telling about Jesus' appearance to them. Mary spoke of seeing Him at the tomb. Peter spoke of seeing Him as well. And now these two men arrived and declared that they walked with Him on the road!

In the middle of all this commotion and excitement, suddenly Jesus was there with them!
He declared, "Peace be with you!" 

The group was overcome with amazement as they stared at Him - He was literally and physically in the room with them! Some of them thought that He wasn't actually physically there...that it may have just been His spirit. So He told them, "Look at My hands, look at this scar on My side...It's really Me!" When even that failed to convince them that He had risen (that is, that He wasn't a ghost), Jesus asked them for food.

I find this amazing: Before Jesus said anything else to them, they all gathered around and watched Him eat a piece of broiled fish! I wonder if that was at all awkward....

When they were convinced that Jesus was literally raised from the dead, He began to do what He did on the road to Emmaus. He opened their understanding, explaining from Scripture what He did in His death and resurrection. All of the disciples listened as the Resurrected Messiah taught them the meaning of His sacrifice.

....well, almost all of the disciples. The disciple named Thomas wasn't with them...

For a whole week after that, the disciples tried to convince Thomas of what they saw. They mentioned all of Jesus' appearances to them. No doubt, they explained to Him the scriptures in the same way Jesus taught them. But Thomas - the poor man - couldn't believe it! He finally got fed up with the stories and exclaimed, "I'm not going to believe what you're telling me! The only way that I'll believe Jesus is alive right now is if I can put my own fingers in the holes in His hands!"

Well, a week after Jesus' resurrection, Thomas got his chance. As they were all together in the same house, Jesus appeared to them again! Jesus immediately singled out Thomas..."Thomas, put your finger here in My hand. Here, put your hand into My side...believe Thomas!" To his credit, Thomas didn't doubt any more. Falling on his knees, he exclaimed, "My Lord, and my God!"

For Forty Days

After all these appearances during the first week, Jesus sent His disciples back into Galilee. While they were there, He continued to meet with them and teach them about the Kingdom of God. For more than a month, these men personally learned at the feet of their resurrected Savior. 

(The first visit in Galilee was His famous lakeside appearance, where He gave His disciples a massive, miraculous catch of fish.)

During this time in Galilee, the number of people that saw Him continued to grow. We know that Jesus personally appeared to His brother James. Like His appearance to Peter, we don't know anything about this visit. We only know that it was enough to turn James from a skeptic of his Brother's ministry into a strong leader of the church!

We also know that He delivered the great commission to His disciples during their time in Galilee. As they were gathered around a table, He told them, "Go into all the world and make disciples..."

After His appearances to them in Galilee, He sent them back to Jerusalem for His final appearance. Standing on the Mount of Olives, Jesus appeared to a crowd of 500 people at once! When He did, He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, Who would bring them power to fulfill the work that He was leaving to them. 

And then, right before their eyes...while He was still speaking to them, Jesus began to lift off the ground. As this crowd watched, Jesus ascended (in His physical body) into an open Heaven!

My friends, Jesus didn't "go to Heaven" because He died...like our Christian loved ones do today. No, He literally flew there in His physical, resurrected, glorious body! He is not a dead man anymore!