Death and Resurrection

 

What is the opposite of death? For most, the answer would be life. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul answers the question by addressing resurrection, both the physical and spiritual. Resurrection cancels death, removing its sting, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’s physical death and resurrection were the culmination of the last two weeks of his physical life when he raised Lazarus from the dead and declared in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" Christ’s resurrection is available to anyone who believes in Him.

And so, Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So, the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet, they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.                   John 20:6-9 

The above reference speaks of two pieces of linen found in the empty tomb, one wrapping his body and the other covering his head. I’ve done some research on the subject of the Shroud of Turin, and I believe there is sufficient evidence to recognize it as the actual linen referenced by John. There is also the Sedarium of Odiero (Spain), a cloth that matches the description of the head covering found in the tomb. Significant scientific research has been performed on both artifacts; they represent physical evidence of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Peter and the others needed to see the empty tomb with the grave clothes to believe. Their understanding of all that took place would follow. 

Three Days 

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.              John 2:19-22

From the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus taught that He would suffer and die before being raised from the dead. He was always connected His death to his resurrection; although they are separate events, they must be seen together. In the above passage, He indicates that He will be dead three days and be raised again. Jesus addresses this same idea in Matthew 12:40-42, where He uses Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of the sea monster, as a prophecy of the Son of Man, who will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  

Our current understanding of the events of that week does not support Jesus being buried for three full days and nights, but a closer look at other ancient documents (Dead Sea Scrolls) specifies that Passover was on Nissan 14, Tuesday dusk to Wednesday dusk. According to John 19:31, the Sabbath referenced was not the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, but the high holy Sabbath of Unleavened Bread on Wednesday-Thursday. If the Last Supper/Passover occurred on Tuesday evening, and His trial and crucifixion all happened before Wednesday dusk, then Jesus was in the tomb all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, confirming Jesus’s words. The disciples would be fully aware of these matters.

“God Forbid It” 

From that time, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."                   Matthew 16:21-23          

Although Jesus reiterated the Father’s plan that He would suffer and die to be raised from the dead, Peter and the others had great difficulty accepting it. In the above exchange, Peter tells Him that he forbids it as if he knew what was best. Jesus had to rebuke Peter as a mouthpiece of Satan since he was evaluating the circumstance from man’s viewpoint rather than God’s perfect plan. Even after seeing the Transfiguration of Jesus with Moses and Elijah and His Father speaking from heaven, Jesus still reminded them of His suffering to come. “But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they wished. So, also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands" (Matthew 17:12).

Firstborn From the Dead

He is also head of the body, the church, and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.                  Colossians 1:18-20

The Apostle Paul understood the implications of Christ's death and resurrection like no other and wrote extensively about them in 1 Corinthians 15. In the above passage, he identifies Jesus as the firstborn from the dead, so He Himself will come to have first place in everything. It was His precious blood from His suffering and crucifixion that accomplished peace for all mankind and released us from sin for all who would believe. According to Revelation 1:5, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood. Jesus has the keys of death and of Hades, meaning He has full authority over death (Revelation 1:18). His victory over death is full and complete.

Your Faith is Worthless

Now, if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.                       1 Corinthians 15:12-19 

The culture in which Paul wrote to the Corinthians, although under Roman rule, was heavily Hellenistic, significantly influenced by Greek philosophy that man is not resurrected from the dead. The Sadducees also taught this error. Paul argued that it is not a rational conclusion if Jesus actually rose from the dead. Since Paul met the risen Lord on the way to Damascus, he knew that Christ's resurrection is real and central to everything the Christian believes; otherwise, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. The assurance of Christ’s resurrection means that believers will also be raised. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied [full of misery]. As Paul wrote in his first letter to them, it would be foolishness to the world.

Death is Abolished 

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits [the first of the ripe fruits] of those who are asleep [dead]. 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 will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted [ektos – excluded – Jesus will remain subject to the Father] who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they baptized for them? Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If, from human motives, I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE. Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.            1 Corinthians 15:20-34 

Christ, the first of the ripe fruits, has prepared the path for all believers to be resurrected and made alive. God has an order, a sequence, in the resurrection. When Jesus Christ returns in the air, He will take His church to heaven after raising from the dead all who have trusted Him and have died in the faith at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). When He returns to the earth in judgment, the lost will experience the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29). Nobody in the first resurrection will be lost, but nobody in the second resurrection will be saved. 

When Jesus Christ comes to the earth to judge, He will banish sin for a thousand years and establish His kingdom. Believers will reign with Him and share His glory and authority. This kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament, is called the Millennium by many teachers. But even after the Millennium, there will be one final rebellion against God (Revelation 20:7-10) which Jesus Christ will put down by His power. The lost will then be raised, judged, and cast into the lake of fire. Then death itself shall be cast into hell, and the last enemy shall be destroyed. Jesus Christ will have put all things under His feet! He will then turn the kingdom over to the Father, and then the eternal state - the new heavens and new earth will begin.

When Paul says I die daily, he was likely referring to the perils and trials which he had endured at Ephesus; and his object was to impress their minds with the firmness of his belief in the certainty of the resurrection, on account of which he suffered so much, and to show them that all their hopes rested also on this same conviction (boasting).

Death Rendered Powerless 

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.           Hebrew 2:14-15

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.                          Revelation 20:14-15

But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished [katargeo – destroyed] death and brought life [zoe – life of God] and immortality [incorruption] to light through the gospel.            2 Timothy 1:10 

In Hebrews 2:10, the Author or Captain of our salvation needed to suffer to bring many sons to glory. These sons were once held in servitude by their enemy, Satan. Since they were human, their Captain had to become human and die for them, to rescue them. But by doing so, He was able to destroy...the devil. It does not mean that Satan ceased to exist or to be active. Instead, he used katageo as “to render powerless” the power of death over those whom Christ redeems. In speaking of the devil as wielding the power of death, Satan uses people's fear of death to enslave them to his will. Often, people make wrong moral choices out of their intense desire for self-preservation. We are reminded that they were no longer subject to such slavery and that they could face death with the same confidence in God their Captain had. Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire.

Life in the Gospel

Paul tells Timothy that the life of God is incorruptible and that it is found in the gospel and brought to light by the death and resurrection of Christ. According to Barnes Notes:

This is one of the great and glorious achievements of the gospel and one of the things by which it is distinguished from every other system. The word rendered "hath brought to light" - footizoo - means to give light, to shine; then to give light to, to shine upon; and then to bring to light, to make known. The sense is that these things were obscure or unknown before and have been disclosed to us by the gospel. It is, of course, not meant that there were NO intimations of these truths before, or that NOTHING was known of them—for the Old Testament shed some light on them; but that they are fully disclosed to man in the gospel. It is there that all ambiguity and doubt are removed and that the evidence is so clearly stated as to leave no doubt on the subject. The intimations of a future state, among the wisest of the pagans, were certainly very obscure, and their hopes very faint.

Finding Life in Death

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.       John 12:24-26 

The wheat analogy illustrates a general paradoxical principle that death is the way to life. In Jesus' case, His death led to glory and life not only for Himself but also for others. He is speaking about the spiritual life found on the other side of death, beyond one's personal interests and priorities. Jesus defines that life as: He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. That reality is the premise for service to God and is only possible for those who follow Him. Following Jesus denotes a fellowship of faith and a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly but outwardly if necessary. Such outward fellowship with Jesus, however, could not continue without inner moral and spiritual fellowship, without a life resembling His and a self-denying sharing of His cross.