Jesus’ Resurrection Changed Everything
By Arthur J Licursi
The Christian faith stands or falls on the fact and truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We know Jesus’ death and burial are what accomplished salvation with full justification and redemption for every believer. But also, it was Jesus’ resurrection by the power of God that meant the offering of Jesus’ life that was given on our behalf was accepted as full payment for our sin.
I want to consider the validity and importance of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an irreplaceable key element to the believer’s new life in Christ.
“I Am The Resurrection And The Life…” (John 11:25).
“… the last Adam (Jesus Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].” (1Cor 15:45 (AMP). “this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who possesses the Son Has That Life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life.” (1 John 5:11-12 (AMP)
The New Testament witnesses of Jesus of Nazareth’s life on earth, including His death and resurrection, were fully aware of the background against which the resurrection took place. The body of Jesus, in accordance with Jewish burial custom, had been wrapped in a linen cloth that was treated with about 100 pounds of aromatic spices, mixed together to form a gummy substance. After the Jesus’ wrapped body was placed in a solid rock tomb, an extremely large stone was rolled against the entrance of the tomb. Large stones weighing approximately two tons were normally rolled, by means of levers, against a tomb entrance.
A Roman guard of strictly disciplined men was stationed to guard Jesus’ tomb. They affixed on the tomb the “Roman seal,” which was meant to prevent any attempt at vandalizing the sepulcher. Anyone trying to move the stone from the tomb’s entrance would have broken the seal and thus incurred the wrath of Roman law.
But three days after the crucifixion of Jesus the tomb was empty. The followers of Jesus soon realized and said He had risen from the dead. Luke wrote that Jesus had appeared to them during a period of 40 days, showing Himself to them by many “infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3). Paul the Apostle recounted that Jesus appeared to more than 500 of His followers at one time (1Cor 15:6); the majority of whom were still alive at the time of Paul’s writing and so could confirm what Paul wrote.
So many security precautions were taken with the trial, crucifixion, burial, entombment, sealing, and guarding of Christ’s tomb, that it becomes very difficult for critics to defend their position that Christ did not rise from the dead.
Consider these facts of Jesus’ resurrection.
The first obvious fact was the breaking of the seal that stood for the power and authority of the Roman Empire. The consequences of breaking the seal were extremely severe. The FBI and CIA of Rome were no doubt called into action to find the man or men who were responsible. If they were apprehended, it meant automatic execution. So people feared the breaking of the seal. Jesus’ disciples displayed signs of cowardice when they hid themselves; Peter had already denied Christ three times.
Another obvious fact after the resurrection was the empty tomb itself. The Lord’s disciples didn’t immediately go off to Athens or Rome to preach that Christ was raised from the dead. Rather, they went right back to the city of Jerusalem, where, if what they were teaching wasn’t true, it would have made them to be liars. Peter preached this. “(Jesus) Whom God hath Raised Up, having Loosed The Pains Of Death: because it was Not Possible That He Should Be Holden Of It (of death). (Acts 2:24) The empty tomb was too notorious in Jerusalem to be denied. The truth of the resurrection could not have been maintained in Jerusalem for a day or hour if the empty tomb had not been a well established fact.
Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions admit to the empty tomb. Those resources include Flavius Josephus (37-100AD). Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century AD, but the imperial Roman patronage of his work has caused it to be characterized as pro-Roman propaganda. Yet, Josephus wrote in Antiquites 18.64, “he (Jesus) appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold.” Such positive evidence from an unsympathetic source is the strongest kind of historical evidence. By this I mean if a source admits a fact that is not in its own favor… then that fact is most likely genuine.
Then, also, “Gamaliel, a Pharisee doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the (Christians) Apostles forth a little space” (Acts 5:34). Gamaliel went on to suggest the rise of Jesus’ followers may be God’s doing (Acts 5:35-39). Gamaliel couldn’t have said this if the tomb was still occupied by a dead Jesus, or if the Sanhedrin knew the whereabouts of Jesus’ body.
Dr. Paul L. Maier, the Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University wrote; “if all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the resurrection morning. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement.”
Another fact is that on that resurrection morning the first thing that impressed the people who approached Jesus’ tomb was the unexpected position of the one and a half to two ton stone that had been lodged in front of the tomb’s doorway. All the Gospel writers mention it.
Now let’s consider some of the wonderful fruit of Jesus’ resurrection.
The resurrection is also God’s answer to unbelief. Jesus’ resurrection changed the attitudes of Jesus’ followers. There were those who saw Jesus alive after His crucifixion and it brought revolution into the life of Paul who saw Him “last of all,” when Jesus appeared to Paul from heaven as accounted in Act 9.
These above are among the “many infallible proofs” of His resurrection.
As result of Christ’s resurrection; His fearful disciple followers were made bold, doubters believed (Thomas), the sorrowing people were made glad, and the persecutor, Saul of Tarsus, now as Paul, became His devoted follower and “the Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13).
The broken Roman seal, the empty tomb, the failure of the enemies of Christ to produce the dead body and a hundred other facts add their testimony in confirmation of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has been “declared to be the Son of God with power… By The Resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).
The resurrection of Christ assures us that His payment for our sin is all-sufficient and complete.
“when He had by Himself purged our sins (He) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). “For by (His) one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14).
The resurrection of Christ gives us a living Savior. Hebrews compares the Old Testament priests with Christ.
“23 (Again, the former successive line of priests) was made up of many, because they were each prevented by death from continuing (perpetually in office); 24 But He (Jesus) holds His priesthood unchangeably, because He Lives On Forever. 25 Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God Through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them.” (Hebrews 7:23-25 (AMP)
The resurrection of Christ is also the pledge of the believer’s hope of ultimate resurrection unto glory.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy Hath Begotten Us Again Unto A Living Hope, By The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1Peter 1:3)
Our Lord Himself said what no other could possibly say.
“I Am The Resurrection And The Life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
Finally, the resurrection of Christ is a warning to the world of the judgment to come.
“Because [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man (Jesus) whom He (the Father) hath ordained: whereof He (the Father) hath given assurance unto all men, in that He (the Father) hath raised Him (Jesus) from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
“Now is the accepted time” (2 Cor. 6:2). “Believe on (trust in) the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
In Psalm 2:7 we find these prophetic words related to the Lord’s resurrection.
“I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son: THIS DAY have I begotten Thee.”
Should we ask: “What day?” or “When was Christ officially ‘declared to be the Son of God?” We will find the answer from Luke in Acts 13:33:
“God hath fulfilled the same (promises) unto us… in that He Hath Raised Up Jesus Again; as it is also written in the second Psalm: Thou Art My Son, This Day Have I Begotten Thee.”
So it was at Christ’s resurrection that the “decree” was made and He was “declared” to be the Son of God — “begotten” in the larger sense of the word. This agrees with what we find in the first chapter of Romans, where Paul speaks of God’s good news.
“Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (His humanity); and Declared To Be The Son Of God With Power… By The Resurrection From The Dead” (Rom. 1:3-4).
This is a wonderful truth. It was Christ’s resurrection from the dead in power that proved that He was indeed God the Son. And more wonderful still: it was our death He died at Calvary, so that He might impart to us this everlasting resurrection life. In Eph. 2:2-3, we are all declared to have been “the children of disobedience” and therefore “by nature the children of wrath,” but note how this passage continues:
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath Quickened Us (Made Us Alive) Together With Christ (By Grace Ye Are Saved), And Hath Raised Us Up Together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6).
Thus, because of Christ’s finished work of salvation, those who place their trust in Him are given His resurrection life and thereby “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
When Christ ROSE, WE ROSE with Him; His RESURRECTION DAY is the Spiritual RESURRECTION DAY of every believer!