CHAPTER 9
THE RESURRECTION
Some years ago a young man was preaching the gospel. One of his hearers, an atheist, passed up a note to him: 'What has your religion got that all these other religions have not got?' and underneath there was a long list: Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Marxism, etc.
The young man paused for a moment; then wrote an answer to the question: 'an empty tomb'.
We have this wonderful fact—apart from people's beliefs or feelings—the fact that 'the Lord is risen indeed'. Someone once said the resurrection is 'the best attested fact of history'. Be that as it may, there is certainly as much (or more) proof of the resurrection of Jesus as there is of the coming of Julius Caesar to Britain in 55 bc.
You all know the story of how Jesus rose from the dead—His lifeless body laid in the grave; the heavy stone; the guard of soldiers; then the angel from heaven rolling away the stone and the Lord Jesus triumphantly coming back to life and leaving the grave. No doubt you can remember how He appeared:
To Mary Magdalene.
To the women coming back from the grave.
To Peter.
To the two on the way to Emmaus.
To the disciples in the upper room.
To Thomas (and the other disciples).
To the disciples by the Sea of Galilee.
On a mountain to 500.
To James.
To the disciples before ascending.
If someone tells us a strange piece of news which we can hardly believe, we always think, 'Can I really trust him?' Well, can we really trust the accounts we have of Jesus' rising? We answer with an emphatic 'yes'. Why?
The writers were honourable men, men who always spoke the truth, men who can be relied on, men always counted as 'saints'. They were men who were willing to die for what they believed because they were so certain of it.
You cannot help seeing the difference in these men. We read of how, when Jesus was crucified, they 'all forsook Him and fled'. Peter was so afraid that He even cursed and swore, saying that He did not know Jesus. We see them, afraid, in that upper room, the doors locked. A little later they are brave, courageous; they are not afraid to stand up before their enemies. Their preaching is believed by multitudes. What had made the difference in that little time? Had something happened? Yes, their Lord and Master, whom they had seen crucified, had come back to life and they had seen Him and talked with Him.
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, why did His enemies not produce His body? When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost (six weeks later) saying that Jesus was alive, His grave was close at hand. But no one could go there and say, 'Here is His body.' No, 'He is not here; He is risen, as He said.'
There is an interesting book, written by a man named Frank Morison. Its title is Who Moved the Stone? Frank Morison thought it silly that people should believe that Jesus rose from the dead so he sat down to write a book to prove how ridiculous it all was. First he tried to gather his evidence together. But the harder he tried, the more he became sure that Jesus did rise from the dead. In the end the book he wrote was the opposite of the one he tried to write! It begins with a chapter about 'the book which refused to be written'!
Some girls and boys seem to be worried about the different accounts given by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Why are they so different? Well, there must have been an awful lot of 'coming and going' on the resurrection morning. One tells of one thing; another of something else. But they do not contradict one another. Three children, after going out to tea, are asked what they had to eat. One says, 'jelly'; the second, 'sausage rolls'; the third, 'birthday cake'. They are all perfectly truthful!
Why is the resurrection so important? Elijah raised a little boy; so did Elisha. What is different in the resurrection of Jesus? Well, they did it by the power of God, Jesus by His own power. Those whom they raised one day died, but Jesus rose, never to die again. And the Lord Jesus had said that He would die, said that He would rise again.
His rising proved that He is what He said—the Son of God. His rising proved that God had accepted the sacrifice He offered. His rising shows that one day the bodies of all His people (as well as the wicked) shall rise. The Bible speaks of it as 'the firstfruits'. In ancient Israel one sheaf of corn was taken from the harvest field and offered to the Lord. This was the firstfruits. But it was a pledge that as the firstfruits were safely gathered in, so the whole harvest would be soon. 'Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept' (1 Corinthians 15: 20).
We read that Jesus 'was raised for our justification'. (To justify' is a legal term: God declaring His people just, because of what Jesus has done.) You may say, 'But was it not when Jesus died that His people were saved?' Yes, most surely it was. But if you were sentenced to prison for a debt, and someone went to prison for you, when would you rejoice? When you saw him go into prison, or while he lay there, or when he came out? Would you not be happy when you saw the prison doors open and your friend go free? It was his time in prison that paid your debt; but when he came forth out of prison, you knew that your debt was completely paid and now you were free.
The Lord Jesus, forty days after rising from the dead, ascended into heaven. There He lives and reigns. He has died, entered the grave, but has come out. The old story used to be told of a lion luring his victims to his cave with fair promises, until one said, 'No, all the footsteps go in; none come out.' And people say of the grave, 'But all the footsteps go /«.' In the dear Lord Jesus we see footsteps coming out.
The great thing is to know the Lord Jesus. The old preachers used to speak of 'a once-crucified but now risen and exalted Jesus'. He is the only way to heaven. That is a good prayer of Paul's: 'That I may know Him.' Not just know about Him, but know Him, personally. (What a difference there is between knowing a person and just knowing about him! Everyone knows about the Queen; few actually know her.)
Over the years many girls and boys have prayed that beautiful prayer:
Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me
A living, bright reality!
More present to faith's vision keen
Than any outward object seen,
More dear, more intimately nigh
Than e'en the sweetest earthly tie.
Suggested Bible readings
The different accounts of the resurrection: Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21.
Read also 1 Corinthians 15.