. . . he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (I Cor 15:4)
Praise you, Father, for you have revealed your power and have conquered sin and death. You have brought your people hope and shown that you reign over history.
I suppose it is a tad strange to think that an executed criminal somehow rescues the human race from its most dire problem, but then truth is a bit strange. Christian doctrine doesn’t claim to be plain or ordinary. It claims to be true. And besides … the “strange” story of Jesus doesn’t end in a tomb.
Anyone who has read even the slightest bit about Jesus or Christianity knows that the central thing about Him is that on the third day He was raised from the dead.
This claim is the lynchpin of the earliest teaching (see Acts). Paul says it is so central to the faith that “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (I Cor 15:14). He even goes so far as to say that if Christ has not been raised, we are liars because we said God raised him (v 15).
The central message of the earliest church was not that the Cross saves us from our sins or that we are to love our neighbor or that Jesus is coming again. The central message of the earliest church was this: “this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has raised from the dead.” The disciples were beaten and imprisoned for saying this. They were ordered to cease this teaching, but they refused. “No!” they said. “Jesus is risen from the dead, and we are witnesses of this fact.” Over and over in the face of persecution and death, they insisted that Jesus of Nazareth was raised on the third day.
It is this belief that gave birth to Christianity. If there had been no Resurrection, there would have been no Christian faith — ever.
The Resurrection is the foundation of a new birth (I Pet 1:3). Without it, we are still dead in our sins (I Cor 15:17). Belief in the Resurrection is essential to knowing God (Rm 10:9). Christians see the Resurrection to have this sort of importance.
The Resurrection is the real-life conquest of sin and death. God is not playing a word game. He is not offering a new philosophy or a spiritualized truth. He is obliterating sin and death in real space and real time. It is a real conquest — an actual event in history. It is not a symbol or a myth.
In fact, it is such a real event in history, that the early church named the day. It occurred on the third day after Jesus’ death, on the first day of the week. Jewish believers, whose Sabbath was Saturday, were so convinced of this fact that very early on they began worshiping on Sunday.
This is significant, for Christians did not believe that the Resurrection was a nebulous activity in people’s hearts. If that were the case, then the Resurrection occurs on different days for different people, and it cannot be tangibly recorded in history. But every Biblical source we have says that something big happened on the third day after Jesus’ death. It was a Sunday. It was early in the morning. It was in Jerusalem. It was a few days after the Jewish Passover meal during Passover week when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Caiaphas was high priest. Something happened that day to make the entire body of Jesus’ followers claim that this third day is where everything changed.
Their basic claim is that Jesus of Nazareth bodily rose from the dead. You cannot read the New Testament without this claim slapping you in the face. It is so obvious that one hardly needs to say it is what the Bible claims, yet people still try to invent a christianity without the bodily Resurrection. Such is silly talk. It is like talking about an ocean without water, men without blood, or trees without trunks. Perhaps some people want Christianity without the Christianity. But read the gospels and be honest. They are too clear on this point.
This much is certain. The belief that Jesus bodily rose from the grave on the third day is basic to Christianity. All Christians share this conviction. It is simply part of what it means to follow Jesus.
And yet the Resurrection is more than just a body coming out of a tomb. It is the ultimate victory over the strongest foe we face (I Cor 15:25-6). It is tied up with our justification (Rm 4:25). It is part of removing sin (I Cor 15:17). It is the foundation for a new life in Christ (Rm 6). It is the hope of our future resurrection (I Cor 15:20-2). It reveals who Jesus really is (Rm 1:4). It is the beginning of the fulfillment of history (I Cor 15:20-4). It shows that God cares for the human race holistically — body, soul, and spirit.
Two in One
The Cross and Resurrection go together. In God’s plan, we cannot have the one without the other. On the Cross Jesus fulfills the just penalty for our sins. He is executed in our place, and sin dies. But on the Cross, Jesus also dies. If the Cross is the end of the story, it is not a victory. It is a tie game. The score is zero to zero. Jesus knocks sin out, but sin also knocks Jesus out. The Resurrection, however, means that sin gets shut out. The Resurrection ensures that the Cross is a victory. Jesus crucifies sin, but sin can’t keep Jesus in the tomb. It is not strong enough. In Jesus, sin and death have met a power that overwhelms them. They cannot handle Him.
Thus, the Cross and Resurrection are really two parts of the same event. They need each other. The Resurrection makes no sense without the Cross, but the Resurrection also brings hope and victory to the Cross. The Resurrection is part of the work of the Cross. If you want to think of it this way, the Resurrection completes the work of the Cross. When Christians talk about the work of the Cross, they never mean a Resurrectionless Cross. The Cross is sufficient, but understand that that sufficient Cross is always a Cross that ends in Resurrection.
I don’t want to get into a philosophical “what if” game. You know, “What if the Resurrection had never occurred? Would the Cross still retain its efficacy?” I am saying simply that, to the follower of Jesus, that “what if” game is unthinkable. It makes no sense. In Christianity, a Cross without a Resurrection doesn’t exist.
The Resurrection, therefore, is just as much a part of the removal of sin as the Cross is. If Jesus is not raised, we are dead in our sins (I Cor 15:17), and we are not justified in the eyes of God (Rom 4:25).
For the Future
The Resurrection of Jesus is the hope of our resurrection. In I Corinthians 15, Paul writes to people who have received the basics of the Christian message and who stand in it (v. 1). They have believed the fact that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared to many people — even 500 at one time (vv. 3-8).
Paul is then astonished that some in the Corinthian church can accept the basic teaching of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus but deny the general resurrection of the dead in the future (v. 12ff). He is showing how inconsistent they are. It is as if he is saying, “You believe that Jesus is raised from the dead. How then can you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus is not raised. And if Jesus is not raised, everything falls apart.” (vv. 11-19) This is Paul’s argument.
He continues by saying that the Resurrection of Christ is the firstfruits of all who belong to Christ (20, 23). In other words, it is the first of the same kind. It is the beginning of resurrection, not the end of it. In Christ, God’s people will participate in a resurrection of the body simply because Jesus did. Our future resurrection depends on His. If Jesus is raised, and we are in Him, then we, too, will be raised. If His Resurrection was bodily, then ours will be, too. If, however, Jesus remains buried in the tomb, then we have no hope of a resurrection at all.
Paul then continues by discussing the nature of the resurrection body. He says that it will not be the exact same flesh and blood that we currently have, for “flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (v. 50) It will be, however, an incorruptible body. Our current bodies are buried in the dust, but they shall be raised incorruptible. The reason for this is that by faith, we are in Jesus, and He died and was buried, and His body was raised incorruptible.
The corruption of our current bodies comes from sin, but the Cross and Resurrection have done away with sin. Consequently, they have also done away with the corruption of the body. This is why our current bodies, which already have been tainted by sin, dissolve into dust, and we receive new bodies incorruptible in Christ.
Therefore, for those in Christ, death is not the end of the story. The Resurrection means that no one can hurt us, even if they kill us. The Resurrection means that in Christ we can boldly face lions, swords, or cancer. It means that we look at funerals with a different eye. We may still weep, for we still miss our loved ones, but behind the sadness lies a confidence, even a joy, that one day we shall be reunited in Christ with those loved ones. And that day shall be greater than this one.
We who are in Jesus may live on Earth, but we do not live for Earth. We live for eternity, of which this present world is but a shadow. We live this way because we know that we shall be raised incorruptible in Christ. We live for a new era, an era in which we shall see His face. This new era is the fulfillment toward which this present era is rushing. It is the end of the story — at least the story of this Earth. But it is the beginning of a new story — the real story, of which all of history is but a preface.
This new era, this new story, begins when we are raised incorruptible. The resurrection of the dead sets it off (I Cor 15:21-4), and the Resurrection of Christ is the firstfruits of that era. In other words, in the Resurrection of Christ, the new era has come to Earth. The Resurrection of Jesus foreshadows the general resurrection to come. Jesus’ Resurrection is like a movie trailer that comes out months in advance of the full movie. It is just a little appetizer for the full meal.
But the Resurrection of Jesus is more than a picture. It is the power of God. Our Resurrection is tied to His. We rise because He rose. This means that the Resurrection of Jesus also plays a causal role in the future resurrection of God’s people. History is like a novel in which the grand climax at the end is the natural consequence of a powerful event that occurred way back in chapter four. The Resurrection of Jesus is not just about Jesus. It is the basis for our resurrection and the new era to come. It brings about the fulfillment of history itself.
For Today
The Resurrection of Jesus is not just about the future. It is also power for today. It is a practical part of overcoming sin now. Scripture teaches that we have been raised with Christ. This is not a symbol but a reality, and it is not just a future reality but a present one. It is a work that has already taken place. The tenses in Scripture are in the past: “God … made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him …” (Eph 2:5-6) “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above …” (Col 3:1)
We already are resurrected with Christ, and this has implications for sin. Sin and death go together. Sin is the sting of death (I Cor 15:56), and death is the wages of sin (Rm 6:23). They are inseparable. Therefore, Christ has overcome the power of sin through His Resurrection. In like manner, those in Christ have also overcome the power of sin through His Resurrection. When Christ was raised, we also were raised. In Christ, we live in a new realm. We are in that realm because we have been raised with Him into it. In Christ, we are also a new person. We are new because we have been raised with Him anew. Because we have been raised with Christ, our entire relationship with sin changes. No longer are we slaves. Now we are free. This is why Paul so adamantly opposes the idea that grace frees us to sin. It is the other way around. Grace frees us for righteousness. Sin is a complete violation of who we are in Christ. The Cross and the Resurrection are the means God uses to make us new in Christ (Rm 6).
When a butterfly comes out of its cocoon, it no longer lives as a caterpillar, crawling on sticks and chewing leaves. To go back and live that way would be a violation of what it has been transformed into. In the same way, we in Christ have been transformed through His death and Resurrection. In Christ, we have received wings to soar above sin, and that is now what we are made for. To go back and sin would be unthinkable.
The Resurrection is central in this transformation. It has made us into something different from what we used to be. We have power over sin because we are in Christ and are, thus, raised with Him to be part of the new human race of which He is the head. The Resurrection ushers us into this new race. The Resurrection of Jesus, thus, has application for how we deal with our boss, whether we worry about money, how we overcome our anger or bitterness, and much more. The Resurrection of Jesus has practical application for how we live our lives today. It is common for us who follow Jesus to forget what the Resurrection has done for us. We forget that we have wings and too often revert to crawling on sticks.
Holistic Healing
The Resurrection of Jesus is a victory in the spiritual realm and in the physical realm. God cures humans holistically. He does not cure our souls only. He redeems our bodies as well. The problem with the human race has affected both the physical and spiritual worlds. Sin is a spiritual condition that is often acted out in physical ways. Sin has brought physical death. Consequently, any real victory over sin must also overcome death. Physical death.
God made the body. He loves it. That is why the redemption of the body is part of God’s solution. To exclude the body would have been incomplete. The bodily Resurrection of Jesus brings the power of God to the entire person — body, soul, and spirit. It does this because God cares for the entire person.
Thus, the Resurrection of Jesus is a powerful and multifaceted event. It is not just a body coming out of a tomb. Nor is it just the basis for a new life in Christ. Nor is it just an infusion of the kingdom of God on Earth. Nor is it just the fulfillment of history. Nor is it just a part of our justification. Nor is it just our hope for a future resurrection. It is all of these things simultaneously. It is physical and spiritual all at once. It is a physical event in history, but it is a cosmic event with the power to change the entire world order and usher in a new era. It declares the lordship of Christ. It changes our very nature from the inside out. It brings about the resurrection of an incorruptible body, and a new type of human. It ensures that the penalty and power of sin are gone.
We must not think of the Resurrection of Jesus in simplistic terms. We must not emphasize this or that spiritual teaching of the Resurrection to the neglect of its bodily nature. This results in a resurrection without teeth. The Resurrection then becomes a quaint metaphor that can mean whatever we want. We cannot rip the power out of the Resurrection and talk in nice spiritual language and think we still have the same Resurrection that turned the world upside down. Jesus’ Resurrection shocked the world.
Nor must we so focus ourselves on the bodily aspect of the Resurrection that we neglect the cosmic power and significance of what happened on that third day. Sometimes Christians spend so much time and energy defending the bodily resurrection that they have no time left for what it means. They have a body coming out of a tomb but little else. It doesn’t affect how they live. It isn’t involved in forgiving their sins. It doesn’t even give them hope at funerals. It is just an intellectual argument.
The bodily Resurrection of Jesus has immense spiritual power. A follower of Jesus holds tightly to both the bodily nature of the Resurrection and the spiritual significance of that Resurrection. The Resurrection heals us body, soul, and spirit because God loves us body, soul, and spirit, and we will not let go of any of it.
