Happy Easter

How do we describe Easter Sunday? What place does it have in the outworking of the kingdom of God? What does it contribute to our hope of the future? What relevance does it have for us living in Inverness two thousand years later?

Jerusalem on Easter Sunday

According to the biblical calendar, devout Jews were now in day 2 of the feast of unleavened bread. It commenced on the day after the Passover and lasted for a week and special services took place each day. The whole city would be engaged in religious activities, and they would be doing so with no idea of what had taken place in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. They had no concept of anything unusual happening on Easter Sunday.

Well, apart from the high priests and their cronies because they had to cope with the information from the guards at the tomb that an angel had appeared, an appearance that caused them to collapse, and when they came round, the body of Jesus had gone. Maybe they imagined that the angel had taken the body, but the high priests thought it would be better to say that the disciples of Jesus had stolen it. So along with their participation in the activities of the day, they thought it appropriate to spread lies. Clearly, they had no concept of anything unusual happening on Easter Sunday.

What were the disciples of Jesus doing as dawn happened on Easter Sunday? Hiding, out of fear of the Jews. It is not likely that they could have taken part in anything connected to the feast of unleavened bread in case they would have been identified. What thoughts went through their minds? Who can say, but since they were devout Jews they must have wondered how they found themselves in a situation where they could not participate in a feast connected to God’s actions at the Exodus? And they also had to cope with the devasting experience of their hopes connected to their Leader being destroyed by his crucifixion. It looks as if none of them said to one another, ‘Today is the third day.’ They had no concept of anything unusual happening on Easter Sunday.

There were some female disciples who had a different agenda. They had observed the hurried way in which Nicodemus and Joseph had buried the body of Jesus and therefore they decided to provide a better provision. They were not finding fault with what the men had done – the women realised the importance of keeping the Sabbath and they knew that was why the men had hurried with the burial, and they themselves had spent the Sabbath at home. But now that it was over, they wanted to provide Jesus with a suitable burial. We admire their love, but we can see that they had no concept of anything unusual happening on Easter Sunday. 

What did heaven see on the morning of Easter Sunday? They would have seen two angels sent on a mission to Joseph’s garden. One would roll away the stone from the tomb, not to let Jesus out, but to let others look in and see he was not there. More importantly, the human soul of Jesus, which had gone to heaven shortly before the arrival of the soul of the penitent criminal, was no longer in heaven because it had gone to be reunited with his body at the moment of his resurrection in the garden of Joseph. 

It all depends on perspective, in a sense, especially as far as experiencing the blessing of knowing the truth. It was certainly true on that first Easter Sunday, and it is also true on this Easter Sunday. So what should be our perspective as we meet in a manner that was unexpected even a few months ago. Yet the events of history don’t reduce the significance of the first Easter Sunday.

Today we are conscious of the incredible effects of the virus. I would be surprised if anywhere there will an Easter service in the normal sense of the term. Maybe there have been other calamities that hindered the public celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Did they hold services during the two world wars? I have no idea, but I suspect they did have services in some places, even in war-torn Europe. Did previous pandemics prevent such services occurring? I have no idea. Of course, the significance of Easter Sunday is not that we can meet together. Its significance remains supposing there never will be another opportunity to hold services on Easter Sunday. Nothing in the entirety of subsequent human history alters the significance of the resurrection of Jesus. There has not been and there never will be an event, or a combination of events, that will reduce its significance. The resurrection of Jesus is a fact, but it is a special fact, a unique fact, and its significance will never cease and it will never reduce.

Many have tried to dismiss the resurrection of Jesus as a fact. Yet there are several evidences of the resurrection. First, many people saw him after he rose from the dead. Paul mentions several of them in 1 Corinthians 15, and one implication of his list is that people at that time could have asked them about it. Second, the apostles were changed from being cowardly and fearful into individuals who were prepared to die for their beliefs – people don’t die for something they don’t believe to be true. Third, the tomb in which the dead body of Jesus was placed was empty. The chief priests made up a story that the disciples had removed the body. It would have been easy for torture to find out if that claim was true, and the Roman authorities would have used it to find the body if it had been taken. 

As we consider the resurrection of Jesus, what features of it can we consider? Here are five.

1. His resurrection vindicated his own predictions

On several occasions, Jesus had predicted his own resurrection. For example, he says in Matthew 17:22-23: ‘As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.’ Other Gospel references indicate he was more specific about what would happen to him : ‘And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised”’ (Luke 9:7).

Jesus also mentioned his resurrection when he referred to the experience of the prophet Jonah in Matthew 12:40: ‘For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’

Another occasion when Jesus spoke about his resurrection was at the onset of his three years of public ministry, as recorded in John 2:19-22: ‘Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.’

His disciples, at the time of his death did not recall that Jesus had predicted his resurrection. But his opponents did, as we can see from their claim recorded in Matthew 27:62-66: ‘The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.’

It would have been easy to refute Jesus’ words if he had not risen from the dead. Instead, his resurrection proves that he knew beforehand what was going to happen to him and who would arrange for his death. But they had no power to prevent his resurrection.

2. His resurrection fulfilled Old Testament prophecies

I will mention three examples of such predictions. The first is found in that amazing chapter, Isaiah 53, which details features of the death of Jesus. In verse 10 of that chapter, the prophet says that ‘when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.’. Then in verse 12, the prophet describes the Father saying of his Servant, ‘Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.’ After his death, Jesus would experience a great reward which was fulfilled following his resurrection.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter when explaining the resurrection of Jesus referred to Psalm 16, and when we look at the psalm we can see that it is Jesus who is describing his own experience: ‘I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore’ (Ps. 16:8-11). The psalm does not stop at his resurrection, because it goes on to describe his ascension to heaven.

Psalm 22 is another psalm that refers to the sufferings of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection. The first twenty-one references detail his sufferings on the cross, and the rest of the psalm says what he will do after his death, including teaching his brothers about his Father and leading the worship of the nations.

Clearly, the Old Testament predicted the death of the Messiah because of the sins of others. But it also predicted the resurrection of the Messiah and the glory that would come to him and that would come others because of him.

3. It revealed the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ work on the cross

Just before he died on the cross, Jesus cried, ‘It is finished,’ and commended his soul to his Father. When he made that cry he did not mean that there were no more actions in which he would engage. He himself had said that was the case. Yet he had finished some aspects of what he was going to do, and those aspects would have to be perfect if he was going to continue engaging in others. He had completed the payment due for sin was what he had meant, but the proof that he had paid it would be seen in whether or not he would appear to complete the other activities. Because in order to complete them, he would need to be raised from the dead.

Peter Lewis explains this as follows: ‘While it would have been impossible for a just God to release him if a full atonement for sin had not been made, it was equally impossible for a just God not to release Him after God demands had been fully met. It was ‘not possible’, not because of Christ’s own power or even God’s power simply considered, but because of God’s justice. It was not possible that he should be held under death, the penalty for sin, when he had borne all sins away and fully atoned for them. It was not possible that the resurrection should not take place. His resurrection was inevitable given the justice of God. The atonement ensured the resurrection quite as much as the resurrection validated the atonement.’ 

4. It commenced the path of exaltation for Jesus

It is obvious that the resurrection of Jesus was an amazing wonder. If we want to put in this way, he did not merely rise from the dead – others had been raised by him from the dead – he rose as the last Adam, the head of a new humanity. Even as the first Adam had a destiny of others hanging on to him, so Jesus had the destiny of others hanging on to him. How was the destiny of the new race going to be reached? It would be reached by Jesus achieving what was laid out for him.

What followed his resurrection? There was his ascension when he left the earth and entered heaven. Luke describes that ascension in the last chapter of his Gospel and mentions how the disciples saw Jesus go into heaven on a cloud of glory. His ascension was followed by his exaltation to the throne of God, an event that led Rabbi Duncan to marvel about the dust of the earth being on the throne of God. From the throne, the risen Christ functions as the Mediator who is building his church, who reigns over all things on behalf of his body, as the Shepherd who will gather in his lost sheep until the flock is complete. When that happens, he will then bring about the resurrection at the close of this stage of human history and his people will be raised in glory, fully like him. He will create for them as their inheritance the new heavens and new earth. All those current and future activities of Jesus were linked to his resurrection. We rejoice that he is highly exalted and fully able to complete his responsibilities.  

5. It is a guarantee of the future judgement

In Acts 17, Luke tells his readers what Paul did and said during his stay in Athens, especially at the Areopagus. He informed his listeners that God now ‘commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead’ (vv. 30-31). It looks as if his audience did not fully understand what he meant. Some dismissed his claim because they did not see any point in having a resurrection. Others wanted to hear more. But some believed. 

Paul was stating a reality that Jesus himself had said would take place: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement’ (John 5:25-29). In order for Jesus to raise and judge all men, he would have to be raised from the dead.

Application

R. A. Finlayson says in a sermon that Christians regard the resurrection of Jesus in three ways. The three ways are that it is a fact, a message and an experience. There are innumerable facts of history that may have an inspiring application but whose experience no one today can share or needs to share. The difference that the resurrection of Jesus makes is that it is a fact that offers a living hope because he is alive, and a fact that provides a living experience of the risen Christ in those who believe the true message about it. It is because Jesus is risen that we can be justified, sanctified and glorified. It is because he is alive that we can be adopted into God’s family as fellow-heirs with him of a wonderful inheritance.