“For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.” John 20:9
THE MORNING OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION, PETER AND “THE OTHER DISCIPLE,” (MOST BELIEVE “THE OTHER DISCIPLE” WAS THE APOSTLE JOHN BUT THE WORD DOES NOT SAY THAT), RAN TO THE EMPTY TOMB AND NOTED THE INTERESTING STATE OF THE GRAVE WRAPPINGS. WHAT THEY SAW BORE WITNESS TO THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
THE LINEN WRAPPINGS WERE LYING THERE UNDISTURBED AND AS SUCH WOULD BE IN THE SHAPE OF JESUS’ BODY. THE FACE CLOTH WAS FOLDED UP LYING BY ITSELF. HAD JESUS TAKEN THE TIME TO HANDLE THE FACE CLOTH AND CAREFULLY FOLD IT UP? HE MOST PROBABLY DID AS AN EXPRESSION OF HIS LOVE AND APPRECIATION OF THOSE WHO HAD SO LOVINGLY CARED FOR HIS BODY IN HIS DEATH.
PETER HADN’T BEEN ABLE TO RUN AS FAST AS THE OTHER DISCIPLE, SO HE WAS SECOND ON THE SCENE. HOWEVER, IT WAS PETER WHO FIRST ENTERED THE TOMB. THEN THE OTHER DISCIPLE ENTERED. WHEN THAT OTHER DISCIPLE SAW THE STATE OF THE WRAPPINGS, “HE SAW AND BELIEVED.” HE WAS QUICKER THAN PETER IN PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER.
“FOR AS YET,” IT SAYS, “THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURE THAT HE MUST RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD.” JESUS’ DISCIPLES KNEW HE HAD SPOKEN OF HIS APPROACHING DEATH AND THAT HE WAS GOING TO GO TO THE FATHER, BUT THE GREAT SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ BODILY RESURRECTION WAS HIDDEN FROM THEIR UNDERSTANDING, UNTIL THAT MOMENT.
“HE MUST RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD.” THIS WAS GOD’S ETERNAL PUPOSE FOR MANKIND. GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD JUST TO SAVE US FROM SIN. HE SAVED US FROM SIN IN ORDER TO RAISE US UP WITH HIM INTO HIS PRESENCE.
READ THE BOOK OF ACTS AND NOTE THE EMPHASIS ON JESUS’ RESURRECTION. THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL, OR GOOD NEWS, IS THAT A MAN HAS BEEN RAISED UP OUT OF THE GRAVE OF SIN AND DEATH, RAISED AS A GLORIFIED HUMAN BEING. JESUS IS THE RESURRECTION OF MANKIND.
UNDER THE OLD COVENANT, THERE WAS HOPE IN A FINAL RESURRECTION. WHEN LAZRUS DIED AND JESUS TOLD MARTHA THAT HER BROTHER WOULD RISE AGAIN, MARTHA ANSWERED HIM, “I KNOW THAT HE WILL RISE AGAIN IN THE RESURRECTION ON THE LAST DAY.” IT WAS THEN THAT JESUS SAID TO MARTHA, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.” JESUS HIMSELF WAS HUMANITY’S RESURRECTION BEFORE HE EVER DIED. HIS RISING OUT OF THAT TOMB WAS EVIDENCE OF THIS FACT.
HOW IS JESUS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE?
THE ANSWER IS FOUND IN HIS TRUE HUMANITY. HE WAS NO DISGUISED GOD. HE WAS A TRUE HUMAN, NO SUPERMAN BUT THE SON OF MAN. HIS GENEALOGY GOES BACK TO ADAM. HE POSSESSED HUMANITY’S ACTUAL GENES! BUT THOSE GENES AND THE CELLS OF HIS BODY WERE PERMEATED BY THE DIVINE LIFE OF GOD. WE CALL IT THE INCARNATION. GOD BECAME FLESH.
HOW CAN THIS BE, ASKED THE VIRGIN MARY. THE ANGEL GABRIEL ANSWERED THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD COME UPON HER AND THE POWER OF THE MOST HIGH WOULD OVERSHADOW HER. IN THE INCARNATION, THE ETERNAL DIVINE LIFE OF ALMIGHTY GOD WAS UNITED TO THE HUMAN RACE IN THE OVUM OF THE VIRGIN MARY. WHY SHOULD WE DOUBT THIS WONDER? THIS IS WHAT HUMANITY WAS MADE FOR. GOD STATED HIS INTENTION FROM THE BEGINNING. “LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE AND AFTER OUR LIKENESS.” ADAM WAS BUT THE BEGINNING OF THIS GREAT ENDEAVOR OF GOD. ONLY GOD’S OWN LIFE COULD COMPLETE THE WORK OF MAKING MAN IN GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS.
WHEN GOD DESIGNED ADAM, HE WAS DESIGNING THE BODY OF HIS ETERNAL SON. THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT PASSAGE IN DAVID’S PSALM 40. TO GET ITS FULL MEANING, IT SHOULD BE READ FROM THE SEPTUAGINT TRANSLATION, AN EXCELLENT TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES INTO THE GREEK BY 72 JEWISH SCHOLARS. THE KEY SCRIPTURES ARE VERSES SIX THROUGH TEN AS FOLLOWS.
“SACRIFICE AND OFFERINGS YOU DID NOT DESIRE, BUT PREPARED FOR ME A BODY; WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND OFFERINGS FOR SIN YOU DID NOT REQUIRE. THEN I SAID, BEHOLD I COME TO PERFORM, O MY GOD, YOUR WILL, I WAS DETERMINED, EVEN THAT LAW OF YOURS, WITHIN MY HEART. I HAVE PUBLISHED THE GOOD NEWS OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IN A GREAT CONGREGATION. BEHOLD I WILL NOT REFRAIN MY LIPS. YOU O LORD KNOW MY RIGHTEOUSNESS. I HAVE NOT HID YOUR TRUTH IN MY HEART BUT HAVE MENTIONED YOUR SALVATION. I HAVE NOT CONCEALED YOUR MERCY AND YOUR TRUTH FROM A GREAT CONGREGATION.”
AS YOU READ THOSE WORDS, THINK OF JESUS, HIS WORDS AND DEEDS. HE CAME TO LIVE A HOLY HUMAN LIFE. HE CHERISHED THE BODY THAT HAD BEEN PREPARED FOR HIM BY THE FATHER. THAT IS WHY HIS GENEALOGY IS RECORDED IN TWO OF THE GOSPELS. HE WAS CALLED THE SON OF DAVID, WHO WAS A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART. HE WAS FAITHFUL IN PROCLAIMING HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS BEFORE SINFUL MEN AND WOMEN. HE PREACHED HIMSELF. HE WAS THE GOOD NEWS. HE SAID, “REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.” HE WAS NOT BRAGGING BUT TELLING US THAT HE WAS GIVING HIS LIFE TO US, NOT JUST AT THE CROSS BUT THROUGHOUT HIS WHOLE WALK HERE ON EARTH.
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS CONDEMNED OUR SIN, IN THE FLESH. HIS HOLY HUMANITY EXPOSED OUR SINFUL HUMANITY. THIS IS WHY HE DIED. OUR SIN KILLED HIM. THE BOOK OF ACTS MAKES THIS VERY CLEAR. HE DIED BECAUSE HE WAS FAITHFUL IN PROCLAIMING THE TRUTH. HE TOLD PILATE, “FOR THIS PUPOSE HAVE I COME INTO THE WORLD TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTH.” John 18:37 HE DIED BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO FIGHT US OR LEAVE US. HE IS OURS FOREVER. “FOR THIS REASON THE FATHER LOVES ME BECAUSE I LAY DOWN MY LIFE THAT I MIGHT TAKE IT AGAIN. John 10:17 HIS BODY WAS RAISED OUT OF DEATH, A GLORIFIED BODY, BUT STILL A HUMAN BODY.
THE DISCIPLES GRADUALLY REALIZED THAT JESUS WAS HOLY, BUT THEY HAD NOT YET GRASPED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS HOLY HUMANITY FOR THEMSELVES. YES, HE WAS LEAVING THEM. HE WAS GOING TO THE FATHER. BUT AS THEY LOOKED AT THOSE GRAVE CLOTHES, IT BEGAN TO DAWN ON THEM THAT HIS BODY HAS RISEN! HE IS ONE OF US. HE IS STILL WITH US, EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US. THEY HAD TO LEARN THAT HE HAD A DIFFERENT KIND OF BODY AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, A BODY THAT DID NOT HAVE THE RESTRICTIONS OF THE OLD, BUT IT WAS STILL A HUMAN BODY. AT ONE POINT, JESUS HAD TO EAT SOME FOOD BEFORE THEM TO CONVINCE THEM THAT HE WAS NOT JUST A SPIRIT.
IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE THAT WE SHOULD WONDER WHY GOD DESIGNED HUMANITY SO THAT WE INHERIT THE SINS OF OUR ANCESTORS. BUT IT IS THIS RACIAL ASPECT THAT ENABLES US TO RECEIVE THE ETERNAL LIFE OF THE SON. “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 SHALL BE MADE ALIVE…..THE FIRST MAN, ADAM, BECAME A LIVING SOUL. THE LAST ADAM BECAME A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT.” 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45
NOT UNTIL “DOUBTING THOMAS” SAW THE SCARS IN JESUS’ BODY DID HE BELIEVE. HE BELIEVED NOT JUST THAT JESUS HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD, BUT HE BELIEVED LIKE THAT “OTHER DISCIPLE” WHO SAW AND BELIEVED. THOMAS’ WORDS SAY IT ALL. “MY LORD AND MY GOD,” – HE IS MINE!
“IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS AS LORD, AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU SHALL BE SAVED.” Romans 10:9
Rosemary E Hyslop June 5, 2016