What Is the Resurrection? I. Introduction A. It is perhaps the least recognized and most poorly understood fundamental of the faith, and yet, for early Christians, it is the fundamental of the faith: the resurrection B. A lot of people have heard of Christianity, understand that it involves Jesus dying for the forgiveness of sins, and probably even know about Easter, but what have they heard about the resurrection? C. Even among Christians there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the resurrection, what it demands, and its importance D. Thus we do well to ask: what is the resurrection? 1. What does resurrection mean? 2. How was resurrection understood by Jews and Gentiles in the first century? 3. What can be known about Jesus’ resurrection? 4. What can be known about the general resurrection? II. What Is Resurrection? A. Resurrection, in English, is the coming back to life of the dead B. Greek anastasis: literally, to stand again, and so “a raising up, rising; a rising from the dead” (Thayer’s Lexicon) C. But what does it mean to have the dead come back to life? D. “Resurrection” can refer to a form of resuscitation, in which a dead person is brought back to life for a period of time before finally succumbing to death again 1. In Hebrews 11:35, the author most likely speaks of the raising of the widow of Zarephath’s son and the son of the Shunnamite woman as a resurrection (cf. 1 Kings 17:22-24, 2 Kings 4:27-37 2. In the same way Jesus brought back to life the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus (Luke 7:12-16, John 11:40-45) 3. Peter will raise Tabitha/Dorcas from the dead as well (Acts 9:41) 4. All of these situations involved the miraculous use of the power of YHWH to raise the dead, and yet all those thus risen died again E. But this is not the fullness of resurrection which became the hope of Israel and manifest in Jesus of Nazareth F. So how was resurrection understood by Jews and Gentiles in the first century? III. Resurrection in Second Temple Judaism A. The hope of resurrection becomes explicit in Daniel 12:2: an expectation of a general resurrection of all the dead on the final day to everlasting life or shame B. This trend would persist throughout the Second Temple Period, and is made explicit in many of the writings of that era 1. In 2 Maccabees 7 an account is given of the martyrdom of seven sons of one woman at the hands of Antiochus IV Epiphanes; the third son stretched out his tongue and hands for torturing, confident God would give them back to him again; the fourth expressed confidence in the resurrection of life; the mother encouraged her sons, confident God would give them life again, and especially to the youngest (2 Maccabees 7:10-11, 14, 23, 29) 2. Judas the Maccabee is commended for providing for a sin offering for the dead, for he kept the resurrection in mind, a foolish thing to do if those who had fallen would not rise again (2 Maccabees 12:43-45) 3. These accounts are uninspired, and Judas’ example would be cited to justify indulgences and all sorts of concepts contrary to the revealed Word, but they testify to the viewpoints of many in Second Temple Judaism, and the martyrdom stories circulated broadly C. These views help us understand what was meant and expected when Jews and Gentiles discuss resurrection in the first century 1. John 5:28-29: what Jesus proclaims is consistent with Daniel 12:2 2. John 11:24: Martha’s expectation of the general resurrection on the final day is completely consistent with Second Temple Jewish understanding 3. Matthew 27:52-53: this short account, only found in Matthew, leaves more questions than answers, but it clearly expresses that some holy ones from Israel’s past arose from the dead, walked into Jerusalem, and appeared to people when Jesus was raised 4. Matthew 27:62-66: the chief priests and Pharisees well understood what Jesus meant when He spoke of rising from the dead; for this reason they wanted a guard to protect the tomb 5. Acts 23:6-8: belief in resurrection divided Pharisees from Sadducees (confirmed in Josephus’ Wars of the Jews 2.8.14) 6. Acts 17:30-32, 1 Corinthians 15:12: resurrection would have been considered preposterous to most Gentiles; even those who followed Jesus were tempted to deny the resurrection of the dead because of Greek philosophical views which denigrated the body D. Let none be deceived, and let us be clear: resurrection, in the first century, involved nothing less than the reanimation of the physical body from the dead, and often the transformation of said reanimated body for eternal life E. Having explored the meaning of resurrection, let us explore the resurrection of Jesus IV. Jesus’ Resurrection A. Jesus had foretold His resurrection on many occasions (Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, Mark 8:31, 9:31-34, Luke 9:22, 18:31-34, John 2:19-22, 14:1-4); even His enemies corroborated His testimony (Matthew 27:63) B. The story of Jesus’ resurrection is chronicled in Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-53, and John 20:1-21:25 1. In all four accounts, the tomb is empty: Jesus’ body is no longer there (Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 16:5-6, Luke 24:3-8, John 20:1-9) 2. Likewise, in all four accounts, the women and the disciples see and speak with Jesus in His resurrection body (Matthew 28:9-10, 18-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:36, 38, John 20:19-23) 3. In Luke’s account, the two disciples heading to Emmaus do not recognize Jesus until they broke bread with Him (Luke 24:13-17, 30-31) and Jesus appears in a room (Luke 24:36), but assured them He was not spirit but had flesh and bones, took a fish, and ate it before them (Luke 24:39-43) 4. In John’s account, Jesus appeared in the upper room even though the “door was shut”; He encouraged Thomas to put his hand in the place of Jesus’ wounds (John 20:19-27) C. Paul testified that he saw Jesus in the resurrection some period after His ascension (1 Corinthians 9:1, 15:8; cf. Acts 9:1-8); he also bears witness that James the Lord’s brother and over 500 brethren at one time saw the Lord Jesus in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5-7) D. The narrative is so composed as to render any other attempted explanation void 1. Jesus was dead: the Romans knew how to execute people, and He was not seen in some pathetically weakened state (John 19:31-37) 2. They did not go to the wrong tomb, and the disciples did not enter a back way: many women witnessed Joseph of Arimathea putting Jesus’ body into the tomb; it was a freshly cut tomb out of the rock, without any other access points but the front, with a stone rolled in front of it (Matthew 27:57-61, John 19:38-42) 3. The disciples did not steal the body: the guard at the tomb was there for that purpose, and no Roman guard would credibly claim they all fell asleep (Matthew 27:62-66, 28:11-15); furthermore, the disciples are dispirited throughout, and give no suggestion as to being so inclined 4. Jesus’ resurrection was unexpected: neither Mary nor the disciples expected Jesus to be risen from the dead; Thomas’ doubt was not misplaced; they were not credulous fools, for they knew quite well that dead people stayed dead; they all expected a resurrection on the final day, not Jesus to be raised first (John 20:1-29) 5. The resurrection was not a hallucination: it would be hard to claim a mass hallucination of over 500 people, but the original witnesses claimed to only see Jesus for forty days and then no longer, inconsistent with those who hallucinate and do so continually (Acts 1:1-11) E. Jesus, therefore, arose from the dead, and remains as Lord to this day in the resurrection body! 1. When Jesus died on the cross, His soul/spirit did not die, but went to Paradise (cf. Luke 23:43) 2. Thus, when He gave up His spirit on the cross, He began to experience life after death...until the third day 3. On the first day of the week, Jesus arose from the grave, His body reanimated and transformed for immortality: the resurrection, life after life after death! 4. Stephen claimed to see the Jesus as the “son of man”, i.e. the Human One, in a vision as he was stoned (Acts 7:55-56; cf. Daniel 7:13-14) 5. Paul saw Jesus in the resurrection even later (1 Corinthians 9:1, 15:8; cf. Acts 9:1-8) 6. Paul would consider Jesus a human (Greek anthropos) in the present tense ca. 63 CE (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5) 7. Romans 6:1-11: if Jesus died to sin, and death has no power over Him, of what can Paul possibly speak save the body, since such is the only “part” of Jesus ever to experience death? F. This is the apostolic proclamation of the good news of Jesus: Jesus, who lived, served, suffered, and died, was raised from the dead by the power of God, and now rules as Lord and Christ (Acts 2:14-36) 1. The Apostles insisted that Jesus’ resurrection led to His ascension and authority: Jesus is the “one like a Son of Man” who received an eternal dominion from the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:13-14) 2. The resurrection makes sense of how Jesus could be human and yet reign eternally: He overcame death (Romans 6:1-11)! 3. And so the Kingdom of God in Christ is built upon the confidence that God raised Jesus from the dead; if Jesus is not risen, then we are lost in our sins, and of all people to be most pitied (1 Corinthians 15:1-20)! V. The Resurrection of the Dead A. We have seen what resurrection means and that Jesus is risen from the dead B. But what does all of this have to do with us? C. Paul explains the resurrection of Jesus as the “firstfruits”, the “firstborn from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20-24, Colossians 1:18) 1. Paul continues the theme of Jesus as the second Adam, this time bringing life 2. Jesus, as the “firstfruits,” is raised with the expectation of further fruit, that all who are in Christ will arise as well when He returns (1 Corinthians 15:20-24; cf. Leviticus 23:9-14) 3. This hope is manifest in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as well D. Both Paul and John expect those who share in the resurrection of life to be like Jesus as He is in His resurrection 1. 1 John 3:1-3: we do not know what we will be, for there is much that is left unrevealed and is beyond our understanding about the resurrection, but we will be like Jesus 2. Philippians 3:20-21: Jesus will transform our bodies in their humiliation into glorified bodies like His by the same power by which all things have been made subject to Him E. With these guides we can approach 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 1. Resurrection as seen in plant life: what is planted dies to be raised to be something greater (1 Corinthians 15:35-38) 2. Different types of creatures have different bodies; so it is with the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:39-41) 3. The body we now have is corrupted, in dishonor, weak, and “natural” (Greek psuchikos); the resurrection body will be incorruptible, honorable, raised in power, and “spiritual” (Greek pneumatikos; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44) 4. Much mischief has been done by the choice of translation of psuchikos as “natural” and pneumatikos as “spiritual,” justifying those who wish to emphasize “spirituality” over the “body”; as Paul further explains, the psychical body is the one powered by the psuche, the breath of life, as God gave Adam; the pneumatical body is powered by the Spirit; the issue therefore is not the quality of the body per se but what empowers it (1 Corinthians 15:45-49; cf. Genesis 2:7) 5. Paul then declares that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50a), which should settle it, right? 6. Such violence is done to this text, for Paul did not stop there! Corruption cannot inherit incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:50b), and Paul goes on to tell a mystery: we shall not sleep but be changed, in an instant, and the corruptible will put on incorruption, and the mortal will put on immortality, and the victory will be won (1 Corinthians 15:51-58) 7. Horrific violence is done to Sacred Writ to suggest that Paul is saying that the physical body is eliminated or removed and we must be pure spirit to obtain the Kingdom; Paul says that we cannot inherit the Kingdom in our current form, but can inherit it once transformed for immortality; the transformation is not envisioned in terms of destruction or elimination but in terms of betterment or enhancement: to put on, as clothing! F. Paul helps us make good theological sense of all of this in Romans 8:18-25 1. The creation has been subjected to futility and corruption; it yearns to be set free, looking forward to being delivered into the liberty of the glory of the children of God; we also yearn for this day to receive the adoption as sons, the redemption of the body; this is part of how God glorifies His people (Romans 8:18-23) 2. Such is a hope not yet realized (Romans 8:24-25): thus it is different from the adoption as sons we have already received through the reconciliation gained in Jesus, the regeneration of our spiritual lives in Christ (Romans 6:1-7, 8:1-17) 3. Paul is reminding us of what the problem is, and therefore its appropriate solution 4. Is the creation the problem, as imagined by the pagans, the Greek philosophers, the Gnostics, and many to this day in Western society? By no means; God’s creation is very good (Genesis 1:31)! 5. So what is the problem? The introduction of sin, and its resultant death and corruption, into the creation (Romans 5:12-21, 8:18-23) 6. What, therefore, would be the solution? Victory over and deliverance from sin and death, accomplished by Jesus in His death and resurrection (Romans 5:6-11, 8:1-23, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28) 7. Therefore, resurrection is the ultimate promise, since God is not the God of the dead but of the living: life in the body will be restored and transformed for immortality; in this way humanity, body and soul, is fully redeemed (Matthew 22:29-32, Romans 8:23) F. And so we get a picture of the end in Revelation 20:11-22:6, informed by John 5:28-29 1. When the Lord returns, those who have done wickedly, those not in the book of life, will rise unto the resurrection of shame and contempt, cast into the lake of fire with Satan, death, and Hades for all eternity (John 5:28-29, Revelation 20:11-14) 2. Those who have obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and have done well will inherit eternal life, envisioned in the “new heavens and earth” as a glorified city coming down from heaven in which the Lord God dwells with Jesus the Lamb, the light of the whole, where there is no more pain, suffering, or anything evil, with the river and trees of life as in Eden: the end is as the beginning, and man is in full communion with God in the resurrection (John 5:28-29, Revelation 21:1-22:6) G. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20)! VI. Conclusion A. We have explored the resurrection B. Resurrection is bringing back to life what was dead: life after life after death C. Resurrection was a strong hope in Second Temple Judaism; God raised Jesus from the dead, and He lives in the resurrection to this day D. The Christian’s hope is in the resurrection, that God will raise him or her to eternal life on the final day as He did Jesus E. May we put our hope in Jesus and the bodily resurrection of the dead, praying for and advancing the day of His coming, and obtain eternal life in the resurrection! F. Invitation Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: And the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many (Matthew 27:52-53). Resurrection involves the bringing back to life of the dead. Many in Scripture were raised from the dead but would ultimately die again. Such is a kind of resurrection; what happened to Jesus and what is promised to all believers is far greater. May we serve the Lord Jesus and obtain the resurrection of life! 2: “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). Jesus affirms the picture of the general resurrection given by Daniel. On the final day all will rise, some to everlasting life, others to everlasting shame. Such hope sustained many in Israel in the Second Temple Period; such is how resurrection was understood at that time. May we trust in Jesus to obtain the resurrection of life! 3: “This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32). Peter declares the apostolic proclamation of the good news of Jesus of Nazareth: He lived, served, suffered, and died, but God raised Him from the dead. Jesus’ tomb is empty; God raised His body and it was transformed for immortality. Jesus appeared to His disciples over forty days. He ascended to heaven but remained in the resurrection body, appearing to Stephen and Paul. Jesus remains in the resurrection body to this day and will return in it one day. May we accept the apostolic witness and trust in Jesus to obtain the resurrection! 4: For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself (Philippians 3:20-21). Jesus’ resurrection was no mere one-off or aberration. Jesus is the firstfruits, the firstborn of the dead; His resurrection is the ground of the confidence in the resurrection of all who serve Him. One day the Lord will return and all those in Christ will be raised bodily and transformed for immortality with Him forever. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!