I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus

Ephesians Ch. 1 v 18 - 23

Hebrews Ch. 6 v 1 - 2 refers to Resurrection as a 'Foundational Teaching'. For many Christians it is a doctrine that is simply taken for granted. We know that Jesus died and rose again and that he promised that we also would, one day, rise to eternal life . However, there are those who do not believe these doctrines, or who say that they are not to be taken literally - they are spiritual truths. Such people may often be leaders in the nation's church. We must not think that this is a recent problem for it is obvious that from the earliest days of the Church this idea existed and had to be dealt with.

Ern Baxter says,

"A commitment in heart and mind to the revelation of the Word of God concerning 'resurrection' is essential to a sound foundation. Error or weakness here will affect the whole structure of Christian life."

In the 1920s Frank Morison set out to write a book about the "real" Jesus, and how he died as a martyr. But Morison did not believe in miracles and certainly did not believe in resurrection. In 1930 he finally published his book - but a very different book to that which he had planned. For the more he sifted the evidence the more he realised that there could only be one conclusion - that the impossible had happened and Christ had indeed risen.

It is not the purpose of this article to look at all the evidence - that would take too long. We need, rather, to look into the scriptures and find out what the Word of God has to say on the subject.

There are three aspects of resurrection that we need to look at eventually.

Past

The Resurrection of Jesus.

Present

The Spiritual Resurrection of the Believer.

Future

The Final Resurrection of all Mankind. ( See article )

This article will seek to show the truth and importance of the first of these aspects - that Jesus rose from death. Let us first be clear that Jesus really died . For if Jesus did not die then we are still under the curse and the resurrection is merely a myth. It is also important to see that Jesus' death was not defeat but victory. Jesus died on the cross, he was buried in a borrowed tomb and on the third day . . .

On the Third Day

As the Apostles' Creed puts it, "The third day he rose again from the dead." We either believe this to be a literal fact or we throw away the most central belief of our faith. While Church leaders try to spiritualise the resurrection, to tell us that it is true, but only in a spiritual sense, true Christian faith demands that we believe this fact as a historical reality or we lose the right to be called Christian. William Barclay says, "The claim that Jesus rose from the dead is a claim so vast and far-reaching in its importance and in its implications that there is no half-way house about it. It is either the greatest single fact in history, or, if it is not true, it is the greatest deception in history." ( The Plain Man Looks at the Apostles' Creed ) Wherever we find the gospel preached in the Acts, we find that the resurrection is part of that gospel. The following passages are well worth reading:- Acts Ch 2 v 24-37, Ch 3 v 15, Ch 4 v 10, Ch 7 v 56, Ch 10 v 40, Ch 13 v 30-37, Ch 17 v 31).

Jesus foretold his resurrection.

The disciples were not people who found it easy to accept the supernatural. In spite of all the miracles they had witnessed in the presence of Jesus, they still found it impossible to imagine that Jesus would be raised to life. They were as surprised as anyone when Jesus began to turn up at their meetings. However, they should have expected it for Jesus had given them plenty of warning. Mark Ch. 8 v 31 says, "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again." Luke also records this statement in Luke Ch. 9 v 22. Later Mark records, in Ch. 9 v 31, that "he said to them 'The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.'" Mark also records a third occasion when Jesus spoke of his death and resurrection in Mark Ch. 10 v 33-34. "'We are going up to Jerusalem,' he said, 'and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.'" Similar passages may be found in Matthew Ch. 16 v 21, 17 v 23 and 20 v 19.

The Scripture point us to many eye-witnesses.

Read Acts Ch 1 v 22, Acts Ch 3 v 15, but above all I Cor. Ch 15 v 1-8. The fact that we are pointed to these eye-witnesses is a very important one. In the world to which the gospel came there were many religions which had stories of a death and resurrection. The obvious basis for most of these was to do with nature. Each year the crops appeared to die as winter approached, only to come to life again as spring returned. These natural facts were turned into myths which explained the turn of the seasons in terms of the gods. It was important, and still is important, to make it clear that the story of Jesus was not just another myth of nature. What the myths had only hinted at had become a reality in the life of a real person in the real world. Jesus was no myth, his death was no myth and his resurrection was also no myth. At the time of writing the story there were still many eye-witnesses alive. Paul actually states that many of the eye-witnesses were still alive at the time of writing. He implies, "If you want proof, go and ask those who saw him!" (I Cor. Ch 15 v 6).

Perhaps the most powerful statement that could be made about the importance of the resurrection of Jesus is to be found in I Cor. Ch 15 v 12-20, especially verses 14 & 17-20.

"If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

(All full biblical quotations in this article are taken from the New International Version and have been inserted into the text using "QuickVerse for Windows" from Parsons Technology .)