Resurrection

The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of Christianity. It provides the physical, historic, space-time verification for the faith. Without it, Christianity is quite literally, dead. The resurrection of Christ is vigorously proclaimed throughout the New Testament, especially in the teachings of Paul. It is primarily because of Paul's teachings that the resurrection has such a substantial place in Christianity. Indeed, there is no gospel without the resurrection for the gospel is the following:

"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve" (1 Cor. 15.1-5).

It is important to understand what is meant by resurrection. Jesus was the first person who was ever resurrected from the dead. What is meant by resurrection is the raising of a person into a new kind of body, in the pattern of Christ's. While a resurrection body appears to be like our present bodies, it has distinctly different properties. These properties include eternal life and the ability the transcend normal space and time. Several persons have been resuscitated in the Scriptures. Elijah resuscitated the widow of Zarephath's son. Jesus raised (i.e. resuscitated) Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. These individuals were given new life but theymeventually died again. A resurrected body never experiences death.

The chief historical verification for the resurrection is its effect upon the disciples. Christ's crucifixion left the disciples in utter defeat. Their world collapsed. Even though Jesus had told them that he was going to die and rise from the dead, it never registered with them (Lk. 18.34). The fact that after his resurrection they boldly confronted and defied the authorities who had crucified him and continued to preach his resurrection verifies the resurrection of Christ as a fact of history (cf. Acts 4.1-22). Had they benefited from their efforts--prestige, wealth, etc. one might argue that they had a vested interest in their proclamation and allegiance. But they obtained no earthly benefit or reward for their efforts. They were ridiculed, beaten, stoned, and tortured. They laid down their lives as proof of their confidence in the truth of what they had witnessed.

The fact that the Sanhedrin could not produce a body from the empty tomb--a tomb heavily guarded by the Roman army and sealed with a great stone--further attests to the historicity of the resurrection. Who does not believe that the Sanhedrin, who orchestrated the murder of Jesus, did not exercise all of its power to produce the body? Had they been successful, the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah would have died instantly. Can anyone seriously believe the disciples risked their lives for a corpse? They would not risk their lives for Jesus when he was alive! They all ran away when he was arrested.

Many bible critics of the 19th and 20th centuries labored to remove the supernatural from the Scriptures. They advanced vigorous attacks and naturalistic explanations against events such as Jesus' miraculous feeding of the 5,000, his walking on water, his healing of disease and demon possession, calming storms, etc. Critics have attempted to demythologize the Scriptures, that is, to remove the supernatural and miraculous from them. Some critics claim that the witnesses and writers of that day were superstitious and naive. Yet it is clear from reading the New Testament that those who witnessed miraculous events knew that they were extraordinary. They knew that that what they saw violated the laws of nature. When Peter walked on the sea to meet Jesus, he knew he was doing something extraordinary. He was a fisherman. When Jesus gave sight to the blind and raised Lazarus from death, the people knew that the ordinary laws of nature had been overcome. Indeed, they knew that no one had ever restored sight to the blind (Jn. 9.31-32). But all of those miracles, great as they were, pale in comparison to Jesus' resurrection. It was the big event. The resurrection of Jesus was the premier metaphysical event of the universe. It violated the most obvious and transcendent natural laws--death, decay, and entropy. If one can believe in the resurrection of Christ, (and to be a Christian one must) then to accept the other miraculous events recorded in the Bible is child's play. The resurrection of Jesus is the big door. Through it all other supernatural and miraculous events follow easily.

When investigators remove the miraculous from Jesus, there is little of the biblical Jesus left. The so-called "quest for the historical Jesus", which rejects the miraculous accounts of Jesus' life, has accomplished this feat. At the end of the "quest" the "historical" Jesus that remains is hardly worth mentioning much less following. All that is left is a ethical, moral, religious teacher who fell afoul other envious religous teachers who had him executed. The metaphysical acts of Jesus are indivisible from his natural acts. He is the God-Man. They are as much a part of Jesus as his eating and drinking.

The resurrection is a fact of history as certain as Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon. While some have tried to negate the fact of the resurrection, many have found the historical record sufficient and compelling. Professor Thomas Arnold, fourteen years a headmaster of Rugby, authored the famous History of Rome and held the Chair of Modern History at Oxford. He said,

"Indeed, taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it." (Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, p.192-3)

Dr. Simon Greenleaf, the Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University, was one of the greatest legal minds who ever lived. He wrote the legal volume entitled, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, considered by many the greatest legal volume ever written. Dr. Greenleaf believed the resurrection of Jesus to be a hoax and determined to expose it. His investigation yielded a different result. After thoroughly examining the evidence, Dr. Greenleaf reached the conclusion that according to the rule of legal evidence, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the best supported event in all of history. He stated,

"It was therefore impossible that the apostles could have persisted in affirming the truths they had narrated, had not JesusChrist actually risen from the dead, and had they not known the fact as certainly as the knew any other fact." (Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, p.192).

Jesus taught the resurrection. When the Sadducees set forth a situation to confound him, he chided them,

"You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living'' (Mt. 22.29-32).

Thus, Jesus proclaimed that our God is not the God of dead people but of living. So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all those who had put their trust in him were alive.

"Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do people say that I am?'' They told Him, saying, 'John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.'' And He continued by questioning them, 'But who do you say that I am?'' Peter answered and said to Him, 'You are the Christ.'' And He warned them to tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mk. 8.27-31).

Jesus taught several times that he would rise from the dead (Mk. 9.31; 10.34; Lk. 18.33). His disciples, however, were not able to comprehend this doctrine (Lk. 18.34).

In addition to teaching his own resurrection, Jesus taught that those who believed in him would be resurrected.

"Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.''' (Jn. 6.35-40).

In his teaching of the resurrection of those who believed in him, the timetable was that they would be raised up on "the last day". Later, God revealed to the apostle Paul new, additional information about the resurrection.

There are two kinds of resurrections. One is to life and one is to judgment. Jesus declared that he both gave life and that he was the judge. Regarding these two resurrections, he said,

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment" (Jn. 5.20-29).

There is a definite order of resurrection and the picture is that of a harvest. Paul described Jesus' resurrection as being "the firstfruits". The book of Leviticus discusses various harvests which are pictures of the resurrections (cf. Lev. 23.9-10; 19.9-10b). Part of the doctrine of the resurrection is the Rapture, the removal of the Body of Christ from the earth before Jesus returns as judge to establish his earthly kingdom. Those who reject the Rapture are like the Sadducees, who in Jesus' day denied the resurrection. They erred, not knowing the Scriptures. The Rapture is a doctrine that was only revealed to Paul. Before God's call and commission of Paul it was not known; it was a mystery. In other words, there is no teaching about the Rapture in the Gospels or from any other biblical writer. Only Paul teaches it. The order of the resurrections is not explicitly clear. Below is a possible order.

The Bible teaches that all humans live forever. Some will live in unimaginable splendor and love; others will live in terrifying pain and distress. Jesus declared that there are two resurrections: one to life (the first resurrection) and one to judgment (the second resurrection). The first resurrection, the resurrection unto life, comes in phases. Christ was the first to be raised and some saints buried around Jerusalem were raised shortly after that.

The next resurrection will be the resurrection of the Church, the Body of Christ. Of that group, those who have died will be resurrected first. Then those who are alive when Christ appears will be raised. This means that a large number of people will not experience physical death¹. This event is known as the Rapture. After the Rapture will follow the Tribulation, as Jesus called it (Mt. 24.21), or the "time of Jacob's trouble" as Jeremiah referred to it. God will again focus upon the nation of Israel. Sixty-nine weeks of years from Daniel's prophecy (Dan. 9.25-27) have already been fulfilled for national Israel.

The "rapture" of the Church is as sure as the return of Christ itself. The prophets of Israel did not understand that their prophecies described two advents of the Messiah. Just as God revealed two advents to the Old Testament prophets, he revealed two advents to the apostle Paul. The second coming comes in two phases. In the first phase Jesus will return to claim his Church, the body of Christ, from the coming wrath, i.e "the time of Jacob's trouble". In the second phase, he will come to rescue repentant Israel (cf. Mt. 23.37-29) and to establish his kingdom (cf. Acts 1.6-7 ). To understand the Rapture one must understand the distinction between the Church and Israel, law and grace, God's heavenly people and God's earthly people, and the "gospel of the kingdom" and the "gospel of the grace of God". Furthermore, without understanding the distinctions between these two programs (Israel and the Church), the Bible is pretty much a muddle. Theological systems that do not recognize these distinctions are fraught with error and fail in their ability to understand or explain the Bible. They depart from the clear meaning of the text and violate the fundamental principles of hermeneutics. In such systems eisegesis replaces exegesis.

The Church and Israel are distinct entities. Jesus, in his earthly ministry, came expressly to present himself as the King and Messiah of Israel. Gentiles were not included (cf. Mt. 10.5-7; 15.21-28) with exceptions, e.g. the Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion. Following the nation's rejection of their Messiah, however, God acted in grace rather than judgment. He commissioned Paul as "apostle to the Gentiles". God revealed to Paul a new, "mystery" entity we know as the Church. Jesus did not teach it nor did the Twelve. It was a completely unforeseen and hidden truth until God chose to reveal it to Paul (cf. Eph. 2.11-22; 3.3-9; Col. 1.26-27). Since Israel would not repent and accept Jesus as their Messiah-King, the nation has been temporarily set aside. Paul explains this in Romans 9-11.

For God to complete his work with Israel and fulfill his promises to the nation which he had made through covenants Israel has to repent. This was the message John the Baptizer, Jesus, and the Twelve proclaimed to the nation. Judgment finally fell upon the nation in 70 A. D. Since that time, God has been dealing with the "mystery", i.e. the body of Christ. After the Church is removed in the Rapture, God will began his judgment of a Christ rejecting world. This judgment is called "the time of Jacob's trouble". The result will be a repentent Israel who will recognize and accept Jesus as their Messiah-King. He will return to rescue them and all mankind from annihilation (Rev. 19 cf. Mt. 24.22).

From Job 19.25-26, Dan. 12.1-2, and Is. 26.19-21 it would appear that Old Testament saints are not raised at the Rapture but later, following the Tribulation, at the time of the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom . At any rate, all Old Testament believers as well as all Church believers are resurrected before the Millennium. Also raised before the Messianic Kingdom are those who were martyred in the Tribulation. These are those who refused to worship the AntiChrist as God (Rev. 20.4-5).

While life will be greatly extended in the Messianic Kingdom, death will occur (Is. 65.20). Also, death from non-natural means is highly likely. No passage of Scripture clearly indicates the resurrection of Millennial saints but they may be resurrected at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.

The final resurrection will be the resurrection of those who have rejected Christ (Rev. 20.11-15). See the discussion on Hell for a fuller treatment of this event.

Most ancient civilizations and cultures had myths of resurrection. Their myths of the dying god returning to life expressed this belief. The Egyptians had Osiris, the Phoenicians had Baal, the Babylonians had Tammuz, and the Greeks had Dionysius. The myths of the dying and resurrected god were associated with fertility cults and with the celebration of rebirth, regeneration, and the renewal of springtime. These celebrations revolved around the natural order of death and germination in the earth. In Christianity, the myth became real. But the Christian reality is much deeper and profound than anything the pagan myths expressed or could have anticipated.

In Christ's resurrection we find all the pagan pictures of the dying and resurrecting god gathered up and coming to pass in history. But more remarkable is that we also have the astounding reversal of the natural order. While seeds die and geminate and all manner of plant life returns to life in the spring, dead humans do not. Dead, buried humans stay in the ground. But Christ by his resurrection broke the natural order of death. He is of a higher, supernatural order. Christ, the one who created heaven and earth and all that is, overcame the natural order. The dead Christ rose from the dead. It is through his resurrection that all who believe in him and who are united in him through faith in his death and resurrection have hope of their own resurrection. By Christ's conquering death all who have trusted in him have the hope, i.e. expectation, of resurrection and eternal life. This is the good news!

The apostle Paul witnessed to the pagan culture of his day regarding Christ's resurrection. The Greeks had no belief in bodily resurrection. They believed in the immortality of the soul but not of the body. This is evident from their writings and also from the testimony of the Scriptures. Plato discussed the immortality of the soul but never the body. When Paul went up to the Aeropagus in Athens, he taught the philosophers about the true God and the resurrection. The Scripture recorded their response:

"Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, 'We shall hear you again concerning this.' So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and other with them"(Acts 17.32-34).

The preaching of the gospel always evokes a response. Either it is accepted or rejected. If one accepts it, the result is eternal life; if one rejects it, the result is eternal death.

"As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;" (Job 19.25-26)

Jesus taught the resurrection of the body. It is clear from his conversation with Martha that the common people knew about it and believed it. John recorded this conversation in his gospel,

"Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to Him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11.23-26)

In Jesus' day, the Jewish leadership of the Sadducees and the Pharisees was divided on the matter of the resurrection. The Pharisees believed in it; the Sadducees did not. Paul cleverly used this controversy to his advantage before the Sanhedrin when he was being accused and persecuted by the Jews. Luke recorded the event:

"But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, 'Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!' As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all" (Acts 23.6-8).

Christ's resurrection secured, sealed and consummated his redemptive power. Because of our vital union with Christ--Paul's teaching of our being "in Christ"--and because the Holy Spirit indwells us, i.e "we in Him and He in us", "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us his Spirit" (1 John 4.13, cf. Eph. 1.4; 1 Cor. 8.6) we are certain that we will share in the benefits of Christ's resurrection and victory with our own resurrection. This fact is clearly taught throughout the Scriptures and is the great hope of Christians. Christ's appearing is our "blessed hope" (Tit. 2.13); we know that when he appears we shall be like him (1 John 3.2) and be resurrected to be with the Lord forever.

¹Prior to this time only two persons had never experienced physical death: Enoch and Elijah. It may well be that these will be the "two witnesses" (Rev. 11.3-13) described by John.

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