New Word: Resurrection!

Luke 24:1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

All during Lent, we’ve been looking at biblical words that changed in meaning after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Words like sacrifice, covenant, and righteousness appear numerous times in the Hebrew Bible, what we commonly call the Old Testament, and they appear in the New Testament as well - but they don’t have the same meaning. Other words, such as grace and church, had an Old Testament counterpart - such as mercy, tabernacle, and temple - but after Jesus’ life and ministry the New Testament words, which we use today, are much deeper and richer because of their connection with Christ. Last week we looked at the word “messiah” - an Old Testament word that expands in the New Testament to become Christos or Christ which broadens in definition to include Lord, Savior, Son of God, and God. Today’s word has no Old Testament counterpart; it’s solely a New Testament word and the word is “Resurrection.” 

While the word “resurrection” doesn’t appear in the Old Testament, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing there that speaks to the concept. In the psalms, David envisions some kind of afterlife for himself. Ps. 16:10: “For you will not abandon my soul to the realm of the dead, or let your holy one see corruption.” In the first part of the verse, David is speaking of himself. In the second part, when David refers to “your holy one,” he is not referring to himself but to another who would be sent from God. And there are the well-known words of Psalm 23. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death you are with me … And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Chapter 23 of the book of Isaiah speaks of a coming messiah or savior and says that even though his life will be taken from him as an offering for sin, his life shall be prolonged or eternal. These are only a few instances where the theology of resurrection appears in the Old Testament - the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel also speak of the dead coming to life - even though the actual word “resurrection” is not used. 

The truth is, of course, that the word didn’t exist because no one thought there would ever be a need for it. In our human experience, no one we know has been unquestionably dead and then came back to life. It was one thing to think, in general terms, of some kind of afterlife, but that didn’t mean anyone would experience it in a real present sense. Perhaps that’s why the disciples couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying when he told them time and again that he would be put to death and then be raised after three days to life. Things like that just don’t happen and we all know it. That’s why, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, the disciples went into hiding. Even though they’d been told about the resurrection, they simply couldn’t grasp what it meant. 

The resurrection of Christ is the centerpiece of the Gospel. There is no “good news” to tell, which is what the word “Gospel” means by the way, if Jesus is still in the grave. So, what is contained in this single word? The word “resurrection”, “anastasis” in Greek, appears forty times in the New Testament, and it literally means a raising up or rising from the dead, a coming back to life after having died. Take Luke 24:5: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but he has risen (anastasis).” But in its biblical context, the definition goes further. It is not only to be raised from the dead, but it also means to stay raised. There are several accounts, in the New Testament of people who Jesus raised from the dead, perhaps the most well-known being Lazarus. But Lazarus, at some later point in life, died. Lazarus, when Jesus brought him out of the tomb, was brought back to life, but he wasn’t resurrected. 

The Apostle Paul makes resurrection the theme of 1 Corinthians 15: he discusses Jesus’ resurrection, the importance of the resurrection to our faith, and Jesus’ resurrection as the promise of our own resurrection. 1 Cor. 15:13: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.” Paul writes, beginning in v. 14, that if Christ has not been raised then our proclamation of Christ as Lord is in vain, and our faith is futile. He puts it even more bluntly in v. 19: “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” In other words, if we believe only in this life and have only hope that Christ is who he claimed to be, then why are we here?

So, how can we believe in Christ’s resurrection?  The obvious answer for us is that the New Testament claims it. The Bible not only repeatedly claims that Jesus rose from the dead, but repeatedly promises that one day all who believe in him will as well. Of course, just claiming something doesn’t make it true, and holy books claim all kinds of things that are hard or impossible to believe. However, it’s also important to note that the early church never debated the fact of the resurrection. The church discussed, debated, and argued about many things, but the resurrection wasn’t one of them. When outsiders came in and challenged the teachings of the resurrection, the leaders of the churches simply pointed them to the witnesses who, as Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 15, included not just the women or the disciples or doubters like himself and James, Jesus’ own half-brother, but to over five hundred others, many of whom were still alive as Paul wrote these words. Third, even in the first century, all possible alternatives were considered and discounted. There was the stolen body theory - discounted because of the presence of the Roman seal on the tomb and Roman soldiers around the tomb. The Bible says a unit or guard of soldiers was placed around the tomb. According to Roman records of the time, a unit was sixteen soldiers who rotated shifts every four hours, meaning that four soldiers were always on guard. The penalty for failure would have been death. These soldiers would’ve been highly motivated to keep Jesus’ body in the tomb. Of course, that begs another question: Who would’ve been motivated to steal the body? The only answer could be the disciples and yet all the written records support the fact that the disciples were so afraid of being arrested and crucified that they went into hiding. Then there was the “wrong tomb” theory, the theory that the women simply got confused and went to the wrong tomb on Easter morning. That ignores the fact that these women followed as Jesus’ body was carried to the tomb. Finally, there was the “Jesus wasn’t really dead but passed out” theory. The problem with that is first, the Romans were really good at killing people and the Bible describes how they stabbed him in the side with a spear before taking him down from the cross. The second problem is how he would’ve escaped from the tomb from the inside on his own. The point is that none of these theories are new; they were all examined as possibilities early on and not one of them stuck. 

Finally, there were the writings of Jewish, Roman, and other historians, who described accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and supposed resurrection that they could not disprove. The two most famous are Josephus and Tacitus. Josephus, a Jewish historian, wrote: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man; if it be lawful to call him a man. He was a doer of wonderful works; a teacher of men. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. And when Pilate condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. For he appeared to them alive again. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.” Tacitus, often referred to as the greatest historian of ancient Rome, was no friend of Christians, labeling their faith as superstition and them as a “disease” infecting the Roman Empire. At the same he records several events about Jesus as historical: Jesus was called the Christ, his followers were known as Christians, the movement he founded began in Judea, he was executed on order of Pilate during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, and the Christian movement refused to die out due to their absolute conviction that the Christ who had been crucified had risen from the grave.

Of course, all this aside, the thing about faith is rational thought can only take us so far. At some point, faith requires belief in something that cannot be proven. The actual, literal resurrection of Jesus is something that has been a fundamental part of the Christian faith for over 2,000 years. And it’s not just because of all of those who have lived - and died - for the truth of it. It’s because the resurrection changes, transforms, lives. Not just any lives … but my life and yours. I believe in the resurrection because the Bible says it happened. I believe in the resurrection because it has stood the test of time. But most of all, I believe in the resurrection because I have experienced it. The resurrection of Jesus wasn’t just an event; the resurrection means something. 

First, the resurrection is a testament to the power of God’s love. Usually, when I think about God’s love my thoughts turn to the cross. But John Wesley said that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the strongest assurance that could be given that God loves us. Why the resurrection? The resurrection is eternal. The resurrection affirms that God wants us - me and you - with him forever. There are times when I don’t want to be around myself … God takes me as I am and wants me always. Secondly, the resurrection is our source of salvation. The act of salvation came through the cross, but the resurrection is the sign of victory over sin and death. The resurrection affirms for me that I have a new life in Christ and that my new life will transcend the life I am currently living. Finally, the resurrection is a call to mission - for us individually and for us as the church. Our mission is the same as those first-century Christians who put everything on the line to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to their neighbors in Judea, to cities and villages in Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Africa, and then all the way to Rome itself. The good news was that Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven where he waits for us to join him. 

Today, more than anything else, we celebrate the promise of resurrection. The promise that death is not the end but is the beginning of a new life. The promise is that though we may live in darkness now a new day is coming. The promise that we have a purpose in our living - to take up the mission that Christ lived on earth and left for his followers and his church to continue. We lift high the cross because Christ defeated the death it brought. We worship a living Christ, not a dead martyr. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!