Jesus’ Resurrection and His Words
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
Jesus told His disciples, “The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again.” (Matthew 17:22-23) When the disciples heard that, as Matthew 17:23 says, “…they were exceeding sorry.” Why were they sorry? He said He would rise again. Maybe they caught the part about Him being killed but not the part about Him rising again.
Yet HIs enemies didn’t miss the second part. After Jesus was crucified, the chief priests and Pharisees told Pilate, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.” (Matthew 27:63-64)
His enemies didn’t think Jesus would rise from the dead. They thought the disciples would steal His body, which would make no sense. To do that would be to admit Jesus was a fraud.
Jesus said He would die for sins: “…my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28) He also said He would rise again, which means the Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection. If Jesus had not risen, he was a liar and His death on the cross meant nothing. “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain;” (1 Corinthians 15:17) Yet if He did rise, it would mean that He is God and His death paid our sin-penalty in full, as He had said.
Of course, Jesus would only die for the sins of man one time. His death was “…one sacrifice for sins for ever,” (Hebrews 10:12) Therefore, His death would have to occur within a certain time frame in history, and only one generation of people would see it happen in their lifetime. No one alive today saw Jesus’ crucifixion or resurrection, so how do we know it really happened?
The answer is that we have documentation. We know about Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Cleopatra because we have documentation. The Bible is also documentation of Jesus’ Deity, His atoning death, and resurrection. God gave eyewitness testimony to people back in Jesus time, but He gave us documentation we can trust today. In fact, Peter, who was an eyewitness of Jesus, said the Scripture we have is a “…MORE SURE word of prophecy;” (2 Peter 1:19, capitals added) than eyewitness testimony.
Jesus’ death proves He loves us. He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Do you wonder if Jesus loves you? He died for you. There’s your proof. His resurrection also proves He is God and that His death paid our sin-debt in full. It also means we can depend on Jesus’ words on any subject to be true and faithful.
We live in a troubled, confusing time. What troubles you? Climate change? Gender identity? War? The economy? Politics? Who is telling the truth? Is anyone? Since Jesus is God the Son, you can be sure that His Word is always authoritative and always truthful. His atoning death for you is also proof that He loves you. Whatever it is that troubles you, look to the Lord Jesus for help: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1)
The most important truth the Lord gives us is how to have our sins forgiven and have an eternal home in heaven by receiving Him as our personal Saviour. To learn more, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,”, then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 4/6/2023
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822