Resurrection

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth;  and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job 19: 25-27

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most powerful event in history.  One cannot be a historian without acknowledging the shock waves that this one event imprinted upon the history of the world.  Indeed, we divide history by the life of this one who claims to be the Messiah.  The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:12-22 that without the resurrection of Jesus the Christian faith is useless:

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

There are skeptics who disregard the resurrection of Jesus and treat it as fable.  However, the evidence for the resurrection is extremely strong.  

1. The Empty Tomb.  Though well-trained Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus, it was empty 3 days after his death as Jesus had repeatedly foretold.  Matt. 12:40; Mark 8:31. The guards had fled (a death penalty offense).  The massive stone had been rolled away and the body was gone.  His body was never produced by his enemies.  The linen grave clothes in which he had been buried were still in the tomb undisturbed.  Even the Jewish historian, Josephus, to the 5th century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu" admit that the tomb was empty.  The body was never found.
2. Living Witnesses.  There were a multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus alive after his death.  The disciples, the travelers on the road to Emmaus and a number of women all spoke to Jesus.  Thomas doubted until he was able to put his fingers into Jesus' wounds (John 20: 26-27).  He later spread the gospel all the way to India.  The apostle Paul tells of 500 people to whom Jesus appeared at one time, most of whom were still alive and available for questioning when Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 15:6). How do we do know something is true today.  If multiple witnesses corroborate an event by their testimony in a courtroom, we accept that evidence as fact.  Jesus was seen alive many times by hundreds of different people over the course of forty days after his death.  (John 20-21, Acts 1:3).
3. The Disciples.  Jesus' followers who had been fearful and ran away when he was arrested were completely changed after the resurrection and became courageous witnesses.  Peter, whom had denied knowing Jesus to a simple servant girl, became the powerfully bold leader of those who had seen Christ alive and spoke to thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost).  Someone may die for a lie if they do not know it is a lie.  But, people do not give their lives up and face severe persecution to spread a lie that they themselves invented.  The fact that the disciples willing suffered beatings and persecution and death is strong evidence that they actually witnessed the resurrection.  They simply refused to quit telling the story.
4. Saul of Tarsus.  A devoutly religious Pharisee, who persecuted the church and had followers of Jesus thrown into prison, had his life absolutely changed by an encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.  He became a devoted follower of Christ spreading the gospel throughout Turkey and Greece in  the face of beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment and finally his execution.

F.F. Bruce wrote "If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt".

Even Job, through all his trials and tribulations, foretells his faith in His Redeemer whom shall "stand upon the earth" and gives him hope of his bodily resurrection when he shall God!  

Palm Sunday

 ²⁹ When he drew near to Beth'phage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰ saying, "Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If any one asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say this, 'The Lord has need of it.'" ³² So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them. ³³ And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?" ³⁴ And they said, "The Lord has need of it." ³⁵ And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set Jesus upon it. ³⁶ And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the road. ³⁷ As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." ⁴⁰ He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." ⁴¹ And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, ⁴² saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation." ⁴⁵ And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, ⁴⁶ saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."   Luke 19: 29-46




When Jesus dispatched his two disciples to go ahead of him and to retrieve the colt, he knew exactly what he was doing.  This day as he entered Jerusalem was the fulfillment of prophecy.  The people knew exactly what he was doing.  The term for the colt was "kyrios"...the same term used for Caesar in the ancient world. This is his proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah.  It was a political statement as well.  The Pharisees seeing the crowd's reactions were fearful of the Romans interceding in "their" city.  The waving of the palm branches was a symbol of rebellion.  The palm leaf had been the symbol of the Maccabees who revolted against the tyranny of the Hellenistic rulers who had preceded the Romans.  This was a national call to arms and was a call for the liberation of Jerusalem from the pagan Romans.  And, the response of Jesus to the Pharisees is telling.  If these people did not proclaim him as Messiah the very stones would cry out to proclaim the message that God had entered His Holy City on that day on the back of a colt.


As Jesus ascends the path upward from the valley between the Mount of Olives and the Temple mount we know what the people were singing.  It was the victory cry of Psalms 118:1-4:


¹ O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! ² Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures for ever." ³ Let the house of Aaron say, "His steadfast love endures for ever." ⁴ Let those who fear the LORD say, "His steadfast love endures for ever."


Yet, the reaction of Jesus as he first glimpses the sight of the city in the midst of all the rock star celebration around him is to "weep".  His tears were not for himself.  Yes, he knew he was going to die outside of that City a week later.  Those same voices proclaiming him as Messiah would turn into cries of "Crucify Him...Crucify Him".  That is the way of the Mob.  They can sing one's praises one day; and, call for one's death on a cross later.  Jesus was crying for Jerusalem because he knew of the desolation of abomination that would befall the city in 70 A.D. when it would be completely destroyed by the Romans.  Today the "wailing wall" in Jerusalem is the only remnant left of the temple Mount to this very day.  Jesus proclaimed that the temple would be rebuilt in three days.  His resurrection on the third day is a fulfillment of that prophecy.  His body...the church is His holy temple for now.  But, I don't think that the Lord is done just yet with his plans for Jerusalem.  The story continues.  Today let us celebrate the triumphal entry over 2000 years ago.  But, what we really are celebrating is the Triumphal return of the Messiah when He comes again!   For that, we watch and we wait.  Maranatha.