Pastor Note #128: The Resurrection–A Devotional

Introduction:
If saving non-material human souls is all that matters, what is the point of the bodily resurrection of Jesus?  If the goal of the Christian faith is to get souls into heaven, then the bodily resurrection of Jesus is irrelevant and unnecessary.  And yet, there can be little doubt that the New Testament writers were very insistent that Jesus was raised again to life in physical form.  It was not, they insist, merely some sort of “spiritual resurrection” that took place on the third day after his crucifixion.  Jesus was raised in physical, bodily form.  The New Testament will accept nothing less than that or other than that.

Silent Reflection:
Read Luke 24:1-12.  Imagine yourself in the place of the apostles when the women come rushing in to report what the angels have told them.  How would you react?  Why?

Prayer of Confession:
Lord Jesus, death, decay, and despair are all around me.  I have the new life of your resurrection in me, but I often fail to bring life and light into this broken and troubled world.  Help today me to be more alert to the ways you want to pour your resurrection life into the world around me.  Amen.

Devotional:
On the first Easter evening, Luke tells us, Jesus appeared suddenly to his disciples.  They were, Luke says, “frightened and thought they saw a spirit.” (Lk. 24:37)  But he was not a mere spirit.  “Touch me, and see.  For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I do.” (Lk. 24:39)

That event, the bodily resurrection of a dead person, was something quite new and quite remarkable.  And that was what the first Christians declared to the world.  That declaration was what they based their lives on and for which many gave their lives.

The belief that human spirits continued to exist after the death of the body was nothing new.  Most Jews of Jesus’ day believed that.  Most all pagans of Jesus’ day believed that.  If that was all that the first Christians were claiming about Jesus, none of their contemporaries would have been particularly surprised or interested.

But the first Christians were declaring that Jesus had been raised bodily from the dead.  All four gospels emphasize the empty tomb.  At sunrise on the first Easter, some of the women disciples went to Jesus’ tomb, planning to tend to his corpse.  Instead, they were met (and terrified) by an angel who asked them a question that is full of significance.  “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”  Then the angel points to the emptiness of the tomb and says, “He is not here, but has risen.” (Lk. 24:5 & 6)  The tomb is empty because Jesus has risen bodily and walked away.

To be sure, Jesus’ resurrection brought about a remarkable transformation in his body.  But at least two facts about it are clear.  First, though it may have been transformed in some astonishing ways, it was still recognizably the same body that had endured crucifixion.  The scars in his hands, feet, and side were still present.  And second, it was, as I’ve already mentioned, a physical body.  Jesus invited them to touch him and feel his physical reality. (John 20:27)  Jesus also made a point of eating in front of them, something mere spirits would certainly be incapable of doing (see Lk. 24:41-43 & John 21:9-14)

Now there are two especially important reasons why the bodily resurrection is so central to the Christian faith.  First, it is in the resurrection of Jesus’ dead body that his victory over death is accomplished.  As I’ve mentioned already, if Christians were only claiming that Jesus continued to exist as some sort of disembodied spirit after his crucifixion, their claim would have been nothing new then or now.  In Jesus’ physical resurrection, physical death and all other expressions of death are defeated (1 Cor. 15:54-57)

A second great truth that the bodily resurrection of Jesus demonstrates is that God has not forsaken his creation.  In Jesus, God is not just saving souls out of the world.  God is in Jesus saving us and the whole creation from slavery to death. (Rom. 8:19-23)  The resurrection of Jesus is a foretaste of a new creation, when God will make all things new.  We’ll explore that in more depth next week when we reflect on Christ’s return.

The resurrection of Jesus will not be a unique event.  The Bible promises that what Jesus experienced in his resurrection we too will experience.  Like Jesus, we too will one day be raised up from death in new, redeemed bodies (1 Cor. 15:50-57).

Questions:
How might you live today so that your life shows the reality that Jesus has won the victory over death and decay?

God’s work of redemption means that he is at work removing the thorns and thistles of the Fall (Gen. 3:18) from his good creation. The resurrection of Jesus is the proof of that. But our world is still thorn-invested. How might you join God in this mission of pulling up thorns where you live now?

Closing Prayer:
Living Lord Jesus, live in me today and always.  Amen.

Photos by GAC