The hope and power of the Resurrection
On Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Why is the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus important? Although His victory was won on the cross, the moment He died without sin, His resurrection remains critical to our faith and relationship with God. The bodily resurrection is irrefutable proof of Jesus identity, victory, and the guarantee that we can trust Him to raise all who believe in Him in the same way.
Scripture
John 20:26-31 ESV Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
What’s different about Jesus’ resurrection body
Jesus was born of Mary, a virgin. His birth was miraculous but resulted in Him walking the earth in a completely human body. After His resurrection however, His body seemed to be different. How was it different?
John 20:26-31 ESV Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Luke 24:30-31 ESV When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
Jesus body is physically resurrected
Many people try to rationalise and explain away the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. They say He was spiritually raised, or that it was just in the minds of the disciples that He was raised. What does the Bible say about whether Jesus resurrection was real and whether His body was physically raised to life?
John 20:27 ESV Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Luke 24:38-40 ESV And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
Thomas’ conclusion regarding the resurrected Jesus
When Jesus revealed His physically resurrected body to Thomas, Thomas responded by calling Jesus His Lord and His God. What did Thomas realise that led him to identify Jesus as God?
John 20:28 ESV Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus response to Thomas calling Him Lord and God
It’s no small thing to identify someone as God. Jesus has no objection to Thomas’ worship, instead He welcomes it and uses it to teach us that we should believe the same. If Jesus was not God and yet didn’t object to Thomas calling Him God, what would that tell us about Jesus?
John 20:29 ESV Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
What does the resurrection of Jesus prove?
Thomas knew Jesus was God when He saw Him physically raised from the dead. What else can we know about Jesus because of His resurrection?
Romans 6:23 ESV For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:12 ESV Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Acts 2:24 ESV God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Hebrews 4:15 ESV For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
What if Jesus wasn’t raised?
Couldn’t we still have known that Jesus was God in the flesh and still believed in Him even if He wasn’t physically and bodily raised from the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:14-17 ESV And 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 about 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, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
What’s our conclusion, and what does it matter?
If Jesus, being Himself God the Son, raised Himself from the dead, what does that mean for all of us who believe this?
John 20:30 ESV Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Colossians 2:8-9 ESV See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
John 6:40 ESV For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”