The study of scripture is endlessly fascinating. It doesn’t seem possible that we can read the same passage of scripture many times over many years and still discern new truths and gain deeper understanding.
Occasionally a question comes along that causes me to stop and think. I have dozens of theological books lining my shelves and many more in kindle format. It is tempting to turn to the books and formulate a correct response. The American education system has trained us to fill in the blanks with regurgitated information.
But I am not studying for the SAT. Correct answers don’t mean much if I don’t understand them. I am seeking to understand what I claim to believe. I don’t want to merely know what I believe. I want to understand what I believe. I am trying to know and understand the Person in whom I believe. In that sense, I take these questions seriously and apply myself to them.
My study the last few days tells me that I have tapped a deep subject. This can’t be answered in a week or written in a single blog. So this is merely the jumping off point.
The current question is this:
Are we saved because Christ died, or are we saved because Christ lives? What is the role of the resurrection in the salvific story of God?
Scripture tells us that the blood sacrifice of Christ was necessary for the atonement of sin. Christ made us right with God when we couldn’t do that for ourselves. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor 5:21).
John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). This refers to the blood of lambs offered in the temple as a sacrifice for sin. Jesus came to be the once and for all sacrifice for everyone.
If the shed blood of Jesus takes away our sin and makes us right with God, what is the point of the resurrection? If the bones of Christ still lay in the tomb, would we be saved?
Turning to Scripture:
Jesus appeared many times to many people in the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. Looking at the written record of these appearances can shed light on the significance of the resurrected Christ.
Luke records the first telling of the resurrected Lord on Easter day. When the women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with spices, the stone closing the entrance to the tomb was rolled away and the body of Christ was not there (Luke 24: 1-8). Their first assumption was not resurrection. They assumed the body had been stolen (John 20:2). When the women tried to tell the disciples that the body was gone and angels told them that Christ was resurrected, the disciples said they were talking “nonsense” (Luke 24:11).
Listen to the angels’ testimony.
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again” (Luke 24:6-7).
Two important things are happening here.
1) The death, burial, and resurrection happened exactly as Jesus said it would. God can not lie. Everything Jesus had told them came true. The resurrection was a fulfillment of promises from God.
2) The people closest to Jesus had witnessed his brutal murder. They were traumatized and in shock. God, in His grace, sent messengers to help them believe in something that seemed impossible.
Luke carefully tells the gospel story. He didn’t leave out the lack of faith or cluelessness of those who followed Jesus. The author then proceeds to explain what Jesus did for those who were in a very real physical situation. Sometimes, what is real in this world is overwhelming and we need help to see and believe in the supernatural work of God. God not only sent messengers to help, he also spent time with His followers to help them in their unbelief.
The resurrection of Jesus had many deep and meaningful implications on the world. His appearances to his followers in his resurrected body during the forty days after Easter were first and foremost an encouragement to them to believe.
I imagine that I, like many people two thousand years ago, would have been highly skeptical of a story circulating in Palestine that some carpenter’s son had been executed by the Romans and then rose from the dead. The resurrection appearances of Jesus proved that Jesus wasn’t a liar and showed that the reality of physical death was now in the hands of a supernatural yet physically alive Lord.
Many More Questions to Explore
In the next blog, I will explore the early Christian confession “Jesus is Lord” which only came about after the resurrection. What does it mean that Jesus is Lord? I’d also like to tap into some of the resurrection accounts such as the two walking to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-23).
In the meantime, I will examine my own heart to see if there is any point in the physical life where I am doubting that Jesus is who he says he is? Where do I struggle to see the supernatural work of God in my physical reality?
…Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17).
Praise the Lord!