Depression is a common experience in this world. We get depressed about so many things in life. In the gospels, those who followed Jesus faced the worst depression of their lives. The Lord on whom they had set all their hopes and left everything to follow was sadly arrested, killed, and buried. Think of the disciples’ shameful experience in Gethsemane; they promised to follow Jesus everywhere, even to die with him, but they all ran away as cowards. Peter, who denied him three times, was still weeping bitterly in shame.
Then they witnessed the most unjust trial of Jesus. The crowd that had cried “Hosanna” now cried “Crucify him.” They took the Lord to Gabbatha, scourged him, and mocked him so cruelly. They gave him a beam which he couldn’t even carry and then shamefully crucified him naked. Imagine the pain and weeping of all those ladies standing far away, seeing the cross and weeping inconsolably. Their depression became worse with three hours of a dark sky and Jesus crying and dying. Then Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came and helped to bury him. Have you ever walked away from the grave of a most beloved mother or father whom you trusted so much but who left you suddenly and died? The longest, most depressed walk you will ever take is to walk away from the grave of someone you loved.
Oh, what pain those women and disciples had. The one in whom they had set all their hope was dead. It felt like the world had come to an end. Their hearts were filled with hopeless questions. “Jesus, we believed you were the Son of God, the Messiah; how could he die?” They always wanted to kill him, but he so easily escaped hundreds of times. “Why did he get caught now? We never thought he would die like this. He could have easily escaped in Gethsemane. Why didn’t he open his mouth at the trials? He seemed like a dumb sheep, allowing people to slaughter him, knowingly going and giving his neck. Why?” They yearned to see his face, remembering all his good words and deeds. They cried until they could not cry anymore. There was no comfort; all their hopes were buried with him in his tomb. What sadness they must have felt. But something happened; everything changed.
Today, you may have come in feeling depressed, not as much as them, but about many other things in life. However, if you lift your eyes of faith and behold the resurrected Lord, everything in your life will change. In our series, “Looking Unto Jesus,” we have seen Jesus pre-creation, in the Old Testament, his birth, life, and death, and now we come to the next logical lesson: looking unto Jesus at his resurrection.
Most of us know the resurrection story. “Ah, yes, I know Christ rose from the dead; what does that have to do with my life today?” We only think of that during Easter and enjoy a meal. You have not learned the resurrection truth as you should. The real value of any truth is the conscious power of that truth in our own soul. It is not enough to know that Christ rose from the dead. That is general knowledge, and even the worst devils know that, but it doesn’t do anything for them. There is a saving knowledge of the resurrection. It always takes the truth of the resurrection in faith, personally appropriates it for one’s own life, and makes it a particular application to a life situation.
Because faith unites us to Christ in an inseparable bond, if my Christ rose from the dead, there is wonderful, infinite strength and grace for me in every aspect of his resurrection truth. Faith sees all the resurrection events recorded not just as interesting stories but as all given to strengthen my personal faith so that I study deeply every aspect of the truth and draw strength for my faith, virtue, and grace for my own soul, affecting my whole being. Have we learned to use that truth like that? The danger for many of us is that we can learn these things as historical and intellectual facts, have a theoretical reception, and be utterly ignorant of their renewing and sanctifying power in our souls. Remember what Paul said he was pursuing: “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection” in my daily experience. Didn’t he know that Christ rose from the dead? Did that power not change his life fully? What he was so yearning and pursuing he said he would forget everything else and pursue one thing: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.” He knew there was an infinite resurrection power he had not yet experienced, so much more than he had experientially known. He was yearning for a greater experience of the truth in his own soul. “All that the resurrection of Jesus has purchased for me, I want to experience it in my soul.” Do we have that desire to know more of the resurrection’s power? So come, let us leave our sad world and enter the world of the resurrection this morning.
In order to do that, we will look at the resurrection of Jesus as if we participated in each of those events and draw power from that for our lives today. Imagine if you were there with the disciples when Christ appeared; what impact it would have created in your heart and life? Would not your heart have leaped with joy!
I think there are ten resurrection appearances recorded for us in the Bible. Each of these had a profound meaning; all were needed to make the disciples powerful witnesses to the gospel and to grow the church. We will quickly do a collage of seven today. You know what a collage is, many different photos collected and combined to create a single picture, like I did for a YouTube thumbnail. So we will do a collage of these seven events and try to draw the power of the resurrection from each one this morning.
1. Opening of the Tomb
Matthew 28:2-4 says: “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.”
If you saw that sight there, what a sight it would be after all the sadness, discouragement, shame, and suffering. When the enemies thought they had finally won and destroyed Jesus, this event displays Christ’s complete victory over all his enemies. Whatever Christ’s enemies may do to hinder his plan and will, let all the devils in hell gather, all the sinners in the world, the religious leaders, and the Gentile governments. Let them gather and do whatever they want to stop him and his church, in spite of their watchfulness, plans, seal, security, hindrances, and how much suffering they bring and even death. Jesus Christ will ultimately be victorious and overcome all his enemies. Isn’t that great encouragement for us?
We are so discouraged about hindrances for the gospel. I am often discouraged by big false religions on one side, government plans on one side, and these false churches and false teachers, all gathering and taking counsel and hindering the gospel and the church. We are such a small church, a fearful little flock, with no proper support, attempting to preach the true gospel, make disciples, and teach all that Jesus taught. We face attacks on the church inside and outside and are often discouraged, like Paul, who said all forsook him. We feel all seek their own instead of the things of Jesus Christ; there is such slow progress. “Will Jesus win? Will the gospel spread? Will his true church survive? Do our efforts have value?” When discouraged, may our eyes remember the open tomb. It is a historical statue always set before our eyes: whatever devils and men may do, Christ and his church will be victorious.
2. His Appearance to Mary Magdalene
His first appearance was to this lady. We see that in John 20:11-18. On resurrection morning, we see a few women came early to the tomb. Mary Magdalene came along with them. She couldn’t come slowly with the other old women, so eagerly, she went fast, first to the tomb, and found the stone rolled away. She couldn’t see the body. Then, she ran to Peter and John and told them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and John ran to see, a running race. John comes first to the tomb, being young, but he stops, scared. Peter, not thinking, as is his nature, rushes into the tomb. They looked into the tomb and, not finding the body there, saw the grave clothes exactly as they had been tied, and they left.
Mary Magdalene comes back. The disciples would not stay, yet she was resolved to stay there only. John 20:11-12 says, “But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” She was not interested in seeing angels. She wanted to see Jesus, so she kept crying. The angels even talk to her. “Then they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him'” (John 20:13). “Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away'” (John 20:14-15). “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!'” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” Her eyes and eyes saw. Her tears of sorrow instantly became tears of joy.
What a lovely sight! To think of who this woman was and who the glorified resurrected Lord is. What a universal victory he has accomplished. The whole universe will praise him eternally for his great work. He is a Lord so exalted, above every power and authority. Did he have any other important work than talking to this poor lady? This woman, who lived such a horrible sinful life, had not one but seven demons enter her. Imagine what all she could have done, the lowest of the low in that world. Her heart was filled with love for Christ. She was filled with sorrow now, even when everyone else left. She didn’t go anywhere; she had no one but Christ as her world. Now he was dead, and she yearned for the comfort of his dead body. She didn’t know where the dead body was. Like a child who will not be comforted with any big gold toy until she sees her mother’s face, she was not comforted even with angels.
So the glorified, great resurrected Lord first appears to her and comforts her. How lovely. What does this tell you and me today about the resurrected Lord? This appearance establishes the infallible truth of the resurrected Lord’s personal presence with each child of God. For a child of God who truly loves Jesus, he not only died for him but he rose to be with him or her personally 24/7. Hasn’t he promised, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you”? The resurrected Lord is always with you and me; do you know that? His promise is “I will never leave you or forsake you,” meaning not for a split second. The resurrected Lord is always with me personally. Do you experience that personally? I may be the worst sinner, completely rejected by the world. The world may not even see me as a human being, but the resurrected Lord values me so much that he is always with me. Paul, the same who said “all forsook me,” also said, “but the Lord stood with me.”
Oh, the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with a believer is such a precious, rich truth. How we fail to enjoy it. “He rose again to be with me.” We realize his close presence, especially when our hearts are filled with sorrow like Mary’s, with discouragement, when we are crying. Maybe a pastor is speaking to the whole church, but haven’t you heard that distinct voice of the resurrected Lord that comes specifically and effectually to you? “Oh, the Lord is speaking to me.” It usually singles a person out. “Mary!” It was but a word, but oh, what life, what spirit, what quickening and reviving were in that word! The voice of Christ is powerful. Haven’t you heard his voice personally calling you, “Mary, Divya, Rajath/Deepa, Shanthi, Murali, Robert? Why are you crying?”
See, Christ didn’t rise to just disappear in heaven and forget us. He rose again to become a sympathizing High Priest to meet all our needs, all our sorrows, all our pains, and all our failures, to comfort and strengthen us and to bring us to heaven. To do this work, he has to play a dual role. He represents us in heaven physically, though he sits in heaven bodily, with the ephod and breastplate of Aaron. 24/7, every second, he only thinks of you individually and your needs and pains and sends grace and strength for you. And then his second role is here on earth, by his spirit, always with you, inside you, comforting you, talking to you, strengthening you, and helping you.
Even this morning he calls you and says, “Why are you weeping? Why are you discouraged?” Now, because of his resurrection and his work, there is not one reason for you to be sorrowful or to weep. “I have removed all reasons for weeping,” he says. He says, “Rejoice always in me; lo, behold, I am risen from the dead for you and to be with you. My resurrection has all the reasons for you to rejoice all your life.”
Because he says in verse 17: “Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.'” Oh, blessed message! The whole gospel reality is there. Because of my work on the cross and my resurrection, I have not only atoned for all your sins by suffering death; I rose again to justify your defiled persons before God as perfectly righteous. Now I have made you perfectly justified before God, made you children of God, and God is your Father now. “Rejoice, nothing in the universe will ever change that reality.” “Mary, why are you weeping?”
And what do you want that I can give you? You want pardon, a river-like pardon. You want righteousness, the highest eternal righteousness imputed on you. God himself cannot find a flaw. You want life; I have given you eternal life. Worried about sorrows? I have turned all your sorrows to the highest joy. All is well with your soul. Inheritance? I have made you an heir of God; the whole of heaven and earth is yours. If there is one thing the Lord loudly says from Mary Magdalene’s appearance, it is, “Behold, I am with you and inside you personally always to meet you in every need.” Isn’t that a marvelous truth? Do you experience it?
Rutherford says, “What if we are unknown, facing difficulty, tried, tempted, and sad? We yet have a risen Savior to go to; who sighs when I sigh, mourns when I mourn, and when I look up, he rejoices.” How can I lack for sympathy when I have a risen Christ? How can I feel alone and sad when I have the companionship and the soothing presence of a living and an ever-present Jesus? A Jesus who loves me, who knows all my circumstances, all my feelings, and has his finger upon my every pulse. Who sees all my tears, hears all my sighs, and records all my thoughts. Who, when I go to him, with whatever I go, will never say to me “no,” nor bid me depart unblessed. Who is risen, exalted, and has sat down at the right hand of his Father and my Father, his God and my God, to administer to me all the blessings of the everlasting covenant and to mete out, as I need them, all the riches of his grace and the supplies of his salvation. Why, then, should I despond at any circumstance, why despair at any emergency, or sink beneath any trial when I have a risen, a living Christ to go to?
3. His Appearance to Disciples on the Road to Emmaus
Luke 24:13-35. Very quickly, two of the disciples were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. They were very discouraged and hopeless. Jesus joins them and starts talking to them, but they didn’t recognize him as Jesus. They say, “We believed this Jesus would be our Messiah and deliver us, but he was shamefully killed, and we are hearing he rose from the dead.” They were filled with confusion and doubt. “Why did this happen? Why did that happen?” In verse 25, “Then he said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?'” In verse 27, “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
He goes with them and stays in the evening. In verse 30, “Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with them, that he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew him; and he vanished from their sight.” In verses 32-34, “And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?’ So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, ‘The Lord is risen indeed.'”
Hasn’t the resurrected Lord met us like this? How many times in confusion you come to church, saying, “Why should this happen like this in my life? Why this problem, that problem? Why does the Lord allow this?” How gracious the Lord is to humbly appear, stoop to your doubts as if walking with us, and understand our confusion and hopelessness. He teaches us like a mother to a child and opens the scripture, giving us light. How you have said, “I came with so many doubts and burdens; all were cleared.” Why? “I have no clue what happened.” It is only because the resurrected Lord comes and walks with us and explains the passage to us. Our hearts burn within us. It is because he, the resurrected Lord, has come in our midst. Like these two, when filled with doubts and hopelessness, we are confused and talking about a passage, not clearly. How I feel that struggle. “Lord, what is this saying? Very confusing.” He comes sweetly and enlightens us. We go with joy, saying, “The Lord is truly risen. My Lord lives.”
Think of how, when he broke the bread, he manifested himself to them. This is the Eucharistic mystery. We may come to the communion table confused and hopeless, not seeing the resurrected Lord at all. When we obediently break bread and take part of the communion in faith, how many times the Lord, by his spirit, appears really next to us. I many times felt his presence very, very close. It overwhelms me. I felt my heart burning, “Lord is near.” This appearance emphasizes the importance of the Eucharist and Jesus’ presence in the sacrament.
4. His Appearance to 10 Disciples
We see that in Luke 24:36-49 and John 20:19-23. Think of these ten disciples who heard repeatedly from Christ’s mouth that he would rise from the dead and who ran away from Christ at Gethsemane. Mary Magdalene comes and tells them, “I saw the Lord,” but they didn’t believe her. The different women together saw and came and told, “Their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” The two disciples from Emmaus told them, but they didn’t believe them. They are hiding in the upper room, tightly closing the doors for fear of the Jews. What do we say about them? I would have rejected everyone and gone to heaven, but not our Lord. He appears to them. Luke says they all saw him, and even seeing him, “yet they believed not for joy, but wondered.”
John 20:19 says, “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, ‘Peace be unto you.'” When they were full of fears and doubts, “He stood in the midst. He said, ‘Peace be unto you.'”
These are the first words at the first meeting on the very first day of the resurrection. More than anything, they needed peace. Their hearts were like tsunami waves of the sea, filled with fear and guilt. They didn’t have peace with God or peace with man. They were fearful of what the Jews would do to them. As apostles, they knew they were guilty now, having exceedingly fallen from Christ. One betrayed him, and another denied him; all left him alone in the midst of his enemies. And yet, to them he speaks, “Peace be unto you.” What an apt and comforting message to them. “Peace be to you.” That word itself would have removed all their fears and brought peace to their consciences.
Hasn’t Christ done this to you and me? He still does it today. We, calling ourselves followers of Christ, have treated him in the worst way, maybe dishonored his name by our sins, forsaken him, denied him with swearing, not rejoicing but filled with worry, not living worthy of the gospel. We come to church with tossing hearts and open, burning wounds, but just as he came that day, he comes unexpected and speaks peace to our hearts and doesn’t leave us until he quiets our spirits, calms our troubled hearts by prayer and the preaching of the word, working in us according to his word, “Peace be unto you.” Today, this resurrected Lord is here. You may have denied him, but he says, “Peace to you, my friend.”
Have you not many and many a time been in troubles that you did not know which way to turn? And even then, has not Christ come to your spirit with peace? Has he not worked wonders in the sea of your restless thoughts? Has he not made a calm? And more than so, has he not filled you with joy and peace in believing? Has he not sent you away from your prayers and complaints with a peace of heaven in your soul? Oh, all those are resurrection manifestations. How we fail to recognize and give him that resurrection glory.
See, if you truly believe in the resurrection, the effect of that must be constant peace in your hearts. Come, examine: “O my soul, Christ accomplished peace by his death and resurrection and purchased and granted you peace. Has your heart felt that peace in the midst of all the troubles of the world? Has this peace had any force on you?”
Luke 24:37 sadly says, “But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.” It is amazing. In verses 38-43, “And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, he said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’ So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And he took it and ate in their presence.”
Oh, the condescension of Christ! He is the Lord of glory with all authority. These stupid fellows didn’t believe. Throw them into hell? No. How gently, how humbly he continually helps them to believe! How stupid and unbelieving they were, how like a mother he was, so patient and kind to them.
Have we not felt the same resurrected Lord? How stupid we were to believe. How gentle he is with us. If we are ignorant, he instructs us; if we err, he shows us the right way; if we sin, he forgives and corrects us; if we stand, he holds us up; if we fall, he lifts us up again; if we go, he leads us; if we come to him, he is ready to receive us. How many means he uses to beget or increase faith in our hearts. How much he does so we believe him.
5. His Appearance to Thomas
Even when he appeared like this to the ten, and they told Thomas, one of them didn’t believe because he was absent from church that day. Wow! He strictly told them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Did he say, “Sorry Thomas, you missed the class, I cannot help; I have a lot of work, we have to save the world”? No. John 20:26-29 says, “And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at my hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'”
Oh, what love was this! Oh, what humility was this! The glorified Lord, not in his humiliation, but after he accomplished the greatest triumph in the universe, conquered sin, death, and the devil, and rose again, should so gently work with these stupid disciples to strengthen their faith. Only a few are recorded, but the Bible says he dealt with these men for forty days! How eager he must have been after so many sorrows, sufferings, and reproaches, after such a cruel, ignominious, and bitter death, to have immediately gone to glory. He might have commanded the angels who announced the first resurrection message to teach the disciples. But to strengthen his disciples’ faith, he himself would stay in person. He himself would make it clear by many infallible proofs. He himself would by his own example teach us a lesson of love, meekness, and patience. How wonderful Christ appears even in his resurrection majesty.
Here, he not only appeared for Thomas, but can you see that he saw you and me and said, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”? We have not seen him but believe him. How loving and patient he will be with us to strengthen our faith. Has he not been gentle and patient with us?
6. Reinstating Peter as Leader of the Apostles
Look at the sixth picture of our collage. It is a heartwarming story that we have seen so many times, so I will be brief. We know Jesus told them to wait in Galilee. Peter felt hungry. “All the while Jesus fed us, now who will take care of our needs? He comes and goes and he’s saying he will go to heaven. What will we do for a livelihood?” So he decided, “I am going fishing.” He loved fishing and the money he got; that was the only thing he knew. All the others said, “We are also hungry; we also will go.” All night they caught nothing.
John 21:4-10: “But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Children, have you any food?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ And he said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.'” Jesus is preparing breakfast for them. “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and eat breakfast.'” They all eat a nice seaside breakfast with Jesus.
John 21:15-17: “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?'” reminding him of his denial. “And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.'”
This event again emphasizes the transformative power of Jesus’ resurrection and his enduring love for his disciples. Peter was a broken man in spite of his weakness and denial. We see Christ again gave him the ministry. This shows how he uses weak and useless men like us. We are not great men or warriors, just like Peter. We are so weak, with so many flaws. The world would not take us for many big works, but he doesn’t give up. He works for years, and when we fall, he renews and restores us and prepares us for his ministry.
Eating with them for breakfast reinforces the reality of his resurrection. It’s a tangible demonstration that he is alive and present with them. When our emotions are broken with denial and our own failures and sins, he heals that with a meal and confirms his love as he does today in communion. He comes and participates with us. By giving them the miraculous catch of fish, he promises that when you do my ministry, I will provide for your needs more than you expect. It’s a demonstration of his divine providence and love. The disciples’ initial doubt and fear are gradually replaced with hope and assurance.
Our Last Picture of Our Collage
Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples at a prearranged location on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20). There Jesus told them he had been given all power and authority. He gave his followers the Great Commission to make disciples. He promises to be with them till the end of the world. Jesus finally appeared to as many as 500 of his followers at one time. He confirmed the completion of his mission and the promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 22:44-49; Acts 1:3-8).
Acts 1:9-11 says, “Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.'”
This final picture shows that Jesus had all power over everything. Jesus had victory over all things. He is sovereign, and all of history is going to be his story; his kingdom will be established forever.
This completes our seven-picture collage of the resurrection. Think of it: all these and more appearances Christ gave again and again. Why? Because it is of utmost importance that they and we as his believers should not just have a historical belief, where we just nod our heads saying we believe in the resurrection. We need to have a saving belief in the resurrection, because the influence and power of the resurrection can only flow through the means of that saving faith.
The effect of this truth in the believing soul brings a powerful impact. It is one thing to yield the assent of an informed understanding to a truth, saying, “Yes, Jesus rose from the dead.” It is another to feel the influence of that truth in the heart, to feel its quickening energy, its life-giving, life-elevating power. Oh, there is no single truth that has a transforming effect like this. We see that the disciples’ faith was so weak, but once they were convinced and savingly believed in Christ’s resurrection, they were different men who impacted the world. That same power can flow through us through saving faith. Our Lord has said that our faith is more blessed than the apostles’ and will have more blessed effects from his resurrection because we did not see and yet believe.
Think of it as if Christ’s resurrection is mine; he rose for me. All the appearances of Christ are for me. He appeared to Mary Magdalene to tell me that he is always with me personally and meets all my needs. He appeared to the two disciples to remove unbelief, and he appeared to the ten disciples, Thomas, and Peter, all to assure my faith in the resurrection. All the benefits of the resurrection are for me. This is appropriating faith. Christ did not live and die and rise as an individual person. He was our representative; we were united to him, and he did everything for us. He did not need to obey for himself, for he was holy. He did not need to die for himself, for he had no sin to atone for. He did not need to rise from the dead for himself, for he was Essential Life. He lived, died, and rose on behalf of, and in union with, his people and for his people. It is for me. Hence, the influence and benefits of the great truth of Christ’s resurrection will flow into the inner life of his people as they look unto Jesus’ resurrection with faith.
As an application, let me quickly show what impact the resurrection will have in our lives through faith. Let us trace how this power works in our lives.
1. Spiritual Life and Regeneration
It is this power that raises a sinner from spiritual death and gives him regeneration. We were so dead in sins and transgressions, but do we realize that the same power that raised Christ gave us new birth? Otherwise, there is no way we could come out of sin and turn to God. We were so blind, senseless, uncircumcised in heart, and utterly unacquainted with the life of God, with no feeling toward God and dead to God. Yet now, our thoughts and hearts are so different. We want to hear and obey God, we are affected by the truth of God, and we want to walk in his ways. All this comes from this blessed resurrection of Jesus Christ: “We are quickened with Christ.”
2. Justification
We are fully, perfectly, and eternally justified before God because of Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection loudly and infallibly declares that all our sins are forgiven, and we are justified before him. Complete salvation is accomplished by him. We can completely trust Christ, and our faith will not be in vain. It is our sins that seized him, nailed him to the cross, and killed him. He died to pay the debt for our sins. He could not come out of that death until every last penny of the debt was paid to the justice of God for our sins. When Christ rose from the dead, it was infallible proof that all our debts were paid, that God was infinitely satisfied by Christ’s atoning sacrifice and finished work, and that we are justified before God. The resurrection is the great seal of heaven, the authoritative signature of God to the truth that the ransom has been accepted and the debt canceled.
Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Think of it personally: if you believe in Christ’s resurrection, you are perfectly justified before God. Not only will none of your sins be punished, but you stand in a justified, accepted, adopted state before God. What joy should the resurrection give in our lives? Whenever your past sins trouble you and guilt tortures you, look at the resurrection of Jesus Christ and put your full trust in that infallible proof from God.
3. Inner Peace
Such a doctrine impacts our inner life deeply. As Christ proclaimed peace, when we are always exercising faith in Christ’s resurrection, we will always experience the peace of God. We will feel a reconciling peace with God. We may sometimes have guilty and dark views of God. God has told me loudly, “I have peace with you,” by raising my son. Thus, what a bright view this truth unfolds to us of God! This awesome, great God has become the “God of peace” to me because Jesus is a risen Savior. God now truly has become the ‘God of peace’—the pacified God, the reconciled Father—and the evidence of it is his raising up his dear Son from the grave. The peace of God will fill your heart. The power of Christ’s resurrection, in fact, lies in a sense of pardoned sin, in our apprehension of complete justification, and in the living hope of eternal glory. Jesus saves to the uttermost all who come to God by him because he is a risen and a living Savior and ever lives to make intercession on behalf of all his people. Oh, deal believingly with a risen Christ!
4. Sanctification
Christ’s resurrection power not only brings new birth and justification but also gives us power in sanctification. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, then he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies.”
Paul says, “I want to be conformed to his death and know the power of the resurrection.” Our mortification is a resemblance of Christ’s death, and our sanctification, our walking in new life, is a resemblance of Christ’s resurrection. Sanctification is not just killing sin, but it is also making us grow in grace—growing in faith, love, joy, rejoicing in the Lord, gentleness, and patience. It is this power that makes us exercise those graces and grow in us. New life grows in graces like Christ. It works holiness, changing the heart and turning the inclination of it from sin to holiness, making us more heavenly minded. We have to ask, “Are we growing in these? Is my love, joy, and gentleness growing more? Seek the resurrection power.”
This should greatly motivate and move us to grow in sanctification because it is not just by our own fleshly efforts. We may try to pray, live holy, and do our duties, but feel no power. However, through faith, we can now experience the power of the resurrection available for us to sanctify us. A new, powerful, holy strength animates, actuates, and enlivens it. For prayer, in worship, for reading, hearing God’s word, and other means of grace, for overcoming sin, and for obeying God, you can expect a power beyond you. You will find supernatural power, quickenings, and encouragings, filling your heart with gladness and frequently feeling the saving incomes of God.
We have learned three great gospel duties: to rejoice, to be gentle, and to be anxious for nothing. Do you see how the resurrection truth is the root for all that? The foundation of that is the peace of God, which should guard our hearts, and that happens by the truth of the resurrection. Then we rejoice in the Lord. How many reasons there are to rejoice in the resurrection of Christ. Gentleness? I have a risen Savior who watches over all this and will handle you. “Be not anxious.” I have a risen Savior; what do I lack? Why worry?
We can draw so much joy and comfort from Christ’s resurrection. First, is your conscience in trouble for sin? The apostle tells you, “The answer of a good conscience toward God is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 3:21). Do we think we will be rejected and condemned? The apostle tells you, “He was delivered for our offenses, and he was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Are you distressed, worried, persecuted, and troubled on every side? The apostle tells you wherein now consists your confidence, comfort, and courage, to wit, in the life of Christ, in the resurrection of Christ. Are you afraid of death, hell, and the power of the grave? Remember that Christ is risen from the dead, and by his glorious resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory. The Bible says even the Old Testament saints were filled with joy in foresight of Christ’s resurrection. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” Job, even in his worst suffering, rejoiced in Christ’s resurrection, saying, “My redeemer lives.”
What joy filled the disciples! They even loved the very day on which Christ arose. It became the most loved Lord’s day today. The Lord’s day was held in high esteem with the ancient church, and the principal motive was because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. So today may we celebrate communion in commemoration of Christ’s resurrection. How much we should look back and rejoice.
5. Final Glorious Resurrection
Finally, a full and final glorious revelation of the power of our Lord’s resurrection is yet to appear. Paul calls him the “first-fruits of them that sleep,” of all the believers. The meaning is found in the Jewish festival: the first harvest of their baby barley was just a small beginning, while the full harvest of their best grain of wheat was still to come. They would present a handful, a small bunch of fruits as a wave offering before God, and then the big harvest would come. So, Christ is risen, and all who believe in him will rise again, the full harvest. The handful of the first-fruits sanctified the whole field of corn, so Jesus Christ, the first-fruits of the dead, sanctifies all those who are lying in the grave to rise again by his power, even when they are in the dust of death. He arose first on this day, for the full harvest is not until the general resurrection day.
Paul was anxious to arrive, saying, “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” To this, too, the saints and martyrs of the Old Testament looked as the crown of their sufferings and the recompense of their reward. Listing all the suffering of Old Testament believers, Hebrews 11:35 says, “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, and died so that they might obtain a better resurrection.”
This will be such a glorious resurrection. It is called a blessed resurrection because we will rise with the same glory as Christ rose. Think of it: we will all rise just as Christ did, with a true, perfect, incorruptible, powerful, spiritual, agile, and glorious body. A true body with flesh and bones, not a spirit as the disciples thought. No, they can touch him, and he can eat. Second, he had a perfect body: no more pain, suffering, or disease. Third, he had an incorruptible, immortal body. Fourth, he had a powerful body, so great as to toss the greatest mountains in the world like a ball; he caused a great earthquake at the rising of his body. A spiritual body can live on earth and heaven and interact with spirit beings, angels, and God. He had an agile body: it was in his pleasure to move as well upwards as downwards, as it may appear by the ascension of his body into heaven. Augustine said, “That they shall move to any place they will, and as soon as they will”; they shall move up and down like a thought. He had a glorious body: this appeared in his transfiguration, “when his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as light.”
Let us praise God for Christ’s resurrection and for all the privileges flowing from it into our souls. By his resurrection, he has justified, sanctified, quickened, and saved our souls.
So, oh, what consolation flows to the church of God from the truth of a living Savior—a Savior alive to live with us, to know and to heal our sorrows in this life, to sympathize with and supply our need! His power raises us from spiritual death, justifies and sanctifies us, and finally glorifies our bodies.
With such a Savior, we should not then fear the insults of the world, the trials of this life, worries, or problems of this life, or even fear death, or the grave, or hell, or devils. We should sing in triumph, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” “Thanks be to God, which gave us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
If there are those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ, see what injustice you are doing. Oh, give him the glory of his resurrection. Do not be unbelieving. What, is he risen from the dead? Has God highly exalted him and given him a name above every name? Oh, then let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 