A group of people in a situation like this were trying to bury a friend. They had not been able to make advance preparation for the burial because they were afraid of marauders attacking them, so they came with the body of their dead friend, to the burial ground, to honourably bury him. I want you to exercise your imagination a little here, because we are talking about a custom somewhat different from what is familiar to many of us. At this time and place they did not bury people deep in the ground as we do here, but placed them in a heavy stone coffin on or close to the surface, or in a cavity carved out of the rocky ground. This was called a sepulchre. It had a heavy lid. Generally the body was prepared for burial with special spices and grave clothes, which as well as helping the mourners deal with their loss by giving them some last ministrations for their beloved, it gave them ample opportunity to be sure the person was really dead, and not just in a deep coma. Horror stories could be written about people who wake up in a coffin and knock frantically on the box as they hear the dirt being shovelled down onto the coffin from the surface about six feet up!
As these people were preparing the grave for their friend, they were startled by a band of thugs appearing over the nearby hilltop. They had no time to finish their sad task in decency, so, not wishing to join their dead friend just then, they heaved the cover off a nearby sepulchre and lowered their friend quickly down onto the remains of the fellow already there, hoping then to escape the niceties the thugs had in mind for them, by beating a quick retreat.
What happened next would have been traumatic, to say the least. How would you have felt if you had been in that funeral party, anxious for you own life and wellbeing, upset because your friend was dead, forced to flee as you tried to bury him, and now as you drop him into someone else's grave, your dead friend just gets up out of the grave and stands there, restricted by the windings of the grave clothes, as the raiders come on! It would be spooky, wouldn't it? More than that, it would scare the wits out of you! This actually happened. It is not a scary story told just to get attention. Open your Bible at 2 Kings 13 and what is written there.
(2 Ki 13:14 KJV) "Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof."
(2 Ki 13:20-21 KJV) "And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. {21}And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet."I wonder what was going through that man's thoughts? Perhaps he tucked down inside the sepulchre so the raiders would not see him, then climbed out later to join his friends. We do not know the outcome, but the incident happened, and is recorded, because there is a message in it.
The simplest message is that people can be raised from the dead. It is not something at which we should scoff, even though we do not know the mechanics of how it can happen. The fact is, it did happen. The dead person came back to life.
The next message, a little deeper, requires us to understand a little about Elisha, the man whose bones caused the corpse to come back to life. Elisha was a prophet of the Lord, and in the course of his life did many wonderful miracles, including raising to life a youngster who had died while helping his father in the field. The people who dropped their friend's body onto this man's bones would have seen the miraculous coming to life again in this light. After the initial shock they would have rejoiced and marvelled at the power of God. The man Elisha was also in some respects a representative, or a 'type' of Jesus. By this we mean that some of the things he did, some of the experiences he had, were a shadow as it were, of the things Jesus Christ did and experienced. Viewed in this light, this incident helps us to appreciate that through the death of Jesus Christ, others can have renewal of life. This is an important point to which we will return.
There are a number of reports of resurrection in the Bible, and a point made in the Epistle to the Hebrews leads us to think that only faithful men and women experienced this great phenomena. Look with me at Hebrews 11, the chapter known for it's characterisation of faith. Discussion of trials, troubles and difficulties experienced by some of God's people includes the following comments:
(Heb 11:35 KJV) "Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:"Look closely at these words. See them refer to women receiving their dead to life again, and reference to a better resurrection. The two phenomena are distinct. We need to appreciate this, that there is a coming back to life which is not the same as what is described as 'a better resurrection'. Let us briefly look at some of these incidents where women received their dead to life again.
The first incident we will examine is found recorded in 1 Kings 17. The prophet Elijah had been cared for by a widow in his time of need, and later the woman's son fell sick to death. The woman took this as a punishment for her sins, but Elijah knew it was for the glory of God this had happened.
(1 Ki 17:20-24 KJV) "And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? {21}And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. {22}And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. {23}And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. {24}And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth."This great miracle gave credibility to the words of the Lord expressed by Elijah.
A similar miracle was performed by the man who succeeded Elijah, his name was Elisha. This was that Elisha whose bones caused a corpse to come to life again. The incident where he raised to life a child is recorded in 2 Kings 4. This is the incident we referred to before. The child was taken ill while working in the field with his father, and by noon had died. His mother sent for Elisha, we pick up the story at verse 32.
(2 Ki 4:32-35 KJV) "And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. {33}He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. {34}And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. {35}Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes."As we might expect, something as remarkable as this was not kept secret. Eventually the king himself heard of it, and the credibility of the incident was established before him. The woman's household had left the land because of a famine, and when they all returned, the land had been commandeered. The landowner called to the king for restoration. At the time the servant of Elisha, a man named Gehazi, was reporting Elisha's great deeds to the king.
(2 Ki 8:5-6 KJV) "And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. {6}And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now."As well as these references to the restoration of life, there are some New Testament incidents. They are summarised perhaps in Matthew 11 and the parallel record in Luke 7. On this occasion, John the Baptist had sent a delegation to Jesus enquiring about his messiahship. We can look at the record in Luke 7 now, where Jesus did many wonderful miracles, then turning to the delegation from John told them to report back.
(Luke 7:22-23 KJV) "Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. {23}And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."It seems incredible that something as dramatic as bringing back the dead to life should pass with so little comment, yet it is so much a part of the record, that the record just would not be consistent without these incidents. There is harmony which gives credibility. Look at the incident recorded just previously in this chapter, for example.
(Luke 7:11-16 KJV) "And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. {12}Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. {13}And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. {14}And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. {15}And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. {16}And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people."The story has a wholesomeness which cannot be denied, and which on this occasion caused the great man John the Baptist to marvel and to wonder, such that he sent to Jesus for an explanation.
There are other incidents where the dead were raised. The daughter of Jairus was one. Another occasion was when the grown man Lazarus was raised to life after three days in the grave, after his body had begun to putrefy in fact. We had better just look at this one, because of something his sister Martha said to Jesus, demonstrating her great faith in the master. This record is in John 11.
Lazarus was sick, and the family sent for Jesus, knowing his ability to heal the sick. Jesus delayed for a few days, and by the time he arrived at the sad home, Lazarus had been dead for several days. When the family heard that Jesus was coming, Martha went out to meet him. Read with me the conversation which followed.
(John 11:21-24 KJV) "Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. {22}But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. {23}Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. {24}Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."Martha had confidence that her brother would rise from the dead 'at the last day'. There is also that hint of a suggestion that she knew Jesus could raise her brother now, but perhaps she hesitated to ask this, in case it had an impact on the future resurrection she was really looking forward to.
They all went to the grave, and in spite of the fact that the man Lazarus had been dead for four days, and in the words of Martha, "By this time he stinketh", Jesus cried in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth":
(John 11:44 KJV) "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go."So great was the impact of this miracle on the people that many more believed on Jesus, and the Pharisees were upset because they could do nothing to stop the impact Jesus was having upon the people.
(John 12:9-11 KJV) "Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. {10}But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; {11}Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus."This irritation on the part of the Pharisees had an impact on the profane historical records of the life of Jesus, as we will discuss later.
There are other records of people rising from the dead. There were those who came out of their graves when Jesus was raised (Mat 27:52-53); there was the beloved Tabitha whom Peter raised (Acts 9:40); but these must remain unexplored for this time. We must move on to the resurrection of Jesus himself.
We have to go back to the reason why this world exists, and our responsibilities in creation. When God created the earth and it's vegetation and animal life of all sorts, he did so in order that he might have pleasure. The record in Genesis is very specific in mentioning for each day's creative work that it was very good. Man was created specially, and woman equally specially, with a particular role. That role was marked out when they, not the animals, were given a special instruction, a single law. They were permitted total freedom to do as they pleased apart from one single thing. They were forbidden to eat fruit from a tree designated the tree of knowledge of good and evil. To eat of that tree was to incur the punishment of death.
To us this would seem to be so easy that there would be no problem. Indeed this was doubtless the way it was, a life full of delights of every kind. Then the idea to disobey was implanted in the mind of the woman by the serpent. Eve ate of the fruit, then her husband, Adam, followed her in transgression, and both of them had to suffer the ultimate punishment, death. Until then, they had no thought of death. After their disobedience, they had to face the hard reality of a life of labour, terminated by death. The sorry tale is recounted in Genesis 3. In the second half of the chapter is the record of the condemnation.
(Gen 3:19 KJV) "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."This concept that death is a punishment for sin is consistently described throughout the scriptures. For example, from the Old Testament:
(Prov 21:16 KJV) "The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead."Or from the Prophets:
(Ezek 18:4 KJV) "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."Now from the New Testament, Paul's words in the letter to the Romans:
(Rom 5:12 KJV) "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"It is clear, reasonable, logical, man dies because of sin. This is the natural law God has put into place, and no amount of medical science will ever get around it. Men and women will always die while the law of sin and death is in force.
In Jesus Christ we have a special case. The law of sin and death is still valid, but there was a difference in the case of Jesus, he never disobeyed his creator, he never sinned. The law of sin and death therefore condemned him unjustly. God righteous, therefore he did not allow Jesus to remain in the grave. This was why the resurrection of Jesus was special, why we used different words to describe it. We can look up some verses to tell us Jesus did not sin. First, from the pen of the gospel writer John, we have Jesus' own words.
(John 8:46 KJV) "Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?"None could prove he had done wrong, many would like to have done so, particularly the pharisees, but none could. The evidence for this was that the grave could not hold him!
The writer to the Hebrews, in another context, uses the sinlessness of Christ as a reason why he is such a wonderful mediator for us before God. In Hebrews 4 he points out that although tempted as we are, he never succumbed to temptation to do wrong.
(Heb 4:14-15 KJV) "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. {15}For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."There it is, tempted as we are, but without sin. The apostle Peter, in his first Epistle, rather than discussing what Jesus can do for us as a consequence of his sinlessness, encourages us to follow his example of sinlessness.
(1 Pet 2:21-24 KJV) "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: {22}Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: {23}Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: {24}Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."We do not want to discuss the consequences of Jesus' sinless life for us at this time, so for now just note that Jesus was without guile, no deceit, and did no sin. This was the reason the grave could not hold him. This was why he had to be raised by the father, in all justice.
Let us now consider the impact the resurrection had on the people. This was the impact which so disturbed the Jewish rulers. Turn to the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. We will start at Acts 1. The Apostles wanted to add one to their number to replace Judas Iscariot, the traitor who had killed himself. This was their reasoning.
(Acts 1:21-22 KJV) "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, {22}Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection."The witness of the resurrection was so important that the new man on the team had to have witnessed it.
Later, after the witness of the holy spirit, Peter stood up and brought to mind some words of the prophets, specifically David, vis á vis the resurrection.
(Acts 2:30-32 KJV) "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; {31}He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. {32}This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses."Peter again testifies to the truth of the resurrection of Christ, and backs up his testimony from the prophetic scriptures. Incidentally, the rulers seemed to have a better appreciation of those scriptures than the followers of Christ did until after the event. The rulers anticipated the claims for the resurrection, and did what they could to stifle them. They were hopelessly ineffective in their stifling efforts.
At every turn the resurrection dominated the teaching of the Apostles, causing them to vehemently oppose the religious leaders of their times, who had crucified Jesus.
(Acts 3:14-15 KJV) "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; {15}And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses."So we can go on looking through these writings and finding out about the great conviction the Apostles had. Their conviction was clearly not a hallucination, or misguided in any way.
(1 Cor 15:3-6 KJV) "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; {4}And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: {5}And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: {6}After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."The death and resurrection were witnessed by so many, and none have ever been able to disprove it. We have discussed that resurrection as a phenomenon predated the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not of itself unique to him, although the circumstances of his resurrection were certainly unique. There were some in Paul's day who denied outright that resurrection was possible. They were sceptics.
(1 Cor 15:12 KJV) "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?"If there is no such thing as resurrection, then not only were those women we read about in Hebrews 11 under strong delusion, not only were Mary and Martha hoodwinked, and all the others who had received of this great goodness of God, but also Jesus did not rise.
(1 Cor 15:13 KJV) "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:"If Christ has not risen, then the Gospel is nothing; the Christian faith, our faith, is vain; Paul and the apostles were liars. Fundamentally the Gospel is about how to get back to the created condition of the human race, a good creation which reflected the creator's glory in every facet until spoiled by disobedience. When this condition is re-established, then the purpose of God will be complete, and it all hangs upon the resurrection of Jesus!
(1 Cor 15:19-20 KJV) "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. {20}But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."Jesus is the firstfruits, what is the full harvest? The full harvest represents those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and who believing, obey. Obedience means many things, but the main consequence of obedience is that those who are 'in Christ' may have sins forgiven. Simplistically, if we die with our sins forgiven, then we are in defiance of the law of sin and death! So through the work of Christ, we too can have that everlasting life he has.
(1 Cor 15:22-26 KJV) "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. {23}But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. {24}Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. {25}For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. {26}The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."Here it is, in black and white. Death will be destroyed as a consequence of the work of Jesus Christ. This is why the resurrection is important. If Christ was raised, which he was, then his people, which could include you and I, they too will be raised.
The Pharisees went to great lengths to prevent any possibility of fraud in the matter. They had a better knowledge of the promise of resurrection than the disciples themselves did, and they did not want any possibility of fraudulent attempts on the part of the disciples to gain credibility by stealing the body, then claiming it had been raised from the dead.
(Mat 27:62-66 KJV) "Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, {63}Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. {64}Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. {65}Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. {66}So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."They went to great pains after the resurrection of Jesus to try to hush it up, because they knew that if the facts of the matter were broadcast, there would be no controlling the people as they turned towards Jesus, and away from them. As the disciples went to the city to proclaim the joyful news of the resurrected Christ, the men appointed to watch the grave to prevent this very thing went to report to their masters.
(Mat 28:11-15 KJV) "Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. {12}And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, {13}Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. {14}And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. {15}So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."Again, after the resurrection and ascension into heaven, the Jewish rulers still tried to restrain the doctrine that Jesus had arisen from the dead.
(Acts 4:1-3 KJV) "And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, {2}Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. {3}And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide."We can readily appreciate that Josephus had no wish to immortalise the memory of the man Jesus, and a cursory mention of him is all we find in his works. However, Josephus has been unable to prevent the consequences of the life, work, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the greatest historical attestation to the resurrection we can have. Christianity could not have existed apart from the actual factual resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as is described in the Bible.
We know the resurrection of Jesus happened because of the consequences which have flowed from that event. Christianity could not have been born under any other circumstances than these. There is no meaning to Christianity without the resurrection of Christ. Christianity could not have survived its formative years under such great oppression if it had not been founded upon truth and conviction.
(1 Pet 1:3-5 NIV) "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, {4}and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, {5}who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."Is this a good enough reason to care? There is a lot in it for you, and for me. We will not neglect this great salvation, will we?
Prepared by M.S., Ajax, Ontario, January 1998
(Document updated January 18, 1998)