Walking With Christ

They say that hindsight is 20/20. It’s a lot easier to see some things when looking back on them with more information than you had to begin with. The resurrection of Christ is just one such event. With over 500 witnesses to Him being very much alive after being confirmed to be dead, this cemented a lot of things for early believers. Since Jesus had predicted His own death and the resurrection, the Pharisees were honestly afraid that the disciples would steal the body in order to claim that He had risen when He had not. They had guards posted and a massive stone put in place to block the entrance so that no one could get to the body.

Matthew 28:11-15 (11)While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. (12)And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers (13)and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ (14)And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” (15)So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.(ESV)

If they had not worked so hard to make sure that the disciples could not actually steal the body then the claim of resurrection would have been lessened by their claims that the body was merely stolen. In their fear they boosted the strength of the very thing they were trying to prevent.

The eye witnesses to seeing and speaking with Jesus after He rose from the tomb was the additional weight needed to tip the scales and give real credibility to the resurrection.

Let’s look back at the tomb for a moment. It was brand new. It had never been used. It was untouched by death until Christ was sealed inside. His tomb was as pure as He was. His tomb was a level of opulence that He was not accustomed to in life. Having a new tomb was a thing left only to the wealthy of those days. Jesus lived a life of poverty and sacrifice such that He often didn’t even have a bed to sleep in during His ministry. Yet, in death, He was treated with honors reserved for the extremely wealthy and respect that very few could claim. A wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, donated his personal tomb which fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah about the servant being buried in the rich man’s tomb, and Nicodemus, a high up Pharisee, helped to prepare His body for burial. Both men were part of the Sanhedrin. Both men were considered leaders for all of Israel.

The tomb was untouched by death when Jesus was placed inside. After Jesus conquered sin and death, it could be argued that the tomb was pure once more. The moment of resurrection marks the beginning of the new covenant just as the tearing of the veil at the moment of His death marks the end of the old covenant.

The old covenant was the soil that prepared the way. Jesus was the seed planted in the tomb. His resurrection was the first fruit of resurrection. Just as the first fruits of our crops and everything else is called the tithe, Jesus being that tithed first fruit of the resurrection adds another layer to the symbology of the tithe. God truly can do more with the tithed portion than we could ever hope to do with what is left.

All four gospels speak of the unique experiences of the gospel writers when they encountered the risen Jesus. Saul was blinded for the same three days that Jesus was in the tomb. Then he was restored as Paul and became one of the most ardent and vocal supporters of the risen Christ.

Acts 9:21-22 (21)And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” (22)But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.(ESV)

Death, where is your sting, indeed. Say it with me, “Jesus is risen and conquered sin and death forever more, amen.”