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    Studies on the Resurrection of Christ
    Studies on the Resurrection of Christ
    Studies on the Resurrection of Christ
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    Studies on the Resurrection of Christ

    By Hayes Press

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    About this ebook

    This book explores what the Bible has to say about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, including whether he really did rise bodily from the dead, clues from Old Testament types and shadows and the spiritual significance for Christians today.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHayes Press
    Release dateApr 30, 2018
    ISBN9781386470908
    Studies on the Resurrection of Christ

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      Book preview

      Studies on the Resurrection of Christ - Hayes Press

      CHAPTER ONE:  INTRODUCTION (TOM HYLAND)

      At the basis of the Christian Faith lies the glorious fact of our Saviour’s triumphant resurrection from the dead on the third day. This is the culminating event recorded in each of the four Gospel narratives and it is attested by indisputable evidence. It is supported by the united testimony of the apostles, and when it became necessary to nominate another to take the place of Judas, Peter stipulated that he must be one who had companied with the twelve throughout the Lord’s ministry until the day He was received up into heaven. Of these, said Peter, must one become a witness with us of His resurrection (Acts 1:22). And the apostle Paul, also, in reply to critics of his apostolic authority, wrote, Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? (1 Corinthians 9:1).

      The resurrection of Christ became the cornerstone in the preaching of the apostles. There can be no question as to the importance they attached to this unparalleled event of which they had first-hand knowledge. A study of their recorded addresses in Acts shows the extent to which their preaching was influenced by their absolute certainty that there was a risen Saviour in heaven (see e.g., Acts 2:24; 4:10; 5:30,31; 17:31; 26:23). The apostle Paul describes the raising of Christ from the dead, and His exaltation to God’s right hand in heaven, as the supreme example of divine power (Ephesians 1:19-23), and emphasizes in unqualified terms the cruciality of the resurrection, in the well-known passage:  If Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain ... ye are yet in your sins ... If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable (1 Corinthians 15:14-19).

      Resurrection has to do with the body, and the bodily resurrection of Christ is clearly stated both in the Gospels and the Epistles. Each of the Gospels records the burial of Christ and asserts that the tomb was empty when visited and examined by witnesses, early on the third day His body was buried and His body was raised. In the light of the elaborate precautions taken to guard the tomb, the failure of the Jews to produce the body speaks for itself. Our Lord appeared to His apostles in bodily form after His resurrection and showed them His wounded hands feet and side This is clear evidence against those who teach that our Lord’s resurrection was spiritual and not physical It is true that His body underwent some change in, its properties, nevertheless, the body that came from the Virgin’s womb was the body that was buried in Joseph’s tomb and restored to life.

      Undoubtedly, the resurrection of Christ is the greatest miracle of all. Beside it all other miracles pale. The claims Christ made for Himself were unique, and during His lifetime those claims were amply supported by His words and by His works. His death, too, was unique. No mere man could have died as He died. Truly this man was the Son of God was the verdict of the Roman centurion who observed the Saviour’s conduct throughout the hours He hung upon the Cross. But the resurrection is the crowning proof of His deity: He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead (Romans 1:4). No further proof is necessary.

      Our Lord was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4). His resurrection was planned by God and foretold in the Old Testament writings. The testimony of prophecy to this great event was acknowledged and emphasized by our Lord himself. He came to fulfil the Scriptures and His resurrection was an essential part of that fulfilment. And not only is there direct prophecy to this great truth, but it is also concealed in many of the types and shadows of the Old Testament. Throughout these writings there are many references to the glories which should follow the sufferings of the Christ. On this theme the prophets loved to dwell as the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed forward to the glorious triumph over sin and death of the Redeemer who was to come.

      During our Lord’s public ministry, as recorded in the Gospels, He revealed that He would be set at naught and crucified, but that He would be raised from the dead on the third day. So open was His claim that He would rise again from the dead that His enemies were fully informed of it. After His crucifixion they said to Pontius Pilate, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, after three days I rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day (Matthew 27:63,64). Their testimony to our Lord’s prediction of His own resurrection and the steps they took to nullify His words are confirming evidence from hostile witnesses. As opposition mounted and rejection by the rulers became increasingly apparent, the Cross cast its shadow across our Lord’s path. But never in His mind was the suffering of death divorced from the triumph of resurrection. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the coming glory was glimpsed, and coming down from the mount the Lord commanded, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen from the dead (Matthew 17:9).

      His ministry to His apostles was now concentrated on the fulfilment of the great purpose of God in His death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21). This accumulation of prediction to the resurrection of Christ, by prophecy and type in the Old Testament, by the open testimony of our Lord during His ministry, which was confirmed by His enemies, and by the emphasis He gave to it in His closing ministry to His apostles, is conclusive evidence of its centrality in God’s purposes.

      The resurrection of Christ, then, is a fact of history firmly established on unassailable evidence. But the evidence is by no means exhausted when we have established its historicity. Its reality and power are endorsed in human experience to a degree which cannot be disregarded. The impact of the resurrection on the apostles was transforming.  The crucifixion had left them in a state of abject fear. When the reality of the resurrection was grasped by them they became as bold as lions. Clothed with power from on high, with great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts 4:33). Threats, persecution, and imprisonment failed

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