Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Jesus has been arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced, and executed.
His disciples have scattered and the women who followed Him are just about the only ones left to watch Him take His last breath.
And yet, what everyone thought was a huge victory for Satan turns out to be his biggest defeat—and a resounding triumph for the Son of God.
In today’s Bible study, we need to take note especially the tremendous reversals that God bring about.
Text
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Joseph, a member of the council
Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin was the supreme religious, political, and legal council in Jerusalem during New Testament times—made up of 71 members.
It required extraordinary courage for a council member to request Jesus’ body. Criminals often were left unburied as paupers, and normally only family members were permitted to take their bodies.
Joseph was proclaiming his disagreement with the Sanhedrin’s decision (to convict Jesus).
There are times (often many times) that professing faith in Christ will lead you to be a lone voice amongst a hostile crowd.
Character counts. For Joseph, the Scriptures describe him as a good and righteous man…and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
A man of integrity.
A man of honor.
A man who believed (Jesus and His message)
Joseph as a model Christian.
Faithfulness to God through love and obedience.
Courage rooted in authentic faith.
Orientated to the authority of God and the promises of God fulfilled (faith and hope).
Resurrection
Text
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
The sabbath was, of course, the seventh day so that the first day of the week was our Sunday.
The sabbath would have ended at sunset on the Saturday, but little could be done during the hours of darkness.
So the women were astir early on Sunday and they set off for the tomb ‘at the crack of dawn’ (Fitzmyer).
That they took with them the spices shows that they had in mind the completion of Jesus’ burial.
The Angels
Not unnaturally the women were ‘utterly at a loss’ (neb).
The two men who now stood there in dazzling apparel (cf. Acts 1:10) are evidently to be understood as angels.
Matthew speaks of one angel who rolled the stone away and also spoke to the women.
Mark refers to a young man in a white robe whom they saw after they entered the tomb.
John mentions two angels in white who spoke to Mary Magdalene.
It is clear that all these refer to angels.
The fact that sometimes we hear of one and sometimes of two need not concern us.
As many commentators point out, a spokesman is more prominent than his associates and may be referred to without mention of others.
Neither should we be greatly concerned that the angels may be sitting (in John) or standing (here), nor that their words are not identical in the various accounts.
Moreover John speaks of them in connection with a different incident.
Problems there undoubtedly are, but the chief thing these minor differences tell us is that the accounts are independent.
Further, with angels spiritual perception is presumably required and all may not have seen the same thing.
Why are their different accounts of the same thing?
God used people to convey the Gospel message.
Even though the the Scripture is God-breathed—inspired by God—he intentionally used their Character, their personality, their style, their human-ness to provide an eye-witness account of the Resurrection.
People focus on different things in an experience.
Don’t miss the point of the story by attempting to connect every dot. It is a very western mindset to fill in every blank and answer every question.
Some questions are given for us to wrestle with, rather than to figure it all out.
So many time, attempting to fill in all the blanks can lead to very wrong conclusion. Use wisdom and understanding.
The main point: Jesus rose from the dead.