Tonkawa,Disciples all over the world are fresh off of celebrating the bodily resurrection of Jesus. With that in mind, I’d like to take the next five weeks to look at what exactly that event meant and how we should understand it today. In the first three installments,I stated that Jesus’ earliest disciples understood His resurrection as a confirmation of the promises of God; first God’s promise to restore all things, second, God’s promise of a Messiah who will rule and bless all the nations from one nation, Israel, and third, God’s promise of forgiving sin on the basis of an atoning sacrifice. And last, the resurrection of Jesus confirms….the resurrectionAnd last, the resurrection of Jesus confirms….the resurrection of the dead.Peter’s Acts 2 sermon again:This Jesus God raised up…As noted in the first installment, the resurrection is not a random miracle. It means something.The hope of the scriptures is resurrection. Not “I’ll fly away” not “when we all get to heaven”, but physical, bodily resurrection.Adam and Eve were supposed to live forever, but they died. Abraham was supposed to inherit the land forever, but he died. Moses lamented in Psalm 90 that men die before 80 and this is an abomination, why? Because Moses knows man was meant to live forever. David’s descendant was supposed to sit on Jerusalem’s throne forever but he died. Isaiah prophesied a day when Israel’s “dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. . . . The earth will give birth to the dead (26:19)” Ezekiel spoke saying: “Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people (37:12)” Daniel foresaw: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (12:2).”The Jewish scriptures proclaim that Death is an enemy and therefore they hope for the resurrection.But up to that point, late into that Saturday night, it was a dead hope. Every single son of Adam since Adam, was born, lived, went into the dirt, and stayed there. And you’ll do the same. Your body is going to decay. You will stop breathing. Your heart will stop pumping. Your brain will stop firing. And you will die.And without a resurrected person come out of the grave 2,000 years ago, there’s no end in sight to that reality.But the resurrection of Jesus changes that! No longer is the hope ...
