Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 24:1-12; Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8; John 20 "THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS"
Day 335 – Luke 24
Text: Luke 24:1-12; Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8; John 20
THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Luke devoted a whole chapter on the subject of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his sequel, The Book of Acts, Luke focused on the fact that the theme of the Resurrection of Jesus was prominently featured, thus highlighting the significance of the doctrine of the resurrection.
The doctrine of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was also expounded in the New Testament epistles! There is no question that we need to have a deep and thorough understanding of the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus.
MODERN DAY DIFFICULTIES WITH THIS DOCTRINE
It is unfortunate that fewer and fewer Bible scholars have emphasized the theological significance of the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus. This is in part due to the fact that this doctrine came under attack by “liberal Bible scholars” who questioned the idea of a resurrection.
Various false theories have been advanced as a substitute for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They must be refuted and we must go on to defend and advance the Biblical doctrine of resurrection as recorded and taught in the Scriptures!
The Apostle Paul wrote a classic chapter in 1 Corinthians to the issue of the doctrine of resurrection. Let us take time to ponder over what he said,
“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised
from the dead, how do some among you say
that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
Then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching
Is empty and your faith is also empty…
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile;
You are still in your sins!
If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
We are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 17, 19
PREDICTION OF THE RESURRECTION
In order to understand and appreciate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to go back to what He had taught His Disciples.
“The Son of Man must suffer many things,
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests
and scribes, and be killed,
and be raised the third day.”
Luke 9:21
“Then He took the twelve aside and said to them;
‘Behold, we are going to Jerusalem,
and all things that are written by the prophets
concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
For He will be delivered to the Gentiles
And will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.
They will scourge Him and kill Him.
And the third day He will rise again.’ “
Luke 18:31-32
THE UNBELIEF OF THE DISCIPLES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION
It seems strange that the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ found so much difficulty initially, in believing that He had risen from the dead! This state of unbelief was so strong that Jesus had to appear a number of times to them in His resurrected state, so that they could be very sure that He had indeed risen!
The doctrine of the resurrection is that much more credible, if we read the events of Christ’s appearances in the context of the struggle of the Disciples of Christ to believe! In their very finite mindset, the Disciples thought that all their hopes were dashed with the death of Jesus! Death ended all things, didn’t it? They could not fully fathom that Jesus would indeed be raised from the dead!
THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS IN THE GOSPELS CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
We need not be disturbed by the fact that the Gospels differed in their recording of the event of the resurrection of Jesus. Our challenge is to piece all the different accounts together so that we have a coherent whole. Each Gospel writer of course selected his own information and then included that in the context of the gospel he was writing. We have seen this approach taken a number of times, when we studied the suffering of Jesus on the Cross.
The first hurdle was the problem of the soldiers who were ordered to stand guard at the tomb of Jesus. Matthew recorded this event in his Gospel.
“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week
began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
(The mother of James the less – cf. Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40)
came to see the tomb.
And behold there was a great earthquake;
For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
And came and rolled back the stone from the door,
And sat on it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing
As white as snow.
And the guards shook for fear of him,
And became like dead men.”
Matthew 28:1-4
The first problem of how to get the tomb opened was effectively resolved! God took a hand in the resurrection of His beloved Son! He was going to raise Him from the dead! All He needed to do was to send an angel to do this.
The guards were of course petrified! They could fight against any mortal enemy! They had been trained to fight enemies. They were after all Roman soldiers! But how does one fight an angel who would cause an earthquake to occur? How could one fight an angel who at a touch can cause the rock that was used to seal the tomb to be moved aside? The angel sat on it – as if it was the most natural thing to do!
THE CONSPIRACY TO DENY THE RESURRECTION
The soldiers recovered themselves after a while, and of course they had to make their report. Matthew recorded this too.
“Behold, some of the guard came into the city
and reported to the chief priests all the things
that had happened.
When they had assembled with the elders
And consulted together, they gave a large sum of money
To the soldiers, saying, ‘ Tell them,
“His disciples came at night and stole Him away
While we slept.”
And if this comes to the governor’s ears,
We will appease him and make you secure.’
So they took the money and did as they were instructed;
And this saying is commonly reported
Among the Jews until this day.”
Matthew 28:11-15
According to Roman law, should soldiers lose the person or persons they guarded, they would be charged and be executed. This was standard practice.
The soldiers could not report that they had failed in their duty to Pilate. They would be summarily charged and killed! They chose to report to the Jews instead.
Alarmed by the news, the Jews began a conspiracy to deny the resurrection of Jesus. They had feared the worst! They had heard Jesus saying that He would rise on the third day! It had happened as He had said. The guard they had asked from Pilate (Matthew 27:62-66) was a vain effort to prevent the resurrection of Jesus.
Rather than deal with the truth of what Jesus said, the Jews entered into the denial mode, and chose instead to bribe the soldiers to say that the Disciples of Jesus stole His body while they were sleeping on their job. That remark would have cost them their lives if it came to the ears of the Governor Pilate. The Jews assured the soldiers that they would “appease” Pilate on their behalf. There was nothing they could not work out with enough money to go around!
How obdurate the human heart can be! How could there be such denial of the truth and reality of the resurrection of Jesus? How could the bribing of the guards change the reality of the resurrection of Jesus? BUT WE SEE A RISEN JESUS!