If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then... (#0)

 If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#2) The Seal Was Broken [audio] We don’t spend much time talking about the seal that was placed upon the tomb, but I think it is significant. Here is the historical record: The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27:62-66) The account states that the chief priests and the Pharisees “made the tomb secure by sealing the stone…”.  This seal was most likely several ropes that were drawn across the stone and then affixed to the tomb walls with a soft clay imprinted with some symbol of authority. It was also likely that the ropes were sealed at their juncture in front of the stone. In this way, no one could move the stone or the ropes without breaking the dried clay and destroying the “seal” affixed upon the clay.  The seal was there to “put on notice” that no one was to mess with the tomb. Rome could deal quite nastily with those who did so. Now, this doesn’t mean much to us today, for we are long past the norm of using “seals” as they were utilized in ancient times. but in those days, a seal was inviolable[1]. It represented authority, authenticity, and finality. No one messed with a seal. In the book of Esther, when King Ahasuerus issued the order to save the Jews, he commanded them to “seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.” (Esther 8:8) When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, “… a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel." (Daniel 6:17) In the vision concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Scripture says: And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” (Isaiah 29:11) The permanence of a seal against all who were unauthorized to break it was an inviolable part of their world.  It becomes even more apparent when John is caught up to heaven and there beholds the scroll with seven seals. John weeps because there was “no one worthy to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:4). Of course, we find that the Lamb, “standing as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6), was worthy to break the seals. And when each of those seals were broken, great calamity came upon the earth. Seals in the Scripture mean something. And John had wept, because the seal represented an inviolable wall to anyone who did not have the authority to break it. Seals show authority. They show authenticity. And they show finality for all except the one who had the authority to break them. And so, we now come back to the tomb. The seal, whether it was a Roman seal or the High Priest’s seal, represented a fixed closure that no one was allowed to breach. When it was set upon the tomb, there was a finality, a stamp of ultimate authority, that said, “This tomb is closed.” Ah, but God is not subject to the laws or seals of man. I can imagine that when the earth began to shake and the stone was rolled aside, that those clay seals with the authority of man impressed upon them broke into a thousand pieces and lay as trash littering the ground. If Jesus rose from the dead, then the seal of man, meant to keep Him in the grave, had been utterly and completely destroyed. But there is one more thing that must be mentioned regarding “seals”. It is important to note that God has given us this detail in the record to help substantiate the reality of the accounts of the empty tomb and the risen Lord Jesus. But it also brings our minds to something quite wonderful. In John 6:27, Jesus said: Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” If God seals something, it is sealed! In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) “… it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21) This is God’s seal of authority, authenticity, and finality. You are His, sealed with His guarantee. Oh, my, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! How deep is the steadfast love of God that He should do such mighty things to secure us to Himself and then tell us that He has put His own seal upon you and me? As David writes: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:6) [previous] [next]     [1]Inviolable /ĭn-vī′ə-lə-bəl/: never to be broken, infringed or dishonored; unassailable; secure from violation or assault or trespass

 If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#3) the Stone Was Rolled Away [audio] Here is the historical record: Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went 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 and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:1-6 Now, someone, quite appropriately, might say: “Wait a second, it doesn’t logically flow that ‘if Jesus rose from the dead, then the stone was rolled away.’ If Jesus was in His resurrected body, then, as we see later with the disciples, He passed through walls. He could have passed through the stone or the walls of the tomb. He didn’t need the angel to roll the stone away so He could get out.” This is actually correct in asserting that Jesus could have left the tomb by passing through the rock. In fact, it appears as if He did! Look at the account again. The angel rolled back the stone, sat on it, and told the women that Jesus was not there for He had risen. In the flow of these events, it seems most likely that Jesus had already left the tomb before the stone was rolled away. It would be a stretch to think that the women approached the tomb, the earthquake shook the ground, an angel descended, rolled away the tomb, so that Jesus, who was waiting inside, could then steal away quickly without the women seeing Him, and then the angel tells the women that Jesus was not there and had risen. The text would lead us to believe that Jesus had already risen and departed the tomb. And, though some correctly say that the text in John concerning Jesus visiting the disciples that first evening does not say that Jesus passed through the walls, and argue against it, the passage leads us to think He did, in some form or other. There is support for this in the text for both visits by Jesus: On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19)  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:26) Now, of course, this could be a “materialization” rather than a “passing through the walls” but I would argue that is splitting hairs. John goes to the trouble to tell us, both times, that the "doors were locked" and "although" they were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. Jesus miraculously entered the room. Just as Jesus walked on the water and His body defied the normal physical properties of specific gravity, He apparently was not bound by the physical properties of a locked room, nor was He bound by the physical properties of the tomb or the stone. Okay, so why, then, was the stone rolled away if it wasn’t to allow Jesus to escape? First of all, and most plainly, the text tells us that it was so the women could “Come, see the place where He lay.” This would be impossible if the stone were still sealed against the tomb. But the seal was broken and the stone was rolled away so that they could see for themselves. And it wasn’t just for the women, it was also for the disciples, and anyone else in Jerusalem or beyond, to come, see and believe. This leads us to the second, and most important reason, that it is consistent with God's nature to do things this way. Our Christian faith is not based upon myth or legend or “spiritually discerned” truth claims about ethereal things. Our faith has, from the beginning and to the end, been based upon reality born out in the “warp and woof” of time, as Francis Schaeffer was prone to say. It is somehow in the nature of God that He chooses to affirm to us who He is and that His truth claims are real by showing us in the tangible elements of reality. The plagues of Egypt were real. The pillar of fire was real. The tablets of stone were real. Fire actually came down out of heaven on Mt. Carmel. Jesus was born a real baby. He healed real people. He touched real lepers. He was scourged and crucified and His physical body was wrapped and laid in a real tomb. And, now, He had risen from the dead and the tomb was empty. The stone was rolled away so that they could  “Come, see the place where He lay” with their own eyes. Don’t let anyone tell you that your faith in Christ is a leap in the dark or some metaphysical belief not rooted in reality. God has, from the beginning, married His truth claims with physical proofs and manifestations. We do not see this with the gods made my man. The sun god or the moon god or Baal or Mother Earth do not speak or act, nor can they. But the True God does...over and over again. And lastly, the tomb was empty as a testimony to those who do not believe. Though the Scripture does not mention this, you can be sure that the chief priests and the Pharisees came to inspect the tomb. It defies common sense to think that they did not. And the tomb sat there empty for whomever wished to come and lay eyes upon its reality. I cannot imagine that even Pontius Pilate himself did not drop by for a look. Why? Because the stone had been rolled away. As we will deal with later, the empty tomb remains the key frustrating evidence for those who desire to refute the resurrection of Christ. Sir Norman Anderson, considered one of the foremost legal minds ever, after a lifetime of legally analyzing the evidence, concluded that all rational theories of the resurrection are dashed in vain against a rock called the empty tomb. This solid rock of evidence would not exist unless the stone had been rolled away for all to peer inside and see. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! [previous] [next]