If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#4) Creation Knew It and Clapped Its Hands

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Truth Encounter Ministries
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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… Matthew 28:1

The earth clapped its hands in joy when its Maker arose. The guards weren’t thrilled, but whole of heaven must have erupted in song.

The Bible is full of literary devices as one might expect. God created language and He uses the creativity of that language to communicate to us and we should be creative as well in how we use it. So, we find in the Scripture simile and metaphor, hyperbole and paradox, chiasm, merism, idiom and more. One of those devices that I have the most trouble with is personification. I don’t have trouble with understanding what the Scripture means when it uses personification, but I have trouble not getting caught up in it.

Personification is when something non-human or inanimate is given human qualities and characteristics. For example:

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

Of course, we know that the mountains don’t have lungs and the other body parts that would allow them to actually sing, nor do we think that trees have hands, but the passage communicates that the creation is somehow involved in praise and glory to God.  

It is not uncommon for us to also use personifications. When I take my old pickup into the mountains and she is in 4-wheel drive, climbing over rocks and ruts, I tell whoever is with me that “she’s smilin’ now!” Of course, I know that my truck doesn’t have a mouth and lips to really smile, but it is definitely female. :)

It is easy, especially in a Disney world, to begin to think that these things have some sort of human character to them and it is probably not a good thing when we begin to see personification as reality rather than just literary device. Bambi, Cars, Toy Story, Frozen and a lot of other movies can pull us into some wrong thinking if we are not careful. And, here of course, it would be easy to step on some toes with dog and cat owners, who do have a tendency now and then to treat their animals as if they were human. Historically, we can see when man has even worshipped the inanimate as divine. Even in our day, “Mother Earth” can become a goddess to some. On May Day, 2014, Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, in a big wedding ceremony in California, married the soil and said “the Earth is our lover”.

We can get this way out of wack.

But there does seem to be something about the creation’s self-generated response to God and to evil. The Holy Spirit moves Paul to speak of the creation “waiting in eager expectation” yet “groaning as in the pains of childbirth”. Yes, there are times when it is clear that God has provoked the creation to do His will as in the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea and when “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed” Korah et. al. (notice the personification?) Certainly all creation does His bidding, but it just seems sometimes as if there is something more than just passivity in the creation... something within it that responds to the glory of God and to the pain of sin.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the loud “Hosanna” of the crowd, the Pharisees were indignant and told Jesus to rebuke them. Jesus responded:

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40

It is hard for me not to think that there was something in the rocks themselves that would have burst forth, somehow, if this moment had passed without shouting out the glory of the Messiah.

But, maybe all of this is simply to remain mysterious to us in this life. 

However, it does now lead us to the acts of God in the creation as we see it not only here on resurrection morning, but as we see it throughout the life of Jesus. At His birth, the stars proclaimed His advent and at His death, they shook with grief. And when Jesus had completed His time in the grave, the earth trembled and shivered with unspeakable joy, no doubt clapping its hands as if to shout “He is risen!”

The passage tells us that it was a “great” earthquake that was coordinated with the arrival of the angel that morning. This one-two punch dropped the guards into a frozen state of fear. I can imagine, and yet I can’t imagine. But the resurrection earthquake was relatively tame compared to how the creation cried out in agony at the crucifixion of Jesus.

We are told that first of all the sun “failed” and darkness fell on the land from the sixth to the night hour, from noon until 3pm. This must have been horrifying. Thallus and Phlegon, historians in the 1st and 2nd century, gave testimony to this darkness. 

Then the earthquake hit. And it left its own record.

My good friend and geologist extraordinaire, Dr. Steve Austin, with whom I have rafted for a week down the Grand Canyon and who was one of the scientists I interviewed in the “Is Genesis History?” film, was gracious to speak with me today regarding the pair of earthquakes that shook Jerusalem at this time. He told me earthquakes leave evidence in the sediment found in lake or sea beds where it is still soft. The shaking of the earth disturbs the layers as you can see in the picture.  They are called “seismites”. Steve is convinced he has found the evidence for the crucifixion/resurrection earthquake and the larger would have measured over 5 on the Richter scale. He also told me that he has been at the epicenter of several earthquakes and described what well could have been the experience of those in Jerusalem at the time. The people would have first heard a huge explosion, then they would have felt the first wave as a strong shaking followed by the jolt of the second wave, which would have been stronger.  They might have heard the noise of the final wave as it travelled away from them, sounding like the “womp womp” of a helicopter. Scary stuff. When I was living in Puerto Rico, I experienced an earthquake in which it seemed as if the ground had become liquid. It immediately makes one feel as if the stability of your entire world has been stripped from you and you are now lost in the middle of the ocean.

When Jesus breathed His last breath, the earth buckled with grief. So much so, that rocks split and the doors of tombs were opened. The temple shook with such force that records tell us the door hinges were sprung. The Scripture says the thick veil was torn, from top to bottom.

The creation was responding to the death of its Maker. And it must have been terrifying, for in the midst of the sun failing and the ground shaking, the centurion confessed, “Truly, this was the Son of God!

When Jesus was born, when He died, and when He rose from the dead, the creation responded. It sang, it wept, and it cried “Hallelujah! He is Risen! Come and see.”

If the earth responds to such a momentous event, so should we. He is risen indeed!

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If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#1) the Seal Was Broken
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 historical 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 also 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. 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.” 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." In the vision concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Scripture says this: 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 begins to weep because there was “no one worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” Of course, we find that the Lamb, “standing as though it had been slain”, 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”.  In John 6, Jesus said this: 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.” John 6:27 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, Eph 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 Cor 1:21 This is God’s seal of authority, authenticity, and finality. You are His, sealed with His guarantee. Oh my! [previous] [next]
5
If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#5) the Angels Would Have Announced It
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:1-6 It may be too bold to say this, but I believe that it should come as no surprise to anyone that the announcement of the Lord’s resurrection was made by the angles, for this, indeed, was a cosmic moment. And, also not surprising, is that there is controversy over this: how many angels, where they were, and what did they really say. Matthew and Mark have one angel; Luke and John have two. We will deal with all of that soon. But today, we want to ponder the fact that it was the angels that announced the resurrection and why. Recall the great passage in Galatians (don’t skip through it… read it): What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  Galatians 4:1-5 The advent of the Messiah was a “set time”—set by God. It wasn’t just that we landed on a nice calendar day. This was as if all the prophecies and all the promises were set on a timer and they all went off together at this moment. It was a cosmic moment: the time in which God was going to enter the world as a human being in order to redeem those who were in bondage under the law. It was a moment that began with the birth of the Messiah and extended through His resurrection… one big cosmic moment. John Calvin refers to the resurrection as “the closing scene of our redemption.” And the privilege of announcing this cosmic moment was going to be given to the angels. They came to Mary and to Joseph. They came to Zacharias and then on the night of His birth, the heavens were filled with a host of angels announcing the news… not to Herod or to the High Priest, but to the lowly, despised and smelly shepherds. Not in a palace or in the temple, but out in the middle of a common, ordinary field.  Should we, therefore, be surprised that it would be the angels who would announce His resurrection? And, to a woman in a graveyard? We will deal more with this later, but recall that women in that culture were second-class citizens. Jesus changed all of that forever. But it was no small deal in those days that the angels would break the news to a woman, and to Mary Magdalene, who at one time had been possessed by seven demons and no doubt suffered from the ravages those demons would visit upon her.  No, this is not surprising to us, for this is who God is. God’s heart is with the humble. And He blesses His creatures by allowing them to carry out His purposes and plans. Thus, He sends angels to announce the Moment of Moments. So, who are these “angels”?  Well, they are an amazing part of God’s creation. There are tons of them, “innumerable”, says Hebrews 12:22 and “thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand” says Revelation 5:11.  That is a lot of angels! There is even some conjecture that we might each have an “assigned” angel. When speaking of the children, Jesus refers to “their angels in heaven”. This certainly is inconclusive, but there surely are enough of them to go around! Maybe that is why there are so many. One thing we know for sure, they do minister to us: Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14 Angels are strong. They are mighty. They battle the forces of darkness and they serve God as He sends them to fulfill His purposes. They are messengers, but they also carry out some of God’s judgments. When Herod was struck down and eaten by worms because he did not give glory to God, it was an angel that struck him. (Acts 12:23) Some are sent to patrol the earth. (Zechariah 1:8-11) Scripture even says you might have come in contact with angels as they go about their duties in human form: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2 And so, it was the angels who kicked off the Moment and became quite active in the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. And it was the angels who ministered to Him in His times of need on earth. When Jesus had finished 40 days of fasting and had been tempted by Satan, the angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:11) When He was in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His soul was “deeply grieved to the point of death”, an angel came and strengthened Him. (Luke 22:43) I can imagine, then, how much they would have been straining at the bit to save Him from the scourge and the nails. All they needed was a word from Him and they would have swept in like a ferocious army. When Peter impetuously cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant, during the arrest, Jesus admonished Peter and said,  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” Matthew 26:53-54 A Roman legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers. Twelve would be 72,000 mighty angel warriors. If one angel can buckle the knees of the guards, imagine what 72,000 would do?  So, as Jesus was being scourged and nailed, as he hung on the tree, all He needed to do was say the word and the angels would have rescued Him. But He didn’t.  Can you imagine that? Can you imagine how easy it would have been in the midst of all of that pain and suffering to call out for rescue and relief? To just say the word and all the misery of that moment goes away? But no, He didn’t. It was our sin and His love that held Him there—denying Himself for our sake.  The angels who filled the sky with praise and glory at His birth are now held in check, silent at His death. The earth spoke, yes, but the angels remained silent. But! On the 3rd day, all that changed! The angels are released and silent no more. They announce the News of News—“He is not here! He has risen just as He said!” Yes, if Jesus rose from the dead, then the angels would have been there to announce it. You could not have kept them away. He is risen indeed! [previous] [next]