THE GRAVE IS EMPTY : BY RESURRECTION

     Of all the Christian doctrines, probably the one that is the most controversial is "the resurrection from the dead". Even though there really is no "Christian religion" without this basic truth, multitudes of "Theologians" have argued and debated the value of dismissing this tenant from the Christian church. The reason given is that this story of the bodily resurrection is a detriment and an embarrassment to the acceptance of Christianity by the great majority of intelligent people.
     This last February, 1996 there was yet another symposium held at Oregon State University to debate this issue. Theologians from many places and backgrounds have once again presented theories, assumptions, questionable facts and criticisms of the Biblical account. They presented such things as "What does resurrection mean?" The term is confusing. Some felt that if we could just say that resurrection meant that the soul lives on after death it would be much more acceptable to the masses. Others have presented the question " What was the significance of Jesus' ministry?" Some feel that He was a itinerant philosopher who was teaching a moral life and as such maybe He has a message that is relevant today. Some say He was a peasant philosopher who was proclaiming a rival kingdom to Jewish outcasts as a rebel activist.
     One thing that the majority of these scholars agree upon is that the scriptural account of the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is all fiction devised after His death to justify His claims of divinity. Some try to separate the historical Jesus from the risen Christ of the Christian faith, saying “the Christ” is something different than Jesus, the man.
     Some say that to insist upon the resurrection from the dead is a burden upon the Christian faith and diverts attention away from Jesus "the social reformer". These liberal theologians think it is time to replace the "cultic Jesus" of Christian worship with "real Jesus" that is unearthed by "academic research".

     One fundamentalist critic of the liberal search for the "historic Jesus" proclaims that if an unbeliever had a camera when Jesus appeared he could have taken a picture of the risen Jesus. He said that Jesus had a substantial body that could be seen and touched and could eat fish. A German New Testament scholar at Vanderbilt Divinity School says that Jesus' body rotted in the grave and the appearance of Jesus after His death to Peter was "subjective vision" that was produced by Peter's overwhelming grief and guilt over having denied Jesus. Another "scholar" said that Jesus' body was eaten by dogs because that was the custom of the Romans following crucifixion. His being seen by many was the result of a "Christ complex" and a "mass ecstacy". It was the church's zeal that transformed the human Jesus into "the divine Son of God".
     One scholar proclaims that the early Christians searched out all the myths of the Old Testament pertaining to the messiah and applied them to Jesus. Another woman scholar from Australia says her study reveals that Jesus was actually crucified at Qumran but was given a sedative so He only appeared to be dead. Later He was given an antidote and He revived. He went on to marry Mary Magdalene and had three children. Later He divorced her and married Lydia who is mentioned in the New Testament.
     Many liberal scholars agree that the New Testament is an accumulation of stories, tradition, myths, scripture interpretations, images, beliefs and fantasy. The problem with the accepted Christian account is that because of time lapsed and the radical change to the environment of Israel, the resurrection cannot be proved or disproved. Their reason for their search for the historical Jesus is to find a valid reason that will explain how Christianity got such a running start and why it persists in holding the attention so many of the inhabitants of the earth today.
     The Bible believing church is divided on many issues but the one unifying factor is this faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That He ascended to the right hand of God and is now ruling over God's government.
     Some critics of the resurrection story think that if the resurrection is absolutely essential to the Christian faith, why didn't all the New Testament writers emphasize this fact. Mark doesn't even mention any post resurrection appearances of Jesus.
     Next week another group of scholars and theologians will meet at the Catholic Archdiocese of New York for a "Resurrection Summit" to discuss these and other issues. They will discuss what the disciples saw. What they heard. What was the real character of the resurrection? Did Jesus have a physical body? What does a "glorified body" mean? Has anything like this ever been witnessed since? How did He appear and then disappear? How did He pass through doors and walls? Was resurrection just a resuscitation like the medical profession is doing today?
     Resuscitation is great news for the patient's family and friends but resuscitation doesn't result in a faith and religion that lasts 2000 years. Believing in resuscitation will not transform lives or give a martyr the grace and courage to die for his faith.
     The early church didn't preach their faith in a reformer or a new philosophy or in social changes. They didn't even base their message upon Jesus being the messiah of Israel or the King of the Jews. Their message was focused upon the crucified Savior who had died for the sins of mankind and His resurrection from the dead. ROM 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called {as} an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ROM 1:2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, ROM 1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, ROM 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, ROM 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about { the} obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake, ROM 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
     It had to be more than a philosophy or a message of non-resistance or the blessed are those of Matthew 5, 6, & 7 to give hundreds the zeal and power to die as martyrs for their faith. They not only held to the fact of Jesus' resurrection but they firmly believed in their own resurrection. In holding to the doctrine of bodily resurrection, the believers confidence was in individual identity in heaven rather than in a mass of souls without individual identity. Therefore, many held to eternal life for both the body and soul in eternity.
     One of the great mysteries that surrounds death and resurrection is "how is the dead raised" and what kind of body will be resurrected? Will it be a physical body like we have today? This was also a question that was presented to Paul. 1CO 15:35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" 1CO 15:36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 1CO 15:37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 1CO 15:38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 1CO 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one {flesh} of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 1CO 15:40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the {glory} of the earthly is another. 1CO 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 1CO 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable { body}, it is raised an imperishable {body}; 1CO 15:43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 1CO 15:44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual {body.}
     The Bible doesn't just recite historical facts about what happened in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. The Bible relates how God intervened in the affairs of men then and all mankind up to now. All possible questions are not answered. This is the reason that the believer must believe and exercise an active and living faith in God and in Jesus Christ of the scriptures. Secular history cannot and will not have enough facts to judge the Bible account as true or false. All efforts to find a historical Jesus have failed in every generation. Bible truth is not always "historical" and spiritual interpretations are acceptable. However, they must be given by the Spirit and not by human reason. Apart from the scriptures very little is found concerning Jesus Christ. If we search secular history to confirm that Jesus resurrected from the dead and ascended to the throne of God and is now living in a completely different kind of existence, we will search in vain. How will the world know that all power and authority in heaven and in earth has been given to Jesus Christ and that He is coming again to judge the world? Only by faith! How do we know that the scriptural account is real? We have Pentecost to prove who He is and where He sits. But how do we actually know Jesus is real? Because we have received His life and the witness of that life in us. We don't have to take someone's word for it or be convinced by researchers who have dug in the earth for proof.
     An essential dimension of the resurrection is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. ACT 2:30 "And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat {one} of his descendants upon his throne, ACT 2:31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay . ACT 2:32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. ACT 2:33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ACT 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified."