THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
By G.
THE earthly career of Jesus Christ was noted for His purity of life, His plain, practical teaching, and His wonderful works. His darkest experience immediately preceded the dawning of His greatest victory over the adversary. When the enemy of all righteousness supposed that the voice of Jesus of Nazareth was forever silenced, He came forth from the tomb, and brought with Him a multitude of captives as trophies of His signal victory. Matt. 27: 50-53. It is remarkable how God overruled the shrewdest precautions of the enemies of Christ, so that the triumph was thereby made more conspicuous. When Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, saw what God had done in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, he said, “Now I know that God is greater than all gods; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly He was above them.” Ex. 18:11. David says, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee; the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.” Ps. 76:10. And Paul testifies that “we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” 2 Cor. 13:8. All this was thoroly demonstrated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The archenemy of the plan of salvation was determined on the death of Jesus, yet it was essential to that plan that He should die. The persecutors of Jesus were determined that He should die, and it was officially demonstrated that He was dead before He was taken from the cross. One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and there came out blood and water, and the commanding officer testified to the governor that He was dead. It was so evident that no one thought to dispute it. It was also demonstrated that He died “according to the Scriptures;” for it was written that “a bone of Him shall not be broken.” John 19:36. The legs of the men who were crucified with Jesus were broken, because it was requested by the Jews that the victims be taken down from their crosses before the Sabbath came on. But the legs of Jesus were not broken because He was dead. Then the Jews were fearful that the disciples would steal the corpse from the tomb, and pretend that He was raised to life. So they had a strong guard of Roman soldiers placed at the sepulcher, and had the great stone at the door officially sealed. This was a very effective precaution against robbing the tomb by men. The guard had no interest in any deception, moreover there was a death penalty for sleeping on guard, or for breaking an official seal. So these precautions emphasized the genuineness of the resurrection. So much so that when the soldiers reported it to the Jewish rulers, they had no alternative but to bribe the guard to tell a most absurd falsehood. There was no thought of claiming that Jesus had not been dead. All the circumstances precluded the possibility of deception in the matter, excepting by imposing a most improbable story upon the credulity of the people. Yet, strange as it may seem, the story was quite extensively believed. Such is the power of Satanic delusion over those who reject the truth. See 2 Cor. 2: 7-12. The Spirit of God thru His Word is our only safeguard against deception, and if men disregard this He interposes no other. Having ignored the only defense against delusion, they are allowed to have it to the full. God is represented as sending “strong delusion” because He stands out of its way, and lets it come upon those who will not heed the truth. The death of Christ was accompanied by great darkness. All nature seemed saddened because the disobedience of the creature had caused the death of the loving Creator. On the contrary, the resurrection was accompanied by an extraordinary light. Matt. 28: 2-4. From the darkness of the tomb the Creator came forth to demonstrate that He was indeed “the light of the world;” that He was indeed “the way, the truth, and the life;” and that the “life was the light of men.” He could now say, as an accomplished fact, that He had power to lay down His life, and power to take it up again. John 10:18. He had proven His claim to being the “resurrection and the life.” Now He can truly say before the universe, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Rev. 1:18. A prominent feature of the death and resurrection of Christ was the vindication of the law of God. Among the delusions of the adversary is the doctrine that the law was done away in the death of Christ. This is in plain contradiction of His Word, that He came “not to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matt. 5:17. It was because the law was unalterable that Christ must die in order to save the sinner. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (John 3:4), and “the wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. So Christ died and paid the penalty for all men, the condition for each individual being faith in His atoning blood. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:1. “Do we then make void the law thru faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Ch. 3:31. In baptism we publicly express faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and all that is comprehended therein. We are “buried with Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God thru Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Rom. 6: 4-12. Then the true Christian has “put on Christ,” being “alive from the dead.” Verse 13. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17. Now what are the old things?—Sin, the “works of the flesh.” Gal. 5:19-21. Old things are the transgressions of the law. What are the new things?—The things we find in Christ, harmony with the law of God (Ps. 40:8; John 15:10); life composed of principles against which there is no law (Gal. 5:22-23). G.