Epaggelia

The women departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell the disciples what had happened. How are “fear” and “great joy” compatible? (Mat. 28:28). Jesus appeared at least ten times between his resurrection and ascension, five of which, the first five listed below, were on the day of the resurrection:           

To Mary Magdalene (John and Mark).  

To Other Women (Matthew).

To Peter: Luke 24:34,

To Ten Apostles, Thomas Absent: John 20:20

To Disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:12-17).

To Eleven Apostles, Thomas Present: John 20:26

To Seven by the Sea: John 21:1-25           

To Above Five Hundred: 1 Corinthians 15:6.

To James & the Apostles, including Matthias: 1 Corinthians 15:5-7, After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

To All the Disciples with the Great Commission in Different Words:  Acts 1:3-8.  

Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. Why did Jesus appear first to Mary instead of to one of the dedicated apostles such as Peter, James or John? Jesus had cast, driven seven demons out of Mary of Magdala.  However, she did not know, realize the person she saw was Jesus. Why not?  Why did she not recognize Jesus? Mary was not the only one who failed to recognize Jesus.  Acts 13:26, 27, John 21:4,  Many today would not recognize Jesus because of such things as: 

1. Worldly distractions & prejudices,    

2. Satan.  IICorinthians 4:4, In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  

3. The lowliness of Jesus.  Example: John 1:46, And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see.

Jesus further said to Mary, “Do not hold on to me, don’t touch me; for I have not yet ascended, returned to the Father.” Mary must have impulsively embraced Jesus, fallen at his feet and held them. The meaning is, “Don’t hold on to me.”  I have a job for you.  Several instances of people who touched the resurrected Christ are given in Scripture: 

1. Matthew 28:9, And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.  And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 

2. John 20:27, Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 

3. Luke 24:39, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.“Go instead unto my brethren, brothers and tell them, I am returning, ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary’s job was to tell the apostles that Jesus had been resurrected, that she had seen Jesus and that he was soon to ascend to glory. What is our job?

Key Text: 1st Corinthians 15:50-58

It seems the point of Paul’s description of our resurrection is to give us an assurance that all we do in this body is not in vain, v58. Life, rewards and power belong to everyone inside Christ Jesus for eternity because of the resurrection.

The superiority of Jesus as the resurrection is stated by Paul in Colossians 1:16-18.  The resurrection of Jesus himself has a unique quality because of his own power to perform the resurrection.  No one raised Jesus from the dead, he raised himself, we see this claim in the fact of the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:8-11), not allowing His body to be bound to hades or death itself, Acts 2:22-33.  It is stated at least twice that God the Father raised Jesus, but as Jesus often claimed to be one with the Father, we can easily accept that the “Godhead”  (Romans 1:20), was at work on His body for that victorious event of life after death.  The Biblical account of the resurrection can in no way be understood to be solely spiritual, but rather, as Scripture points out, it is both physical & spiritual.  Every person that has ever lived & died on this earth will experience this phenomena, John 5:28-29.  Do you believe in Him and His power? The apostle Paul did, Acts 24:15, and he wanted LIFE eternal from the Just One.

All the other resurrections recorded in the Bible have lessons for us.  We need to learn about them in order to help our faith grow in the power of God on our own soul & body.  This kind of faith, led Abraham to be blessed with God imputing His own righteousness upon him and confirming the promise of blessings from God to be fulfilled upon Abraham because he obeyed God’s voice.  Genesis 22:1-18.  Do you believe in Him and His power as Abraham did?  See Galatians 3:26-29. 

A.   Son of the widow of Zarephath, 1Kings 17:22 

B.  Son of the Shunammite, 2nd Kings 4:35 

C.  Dead man restored to life at the touch of Elisha’s bones, 2nd Kings 13:21 

D.  Jairus’ daughter, Matthew 9:25 

E.  Son of the widow of Nain, Luke 7:15 

F.   Lazarus of Bethany, John 11:44 

G. Saints at the time of the crucifixion, Matthew 27:52,  Mark 5:42 

H. Dorcas, Acts 9:40 

I.   Eutychus,  Acts 20:9-12

J. Every Single Faithful Child of God !  Romans 6:1-8, John 11:25. 

The very purpose of God’s Spirit living in us is revealed in 2Corinthians 5:1-8, it explains the promised gift of our resurrection unto life.   Herein is found the famous saying, “walk by faith”, but what is He asking us to walk believing in?  The Resurrection!   

Many people can’t accept the bodily resurrection and deity of Jesus. Here are the main points in Scripture proving it true. Proof is simply evidence written by eye-witnesses which has never been disproved with contrary evidence. In order to prove the bodily resurrection of Jesus false, someone must present evidence against the eye-witness accounts in the New Testament. Today, there are theories abounding about alleged bones of Jesus being discovered in Jerusalem, but they are simply that, theories. However, non-Christian scholars refute the bones as even legitimate evidence, and conclude that they are anonymous bones. Let us consider what the New Testament says. Afterall, it is the most well authenticated ancient writing in the world. Here are five Biblical facts as logical evidence confirming the resurrection.

1. Buried in a Tomb!  From the event to present day, no one is on record historically to deny the tomb is empty, neither did anyone produce a body.  Jesus was placed in an identifiable tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea with burial preparations and women watching as the body was placed in the tomb, when they returned with more preparations, they found it empty. The heavy stone covering was large, and was officially sealed by enemies of Jesus, providing a witness to the fact that the disciples could not have stolen the body.  The Temple guards of the tomb, faced the possibility of execution upon failure to carry out their duties. The only thing found in the tomb were grave clothes, tidily unmoved, yet stained with His precious blood, the redeeming price for the sin-sick souls of humanity. Jn. 19:31-20:10.

2. The Disciples of Jesus. Before his death, they proved to be cowards, but after the resurrection, James his own physical brother had a change of heart, Peter’s past denial turned into a proclamation, Thomas’s skepticism turned into confession and in all of them, the message of the resurrection brought upon them brave sacrifice and even martyrdom. At first, they did not expect Jesus to rise!  If the resurrected body of Jesus was a hallucination, they would need to have had an expectation to have seen it. They were brought to belief after the resurrection against their own past doubts. Jesus led them to face the truth, because of his undying love for us, Jn. 20:19-29. The change in Saul and the early Apostles is phenomenal.  1st Corinthians 15:1-17 & 2nd Corinthians 11:22-28

3. The Appearances of Jesus: they are noted in over 15 occasions in varying times, places and by different people. Sometimes being in small groups or in a large crowd. People saw him, touched him and even ate with him, Mt. 28:16ff, Lk. 24, Jn.20-21, 1 Cor. 15:4-9. Eye-witnesses are the best proof for undeniable truth which can’t be proven false in the future. In order to logically disprove the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the unbeliever must produce some evidence contrary to these reports. Evidence which could out-weigh eye-witness records in the most authenticated historical document the world has ever known, the New Testament.  Paul claims the deity of Jesus rests on the undeniable resurrection of Jesus, Romans 1:1-4.

4. Jesus claimed that he would rise from the dead, prior to his death. His disciples heard this publicly, but did not understand the reality of it, until after it happened and then recorded it. This act of self-prophecy by Jesus, would either make him out to be a liar, an idiot or God with us.  The fact of his own resurrection proves life goes on, as every human craves for it beyond the grave.  Jesus truly met & defeated our greatest fear, Jn.2:13-22. The Old Testament prophets predict the resurrection, Gen. 22:5-14, Psa. 49:15 & Hos. 13:14, showing fulfilment in Jn. 8:56. Jesus identified with theses prophecies before his death! Jesus hasn’t been discounted as an idiot to this day!

5. The Establishment of the Church verified by the New Testament was completed and recorded within the lifetime of people who could argue against it’s claims and provide the body of Jesus as evidence against their teachings, but it never happened. Yet the resurrected body of Jesus was central to the church’s message.  The new religion was so different, they forever revoked their holy day as the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday the “Lord’s Day” because of the resurrection. The church’s most public displays of faith are the Communion and Baptism, both of which focus their purpose on the death and bodily resurrection of Jesus.  Whenever the day arrives for the unbeliever to present evidence against the resurrection, the Church will dissolve. Until then, the burden of evidence rests on the unbeliever, not Christians.  We are still standing in His grace, Romans 5:2, and power, Romans 1:3-4. In all honesty, in view of the five facts above, can anyone dismiss the resurrection as a factual historical event today without sacrificing their own reason or logic?

Grace indeed, is the greatest word in the greatest book, the Bible. If not for God’s grace, we would know nothing of His love for us personally, nor would we ever have even heard about the blood of Jesus. Without God’s grace, there would be no Jesus, no New Testament and no hope of salvation. Our world would be a horrific place in which to live without the grace of God.

Here are five facts God declares about His grace:

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Grace , Hebrews 10:29. Therefore it is gracious that He even would want to live with us.

The apostle Paul instructs us to be strong in God’s grace, 2nd Timothy 2:1. Therefore we an emulate his grace.

Paul believed that Christians stand in the grace of God, Romans 5:2. Therefore we survive in His presence by grace.

The grace of God causes salvation to appear to all of us, Titus 2:11. Therefore we have access to a powerful and positive hope.

By grace you have been saved through faith and that not of  yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9. Therefore we can not claim or dare to even think, that we saved ourself, by ourself.

…as God has dealt to each person a measure of  faith.

Romans 12:5. Even our faith is given to us by grace!

What does God’s grace teach us?  See Titus 2:11-14.  Can we see God’s grace?  See Acts 11:23.  Who is the “prince of the power of the air” and in whom does he work?  See Eph. 2:2.  Who is the “Ruler of the kings of the earth” and in whom does He work? See Rev. 1:5.

Key Texts: Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42

Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death”  Jesus was buried with sinners, as a sinner for sinners, in a sinners graveyard, but Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He gave the corpse of Jesus a new place. Wherein our new life would emerge with a new promise and law for us and all “Good and Upright” people who would imitate the faith of Abraham that was in Jesus. Another man called “Good”, was Barnabas, Ac. 11:22-24. The goodness of Joseph was from God, (2Ths. 1:11), and we too can be counted worthy by God, for his power to fulfil every desire for goodness and work of faith. Goodness truly is a fruit of His Spirit in us, Gal. 5:22-23. In this hour of crisis for Christ, most disciples abandoned Christ and ran away, while others, like Joseph, stepped forward to do the will of the Father. What will we do, when Christ is being treated ill by others around us? What do we say, when people take His name in vain? Joseph “begged” Pilate (Mt. 27:58) for the corpse of Christ to be taken off the cross for burial, and it was publicly made official. Joseph must have expected that his gift of the tomb was a permanent contribution. What Joseph gave to Jesus he received back “good as new” three days later. God raised up a Joseph… to save the Israelites from famine…to save the infant Jesus from death at the hand of Herod…to save the body of Jesus from being buried along with the robbers in a potter’s field. What we give to Jesus we receive back in heaven “with interest!”

The gravesite was obvious, both Joseph, Nicodemus and at least two Marys knew exactly where it was, when he was laid inside. Also the Jews laid their own sentry and seal upon it, so there could be no confusion amongst his enemies or disciples, about the location of God’s greatest miracle. Why do we know so little about it today?

A long tradition going back to the first century, however, maintains that Jesus’ tomb is at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. In the 4th century, Constantine supposedly located the tomb site beneath a second century Roman temple. He constructed a church over it. This church has been restored and maintained over the centuries ever since. It is today shared by six faiths: Latin Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Syrian, Copts and Ethiopians. If it could be proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that this was truly the place, we would surely see it made into an idol. Humanity would exalt it higher than Jesus himself. Jesus doesn’t want a grave to be the memorial of the resurrection, he wants our hearts to maintain the resurrection!

Matthew 27:65, Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. This may indicate that Pilate was prepared to believe Jesus might well rise from the dead… or was it just to pacify the Chief Priests and Pharisees? So much had happened on the crucifixion day that Pilate didn’t know what might happen next. Even the hardened Roman centurion declared, “Surely this man was the Son of God.” The Pharisees now assumed they could relax thinking they had finally silenced Jesus of Nazareth. On the Sabbath Jesus was in the tomb.  The Sabbath was not Jesus’ day of victory.  The Lord’s Day was the first day of the week, the resurrection day. 

Consequently Christians worship on the day of Christ’s great victory, not on the day of his being dead and buried, a day of apparent defeat. We need to die to our old self and let God’s new creation in our new life rejoice in Sunday the Lord’s Day. God has saved the burial story for us to learn this from: Our Lord knows what it’s like to die and feel like all is lost, but faith in His power, goodness and promise is our victory. Baptism as a burial in where that faith is rewarded by forgiveness and His Spirit’s presence.

Key Text: Mark 12:38-44 & Luke 21:1-4

Jesus didn’t like Scribes, because of what they loved, rather than what they were. Their love for beautiful clothing, public greetings and the best seats in assemblies, made them commit two crimes, oppress the poor and pray hypocritically. The Talmud gives evidence of the “plundering of widows” (Sota Hieros. F.20.I, Schoettg. I. 199).  In the days of Jesus, the details are vague, but we can safely assume that Scribes & Pharisees often accepted gifts from widows, in exchange for making or ruling decisions which determined which widows would get references for help from rich philanthropists like Fulvia & Helene, who paid huge sums of money for fines placed on faithful Jews who would not ascribe allegiance to Caesar. (Josephus’ Antiquities xvii.2.4, xviii.3.5, xx.2.5).  

If a widow wanted to survive, she often had to proclaim allegiance to Caesar in order to trade her meager means for food, but if she remained loyal to the Lord God of Israel, she wouldn’t be accepted, hired or helped benevolently. But if a widow gave a gift to an influential Scribe who could refer her to a rich philanthropist like Fulvia and/or Helene, she could survive, MAYBE. It was a gamble, and often the widows lost. Scribes also worked as lawyers, and could overcharge widows to handle the execution of their husbands’ wills. This could leave the widows almost penniless. Scribes could tell the widows, if you give me a gift, I’ll pray for you and give your name to a rich person. But what if the Scribe didn’t do it? Would the widow be any better off?  Jesus did a lot of teaching in the court of women in front of the Temple. The woman taken in adultery was brought there, Jn. 8, and Jesus wrote in the dirt there. He now has his disciples there just a few days before his crucifixion. This court of the women was placed after or beyond the area Gentile proselytes were allowed into. In the court of the women, there were actually thirteen metal boxes shaped like inverted trumpets, large at the bottom and narrow at the top where money was deposited. The origin of the boxes, might be in the story of Jehoiada’s chest (2Kg. 12:4-16), wherein v13 tells of a segregation in purpose of the money dedicated.  In the days of Jesus the metal trumpet-shaped boxes would have different purposes, some for maintaining the Temple, some for alms, lepers, and some for growing sacrifices. The contents held differing gifts, some gold, some frankincense, some copper, and etc.,.   

Jesus was “sitting opposite the treasury and observed how the people were putting money in”, Mk. 12:41. The Ethiopic and Arabic versions mention Jesus sitting near the gate, opposite the boxes.  Today the Spirit of Christ observes our giving. What is He looking for? Quality of faith in the power of God to provide for our necessities. God wants to grow in us a faith in his power to provide. Do we believe we are providing for ourselves, or that our God in Christ is providing for us? When Jesus saw a poor widow come and put in two very small brass, copper coins (mites) worth only pennies. He called his disciples attention to it. This reveals the purpose for Christ looking into our giving. He wants to see the quality, not the quantity. Greeks called the mites, “Leptons” they were Grecian coins and were the “thinnest” of coins.   Jewish custom at that time forbade anyone to cast in less than two gifts. Today in the church in India, many Christians give food as well as coins into the Lord’s treasury on Sunday.  The poor widow gave the smallest legal gift possible.

For us to give the equivalent of the widow’s mites we must give to the extent of knowing we have nothing left for the future, but to depend on God for it.  How is this possible? What was Jesus teaching his disciples? He was teaching us what great faith that pleases God actually is. Obedience is better than sacrifices. Why? Because when the widow was left for the future but two mites, she still obeyed. Sometimes obedience is easy and sometimes it is not. But faith is the victory, 1Jn. 5:4. If we have faith in our giving, it will be liberal, 2Cor. 8:1-7,  cheerful, 2Cor. 9:7 and from our prosperity 1Cor. 16:2.

Key Texts: Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14:27-31, Luke 22:31-38, John 13:36-38

The Prediction:  Jesus wanted to show Peter how He knew him better than Peter knew himself, no matter how painful it was. Jesus knew the quality of Peter’s love, and knew that without evidence of His intimate foreknowledge, Peter’s love would not grow. (Jn. 21:10-18). When the prediction comes true, Jesus looks at Peter to write his law upon Peter’s heart, the law of faith and love is real, Lk. 22:61.

The Prayer: Satan has asked to have you that he might sift you as wheat. The devil is our enemy as well. He would like nothing better than to destroy us all! I have made supplication for you, prayed for you, Simon. (Romans 15:30) We can be assured that Jesus petitions the Father, prays to the Father for us as well (Romans 8:26-28)  “I have prayed that your faith may not fail,” Jesus said to Simon. “When you have turned back, repented,” Jesus instructed Peter. To be a help to others, we must be right with the Lord. “Strengthen your brothers.” Lk. 22:32.

The Swords: Jesus evidently here allowed self-defence against lawless elements of society set on robbing, stealing and killing. It is written, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Matthew 26:1-5, Jesus did not allow himself to be killed in a resisting arrest situation.  The Jews would much have preferred this method of ridding themselves of Jesus.  Jesus did not call for swords to resist arrest. Jesus said that prophecy must be fulfilled in him. Jesus further said, “Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfilment.” The apostles responded by saying, “Lord, here are two swords.” It appears that the gravity and eternal implications of what Jesus said escaped the disciples. They thought, “Jesus said we needed some swords and here are two we have found.” How much of what Jesus said completely escapes us today?  No doubt, regrettably, most of it! Jesus replied, “Two swords are enough.  That is enough” Wonder what Jesus thought of that response to all he had said. Wonder what Jesus thinks of our responses or lack of response to what he has said. Even after Peter cut off Malchus’ ear, Jesus did not tell him to throw the sword away.  He told him to put it up in its place.  Matthew 26:52.  The swords would have prevented Jesus’ untimely assassination had it been attempted.  They were “machaira” swords, not rhomphaia, seen in Rev. 6:8, which were always long and specifically for warfare. The machaira is a generic word for sword, which can refer to a knife or dagger, Heb. 4:12. It’s possible that Jesus wanted his disciples to have access to self-defence, but to grow in wisdom, as to when and when not to use it. The only apostle known to die a natural death was John, so most of them refrained from using any kind of self-defence when they were under persecution.

The Best of Intentions: The words of Peter and the other disciples, which stated they would not forsake Jesus, were holy & honourable intentions with faith based on their own physical strength, but if we are to follow Jesus, we must try with the help of the Holy Spirit and prayer, to speak the truth in love. Then we can encourage people to be honest, even when we have evidence that people are lying about us. Even Peter lied against Jesus, Matthew 26:69-75, but that doesn’t make it OK. Thankfully, Peter reacted the right way when the Holy Spirit convicted him to quit lying and be honest. Sometimes it is hard to be honest with ourselves and God, but with God’s wisdom, word and Spirit, we can do it.