Epaggelia

Resurrection is not a mystical vision or a phantom appearance by a ghost. Resurrection is the transforming of matter in this created order. He becomes something new, something unique. The Bible records at least eight appearances of the resurrected Jesus to different people at various times and locations over a 40-day period before He ascended into heaven. In each of these appearances, there is a victory. The price of unbelief brings upon us the rebuke of God, v14.

First, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb (Mark 16:9). Mary was weeping at the tomb, thinking she had lost Jesus forever. Jesus appeared and brought victory over despair.

Second, Jesus appeared to other women as they were leaving the tomb (Matthew 28:9-10). They thought he was dead, but he appeared to them, and they worshiped Him there. Jesus brought victory over death.

Third, Jesus met up with two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32). These men were talking about all the week’s events surrounding Jesus. They didn’t understand what had happened. Jesus talked with them and stayed with them until they understood. Jesus brought victory over confusion & ignorance.

Fourth, Jesus appeared to 10 disciples who were hiding together (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25). These disciples were afraid of what might happen to them since Jesus had been killed. Jesus brought victory over fear.

Fifth, Jesus appeared to all 11 remaining disciples (Mark 16:14; John 20:26-31). Thomas, who had doubted Jesus’ resurrection, was with them this time. Jesus brought victory over prideful insistence.

Sixth, Jesus appeared to seven disciples, including Peter, who had denied Jesus three times (John 21). At this appearance, Jesus puts Peter back into ministry. Jesus brought victory over failure.

Seventh, Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20). There Jesus told them He had been given all power and authority. He gave these disciples the great commission to make other disciples and sent them, now they are apostles! Jesus brought victory over any other power.

Eighth, Jesus finally appeared confirming the completion of His mission and the promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 22:44-51; Acts 1:3-8). Jesus had victory over the future.

Then Jesus’ followers watched Him ascend to heaven. He disappeared from sight into a cloud. Suddenly two men in white stood before the disciples and told them Jesus would return the same way He was taken up into heaven. The Bible teaches that Jesus will return to judge the earth in His everlasting kingdom, delivering us to the Father, 1st Corinthians 15:24-28.

16:20 , see Jn. 14:11, Both Jesus and his apostles had the same purpose in performing miracles, that is to confirm the message taught as authoritatively from God! Miracles were never isolated events of powerful mercy, Jesus and his apostles had a message connected to each of them! The good news was governed by divine power! Once the Word was established & once for all entrusted to the church, (Jude v3) it remains to this day by the same power of God. We therefore don’t need miracles today, we need faith in his powerful word, Mk. 12:24.

The sequence of events at the tomb are harmonious if we coincide the reading of each gospel:

Matthew: Mary Magdalene & The other Mary, meet an angel, and run to tell others 28:1-8.

  “But” Jesus later appears to them Mt. 28:9

Mark: Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James & Salome meet an angel and run to tell 

others, Mk. 16:1-8

Luke: “The Women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary mother of James, meet two men in

 dazzling apparel. They leave to tell the 11 disciples. Peter runs to the tomb, sees only 

strips of linen cloth in the empty tomb and goes home, Lk. 24:1-12.

John: Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away, Then went and

 told Peter. Peter & other disciple run to the tomb and go back home but Mary

 Magdalene stays at the tomb and meets two angels, reminding her that Christ has

 risen, and then she sees Jesus who at first seems to be “a gardener”. Then Mary goes         to tell the disciples that she has seen the risen Lord. Jn. 20:1-18.

When Christ’s resurrection is discovered, the first work God’s angels invoke is to ___________ the message! This should be our emphasis & priority, Mk. 16:7, 10 & 15. The subject of the resurrection is spoken of at least 440 times in the Bible, and without it our faith is futile, 1st Corinthians 15:12-34. From the beginning of Christ’s ministry, he points disciples to the resurrection, John 2:19-22. At the end of the New Testament, The risen Lord Jesus says “Surely I come quickly”, Rev. 22:20.

The promise (Mk. 14:28) of meeting the disciples in Galilee is fulfilled in (Jn. 21:1). Why do you think Jesus wanted to confirm his resurrection in the north of Israel? Perhaps Jesus knew in advance that in order for his disciples to become apostles, that they would need his appearance to strengthen them during their bewildered doubt in such a phenomenal world-changing event. The resurrection of a person resurrected in and of themselves is beyond our understanding, experience and even expectations, so it could be that God wanted to strengthen them in the fact of his miraculous life, so they could share it with the world, who would find it just as phenomenal. He couldn’t leave them alone, and he won’t leave us alone, Heb. 13:5.

There are at least 10 appearances of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  A couple times he seems to change his appearance but in most of his appearances he seems to look exactly the same as before his death, except for the scars and then of course much later, Jesus appears in visions to Stephen, Saul who becomes Paul and John in the Revelation. When Mark ends his gospel, it seems abrupt to end it in verse 8, afterall, previously in 15 chapters, Mark has written that Jesus promised to rise and repeated the promise at least 3 different times! So why would he end his gospel without a sighting of the resurrected Jesus appearing? Most scholars attribute the short ending of Chapter 16 to the fact that only 8 manuscripts show the short ending, whereas the majority of manuscripts have the long ending to verse 20. There are several ideas among scholars as to why the long ending is not in some very reputable manuscripts, but suffice it to say that there is nothing uniquely strange in verses 9-20, every thought corresponds harmoniously with the rest of the New Testament so it shouldn’t disturb the authenticity of the gospel as a whole.

Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, throwing dice for them, to decide what each would take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.” And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross!” In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law—were mocking him among themselves: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him.

What are the two titles the critics of Jesus used to mock him while on the cross?

1. King                           2. Christ

In your opinion, If you had to endure all the different insults (from soldiers, outlaws, onlookers, chief priests & scribes) Jesus had thrown at him, which one do you think was the worst?

I feel like it would be hearing “experts” in the law say “he saved other but he can’t save himself”

How many times is the word “crucified” used in this passage? 4, No one can honestly deny Jesus was not unfairly killed, but anyone can deny the reason. The crucified Jesus of Nazareth is a historical fact, the reason he died lead us to accept or reject him as Christ & King. We believe God our Father wanted this to happen to Jesus, his only beloved Son, and that Jesus did it because he loved both His Father and even sinners who mocked him. But do we believe that God still loves the mockers today this much?

A good source of information on Christ documented outside of the Bible is an article published by the magazine “Biblical Archeology”, to read it, go to:

Words of Power in Death, v33-41, Even in total darkness Christ wanted to praise our Father, proclaiming his commitment. As His Father’s heart was breaking, the Spirit of Christ was tearing the Temple’s curtain in two! Ex. 26:31 blue, purple, scarlet fine twined linen with cherubim skillfully weaved within, 2Chron. 3:14. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the sky becoming dark as Jesus hung on the cross. “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, because the sun’s light failed,” according to Luke 23:44. The obvious problem for this to occur naturally is that this is Passover week and the phase of the moon does not lend itself to an eclipse of the sun. However, Christians have always maintained that our God is Almighty as the Creator, and Christ was there in this almighty event, John 1:1-14. So when Christ died physically as the spiritual light of the world, a miraculous event would happen. The darkness in Egypt during the plagues is recorded as a miracle too. But brushing biblical theology aside, we do have the secular evidence of the quotation from Thallus, Thallus wrote a history of the eastern Mediterranean world since the Trojan War. Thallus wrote his regional history in about AD 52. (Habermas, Gary. The Historical Jesus, pp. 196-7, College Press Publishing Company, 1996.) Thallus is specifically quoted by Julius Africanus, a renowned third century historian. J.Africanus states, ‘Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun—unreasonably as it seems to me.’ Apparently, Thallus attempted to ascribe a naturalistic explanation to the darkness during the crucifixion. J.Africanus rightly argues that a solar eclipse could not have occurred during the lunar cycle of the Passover.  He also questions the link between an eclipse, an earthquake, and the miraculous events recorded in the Gospels. Eclipses do not set off earthquakes and bodily resurrections. We also know that eclipses only last for several minutes, not three hours. For J.Africanus, naturalistic explanations for the darkness at the crucifixion were grossly insufficient, as he showed with science. There is powerful evidence for the historicity of the miraculous darkness at Christ’s crucifixion. It was a real historical event, Christ came to suffer the horrible and darkest death of crucifixion in order to die for the sins of the world. When Jesus uttered the powerful words of Psa. 22:1, and “it is finished”, his praise not only affected creation’s source of light, but he also tore the Temple Veil from top to bottom. These events are real acts of judgment, divine decisions are done and our world would never be the same!

The Victorious Burial, v42-47, There are at least 5, even 6 recorded witnesses to the exact location of the burial of the corpse of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea, Pilate, The Centurion, Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of Joses and of course Nicodemus (Jn. 19:39) This is important because of the legalities of responsibility in finding the corpse which was claimed to have been risen from the dead. Both Roman and Jewish authorities are directly connected to facing up to the consequences of securing the corpse to tomb. The message of the resurrection happening at this site, was paramount to the force of the message during that generation. For all other generations, the exact site is of no consequence, because the message, once established as true, is, was and will forever be true. No one could disprove the resurrection then, nor can they disprove it now. Historical evidence and eye-witness testimony can not be re-written, therefore, this burial itself is a victory in the way it was done. Our baptism is an evidenced burial of our faith in the operation of God in giving us life from death, Romans 6:1-7.

A Custom, A Crowd & A Sentence, v6-14,  The feast of unleavened bread and passover was a solemn memorial of salvation for the Hebrew nation, because of God’s life-giving gift to spare the firstborn of every family that had their door marked with blood. This emphasis of salvation was marked by an agreement between the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman Governor, Pilate. But in this case, the Chief Priests wanted nothing to do with salvation, releasing the guilty Barabbas in turn for condemning the innocent Jesus for crucifixion. This great irony of Pilate letting a murderous insurrectionist go free, while he sentences an innocent man falsely for insurrection is proof Pilate is trapped as the sovereign will of God is executed. The Minor Prophet Zechariah and the Messianic Psalm spelt out prophetically the specifics of a crucifixion, Psa. 22:15-18 & Zech. 12:10. The Roman historian Cicero called crucifixion “a cruel and disgusting penalty” (Against Verres 2.5.63-66 §§163-70); Josephus (J. W. 7.6.4 [7.203]) called it the worst of deaths reserved for treason committed by Roman citizens and/or murder by ‘foreigners’.

A Scourge, A Crown & A Violent Taunting, 15-20, A Roman flogging was a torturous punishment. The victim was stripped of his clothes and bound to a post with his hands fastened above him or sometimes he was thrown to the ground while guards stood on his hands on either side of the victim being incessantly beat with a whip (flagellum) made out of leather with pieces of lead and bone inserted into its ends. While the Jews only allowed 39 lashes, the Romans had no such limit; many people who received such a scourge died as a result. But Jesus survived and was taken to stand before Pilate with his “cohort” of soldiers, this would be appx. 500 soldiers. Imagine the strength it would take to do that and then take a crown of thorns. THEN have blows taken while wearing it. The mocking included being given “splendid clothing” v17. This most likely came from Herod’s prior hearing when Jesus was mocked as a king with a purple robe (Luke 23:11) Even while suffering such a loss of blood, he found the strength to endure the pain while “again and again” many soldiers would strike him. No wonder Pilate wanted to wash his hands of this atrocity. Isaiah 53:3-10 prophetically uses precisely the right words, “crushed” & “slaughtered” to describe the punishment God’s Messiah/Christ would bear for us in order to perform the perfect sacrifice for sin.

A Tortured March to the Cross, v21-23 “Forcing” Simon to carry the cross (“patibulum”) when Jesus falls under it’s weight is indicative of how they “led” Jesus to Golgotha. It is truly amazing that Jesus carried the crossbar of the cross part of the way, (John 19:17). The soldiers were leading Jesus in a forced pace that he couldn’t keep, a burdened march that was meant to hurt with every step. After Jesus completes the journey and just before they crucify him, they offer him wine laced with myrrh, v23 but he refuses it. Myrrh was a type of mild analgesic and would act as a preservative in small amounts, but if too much was used, Myrrh would make wine impossible to drink, which when offered to someone dehydrated would be a form of torture. However, Jesus refused it as an analgesic and took the pain of the cross in full strength to bear the full consequences of sin as it had been determined by His Father. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he took soured wine, because he was so dehydrated he couldn’t speak without some moisture. His last words “It is finished” spoken as an achievement in completing the Father’s will as the perfect sacrifice for all our sins, John 19:28-30. The refusal to take the mingled wine with myrrh was a statement of determination to express his own will in suffering for our sins, Paul said suffering is part of entering into the Kingdom, Acts 14:22 and Peter taught that we are called to suffer, 1st Pet. 3:14-18.

Different Parties Opposed to Christ:  “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?”  (Romans 5:10)

Bystanders in Curiosity, v66-70, “looking”, and again said, “you are one of them”. The desire to label and learn about Jesus, is not for wisdom or admiration, but to incriminate the followers of a fraudster in Jesus. Once everyone is labeled, they will take the sentence ordered from the Council and apply it to each follower. This kind of guilt by association work can backfire, and it was the reason the Council decided to work at night as quickly as possible. For they were afraid of the crowds, Mt. 14:5, 21:46, Luke 22:2 & 20:19.

Peter in Denial, v68-72, Peter failed to show any integrity because he had not prayed for strength in the garden and his Savior had already warned him of his impending denial. Peter is most likely lingering in the background to learn how the unexplainable will unfold, and as he does, he cowers in shame, going “out into the gateway”, v68. The cursing Peter does is probably out of hate for his own guilt ridden shame as he tries to lie his way out of the questioning. This is the nature of deceit, it complicates our conscience into self-hate for falling deeper and deeper into sin and guilt.

Chief Priests, Elders, Scribes & Sanhedrin Council in Scheming Judgment, 15:1. The Roman authorities would not have prosecuted Jesus as a blasphemer. So the Sanhedrin, evidently now at full strength, decided to charge Jesus with treason against the Roman government. This verse does not explain that decision, but Pilate’s examination of Jesus that follows shows that was the charge the Sanhedrin had made against Him. Binding Jesus and leading him to be delivered was a formal and determined effort to impress upon Pilate that Jesus was guilty and a threat. Have you ever wondered why the Sanhedrin didn’t order a stoning to kill Jesus for blasphemy? Roman policy was to let local courts and customs deal with most civil and criminal matters, except those that threatened Roman interests. But in 6 AD the right to execute capital punishment had been withdrawn from the Jews and given to the governor exclusively – except for punishment of pagans who entered into the Temple. Nevertheless, mob actions, such as the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58) sometimes occurred. And so the true reason they have brought him to Pilate comes out; they want nothing less than the death penalty, and can’t inflict it without Pilate’s cooperation! The Jews want Jesus crucified so that he will be humiliated, accursed & killed according to the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

Pilate in a Trap, 5:2-5, Jesus stated the truth according to Pilate’s question about kingship, with an enigmatic agreement. Jesus didn’t try to offer a defense against the accusation of kingship, instead, he welcomed their charge of insurrection. In John’s gospel, 18:36-38 Jesus attempts an explanation of the nature of his Kingship, but Pilate doesn’t care to differentiate and see the spiritual nature, instead he apathetically replies, “what is truth.” The rest of Pilate’s attempt to free an innocent man leaves Pilate astounded at the reality of Jesus giving all his enemies an opportunity to do their worst. Even after flogging Jesus, Pilate is stuck in between quelling a riot and/or losing his job. If he stands up for Christ’s innocence and denies them a crucifixion, then he’s caused a riot & lost his job, but if he authorizes the death sentence, he quiets the streets of Jerusalem and keeps his job. So he washes his hands of it and keeps the peace and his job for now. Sadly, Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiae ii: 7) quotes some early apocryphal accounts which tell us Pilate fell under misfortunes in the reign of Caligula (37–41AD), was exiled to Gaul, and eventually committed suicide there.

v43, the prophecy fulfilled in Judas and the Temple guards was made by David in Psalm 41:9 & 55:12-15. The gospel narratives never before recorded weapons being used against Jesus, yet when they are prepared, it’s too late! Christ has already surrendered. The kiss of Judas, a simple greeting wasn’t used to get close enough so as to identify in the darkness and grasp him for a beating and stabbing, no, it was simply fulfillment of prophecy, proving God’s sovereignty. Some of the Temple guards may have known what Jesus actually looked like but even with their lanterns, they weren’t taking any chances in identifying quickly the right man, they weren’t taking any chances, it was meant to be a swift under the cover of night arrest, previous attempts in broad daylight were useless. Lk. 4:16-30 by people who knew him in Nazareth, Mk. 2:23-3:6, Jn. 5:1-18 & 8:48-59, 10:31-39, 11:45-57,three times by pharisees, Lk. 19:45-48 by the Temple leaders after Christ’s cleansing of the Temple, Lk. 20:9-19 by Jewish experts in the law. Now the enemies and betrayer are playing into the hands of Satan himself, v49. 

All the disciples left Christ and fled, v50. There are times when every faithful Christian feels like giving up, but this verse proves that even our failures as a child of God, are known by God, before they are committed. Yet He still loves us. We have given God a million reasons to give up on us, but none of them are good enough to stop him from loving us. The only people God does give up on, are people in the world who have never trusted & obeyed in the first place and repeatedly reject his love to the point of turning the Creator into the created in their own minds, see Romans 1:19-28. 

v51-54, these verses show a connection between Peter and an unknown young man, which may indeed be the author Mark, noting that just because Peter tries to follow, he was really just like the chickens that fled naked, he would eventually betray Christ too with his lying denial. We are all the same, weak humans in need of the Savior’s love and God’s powerful righteous Spirit to do what is really right. Christ knew that after his resurrection, His Spirit’s presence would help them do “greater works”, Jn.14:12.

v55-62, the silence of Christ here while being falsely accused under arrest is known by Peter, as he from a distance is fully aware of how hard every leader in Jerusalem is trying to prove Christ a fraud. This vain attempt of legal wrangling is seen as futile by Peter in reflection as he writes 1st Peter 3:16-18. Christ’s silence was held long enough, so as to let their lies lead his enemies into using their hatred to face the truth they rejected. Was Jesus really the Son of the Blessed One? Jesus couldn’t resist quoting Daniel 7:13.

v63-65, the violence that breaks out against Jesus by respected Jewish leaders is both appalling and demonic, in that they give the guards opportunity to use the clubs in beating Christ, yet he lives to willingly take further punishment for our sins all the way to the cross. They could have killed him right there, but God is sovereign, it had to be on a tree, Dt.21:22-23 & Galatians 3:13. Jesus never shrank from taking on the physical punishment for our sins, what he wavered at in prayer at Gethsemane is the horror of becoming a curse in his Father’s eyes. The emotional and spiritual pain of being under the curse of sin, crushed Jesus in prayer to the point of shrinking away from the Father’s will, but it was not to be. The enemy’s spitting disgust would lead to getting the Romans in on his death by torturous crucifixion. See Isaiah 50:6 & 52:14