Bros.Suzuki,The Resurrection of The Lord Jesus,Japanese_Christ

The Resurrection of The Lord Jesus

Brother Suzuki

(Gathering with REJOICE at Takamatsu, 2003/04/20)

I went to the Egawa spring near Kamojima yesterday. I found an upwelling fresh water keeps the spring transparent and beautiful, even though an amount of water is small.
Jesus said, "I will be a spring of living water, welling up to eternal life."
I could recognize a blessing that He lives within our heart, and becomes a spring of life.

It is an Easter Sunday today. So, I prepared a message about a Resurrection.

1 Corinthians, 15:3-6

3	For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4	that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5	and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6	After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

A letter Paul wrote to us tells the most important thing in the Holy Bible.
Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin. He was buried and resurrected three days later, according to the Book. And He revealed Himself to many disciples.

Generally speaking, if you hear "The Holy Bible", you will imagine something related to Christian religion. But there's a rather big difference between what people imagine about a Christian religion and what the Book tells.
For example, many people may think, if they polish their heart, they will shine. But actually, the Book tells we won't shine whether how hard we polish ourselves, we won't be good men no matter how hard we try.

Thus, salvation by the God is indispensable.
What the Book tells has no relation with a Humanism which most Christian religion in this world tell.
In the Humanism, it is most taken care of what we should do, on the other hand, in the Book, it is most taken care of what He does for us.

In the Book, there are many splendid words, such as, "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." But, it includes a lot of unimaginable miracles too.
For example, Jesus turned a water into wine, fed five thousand men, perhaps ten thousand women and children in total, with five loaves of bread and two fish, they all ate and were satisfied, and disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Jesus died on the cross, resurrected three days later, when disciples went to see the tomb, it was empty.

Some may say, it was just a story spread as a superstition, because a science wasn't developed yet, there were not any TVs. They may have a prejudice that people in that time are inferior in intelligence and education to us.
But a close look at the achievements in two thousand years ago, we will have a little different impression.
Parthenon and shrines at Rome were built using the state of the art architecture, civil engineering, mathematics, geometry, a wisdom at that time. These technologies are quite usable in recent construction.

Astronomy was developed to a high degree. The everlasting master piece of literature, Homer was written, and also the classic of the classics in philosophy were written by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.
Medical science was developed too. Geometry established in this era is taught in recent schools as it was.
Now we know they had excellent intelligence on literature, mathematics, architecture, astronomy, and so on.

Then, how did they react about His resurrection? Actually, their reaction was same as what we do today.
Their ability to judge things, judge good or bad, recognize things, solve some doubts is the same.
I would like to see it with some examples. At first, reaction of Jews,

John, 10:18

18	No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord

These are words Jesus spoke,

John, 10:18-20

18	I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
19	At these words the Jews were again divided.
20	Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?"

An alive man said, "I have an authority to die and authority to resurrect."
Many Jews said at these words, "He is crazy. He is demon-possessed."
I think if we hear these words, we will react like them. There were someone who said different things.

John, 10:21

21	But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

In public, Jesus opened eyes of congenitally blind man, and made him see. It was a fact they had to admit, because they saw it by their own eyes.
So, some said, "A man who can do this must not be crazy, demon-possessed. We should think more carefully."
This is a very logical and rational opinion.

In the second, how did disciples and those who followed Him react?

John, 11:11-14

11	After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
12	His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
13	Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14	So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,

Jesus said, "I'm going to wake him up." in a reply Marta said.

John, 11:22-23

22	But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
23	Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

The Book says that disciples, Marta, and all people around them couldn't believe His words, "I will raise him up."

John, 11:32

32	When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

Lazarus was a brother of Maria and Marta ,

John, 11:33-37

33	When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
34	"Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.
35	Jesus wept.
36	Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
37	But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

They couldn't believe His words, and buried him in the tomb. Jesus wept seeing people getting down, and troubled in spirit with their words, "Couldn't he have kept this man from dying?"

John, 11:39-41

39	"Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
40	Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
41	So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

John, 11:43-44

43	When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
44	The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen,

Taking it as a fact that He raise him up, all of them couldn't believe it and, we, recent people will react in just the same way.

The Verse 9 in Chapter 24 of Luke describes what happened in the morning of His resurrection.

Luke, 24:9-11

9	When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.
10	It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
11	But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

Women witnessed by their own eyes that Jesus wasn't in the tomb, rushed to the disciples and reported.
But they didn't believe the women, saying, "It is nonsense."

Mark, 16:14

14	Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

It is written, resurrected Jesus revealed Himself to disciples and rebuked them for their lack of faith.
Because they didn't accept the report that He really resurrected.
It wasn't only disciples who couldn't believe it, but also most of people in that time couldn't.

Matthew, 27:62

62	The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

When He was crucified, Israel was reigned by the Roman Empire. The Emperor of Rome was proud of his world strongest forces. Soldiers were tough, armed with the latest weapons.
The governor of Israel area was Pilate. The chief priests of religious groups remembered what Jesus said, "I will rise again three days after crucifixion." Thus, they went to counsel with him.

Matthew, 27:63-66

63	"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I will rise again.'
64	So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
65	"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how."
66	So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Once Pilate promised to send a guard, it means tens of soldiers guard the tomb in turn without sleep.
According to a martial law in Rome, if a soldier couldn't execute an assigned order, all of the group were punished jointly, put to death. They were under such severe laws.
It is written the entrance of the tomb, as big as 1.6m x 1.2m was covered with a large stone. I don't know precisely, but I think the stone was as heavy as 4 tons to 10 tons.

These are what happened two thousand years ago. Now we know they had no tendency to think out a fiction, believe it without an evidence. In this sense, they were just the same with us.
Above all, disciples had no expectation on His resurrection. We have to remember this.
And go further to a description of His resurrection.

(Side A -> Side B)

Matthew, 28:1

1	After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

They had an anxiety, who would move that stone away.
It is told that the stone was closed up with Caesar's seal. The seal had an authority, no one could break it without permission.
The women may have thought, they have nothing to lose even if they can't enter the tomb.

Matthew, 28:2-7

2	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.
3	His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
4	The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5	The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
6	He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
7	Then go quickly and tell his disciples: `He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

If we read it carefully, we find there was a violent earthquake because an angel rolled back the stone.
I think an angel moved it for the women to see the tomb is empty.
Actually, when it was moved, Jesus wasn't in the tomb. He's already resurrected, gone to Gelilee.

If they tried to think out a fiction, don't you think they thought out more believable story.
As you know, the women appeared in this story in their real names, and perhaps, this book was written while they were alive.
For what they saw and experienced were written as they were, they were written in the way rational man or those who judge things within only their understanding, can't grasp.
I suppose they were written in this way, because all were definitely true fact.

Some may think Jesus rose again as something like a ghost. But it's wrong.

Luke, 24:36-42

36	While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37	They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
38	He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?
39	Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
40	When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
41	And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"
42	They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

Jesus resurrected with a flesh. Disciples saw Him, not a vision. Because He ate a whole fish, and there must have been bones, left after He returned.

Go back to when He resurrected, how disciples were? They thought, after His crucifixion, it's our turn to be aimed. They were scared about it.
They were concentrated with their own safety, and took no notice on anything about His resurrection.

John, 20:19

19	On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

They were filled with a fear that they will be aimed, a anxiety for their future, a cowardice to hide from people.
However, after they met Jesus, they were totally changed.

Acts, 2:22-24

22	"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.
23	This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
24	But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Acts, 2:32

32	God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

Acts, 2:41

41	Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The background that Peter preached His resurrection so boldly, is that it was true fact. We can't think out any other reason.
Most of disciples who met resurrected Jesus, preached, "Jesus Christ resurrected", and suffered martyrdom.
But they couldn't help telling the truth of His resurrection.

Acts, 4:2

2	They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Here, it describes about what John and Peter told, the core of their messages was His death and resurrection.
Many people met resurrected Lord. A lot of people testified His resurrection and put to death. Why? Because, it was true.
Why such an intelligent people wrote mysterious story like this. Because what they wrote was a fact.

As a matter of fact, some books other than the Holy Bible, testify His resurrection.
I heard, in a book which recorded history, it is written, "A religious group called Christian, first appeared during a reign of Tiberius. The origin of their establishment was a faith that Jesus Christ resurrected from death."
After His crucifixion, disciples were disappointed, not relaxed enough to think about His resurrection. But they were totally changed by seeing Him again face to face.

At last, I want to think about what His resurrection brought to us.
One is a salvation. It is very difficult to understand its meaning.
Thirty years have passed since I believed Him. I still find it is difficult to express a salvation in other words.
However, I can say, "The Holy Bible tells....", and I think it is the best way to explain it.

Romans, 10:9

9	That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

In a word, you will be saved if you confess, "Jesus is Lord.", and believe in His crucifixion and resurrection.

Romans, 10:10-11

10	For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11	As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him

Anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ,

Romans, 10:11

11	will never be put to shame."

It is difficult to express what is salvation, but a condition of salvation is written with these few words. Just confess, "Jesus is Lord.", and believe His crucifixion and resurrection.
Second, His resurrection brought us the Counsellor.

John, 16:7

7	But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

He promised, He will die on the cross, resurrect on the third day, go back to the Heaven, then He will give us the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor. It was fulfilled.
It the Acts, it is written, He came down in a form like a fire. It happened only once and once is enough. He has come down and has been in this world.
A fact that He has come is one thing and situation He lives within us is another.
The Book tells, He will be given to us when we believe in Jesus Christ.

Also, people won't confess, "Jesus is Lord." without the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, we know the Book promises, if you are able to confess, "Jesus is Lord.", it means the Holy Spirit lives within you.
So, you don't have to pray, "Please give me the Holy Spirit." These prayers will be, on the other hand, a blasphemy to the God.

Third, His resurrection brought us a new life.

Romans, 6:4-11

4	We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5	If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6	For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--
7	because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8	Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9	For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10	The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11	In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Our old life was crucified with Jesus, and we are given resurrecting life of Jesus.
An English word, "life" has a meaning an individual person's existence and also activities that are typical of all people's existences. Jesus gave us both meanings of new life to believers.

Galatians, 2:20

20	I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

In 2 Corinthians, there are famous words, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
The resurrection of Jesus gave us a new life, and it is a base of salvation and growth in spirit.

As Paul wrote on Verse 3 to 6 in Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, the most important thing in the Book is His resurrection.
Thus, we gather every Sunday, take a bread which symbolizes His body, and a wine which models His blood shed on the cross, and remember His death and resurrection, again and again.

I would summarize this clumsy message not with my words, but with His words.

1 Corinthians, 15:17-28

17	And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18	Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19	If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20	But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21	For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22	For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23	But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
24	Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
25	For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26	The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27	For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
28	When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

1 Corinthians, 15:50-58

50	I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51	Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--
52	in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53	For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
54	When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55	"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
56	The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57	But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58	Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

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