Professor Thomas Arnold who was the author of the famous three volume History of Rome and an appointee to the chair of modern history at Oxford University in England writes this, quote: “The evidence for our Lord’s life and death and resurrection may be and often has been shown to be satisfactory. It is good according to the common rules for distinguishing good evidence from bad. Thousands and tens of thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece as carefully as every judge summing up a most important cause. I have myself done it many times over, not to persuade others but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence than the great sign which God hath given us, that Christ died and rose again from the dead,” end quote.
The evidence is there. And it was for the women. The final moment of grasping the living Christ. And in that moment, of course, their worship turned to a new emotion, a new feeling, a new attitude of hope, verse 10, “Then said Jesus unto them, Stop being afraid. Go tell My brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see Me.” Their hope was so clear now. They would see Him in Galilee for they had seen Him already.
Jesus repeats the same message the angel gave, reminding us again of the source of the angelic message and says, “Go tell My brethren, those who are now My brethren, those who now belong to Me who are in the family…go tell them…tell them that I’ll see them in Galilee. We’ll have a great convocation and commissioning there.”
And so, we come then to the end of Matthew’s brief glimpse of the resurrection. It’s so simple. It lacks pretension. It doesn’t look like the kind of case that someone is working very hard to prove because it’s so incredulous. He states it so simply and so artlessly and such common terms are used. It doesn’t even try to beg the issue. It states the simple convincing truth. And the women run to tell the rest. And before the days of Christ’s earthly journey are over, He will appear to them all, confirming His resurrection. And then select from among them who will write the New Testament which is the record of His resurrection and the meaning of it.
Let me close with that. What does the resurrection mean? Let me suggest several things for you to think about. First of all, it means that the Word of God is true. Jesus said it over and over again, I’ll rise…I’ll rise…I’ll rise…I’ll rise in three days. And He did. The record of the Word of God is true. It affirms the truthfulness of Scripture.
Secondly, the resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the Son of God as He claimed to be, that He as God has power over death.
Thirdly, it proves that salvation is complete…that on the cross He conquered sin and death and hell and rose victorious.
Fourthly, the resurrection proves that the church is established. You remember in Matthew 16 He said, “I’ll build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it?” And the gates of hell is a colloquial expression for death in that culture. He says I’ll build My church and death won’t stop Me, and it didn’t. His resurrection proved that death could not stop Him from building His church.
Fifthly, it also proves that judgment is coming. The judge is alive. And He said He would live in John 5 and He said that God would give Him judgment. And He would have the power to raise the dead and He would judge the dead. Some would enter eternal life and some would enter eternal judgment. The judge is alive, folks, and court will be in session to determine the eternal destiny of every man and woman.
And sixthly, the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that heaven is waiting. In John 14 He said I’m going to go away, but if I go I will come again and when I go I go to prepare…what?…a place for you because in My Father’s house are many rooms. Heaven is waiting and Christ is preparing it for His own.
You see, the resurrection proves all of that. The Word of God is true. Jesus is the Son of God, deity, salvation is complete, the church is established, judgment is coming and heaven is waiting. All of that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I trust that you not only believe in the resurrection, but that you have received as your Lord and Savior the one who was raised, the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall we bow in prayer?
God knows every heart here as we wait for just a final moment. He knows your heart. He knows whether you believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 10 it says if you believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead and confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, you shall be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Being a Christian is believing in the resurrection of Christ and receiving the resurrected Christ as Lord and Savior. My prayer is that that is your prayer. And if you know Him, thank God again for what He has done for you.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
