he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe this?”
Gospel of John 11:25-26 RSV
The Son of God Who rose from the dead after being sacrificed on a cross for those who believe until His coming again, authoritively ANSWERED the timeless questions of mortal men, women and curious children of WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?
Many men have pondered this relative relationship between the timeless Creator of all things with mortal men made in his image.
Before Christ
Job 3:
of the grave
“There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary of strength are at rest. “The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. “The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.
“Why is light given to him who is troubled, And life to the bitter of soul, Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures, Who are glad with joy, And rejoice when they find the grave?
“But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” (Matt 22:31-32 NAS)
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Heb 9:27-28 NAS)
The body dies — returns to the dust from which God created mankind. And the soul — not just the breath of life,brain or your lifeless heart where blood flows no more — your soul and mine will return to its place in the light of THE LORD or judged — separated from Christ and God — to the place of darkness and punishment.
The Apostle Paul, whose Scriptures anchor the Apostles’ Creed, explains resurrection more thoroughly in his first epistle to the Saints in Corinth:
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The Apostle addresses issues of unbelief in the Church, as well as growing heresies about Jesus Christ, His body and His Spirit.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive...
The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;
it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 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.
Then quoting and answering the Prophets Isaiah and Hosea, Paul writes:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15 excerpts continued
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand…
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them.
And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God..
And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
.. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. “I am the bread of life.
The following is a fictional first-hand account of John and his Gospel witness of three A.D. first century men so familiar to Christians that we may have missed the impact of the events of Holy Week on the New Testimony of their saved lives.
~ A.D. 85 – the Gospel of APOSTLE JOHN
You’ve just read from the beginning of my Gospel just published. By now everyone I mentioned in this introduction to the Lord Jesus Christ is long gone along with many more followers of the Way and Apostles.
As you know I was the youngest of the twelve. It’s been fifty years now since His resurrection. And those who were not murdered for our faith after Jerusalem’s destruction [in A.D. 70] just fifteen years ago have been buried in Christ. Yet we know that these live with Him in eternal life.
These include my brother James — and Jesus’ brothers. And in Rome, Simon Peter, my early mentor and close friend, — and our beloved Apostle Paul.
But today I want to tell you about two men — important men, in fact even more important than Paul at that time — older men of great honor and faithful leaders of the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin. Trouble was that if they would have followed Jesus openly back when they tried to speak up in their official capacities,
Caiaphas (who controlled all of the political outcomes and income in Jerusalem at that time) would have had them banned from the Temple for life. And even though their age dictated that these Elders should prepare their graves for the near future, Caiaphas probably would have had them stoned to death.
A.D. 30 – Joseph of Arimathea
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission.
Although you know this Gospel well from the day of Jesus' crucifixion and burial, from an earlier time we will witness what these secretive disciples of Jesus from the Sanhedrin encountered when they came to Him privately.
Recall that Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the grave and called him out while the Jews were weeping for him. The witness of Lazarus had been the buzz of all Jerusalem when their Christ rode into town just five days earlier.
Throughout these previous three years of Jesus’ teaching and miracles many of the Jews of every class had believed in Him — and even some Samarians, Romans and Syrians.
,, But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.,
,, Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.,
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.
Do you suppose that Joseph or Nicodemus would have missed this important feast? Of course not! These members of the Sanhedrin would have been expected to be in the Temple courts.
Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him!
Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
A rhetorical question, no doubt, attempting to show consensus of the learned Rabbis of the Sanhedrin. But, an unexpected internal dissention:
“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
John 7:51 – Question of Nicodemus to the ruling council
Their mocking response is not unexpected.
“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Gospel of John 3:
Please focus on the real men present and not present in this all-too-familiar Gospel. These are:
Nicodemus, an esteemed Pharisee, is the man who calls Jesus, 'Rabbi' or 'teacher.'
Pharisee is Of Hebrew origin cf פָּרַשׁ (H6567), A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile.
Rabbi, also of Hebrew origin, is a proper way to address certain Masters:
my great one, my honourable sir
Rabbi, a title used by the Jews to address their teachers (and also honour them when not addressing them)
“Truly, truly [amēn, amēn ], I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Gospel of John 3 ESV
Jesus response clearly addresses the Kingdom of God (since this leading Pharisee has confessed that He is from God), for Jesus had in the past referred to these as 'blind guides.'
But Nicodemus becomes clearly confused by Jesus' illustration. So his response is literal (with no clear picture of God's Kingdom).
“How can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
John 3:4 – Nicodemus (who is old) asking Jesus how to be ‘born again.’
“Truly, truly [amēn, amēn ], I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus had met the Son of Man face to Face back then. And now the next thing Jesus said of Himself made more sense to Joseph, him and other believers familiar with the Books of Moses.
And the people spoke against God and against Moses, – Numbers 21
Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, [repentance] for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people.
[And Jesus has interceded for all who repent and ask Him to intercede before God the Father. — Washed of sin — baptized – changed permanently by the Spirit]
And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
And what must those faithful Jews have wondered — even those so bold as Joseph of Arimathea after Christ’s crucifixion – to see the Son of Man LIFTED UP on a ROMAN CROSS?
“.And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.
So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Picking up in John’s fictional re-telling of Jesus’ burial and also in his Gospel:
~ A.D. 85. John’s reflection on Jesus’ resurrection
On the third day of Jesus’ burial Mary of Magdala returned to the tomb just before dawn.
The stone had been rolled away, its seal broken and no Roman guards present anywhere!
She ran back to get Simon. I ran with them back to the garden tomb where I stooped to look in the cave and saw the linen cloths lying there. Then I turned to Peter as he went inside.
When I followed him I also saw the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head by itself, folded up in a place away from the stacked linen cloths,
Then I was certain that the Lord was no longer there.
Mary remained behind as Simon and I ran back into town.
Then in the tomb she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain.
(Neither Simon nor I had seen them, but Mary shared this angelic conversation with us later.)
She then turned around and saw a man standing outside the tomb. He asked the same question of her as the two angels,
“Woman, why are you weeping?” Then the man inquired, ’tis zēteō,’ that is, “Whom are you seeking?”
Then she addressed him, kyrios(which generally means, Lord) — “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
But then, she reported the man’s reply she heard in a familiar voice:
“Μαρία” (Maria or Mary)
“Rabbouni (Rabbi) , she answered Jesus in Hebrew.
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” and sent her to us with some additional instructions.
fictional paraphrase of John 20:15-18
Peter and I somehow missed Him too, but our Lord was there in the flesh — alive and breathing!
Later that evening
We were still afraid that the Jews would come after us too, especially Peter. We had locked the doors of our upper room in Jerusalem.
שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם לְךָ
“Peace, Peace to you.”
It was the Lord Jesus greeting us as He stood suddenly with us in this locked room!
Then He showed them his hands and his side — a gash through each hand, open yet without blood — and a long upward rip into His right ribs, again without blood. Our risen Lord, who the Romans and Jews had lifted up nailed to a Cross — our friend and Master whom we had laid in a tomb — RAISED UP and in our very presence — in Person!
And then Jesus said again,
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Then the Lord breathed on the ten of us and said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
(I cannot explain the sudden warm breath which lit on my head and infused my flesh.) Then He continued,
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Monday, a week later
Jesus appeared to us again, except this time Thomas had returned. Once again the doors were locked.
שָׁלוֹם לְךָ
“Peace be with you.”
““Put your finger here, and see my hands,” He said to Thomas. And after Thomas obeyed our Master Jesus also said, “Put out your hand, and place it in my side.
Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
(We were all amazed — still — and meek before Him as if God the Father was in our midst in the Son of Man who had suffered this injustice — for us — and for those of you who now believe.)
Later we would return to Galilee as the Lord commanded, home once –l but now just one more place where our risen Rabbi Jesus, the Christ of God would again teach us why He had been lifted up for our sake from the words of Scripture we had heard for years and yet did not fully understand because He had not yet anointed us with the Holy Spirit.
Christ IS Risen!
He taught us for fifty days more that we may proclaim the Gospel to those who believe.
Do you believe?
Jesus was lifted up on a cross in order that your sins may be forgiven
AND
that you might be born again — in water and in Spirit.
Celebrate His Resurrection +++ Have a blessed Easter.
It’s a familiar scene — loved ones mourning their loss in silence once the dead body can no longer be embraced by eyes or arms.
All that remains are our fleeting memories of a life which has passed into lifeless dust. I have been there. Likely you have as well.
It happens that the Beloved Body laid to rest previously is Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you missed these mourners outside the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea where the remains of Jesus were sealed. In our own grief we lament how such a public spectacle of Jesus’ Crucifixion on a Roman Cross could have been inflicted on the Son of God.
After a brief time of carrying His pierced body from the Cross, Joseph and the others must wait until the completion of the Passover feast and until the day after the Sabbath to return and dutifully complete their burial task.
We noted several witnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion previously in It is finished.. + Death’s witnesses. John does not list everyone nor does the Apostle include some additional events.
John has not mentioned Judas Iscariot since his betrayal of the Lord in Gethsemane. Yet Matthew’s Gospel reveals the death of Jesus’ betrayer, the 30 pieces of silver purchasing the field of blood and how it fulfills prophesy.
3 When Y’hudah, who had betrayed him, saw that Yeshua had been condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the head cohanim and elders..
“I sinned in betraying an innocent man to death.”
the confession of Judas Iscariot – Matthew 27:4 HNV
5 Hurling the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left; then he went off and hanged himself.
From Crucifixion until Christ’s Resurrection
Before we proceed to John’s witness of Christ’s Resurrection, let’s linger just one more day to note events and witnesses beyond the tomb where Jesus’ body lay.
59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
What a sorrowful scene…
And Matthew records:
62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate..
64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day..
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the tomb secure with the guard, sealing the stone.
And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.
(Note the brief amount of time these women John names had to see the tomb, return with spices and just begin the wrapping of Jesus’ slain body.)
Luke tells us (Luke 23:56b) why they had to leave Jesus’ body until later.
And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
Luke 24:1 NASB
The Apostle Matthew tells how Joseph wrapped Jesus’ crucified body in a clean line cloth and laid the Lord in a place he had prepared for his own death.
Then Matthew tells us (27:60b NASB):
and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
Matthew, the Disciple of Jesus also records the sad scene of silent mourning, where Joseph must have recalled these two women who lingered there.
61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
Joseph rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.
To be continued..
.. at dawn the first day of the week ...
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