The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 22 Part 5 Jesus Physically & Bodily Rose From The Dead!

 

So far, the Pharisees joined with the Herodians to entrap Jesus by using His words against Him.

Their scheme was to see if Jesus supported paying taxes to Rome or not, but our Lord knew their evil thoughts and rebuked their hypocrisy.

Then, Jesus gave an answer that exploded their evil plan by saying "Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and render unto God what belongs to God."

The next group that came to test Jesus were the Sadducees. They denied miracles and say there is no resurrection.

Therefore, they questioned Jesus about about the law, resurrection and heaven.

Sadducees had used this same question to stymie Pharisees on the topic of resurrection and the after life.

Matthew 22:23  The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, 

Sadducees denied the existence of angels and spirits. 

They denied the immortality of the soul and taught  that the soul died with the body. 

They insisted that there was no future state of being, no judgment day, no heaven or hell.

Such patently false teaching is still around today.

I want to spend a few moments to briefly examine some of the current  movements that deny the resurrection, miracles, angels, future judgment or heaven and hell.

Of course, if the Sadducees were right, all people would live their life without true purpose or meaning.

No one would give thought to heaven or hell, and certainly would not think about accountability to God for their sins.

1 Corinthians 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. 

The apostle Paul tells us that there was no purpose or advantage for him to risk his life proclaiming the gospel of Christ at Ephesus if there is no resurrection.

For if there is no resurrection then mankind must be content with eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die.

This is why the majority of people live for this day, seeking to grab all they can latch onto because this life is all there is.

They want more money, more experiences, and more possessions. 

People want these things now, because tomorrow they may die and unable to enjoy their pleasures.

This is an accurate description of modern attitudes.

Evolution also is used as an argument against the miraculous and supernatural working of God even though laws of physics exist that govern all created things (See Hebrews 1:1-3).

Therefore, Sadducees, evolutionists, and others promote the same heresy that we live in a purposeless world made by totally random circumstances.

They all claim that there is no God, there are no angels, there is no heaven, no afterlife, and no hell to worry about.

Certain denominations such as Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses still promote the idea of "soul sleep" where the soul dies when the body dies.

Meanwhile, the Christian Science Church and Unitarian Universalist Church deny miracles and angels.

The Unitarians and Christian Science churches deny the literal bodily resurrection of Christ and believers.

Jehovah's Witnesses deny the literal bodily resurrection of Christ.

Did Jesus physically and bodily rise from the dead?

Luke 24:36-47  And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37  But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38  And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 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. 40  And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41  And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42  And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43  And he took it, and did eat before them. 44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 

Luke was a physician and as you read his gospel and the book of Acts, you see how keenly observant he was.

On another day, Jesus' disciples were gathered together in a room and He appeared to them.

This means that His new, resurrected body was different from our bodies, for He could pass through walls or doors.

Also, Jesus' disciples were terrified thinking that they saw a spirit of some kind.

Jesus swiftly reassured them, and invited them to touch His hands and feet and showed them that He had flesh and bones.

Jesus gave another proof that His resurrection was bodily. He asked for food and ate some fish and honeycomb, something Christ could not do if He was only a spirit.

Jesus did what He always did and taught His disciples how His sufferings, death, burial and resurrection fulfilled prophecies by Moses and the prophets.

John 20:24-29  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27  Then saith 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. 28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Jesus had appeared to His disciples again, but one named Thomas, was not present.

When he arrived, Jesus was gone but the others told him that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, just as He said He would do.

Thomas did not believe, and hence we know him as "Doubting Thomas."

He said he would not believe unless he could feel the holes in Jesus' hands and feet and put his hand in the wound made by a soldiers spear in the side of Jesus' body.

Later, Jesus appeared again, and called Thomas to Himself and invited him to put his hands where he could touch the wounded hands, feet and side of Jesus.

Thomas was thoroughly convinced and confessed to Jesus that He was "My Lord and my God."

Jesus said Thomas was blessed because he had seen his risen Lord and believed, but there were going to be generations of Christians who will be more blessed, because they have not yet seen Christ, but still believe.

Acts 1:1-11 contains the final physical, bodily appearance of Jesus with His disciples, and this group contained about 120 people.

Yes, Jesus physically and bodily arose from the dead with a new glorified body of flesh and bone.

He ate physical food and could be touched and handled.

He then ascended to heaven to His Father in this same new body.

1 Corinthians 15:1-9  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

The apostle Paul recounts the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, by giving the essential truths of His gospel.

Christ suffered for us, and died for our sins.

Jesus was buried and then rose again on the third day all in accord with the Old Testament scriptures.

Saul was a well educated man who hated Christ, the gospel, His church and he mercilessly persecuted Christians.

Yet, Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and this Christ hater was wonderfully born again.

From that moment, Paul never looked back, but always served his Lord, often at the risk of his own life.

Paul gave a thorough account of people who saw the risen Christ.

First, Peter, and the twelve saw Christ.

Then Jesus was seen by more than 500 people whom Paul said were mostly still alive to verify his account.

Next, Jesus was seen by James, then all the twelve and last, by Paul.

Matthew 28:5-7  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 

The angel of the Lord came and rolled back the stone at Jesus' resurrection. 

The two Mary's came to make sure Jesus' body was properly prepared for burial but they found the stone rolled away.

The angel made it clear that Jesus "is not here, for He is risen as He said."

The women did as the angels instructed and returned to tell Jesus' disciples that He was risen indeed.

Will each Christian physically and bodily rise from the dead?

Matthew 27:50-53  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 

At the death of Jesus there was a great earthquake signaling the Father's wrath upon those who crucified His Son.

After Jesus' resurrection, the graves were opened and many bodies of saints (those who died believing God's Word) rose up from the dead.

What did they do? They walked into the city and appeared to many people, probably family and friends.

They were not walking skeletons, but received a new body from God such that they were recognizable by their family and friends.

This is a powerful indicator that the dead shall rise and be given a new body like Jesus.

What happened to these saints? When Christ returned to His Father, He took them with Him to heaven to fulfill the requirement of first fruits offerings made to God.

Job 19:25-26  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. 

The patriarch Job could say by faith, that His redeemer (Christ) lives and that He will come to judge the quick and the dead.

Job said that even after his physical body decayed, he would see God for himself in his flesh, that new, resurrection body.

This is a clear teaching that our body will rise from the grave and be changed into a new, glorified body.

John 5:24-29  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

Jesus said that His Father committed all judgment to His Son. 

All those who hear the gospel of Christ and believe, shall receive eternal life.

There will be two resurrections.

The first one is called the resurrection of life and it is reserved for those who have been born again after hearing the gospel of Christ.

The second resurrection is for all the wicked, Christ rejecters and haters of God.

They will come forth from the graves, and their tongues will confess Jesus Christ is Lord, and they will fall before the King of kings, before He sends them to eternal condemnation in Hell.

1 Corinthians 15:35  But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36  Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37  And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38  But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 

Paul had much to teach about the resurrection and Christians.

When a Christian dies, Paul said it is like falling asleep in Christ.

Paul said when we die it is like planting a dead seed in the ground without knowing what kind of grain it will grow into.

God will give each believer in Christ a new body as He deems best, and as it pleases Him (See Philippians 3:20-21).

1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

This connects with John telling us that we do not know what our new body will be like, except it will be like Christ's.

This means a physical body of flesh and bone that does not have a sin nature!

Our mortal body has a sin nature, or the "old man" as Paul often refers to it.

When a Christian dies, he or she is sown into the ground in corruption but when Christ calls us from our grave, we will be raised with an incorruptible body.

Where our body died in dishonor due to the fall, it will be raised by the second Adam, Christ, with honor.

Whereas we died in weakness we shall be raised by Christ's resurrection power.

We live this life in a natural body, contaminated by our sin nature but we shall be raised with a spiritual body, that is, a body that is alive toward God forever.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

2 Corinthians 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

Paul loved the Christians at Philippi and he wrote to them saying he was caught between wanting to be  with them to teach God's truth to the church, or to be with His Lord Jesus in heaven.

He said "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." 

Paul said it was better for him to be with Christ, but better for the church if he had more time with them (See Philippians 1:21-24).

Writing to the church at Corinth, Paul spoke about death and the resurrection by comparing them to the Old Testament tabernacle.

The Tabernacle was built according to God's exact specifications and this corresponds with God forming each one of us in our mother's womb (See Psalm 139:14-17).

The Tabernacle was erected at the command of God which corresponds to the very moment we received life from God in the womb.

The Tabernacle stayed in place until God commanded that it be moved, which corresponds with our earthly life and God directing our paths.

The Tabernacle was moved to a new location which corresponds with the death of a believer who is brought into the Lord's presence, a new location!

Thus, the apostle could tell us with the utmost confidence that to be absent from our body is to be in Christ's presence!

God will robe us with a heavenly garment suitable for His presence until He sends Jesus to call the dead in Christ out of the grave, and to rapture His church.

Because of these spiritual realities, Paul longed to be clothed upon with his new heavenly body from God, and this should be the attitude of our hearts as well.

I will not spend time addressing the reality of angels or miracles. You either believe what God said or you do not believe.

Heaven and the abode of God is indeed above us, where His glory is on full display.

Hell is beneath us, awaiting to enlarge itself when more and more sinners die without Christ.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost sinners in the world.

He will save anyone who hears the gospel, learns of their sin and truly repents of their wrongdoing, and call upon Christ for salvation.

He will save you, give you a new heart and a new spirit that is alive toward God.

He will send the Holy Spirit to live in your heart so that He might conform us to Christ and produce holy fruit in our life.

Easter Sunday celebrates Christ's glorious resurrection.

He suffered for us.

He died for us.

He shed His blood for us.

He rose from the dead for us, so that we be born again and be God's adopted children.

Bob