The Gospel of the Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Easter and Christmas are probably the most significant days in the Christian faith. The birth of Jesus and His resurrection, major components of the gospel.
Instead of spending just one week focusing on the Easter event, I wanted us to spend a few weeks after Easter reflecting on the resurrection and the after-effects of the resurrection. We spent the month of April doing just that.
On Easter Morning/Resurrection Morning, we gave special attention to Matthew 28:1-10—the events of that first Easter morning.
For the next three weeks, we continued along in Matthew 28, finishing Matthew’s account of the resurrection.
This morning, I wanted to look at what the resurrection meant to the early church. For this, we need to turn to the book of Acts.
I spent some time on Monday reading Acts and looking for mentions of the resurrection. It only takes a couple of hours to read through Acts, and it was extremely uplifting to read the book through.
As I read, I wrote down every time the resurrection was mentioned explicitly and a few times it was strongly implied but not mentioned directly.
I started to jot down every time the resurrection was an assumed part of what was going on, but that’s really the whole of the book (I’ll explain this as we go along).
Derek Tidball writes, “The book of Acts has, with good reason, been called ‘the Gospel of the Resurrection.’”
“The Gospel of the Resurrection,” is a great title for the book of Acts.
“Acts” or “The Acts of the Apostles” are fine titles. This book, written by Luke is the continuation of his Gospel. This is the second part of the story. It’s the Resurrection account of Jesus’ life.
The Gospel of the Resurrection. This is the Good News about the Resurrection of Jesus, the Good News of our Resurrected Savior.
Read this book and you’ll see that the resurrection of Jesus is one of the primary themes of the early church. The early church centered themselves on the truth and the power of the resurrection.
The resurrection was the early church’s motivation, their message, and their hope. I would argue, it should ours as well.
I’ve asked some of the kids to read selected verses in Acts about the resurrection. They’ll be read in no particular order:
The Resurrection is Our Motivation
The Resurrection is Our Motivation
If Jesus is raised from the dead (and He is!), the disciples have a task. The resurrection is what motivates His followers, His disciples, the Church to accomplish that task: to make disciples of all nations, by going, and baptizing, and teaching.
Acts begins by telling us:
3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
The Resurrected Jesus was with His followers for more than a month and, before He ascends to the right hand of God, gives His disciples what they need for mission. Jesus says:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Their motivation for this mission comes from the power and the presence of the Resurrected One. Jesus is alive, and that changes everything.
Jesus is alive, and that truth takes a bunch of cowards hidden away in an upper room and transforms them into bold street preachers.
Jesus is alive, and that truth provides the motivation for the mission ahead.
My good friend, Jared Wilson, writes: “The gospel is our motivation and our power to do.”
That’s exactly right. Without the gospel, there’s no motivation or power for mission. Without the resurrection, there is no gospel. If Jesus stayed in that borrowed tomb, no one would talking about Him today. But Jesus didn’t stay dead.
“The resurrection of Jesus is the springboard for mission. The disciples can go and proclaim the good news (Matthew 28:18–20) only because of the resurrection. Without it there would be nothing to declare. But because of it, how can they keep silent? It is the most exciting news in the whole world. It should be impossible for believers to refrain from mission.”
The 11 disciples (12, minus Judas), as they’re awaiting the Holy Spirit, know they must choose another man to join them in their mission (the OT made clear that another was to take Judas’ place of leadership).
So the decision was between the men who had been with Jesus during the entirety of His earthly ministry. There were two to choose from: Barsabbas and Matthias.
The reason for choosing is stated for us in Acts 1:22. This is what Peter had to say:
Acts 1:22 (NIV)
22 … one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus was a major part of the decision; it’s the motivation behind the decision to replace Judas. The resurrection is impetus, the driving force, the mission ahead.
Those who made up “The Twelve”, the leadership of the early church, had to be those who were witnesses of the resurrection.
Those who had seen the Resurrected Jesus.
Those who could testify about Jesus, once crucified, now alive. “They must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
The mission required men and women who were utterly convinced, and irreversibly changed by the resurrection of Jesus.
Nothing is different these 2,000 years later.
The resurrection of Jesus is our motivation for mission. “We serve a Risen Savior; He’s in the world today.” Before we can tell anyone about Jesus, before we can share our faith with our neighbors and co-workers, we must believe for ourselves.
We must believe, without hesitation, that Jesus rose on the third day. This is the foundation of our faith. In fact, if Christ has not been raised, our faith is useless.
The resurrection is it. Without the resurrection, there is no Christian faith. But Jesus was raised, and that’s our motivation to make disciples of all nations.
Jesus was raised, and that’s what motivates the Church to minister, to serve, to give, the help, to preach and teach.
The Resurrection is Our Message
The Resurrection is Our Message
Over and over in the book of Acts, what’s being preached is the resurrection.
On the day of Pentecost, our good buddy, Pete stands up and launches into his sermon. It’s chalk-full of resurrection.
23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan 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.
Peter is preaching, confronting the people for their part in crucifying Jesus, and then turning it right around and exulting in the fact of the resurrection: GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD!
Unlike the patriarch David, or any other figure from Israel’s past, Peter proclaims that Jesus is alive.
Peter even argues that David spoke of Jesus’ resurrection hundreds of years before Jesus’ resurrection.
31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
And again proclaims:
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Not long into the life of the early church, the disciples’ teaching catches the attention of the Jewish ruling body, the Sanhedrin. It catches their attention for one main reason:
2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
The proclamation of the disciples was the resurrection. What characterized the message and preaching of Jesus’ disciples was the resurrection: Jesus’ resurrection and the future resurrection of those who belong to Him.
Regardless of threats faced, imprisonments suffered, or floggings received, the disciples just kept preaching.
Acts 4:33 (NIV)
33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
This continues throughout the book. The message of the early church advances. It’s on the move. The messengers are taking the message from Jerusalem and Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Later in Acts, there’s a man named Saul who was set against the early church and her message. But Saul got more than he bargained for.
The Risen Jesus he was actively working against stopped Saul dead in his tracks. Jesus said about Saul: “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”
Fast-forward a few years, and Saul (now Paul) is standing up to preach about Jesus. Guess what his message is? That’s right! The resurrection of Jesus. That’s the message of the church.
So many times in this one short sermon from Paul, he mentions Jesus’ resurrection; it’s the message:
Acts 13:30 (NIV)
30 God raised him from the dead,
Acts 13:32–33 (NIV)
32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.
Acts 13:34 (NIV)
34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay.
Acts 13:37 (NIV)
37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
When Paul went to Athens, he started preaching about the Risen Jesus, and some philosophers began to debate with him.
Acts 17:18 (NIV)
18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus is the message; it’s the Good News! The Twelve, along with Paul and Barnabas and a few others continue to preach the Good News about Jesus and the resurrection.
From the beginning to the end of the book of Acts, the members of the church have one message: The Good News about Jesus and the resurrection.
This message moved through the towns and countryside, into cities and marketplaces, and made it all the way to Rome. The leaders of the people, governors and kings, would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The message that reached them was, in the words of one of the governors, about a “dead man named Jesus who Paul claims is alive.” (Acts 25:19)
That’s the kind of thing that sticks in your craw. That’s news you can’t un-hear.
That’s the message of the church.
The apostles were not preaching rules; they were preaching resurrection.
In the same way, our preaching, our proclamation, our teaching must not be mere moralism. We dare not commend a set of rules, telling people to do this and this, don’t do this or that. We don’t preach anything like that, lest someone thinks that’s what makes one acceptable to God.
What we commend is not a set rules, but rather the Risen Christ. It’s not rules, but the Risen Savior alone who makes us acceptable to God.
Jesus is the Hero of the whole Bible and is the One to whom the whole Bible testifies.
The Risen Jesus is our message. He is the theme of our song, the joy of our hearts, the boast of our tongues.
Our message centers on Jesus’ resurrection. Our message consists of the Good News about Jesus and the resurrection. It’s the message of the early church and it must be the message of the church today.
Like the early church, we can be BOLD because the resurrection is true. Peter and Paul get more and more bold, even as persecution and opposition ramp-up.
Consider the “why” of their boldness. Jesus had been killed, and God raised Him from the dead. There was no silencing the apostles or the members of the early church. You weren’t going to shut them up. Death for Jesus wasn’t the end. Death for Jesus’ people is not the end.
Why not be bold? Why not preach the message of Jesus and the resurrection without fear? Why not?
Take courage and preach!
Now, most of you will likely never preach a sermon (though some of you young men should and could, and someday, Lord willing, will).
You don’t have to preach a sermon. But you, Christian, are tasked with proclaiming, with sharing, with witnessing about Jesus. And that can’t happen in any meaningful Christian way without mention of the resurrection.
The resurrection is our message. There’s no message more encouraging, more truthful, more life-changing.
We have a message of Jesus, the Son of God, the One who died for our sins and rose again. Jesus is our salvation, our justification, our righteousness, our reconciliation.
The Risen Jesus is our message. And the world needs to hear.
The Resurrection is Our Hope
The Resurrection is Our Hope
There was one part of the resurrection message that stood out to me as I read through Acts this week. I kept reading all the mentions of Jesus’ resurrection, allusions to the resurrection, inferences of the resurrection.
And then there were all these references to our own resurrection.
When Paul was standing before the Sanhedrin, he held out to them the reason for his hope:
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”
People wanted to tear Paul to pieces because of His testimony. The LORD kept Paul safe, and had him transferred. Paul went from one trial to the next.
When he spoke before Felix, the governor, Paul said this about the hope he had in God.
14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
Before King Agrippa, Paul speaks truthfully about the hope he has:
6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
At the end of his sermon to the king, Paul testifies:
22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
For Paul, the message about Jesus and the resurrection is his hope. Resurrection isn’t merely our message, it’s our hope.
Paul proclaims and holds to “the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”
The resurrection truly is the hope the church, of the individual Christian.
The apostles all faced threats and death throughout their public ministries. As they were preaching about the resurrected Jesus, they were holding on to the hope of their own resurrection.
They never knew when they would be thrown in jail. When they’d be beaten. When they’d be killed for their faith.
James, the brother of John, was killed with the sword. When Herod Agrippa I saw that the Jews approved of that execution, he arrested Peter thinking he’d kill him, too.
Crowds and officials wanted to be rid of Paul. They were just sure he’d be ripped to pieces.
The members of the early church would have lived in constant fear for their lives, if not for the hope of the resurrection. They killed Jesus, but Jesus is alive. They can kill Jesus’ followers, but that won’t be the end.
The resurrection is our hope! The resurrection is our unshakable, unwavering assurance that death is not the end.
We may not face death or martyrdom for our faith in this part of the world, but many Christians do. Our hope, the hope of every believer, is Jesus’ resurrection and the resurrection He promises to each and every one of us.
We may not face imminent death for our faith, but we are overwhelmed with sickness, with cancer, with trouble; we will all face death if Jesus tarries.
But death is not the end for us! Death was defeated on the cross. Death was conquered that first Easter morning!
1 Corinthians 15:54–55 “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?””
Our hope is—like Peter’s, like Paul’s, like the early church’s—our hope rests on the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.
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The entirety of the book of Acts, the whole essence of the early church, is centered upon the resurrection of Jesus.
The gospel, the Good News is that Jesus died in our place, conquered death, satisfied the wrath of God, paid the once-for-all price for sin, and then rose from the dead.
Jesus’ resurrection shows us that God was fully and forever satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus’ resurrection is our assurance that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
The resurrection of Jesus is our motivation, our message, our hope.
It’s not some novelty truth we consider one day a year and then go eat some ham and potatoes. Jesus’ resurrection is THE truth than changes everything.
Live your life motivated by the reality of Jesus’ resurrection.
Make every effort to share, to proclaim, to announce, to herald the Good News of Jesus and the resurrection.
No matter what comes your way, place the full measure of your hope fully in Jesus, the Resurrected One, who guarantees our resurrection.