The Third Day…
“the third day he rose again from the dead…”
In the course of the Apostle’s Creed most everything that was said about our beliefs was pretty normal and straightforward. At least up until now.
Think about it, God created and that’s normal. Jesus was conceived and born. Again, that’s pretty normal, even though the means seems a bit different. He was tortured, killed, and buried. Once again, all within the norms of human experience, even though it seems extreme.
Now we get to the part of our beliefs that sets Jesus apart from anyone before or since. The part of what we believe that defies human comprehension and illustrates God’s action and identification of Jesus as the Son of God beyond a reasonable doubt.
From time to time, we hear of people who are comatose for a long period, or perhaps actually are clinically dead for a short period. We are amazed and astounded when they seemingly come back to life. However, we recognize it was only a brief period.
Jesus was very different. Many people witnessed his execution. He was stabbed, just to ensure his physical body was truly dead. Then, cold and lifeless, his body was placed in a tomb. And to be sure that no could disturb the body, a stone was rolled across the entrance and an armed guard posted.
As we know, the story doesn’t end there:
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead… But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”
-John 20:1-9, 11-16 (NRSV)
In the movie “The Greatest Story Ever Told” John Wayne has one line as the guard who administers the death blow to Christ on the cross. His line is: “Truly this is the Son of God.”
When we consider Christ’s resurrection that is all I can say. For someone to rise physically from the tomb after 3 days is well beyond our understanding. It is truly an act of God and only known to have happened one time in recorded history. The amazing truth of this event is not to be found in the act itself, but the effect of the event on those who witnessed it and on believers in every age since. Peter and the disciples, went on to do amazing things after the resurrection that were totally alien in contrast to their life before. Even today, believers undergo transformative events, all because they believe in Christ who was raised from the dead!
Loving God, you brought Jesus from the dead and raised him to new life. Help us, we pray to be transformed through our belief, to do your Will this day. We ask this in the name of our Risen Lord. Amen.
Podcast coming soon!!
