************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 45 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on April 16, 2006
Q & A 45
Luke 24:1-12
"The Third Day He Rose Again From The Dead"
Introduction
"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" (Lk 24:5). That's what the angels said to the women who came to anoint Jesus' body on Easter morning. It was the first good news Jesus' followers had heard after the horrors of Good Friday. Yet that announcement was so astounding and unexpected that the disciples could hardly believe it. Within forty days, however, the conviction that Jesus Christ had really risen from the dead became the center of the apostles' preaching and teaching and propelled them to worldwide mission.
We confess Christ's resurrection in the Apostles' Creed. We confess with the church of all ages, "I believe in Jesus Christ ... who ... suffered ... was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead." This means it is part of true faith, part of saving faith. In order to be comforted, washed, cleansed, redeemed, and saved I need to believe that Jesus arose from the grave. Everyone who confesses faith in Jesus and is baptized declares that Jesus arose from the grave.
It is obvious, when we look at the Bible, that Christ's resurrection is crucial to our faith. This is how Paul puts it:
(1 Cor 15:3-5) For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
Did you catch what Paul said? He said the resurrection was "of first importance." What Paul "received" and "passed on" to the Corinthians was likely one of the earliest creeds of the Christian church and its climax focused on Christ's resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ is of "first importance." Yet, there are liberal theologians who deny the resurrection and anything supernatural. Or, they say that Christ arose, but only in the faith of the disciples – so the resurrection is not a real, historical event.
I The New Testament Witnesses
A No other event in the life of our Lord is more clearly attested to than is the resurrection. The space in the Bible devoted to the resurrection exceeds even that of the actual crucifixion and death of Jesus. Each of the four gospels devotes a major part of its final chapters to report this astounding event. Specific references to Christ's resurrection appear in almost every book in the New Testament.
B Yet, it is also clear that Christ's resurrection surprised His followers. They did not expect an empty tomb. Not one of them was looking for an empty grave. But they should have. Well before Good Friday and Easter Sunday Jesus told His audience about the sign of Jonah:
(Mat 12:40) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
And, on at least three different occasions Jesus predicted specifically that He would rise again on the third day (Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:32).
Ironic, isn't it?! Jesus' followers forgot what Jesus said about His resurrection. On the other hand, the chief priests and the Pharisees remembered, and although they didn't believe Jesus would rise, they did ask Pilate to secure and guard the tomb (Mt 27:62-66).
C We know from Scripture that there were at least 12 resurrection appearances of Jesus: the women at the tomb, Mary, Simon Peter, the two followers from Emmaus, the disciples without Thomas, the disciples with Thomas, seven of the disciples when they were fishing, five hundred of the brothers, James, the Ascension, Paul, John.
This started me thinking this past week. Why didn't Christ appear in the midst of the Temple and in other public places? Why didn't He appear boldly before Pilate or Herod? Why didn't He appear in the middle of a meeting of the Sanhedrin in the same way as He appeared in the middle of a meeting of the disciples? Why didn't He show Himself to the chief priests and Pharisees? The answer is that every one of His appearances was to believers, or to someone who would become a believer. The resurrection appearances of Jesus were for the benefit of His disciples!
This helps us to understand why Christ spent forty days on earth after His resurrection. Why didn't He ascend immediately to heaven after He arose? What if He had not met personally with the disciples before His ascension? The forty days of appearances were crucial as far as the disciples were concerned. Ask yourself, "How could such scared and confused disciples become Christ's apostles?" How could they become witnesses to the risen Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth? They were not looking for Christ's resurrection. When it was reported to them, they disbelieved! Like the two "downcast" visitors from Emmaus they were completely discouraged before the end of Easter Sunday already. They were "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Mt 9:36). They were bruised reeds in danger of breaking and smoldering wicks almost snuffed out (Mt 12:20).
The forty days of appearances after Jesus' resurrection were crucial in preparing the disciples to become the apostles.
II The First Benefit: Righteousness
A We confess with the church of all ages, "I believe in Jesus Christ ... who ... rose again from the dead." So what? What difference does this make?
According to the Catechism, the resurrection of Christ brings benefits, fruits, gifts to the people of God. I prefer to think of them as "Easter presents" of Christ to His people. The first benefit, the first Easter present, is righteousness.
During Lent this year we have gone through the Apostles' Creed and looked at the suffering, crucifixion, burial, death, and descent to hell of Christ. And, we've looked at why the Lord underwent all this: so that the sins of all those who believe in Jesus are forgiven, so that our legal status has gone from "guilty" to "not guilty."
But our Lord did more than this. He did more than give us a clean slate; He did more than remove our unrighteousness; He did more than return us to the sinless state of Adam and Eve before the fall. He had to do more because a sinner who is declared "not guilty" one moment will inevitably become "guilty" again the next moment because of another sin! Sinners are like habitual criminals; freed from one crime, they soon commit another. Sinners are like drug addicts or alcoholics; freed from their bottle or their drug, they soon find another.
By His crucifixion Christ changed our status from "guilty" to "not guilty." And, by His resurrection, Christ changed our status from "not guilty" to "righteous." Do you see the wonderful progress? "Guilty" becomes "Not Guilty" and "Not Guilty" becomes "Righteous." According to the Catechism, "by his resurrection" Christ makes "us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death."
When we present the Gospel we can not talk about the cross and forgiveness as being all of the Gospel message. For then we miss a crucial part. "If Christ has not been raised," says Paul, "your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor 15:17). A fuller confession, a more complete presentation of the Gospel, is to speak not only of the cruel cross and its consequences but also of the empty grave and its consequences. To present the full Gospel message is to say what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 4:25: "He (i.e. Christ) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."
I want you to think of yourself as a bucket or pail or maybe a dump truck – because your sins are so great and so many. Apart from Christ your dump-truck is filled with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lies, and such (cf Col 3:5-9; Gal 5:19-21). When God, in Christ, forgives you this sin your dump truck is emptied and all this evil has been poured out. You are pronounced, "Not Guilty." However, you are now an empty dump truck. Before you can have status and standing before God, there needs to be poured into you such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility, a forgiving spirit, and such (cf Col 3:12-17; Gal 5:22-24).
B Jesus, says Paul in Romans 4:25, "was raised to life for our justification." And, according to the Catechism,
... by his resurrection he has overcome death,
so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death.
Because of Christ's resurrection we share in His righteousness. An alien righteousness is added to us and credited to our account because Jesus was raised from the dead. We are pronounced "righteous."
What is this righteousness of Jesus? The best way to answer this question is to describe the righteousness of Jesus. We know that Jesus loved His friends and treated them perfectly. He spent time and energy on unpopular people. He firmly resisted all temptation. He criticized self-righteous people but accepted unrighteous people. He was willing to die rather than go against the will of God. His was a sinless, perfect life in a sinful, imperfect world.
Because of His resurrection all this righteousness or goodness of Christ is mysteriously transferred to us – as if we had acted in just the same way Jesus did. Our dump truck, formerly filled with all sorts of sin and evil, is now filled with Jesus' holiness, Jesus' sinlessness, Jesus' perfectness; this is added or granted or credited to us (cf Q & A 60).
Because Christ has risen do you know what God sees when He looks at believers? He sees the perfect life of Jesus. Yes, we are still sinners; yes, all that we do and say and think is still stained with sin. But because Jesus has risen from the grave God sees none of that – all that He sees in us is the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ.
This is the first blessing of Christ's resurrection: not only has our debt of sin been paid but our righteousness has also been obtained.
III The Second Benefit: New Life
A We confess with the church of all ages, "I believe in Jesus Christ ... who ... rose again from the dead." So what? What difference does this make?
According to the Catechism, "By His power we too are already now resurrected to a new life." This is the second benefit, the second Easter present, of Christ's resurrection! I am raised with Christ to new life!
This means we need to take seriously our union with Christ. Whatever happened to Jesus also happens to those who are "in" Jesus. Thus, the New Testament teaches not only that we died with Him and were raised with Him but also that we were exalted with Him in His ascension and are seated with Him at God's right hand (Eph 2:6). Furthermore, when Christ is revealed in glory we also will be glorified with and in Him (Col 3:4). What Christ has, we have, because we are in Him. What He underwent, we underwent, because we are in Him. Because He has risen from the dead "we too are already now resurrected to a new life."
B Because we have already been resurrected with Christ to a new life we can say we are now "dead to sin" and "alive to God in Christ Jesus: (Rom 6:11). Because we have already been resurrected with Christ to a new life we know that sin and Satan no longer have the last word in our lives; rather, Jesus does!
The Bible teaches us to not only confess this new life because of Christ's resurrection but also to live it:
(Rom 6:12-13) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (13) Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
(Col 3:1-3) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (3) For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When most people think of the teachings of Easter they think of life after death, or the resurrection of the body. In other words, they think that the truth of Easter applies to the future. But we are reminded that Easter affects the here and now. We are to live here and now by the power of Christ's resurrection. Because of Easter ours is new life now.
This, then, is the second blessing of Christ's resurrection: that ours is new life right now.
IV The Third Benefit: Glorious Resurrection
A We confess with the church of all ages, "I believe in Jesus Christ ... who ... rose again from the dead." So what? What difference does this make?
According to the Catechism, "Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection." This is the third benefit, the third Easter present, of Christ's resurrection! I am guaranteed the future resurrection of my body.
"Christ," says the apostle, "has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor 15:20). A firstfruits is a foretaste, a promise, of the other fruit to come. So we know that there will come a day when we, like Christ, will be raised from the grave. Or, we know that there will come a day when we will be like Christ: when He "will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (Phil 3:21).
B We can never underestimate the comfort and hope to be found in this present of Easter. Let me ask you:
What is it that gives a widow courage as she stands beside a fresh grave?
What is the ultimate hope of the cripple, the amputee, the abused, the burn victim?
What helps prevent depression among the parents of brain-damaged or physically disabled children?
Why would anyone who is blind or deaf or paralyzed be encouraged when they think of the life beyond?
How can we see past the martyrdom of some helpless hostage or devoted missionary?
Where do the thoughts of a young couple go as they recover from the grief of losing their baby?
When a family receives the tragic news that a little daughter was found dead or their dad was killed in a plane crash or a son overdosed on drugs, what single truth becomes their whole focus?
What is the final answer to pain, mourning, senility, insanity, terminal diseases, sudden calamities, and fatal accidents?
What gives us peace in all of this? You know the answer: Easter! Christ's resurrection is a guarantee that someday we also will be raised. Christ's resurrection gives us peace in any and every situation.