God bless you and greetings in the name of Jesus Christ who gives life to whom He will (John 5:21).
It was not possible for Jesus to stay dead. Why? Because it is written! Because the prophets spoke of it! Because his Father had promised him that if he would lay down his life, He would give it back to him. And there was nothing in heaven or earth that could stop that from happening. On the Day of Pentecost Peter boldly said:
Acts 2:22-24:
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
When Jesus shared with the two men on the road to Emmaus, he spoke not of his experience, but of all that the prophets had spoken. Jesus was delighting in God’s faithfulness to His Word. He was reveling in how what God has promised has always come to pass. We can and should have the same confidence regarding the promises of God yet to be fulfilled for us. Truly, Jesus’ trust in his Father was rewarded. Will our trust not likewise be rewarded?
Luke 24:44-53:
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 [his experience? No!] 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. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. [There’s another promise. . . I wonder if this one will come to pass also.]
Why was the resurrection so important.
Romans 1:1-4:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
The opening verses of Paul’s epistle to the Romans stressed that the gospel of Christ was actually the fulfilment of that “which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures.” This promise was centered in God’s eternal Son who God had promised would redeem the world from sin and death. How did God confirm that Jesus was the one?
By his resurrection from the dead—that’s how! He has been “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead.” Jesus Christ is “that man whom he hath ordained;” and of this we can be sure, because “he hath raised him from the dead.”
Acts 17:31:
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
God gave assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Let me ask you. Is the resurrection important? Jesus had to believe God would raise him from the dead to lay down his life. We have to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead to join the family. The preaching of the resurrection makes all the difference. It separates Jews and Gentiles from the church of God.
Acts 17:32-34:
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33 So Paul departed from among them. [The mockers and the hear-it-again boys.] 34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: [Believed what? Believed that God declared Jesus to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead.] among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Jesus didn’t fear death because he believed God would raise him from the dead. You and I don’t need to fear death either. Why, because we, too, believe that God has raised him from the dead. That means that we have passed from death unto life. We, like Jesus, can be confident that what He has promised us He will also perform. We can trust God to the ultimate because God will also get us up and give us a new body in which we will live forever.
The death of Jesus is a model of how the faithful face death. They are not afraid. They are not filled with remorse over wasted opportunities. They hold fast to the promises of God as their only hope. They do nothing to hasten the moment, but when it finally comes, they have courage to face it for they have committed themselves completely into their Father’s hands.
We saw that after Jesus said, “It is finished.” all that was left for him to do was to relinquish his life. The last thing Jesus said before he gave up the ghost was, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” This last statement showed Jesus’ complete trust in his Father’s promise to raise him from the dead. Finally, we saw that Jesus’ trust was rewarded because three days and three nights later God did indeed raise him from the dead.
It was the resurrection from the dead that declared Jesus to be the son of God with all power. The resurrection from the dead was the assurance that God gave to all men that Jesus was the one whom He ordained to judge the world in righteousness. Jesus believed in his resurrection form the dead, and so do we. Because of that we have passed from death unto life. We can face death in the same manner as our lord and saviour did. We have the same promise and the same God, and we will live forever with them in the new bodies we will get.