He Is Risen

“He is risen” was the stunning news brought by the women who had come to the tomb. The disciples who received the news thought it to be an idle tale. Don’t fault them; that was foreign to the most extreme thought they had ever had.

Satan continues to deny the resurrection, claiming He swooned and revived in the cool tomb. This is proof they don’t understand crucifixion.

Others say His body was stolen. By whom?

Had His enemies stolen it they could later present the corpse as evidence

His followers were persecuted for professing His resurrection. Had they stolen it they would have presented the corpse and relieved themselves of the torture. 

HE DIED

The abuse given a body by the Romans in crucifying a person was inhumane. An instrument used was a short whip called a flagrum or flagellum with single or braided thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals. The person to be scourged was stripped and tied between two posts. Two soldiers, known as lictors, on opposite sides began at the shoulders and worked down with their lashes. The force of the blows caused the iron balls to initially cause deep contusions. The leather thongs and sheep bone cut the epidermis and subcutaneous tissues. As the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh.  Pain and blood loss set the stage for circulatory shock. Hematidrosis rendered the skin particularly tender. It was in this state Christ was taken to the cross. There He died, likely of a cardiac arrhythmia or cardiac rupture. 

HE WAS ALIVE

First at the tomb on that third morning were the women. One of the two angelic messengers said to them, “Why are you seeking the living among the dead?  He is risen as He said.”

Notice the response of the disciples to the news brought by the women: “…their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11).

However, they rushed to the tomb. The tomb was open, not to let Christ out, but to let them in. He is risen.  All heaven broke loose.

He was seen over a period of forty days by friends and foes. He was seen, touched, and talked with. He was seen indoors and out, on shadowy roadways and sunny beaches by 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, and 500 people at once. He was alive. By any basic indications of the five senses, He was evidently alive. He arose from the dead.

Every argument against the bodily resurrection of Christ is philosophical. Every evidence of His resurrection is historical and physical. He, the dead Christ, became the living resurrected Christ.  What does that mean to you?

Why was all this Heavenly drama enacted here on planet earth?

It was summed up in Christ’s sixth saying on the cross. He cried out tetelestai, “It is finished.” Tax records of the era have been found with the word “tetelestai” written across them meaning “paid in full.” As used for Christ on the cross, it meant His redemptive work was finished because – – –

“He made Him who knew not sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Corinthians 5: 21) Praise God He lives.