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The foundation · Lesson 7

He Is Risen

He rose and reigns (Matthew 28:6)

In one line

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day in the same body, now glorified, went up into heaven, and reigns at the right hand of God.

All churches hold this. Of the Son, "and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father" (the Nicene Creed, traditional English)

  1. Milk
  2. Bread
  3. Meat

1Milk

Start here: what it is, and how to live it.

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” (1 Peter 2:2)

Lesson 6 showed he died for our sins. This lesson shows he did not stay dead: he rose bodily on the third day, and now reigns at the right hand of God.

Three verses to start with

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28:6
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:4
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Revelation 1:18

Where you see it: Mary at the tomb

Mary Magdalene comes “when it was yet dark,” (John 20:1) and “seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.” (John 20:1) She stands outside weeping (John 20:11), and thinks the man behind her is the gardener (John 20:15). Then: “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.” (John 20:16)

She goes and tells the disciples “that she had seen the Lord,” (John 20:18)

How to live it

Because he lives, death is not the end for those who are his: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” (John 11:25)

And it changes how we live now:

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
2BreadGo deeper: what the whole Bible says.

Why it matters

Paul says everything stands or falls here: “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17) But “now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Corinthians 15:20) He “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)

He said he would

  • “and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” (Matthew 16:21)
  • “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) John adds, “But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:21)
  • Even his enemies remembered: “After three days I will rise again.” (Matthew 27:63)

Foretold

  • “neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10) Paul applies it to Jesus (Acts 13:35).
  • “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)

The tomb was empty

The angel: “he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6) Peter “seeth the linen clothes lie,” (John 20:6) and the other disciple “saw, and believed.” (John 20:8)

In his body

  • “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39)
  • He ate before them (Luke 24:42-43).
  • To Thomas: “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands;” (John 20:27)

Seen by many

  • “And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:” (1 Corinthians 15:5)
  • “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present,” (1 Corinthians 15:6) Most of them were still alive when Paul wrote, so they could be asked.
  • He showed himself “by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days,” (Acts 1:3)

He went up, and reigns

  • “while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
  • God “set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 1:20)
  • “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18)
  • He “ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

Death has lost

“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” (Romans 6:9) “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)

We will rise too

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22) He “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,” (Philippians 3:21)

A second story: the road to Emmaus

Two disciples walk home sad, and “Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.” (Luke 24:15) But “their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” (Luke 24:16) He takes them through the Bible: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)

At supper “their eyes were opened, and they knew him;” (Luke 24:31) They run back to Jerusalem and hear, “The Lord is risen indeed,” (Luke 24:34)

3MeatDefend it: how it has been denied, and the answers from the word.

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,” (Hebrews 5:14)

How it has been denied, and the answer

"Jesus rose as a spirit; his body did not rise."

History Jehovah's Witnesses, in their own words: "Jesus’ own words showed that he would not be resurrected with his flesh-and-blood body." (jw.org)

The answer from the word “for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39) He ate before them (Luke 24:42-43). He spoke of raising “the temple of his body.” (John 2:21) And the tomb was empty (Mark 16:6).

"The disciples stole the body."

History The first denial of all, written down in the Bible itself: the guards were paid to say it (Matthew 28:12-13), “and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” (Matthew 28:15)

The answer from the word The leaders “made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.” (Matthew 27:66) And the men said to have stolen it took beatings rather than stop preaching it (Acts 5:40-42).

"He did not die; he revived in the tomb."

History The "swoon" theory (Lesson 6): "The theory that Jesus did not actually die on the cross is commonly called the 'swoon' theory." (Christian Research Institute)

The answer from the word The soldiers “saw that he was dead already,” (John 19:33) See Lesson 6.

"They saw visions, not a risen man."

History Gerd Lüdemann, German New Testament scholar, 2012: "Easter began with a visionary experience that happened to Peter." (Bible and Interpretation)

The answer from the word Seen “of above five hundred brethren at once;” (1 Corinthians 15:6) touched, and eating (Luke 24:39-43), over “forty days,” (Acts 1:3) They were not expecting it: “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” (Luke 24:11)

"The resurrection did not happen to his body."

History Marcus Borg, liberal scholar, 1999: "I’m just skeptical that it involved anything happening to his corpse." (PBS)

The answer from the word “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17) “that it is I myself:” (Luke 24:39)

Hard questions

  • "If his disciples did not believe at first, why should we?" The text does not hide it: “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” (Luke 24:11) The same men, once they had seen him, preached it with great power (Acts 4:33), and kept on after they were beaten for it (Acts 5:40-42). Explanation, not Scripture: men do not usually take a beating, or die, for a story they know they made up. And one of them did die for it: “And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” (Acts 12:2)
  • "Mary did not know him at first. Was it really the same body?" The text says so: “that it is I myself:” (Luke 24:39) with the nail marks (John 20:27). It also says he was changed: “it is raised in incorruption:” (1 Corinthians 15:42) Explanation, not Scripture: the same body, made new, not a different one.
  • "What is a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44)?" Paul sets it against a natural body in the same verse. Explanation, not Scripture: many read "spiritual" as ruled by the Spirit, not made of spirit, since the risen Jesus said “a spirit hath not flesh and bones,” (Luke 24:39) Christians explain the verse in more than one way.
  • "Three days and three nights: Friday to Sunday?" He was buried on “the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,” (Mark 15:42) and John adds “(for that sabbath day was an high day,)” (John 19:31) The women “prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” (Luke 23:56) and “when the sabbath was past,” (Mark 16:1) they “had bought sweet spices,” (Mark 16:1) Jesus said both “after three days rise again.” (Mark 8:31) and “be raised again the third day.” (Matthew 16:21) Two readings come from these. Some hold a Friday cross, the high day being the weekly sabbath, and count the days as the text itself does when it calls the same rising both "after three days" and "the third day". Others hold a Wednesday or Thursday cross, the high day being a feast sabbath earlier in the week, so there were two sabbaths, with the spices bought on the day between them (Mark 16:1) and prepared before resting on the weekly one (Luke 23:56). The text does not name the weekday; no side is taken here, and the lesson does not rest on it.

Make it yours

Learn it by heart

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 1 Corinthians 15:20

To think about

  • Mary did not know him until he said her name. What does it mean that the risen Lord knows you by name?
  • “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,” (Colossians 3:1) What would seeking those things look like this week?

Read the whole passage

Matthew 28 · Luke 24 · John 20 · 1 Corinthians 15

Every verse here is the King James text, checked word for word before the site goes up. Notes marked "not Scripture" are explanations, history or observations, labeled so you can tell them apart. Tap a place to read it in the Bible.