Sermon Jan 10, 2021

Sermon: On the Third day He Rose from the Dead

Christ rose on the third day. Why the third day? Why not two days or a week? We know Lazarus was dead long enough that he smelled bad. The son of the widow of Nan and the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue official, were recently deceased when Jesus brought them back to life. From these examples, we know that Christ had the power to bring mortals back to life, but why three days?

Three is a magic number. Every culture has at least one magic number; the most common is three. For some the number is four, For the Japanese it is five, but ours is three. That is why we eat three meals a day even though we have a mid-morning snack and mid-afternoon tea, not to mention a bedtime snack? In our culture, there are three sizes for most clothes; small, medium, and large. We don’t count petite and triple extra-large? Three is our magic number. Three is also the magic number in the Bible. Three days recurs 75 times in scripture.

Another reason He rose on the third day was to fulfil prophesy. The prophet Hosea predicted the resurrection several hundred years before the actual event. “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Ancient prophesy may or may not have much meaning to you but, Jesus Himself, stated several times He would rise from the grave after three days. Early in his ministry while teaching his disciples He said, “Matthew 40For 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.” Another time while instructing His disciples, He was more direct, ” Matthew 16:21 21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed, and on the third day be raised to life.” Word of His claims became widely known and the high priests believed Him such that they had the tomb guarded to prevent his resurrection. Matthew 27:62-65 62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first." 65"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." Bottom line: three days is significant because Christ said it was so.

I believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Whoa!! Dead is dead. The movies about the mummy returns, vampires, and the walking dead are fiction. Pure fiction. We have true accounts about near death experience, but we don’t have accounts of dead for three days experiences. The dead begin to decompose; they don’t simply get up and walk again. But, He did.

The women followers of Christ wrapped him in a cloth and left hm in the tomb, so they could comply with the Jewish law and observe the Passover. After Passover, they returned to the tomb to prepare the body for a proper burial. “

I will read Luke’s account of the resurrection. It is actually the women’s account. Luke wasn’t there. He interviewed the women and wrote his Gospel from their point of view.

Luke 24;1-12 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.”

Peter wondered, but the women knew. The book of John says that Jesus talked to Mary Magdalene before she ran and told the others. The risen Christ first appeared to a woman. She must have been very special. Later that day, Jesus appeared to his disciples, and they had no doubt about who he was. He showed them his wounds and breathed on them the power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t know where Thomas was, but he wasn’t there at the first meeting. Thomas reacted much as many of us would have. “Unless I see the nail holes, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.” It was a week later when Jesus appeared among them and showed Thomas proof of his crucifixion. After Thomas had examined Him, He made His famous statement,” Because you have seen me you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen me yet have believed.” Christ is speaking directly to me in that quote, and He is speaking directly to you.

Peter and John began preaching in the Synagogue the truth of the resurrection and scared the willies out of the Sanhedrin. They were both whipped and thrown in jail. The believers fearing more severe reprisals, and following the instructions of Jesus, scattered to the four corners of the known world. You recall Paul went to Asia Minor and Greece, and Peter planted churches in Assyria before going to Rome. Others went to the Crimea, Egypt, England, Central Europe, Persia and what is today Afghanistan. Mary Magdalene established a convent in France while Matthew planted churches across Asia Minor even to the border of India. John went to Gaul, and others traveled to Babylonia, Armenia, Persia, and Africa. They truly scattered throughout the known world, and most of them never saw each other again. They were spread from England to Ethiopia and from Africa to India, but their message was consistent. A barefoot preacher from Nazareth was the Messiah, the son of God. He was crucified by the Romans, was dead and buried for three days, and rose from the grave.

Faith in the resurrection of Jesus is your permit to participate as a Christian, a disciple of Christ with all the rights and privileges thereof. As a full-fledged Christian, you are also obligated to live by the teachings of Our Savior. Threat others as you want to be treated. Love one another; love you enemies as well. Belief in the resurrection is also your ticket to communicate with the Risen Savior. Jesus was triumphant over death and is, therefore, alive, willing, and able to answer your prayers. These are unsettled times, but belief that Jesus lives is your permit to allow Him to carry your burden. This pandemic will end, and we will be stronger for it. Trust your burdens to Christ.

Pray with me. Lord God we have the proof of scripture. We have the proof of a common message from scattered diverse evangelists. These evangelists saw the Risen Savior with their own eyes and reported what they saw. Their testimony is too consistent to be false. We have enough testimony to determine the validity beyond any reasonable doubt. Amen.