Why Was Jesus Raised from the Dead?

The Resurrection

When Jesus was on earth, he raised four people from the dead: the widows’ son (Luke 7:15), the 12-year-old daughter of Jarius (Mark 5:42), Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha (John 11:44), and Himself. John 10:18 mentions how Jesus said, “No one takes if from me, but I lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” This charge Jesus says, He has received from His Father. What is interesting though about the resurrection of Christ is that the entire Trinity had a part to play in this monumental event. God the Father is said in Scripture to have raised Jesus from the dead and so is the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:32; Rom. 6:4; 8:11).

 So, what is so important about this historical event? Well, commentator Gary Habermas (2003) once said, “Jesus’ resurrection is an actual example of our eternal life. It is the only miracle that, by its very nature, indicates the reality of the afterlife” (p. 163). Due to Jesus being the first fruit of one who was bodily raised from the dead in a glorified state, we as believers in Jesus have this same hope to go and be with Him where He also is (John 14:1-3). Listen to Jesus’ words in John 14:1-3.

 Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

These are very comforting words by our Lord, but why else was Jesus raised from the dead? Theologian Michael Bird (2013) gives us several reasons:

1. The resurrection of Christ reveals to the fullest extent, Christ’s identity and marks the beginning of the future age (Bird, 2013). The Jews in the Old Testament and in Jesus’s time already had a theology of the resurrection (Dan 12:1-2; John 11:24). Jesus now not only begins a new age with the New Covenant which has no temple buildings, priests, and continual sacrifices; since He fulfills all of these things (Grudem, 2004; Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:1-2; 10-14). But Christ also confirms with His resurrection that He truly is God as the ultimate sign (Matt. 12:38-40). Bird (2013) highlights this point:

What most Jews hoped God would do for Israel at the end of history, God had done for Jesus in the middle of history, namely, to raise him from the dead. This was the sign that Jesus had been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18), was vindicated from false accusations (1 Tim. 3:16), was marked out as God’s Son (Rom. 1:4), was designated the heir of all things (Heb. 1:2), and was installed as Messiah and Lord (Acts 2:36). God’s covenant with creation and Israel must now be interpreted in light of the fact that the resurrection designated Jesus as the Son of God. (p. 440)

Wayne Grudem (2004) also states:

Jesus fulfilled all the expectations that were prefigured, not only in the Old Testament sacrifices, but also in the lives and actions of the priests who offered them: He was both the sacrifice and the priest who offered the sacrifice. (p. 626)

Jesus in His resurrection proclaimed His identity, fulfilled the types and shadows of the priesthood, and inaugurated the new age. 

2. The resurrection of Christ initiated the beginning of the new creation (Bird, 2013). Jesus was raised to begin the process of restoration and renewal in which God originally stated back in the Garden during the fall (Gen. 3:15). God has been working all throughout history to restore humankind back to their original state which was very good (Gen. 1:31). Wright (2008) says it best, “What creation needs is neither abandonment nor evolution but rather redemption and renewal; and this is both promised and guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead” (p. 107). Jesus is the first fruits of this new creation (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:20, 23; Col. 1:15, 18; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 1:5).

3. The resurrection of Christ needed to happen so that Jesus could send the Holy Spirit. Many times, in scripture, Jesus continually told the disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit to remind them, to bring them power, to teach them, to testify about Him, and also that the Spirit would be in them (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26). Since Jesus rose again, He would now be able to ascend to Heaven and then send the comforter.

4. The resurrection of Christ was needed to fulfill prophecy. Jesus predicted His death and resurrection in many different places in the Gospels (Luke 9:21; 24:46; Matt. 20:18). Jesus also mentions how this act will be the ultimate sign like that of Jonah (Matt. 12:38-40).

5. The resurrection of Christ is the objective grounds for salvation (Bird, 2013). Paul says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). In 1 Corinthians 15:17, Paul again says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” At the cross, Jesus took the penalty for our sins and through the resurrection Jesus secured our justification (Bird, 2013). In the resurrection, Christ broke the power of sin, the bondage of sin, and the penalty of sin, and imputed His righteousness into our own lives. Our salvation is based solely on the work that He accomplished, and by Christ rising from the dead, God confirmed this securement.

Now there are also other reasons why but I think these five summarize the point. To close, listen to what Michael Bird (2013) says about all of these points:

Jesus is risen; therefore, God’s new world has begun. Jesus is risen; therefore, the tyrants and dictators of the world should tremble and quiver—because God has exalted Jesus and every knee will bow before him. Jesus is risen; therefore, Israel has been restored and the plan for the nation is fulfilled in him. Jesus is risen; therefore, death has been defeated. Jesus is risen; therefore, creation groans in anticipation of its renewal. Jesus is risen; therefore, we will be raised also to live in God’s new world. Jesus is risen; therefore, go and make disciples in his name. The resurrection means that God’s new world has broken into our own world, and we are heirs and ambassadors of the king that is coming. (p. 447)

References

Bird, M. F. (2013). Evangelical theology: A Biblical and systematic introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Habermas, G. (2003). The risen Jesus and future hope. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to Biblical doctrine. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

N. T. Wright. (2008). Surprised by hope. New York: HarperOne.

Theanthropic Man - The God Man

Is Jesus Truly God and Truly Man?

Is Jesus truly God and truly Human? This was a very debated concept with the inception of the early church and did not get ironed out until the Council of Chalcedon [A.D. 451] and the Council of Constantinople [A.D. 680] (Bird, 2013). Jesus is known as the God-Man or theanthropic man (Bird, 2013). Theologians also call this union of two natures in one person the hypostatic union (Bird, 2013; Berkhof, 1938; Grudem, 2004). 

All throughout the New Testament one can see how Jesus is fully human. First, Jesus was born through a real natural birth and displayed emotions (Luke 19:41). Jesus needed to eat and drink to continue to live, just like any other human would need to do (John 19:28). Jesus got tired from a hard day’s work (Mark 4:38) and also tempted at every level yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus needed to be a man to be born under the law (Galatians 4:4-5), live a perfect life so that He could provide atonement for our sins (Hebrews 9:22), and to demonstrate His love for us (John 3:16). Philippians 2:6-11 is probably the best section of scripture that describes Jesus’ humanity but also deity: 

Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Augustine of Hippo puts it this way:

Christ did not take human form for a time, to show himself to be a man in this guise, and an outward appearance that should thereafter be discarded. He took the visible form of man into the unity of his person, the form of God remaining invisible. Not only was he born in that form of a human mother, but he also grew up in it. He ate and drank and slept and was put to death in that form. In the same human form, he rose again and ascended into heaven. He now sits at the right hand of the Father in the same human form, in which he is to come to judge the living and the dead. (Bird, 2013, p. 485)

Jesus is also fully God. In the Old Testament we get pictures or previews of the one who will come and that will make all things right (Berkhof, 1938). This divine Messiah is spoken of is passages like: Ps. 2:6–12; 45:6, 7; 110:1; Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:6; Dan. 7:13; Mic. 5:2; Zech. 13:7; Mal. 3:1. 

In the New Testament, one will discover primary deity verses found in the first chapters of several books: John 1, Colossians, 1, Hebrews 1, 1 Peter 1, and Revelation 1. John shows us how the logos who existed before the world was created is the creator and is the person of Jesus Christ (“Biblical Studies Press, 2005”; Morris, 1995; Newman & Nida, 1993). Paul reminds his readers that Christ is the image or in the Greek (eikōn), which conveyed an exact representation of God, the exact likeness of God, and also in this case the actual presence of an object (MacArthur, 2006; MacDonald, 1995; Melick, 1991). The writer of Hebrews highlights Christ’s exaltation, Peter calls Jesus God, and Revelation gives us a description of Jesus in all His glory (1 Peter 1:3; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 1:12-18).

Jesus is entirely divine due to His authority in which He taught (Mark 11:28), He is the one who fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17; 5:21-44), He is the one who claimed to be God (John 8:19; 9:34-38; 10:30; 14:9), and proclaimed to be the prophesized Son of Man (Daniel 7:13; Mark 14:62; Psalm 110). Jesus forgave peoples sins which were only accredited to God (Grudem, 2004; Luke 5:20; 7:48; Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5), He accepted worship which is reserved for God alone (Grudem, 2004; Hebrews 1:6; John 20:28; Matthew 14:33; 28:9; Mark 5:6), and carries the very names of God (Berkhof, 1938; Luke 1:43; John 1:1; 10:36; Matthew 1:22; Revelation 22:13). Jesus also holds the incommunicable attributes of God such as creator, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, and immutable (Ephesians 1:23; Hebrews 1:2; 13:8; John 1:1; 10:17-18; 16:30; Matthew 18:18-20; 28:30; Revelation 3:7).

Scripture is crystal clear, Jesus is truly God and truly man.

References

 Berkhof, L. (1938). Systematic theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co.

 Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible first edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

Bird, M. F. (2013). Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 

Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to Biblical doctrine. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible.(Jn 1:3). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 

MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Melick, R. R. (1991). Philippians, Colossians, Philemon(Vol. 32). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John(pp. 64–65). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John(p. 6). New York: United Bible Societies. 

Did Jesus Exist?

The Historicity of Jesus of Nazareth

If one were to look outside of the Bible for an extrabiblical view of Jesus’s existence, is there any proof of Him?

1.     CORNELIUS TACITUS (55 - 120 A.D.) – Perhaps he is one of the greatest historians of ancient Rome. Tacitus calls Christians a ‘deadly sect’ and even describes how Nero blamed Christians for the fire that happened in A.D. 64 (Ann. 15.38-44; 15.44.2-8; Wenham, & Walton, 2001). In addition,Tacitus verifies that Jesus was crucified at the hands of Pontius Pilate who was the governor of Judea during the reign of Tiberius. In Tacitus’s Annals XV, 44 he writes:

Christus, the founder of the [Christian] name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius. But the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, by through the city of Rome also. (Annals 15.44)

2.     THALLUS (~ 52 A.D.) – During a written debate, Thallus explains the midday darkness which occurred during the Passover of Jesus' crucifixion. Habermas (1996) quotes Thallus:

On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness. The rocks were rent by an earthquake and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the Passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the Passover. But an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. And it cannot happen at any other time[italicsadded]... Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth-manifestly that one of which we speak. (Chronography XVIII.47)

3.     PLINY THE YOUNGER (63 - 113 A.D) – “A Roman author and administrator who served as the governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, Pliny the Younger was the nephew and adopted son of a natural historian known as Pliny the Elder” (Habermas, 1996, pp. 197-198). In one of his letters, Pliny wrote to Emperor Trajan due to his concern of murdering to many Christians for not denying their faith in Christ. Pliny comments that these people worshiped Christ as if he were a God! Any sceptic should find it rather convicting that the early Church followers of Jesus were so bold that they would rather be put to death than to deny their faith and renounce that Jesus is not a God.

I asked them directly if they were Christians...those who persisted, I ordered away... Those who denied they were or ever had been Christians...worshiped both your image and the images of the gods and cursed Christ. They used to gather on a stated day before dawn and sing to Christ as if he were a god... All the more I believed it necessary to find out what was the truth from two servant maids, which were called deaconesses, by means of torture. Nothing more did I find than a disgusting, fanatical superstition. Therefore, I stopped the examination, and hastened to consult you...on account of the number of people endangered. For many of all ages, all classes, and both sexes already are brought into danger... (Pliny the Younger, n.d., 10.96)

4.     LUCIAN OF SAMOSATA (120 - ~180 A.D.) – This was a man who was a strong opponent to Christianity. He would ridicule Christianity and the Christ they worshiped. During his ridicules and writings, Lucian confirms the death of Christ by crucifixion and that He was the founder of Christianity.

The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day- the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account... It was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers from the moment they are converted and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws... (The Death of Peregrinus 11-13)

5.     CELSUS (~ 178 A.D.) – Another strong opponent to Christianity was a man named Celus. He went to great lengths to try and disprove the deity of Jesus but yet interestingly never denied His existence! He records reports of Jesus miracles, resurrection, and virgin birth all while making some erroneous claims about these events. Many of these accounts can be found in Origen’s responses to Celsus claims:

Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired out to go to Egypt. While there he acquired certain [magical] powers... He returned home highly elated at possessing these powers, and on the strength of them gave himself out to be a god... It was by means of sorcery that He was able to accomplish the wonders which He performed... Let us believe that these cures, or the resurrection, or the feeding of a multitude with a few loaves... These are nothing more than the tricks of jugglers... It is by the names of certain demons, and by the use of incantations, that the Christians appear to be possessed of [miraculous] power... (Origen, 1885, 1.6)

Jesus had come from a village in Judea, and was the son of a poor Jewess who gained her living by the work of her hands. His mother had been turned out by her husband, who was a carpenter by trade, on being convicted of adultery [with a Roman soldier named Panthera]. Being thus driven away by her husband, and wandering about in disgrace, she gave birth to Jesus, a bastard. 

One who was a God could neither flee nor be led away a prisoner... What great deeds did Jesus perform as God? Did he put his enemies to shame or bring to an end what was designed against him? No calamity happened even to him who condemned him... Why does he not give some manifestation of his divinity, and free himself from this reproach, and take vengeance upon those who insult both him and his Father? (Origen, 1885, 2.9)

Jesus accordingly exhibited after His death only the appearance of wounds received on the cross, and was not in reality so wounded as He is described to have been. (Origen, 1885, 2.9)

6.     MARA BAR-SERAPION (Post 70 A.D) - Mara Bar-Serapion while he was in prison wrote a letter to his son. In this letter, while comparing himself with three other famous people, Mara acknowledges Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, and His execution all before Rome was destroyed.

What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King? It was just after that their kingdom was abolished[Italics added]. God justly avenged these three wise men: The Athenians died of hunger. The Samians were overwhelmed by the sea. The Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion. But Socrates did not die for good. He lived on in the teachings of Plato. Pythagoras did not die for good. He lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise King die for good. He lived on in the teaching which He had given. (Evans, 2014)

7.     FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS (37 - 100 A.D.) – Josephus was a Pharisee and a Jewish historian of both priestly and royal ancestry. He confirms Jesus’s existence, teaching, miracles, disciples, death by crucifixion, and brother James who later became a believer after he saw the risen Lord.

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, [if it be lawful to call him a man], for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. [He was the Christ], and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. [For he appeared to them alive again the third day. As the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him]. And the tribes of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day. (Antiquities XVIII, 3:2) [There are 2 versions of this text, one containing the text in brackets and the other without them.]

So [Ananus] assembled a council of judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ, whose name was James, together with some others, and having accused them as lawbreakers, he delivered them over to be stoned. (Antiquities XX 9:1)

8.     THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD – After the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, about 20 years later the rabbis confirmed in Yavneh that all of the Old Testament scriptures used in Palestinian Judaism were in fact inspired words of God (Corduan, 2012). Later, approximately in A.D. 200 a book called the Mishnah was formed by several scholarly rabbis who wrote down a collection of oral law and legal interpretations regarding the civil/ceremonial commandments, prayer, feasts, Holy Matters, and ritual cleanliness of the Old Testament (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). In addition to the Mishnah, the Gemara was formed which are exhaustive narratives and illustrations from famous rabbis regarding the biblical text. The Gemara focuses on the how [application] rather than the what [Mishna] (Morgan, 2012). Together, the Mishnah and the Gemara form what is known today as the Talmud (Corduan, 2012). The Talmud speaks of Jesus’s crucifixion on the eve of Passover (Habermas, 1996; Victor, 2016).

On the eve of the Passover Yeshu (Jesus) [Some texts add: the Nazarene] was hanged [crucified]. Forty days before the execution, a herald went forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover. (Sanhedren 43a)

Perhaps there are other sources that can further prove the historicity of Jesus and the events of Him in the Bible but I think we get the picture.

References

Corduan W. (2012). Neighboring faiths: A Christian introduction to world religions (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Evans, C. A. (2014). NT313 Jesus and the witness of the outsiders. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Habermas, G. R. (1996). The historical Jesus: Ancient evidence for the life of Christ. Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company.

Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1987). The works of Josephus: Complete and unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson.

Lucian. (1905). The Death of Peregrinus, in the works of Lucian Samosata (Vol. 4). Oxford: The Clarendon Press.

Morgan, G. R. (2012). Understanding world religions in 15 minutes a day. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers.

Origen. (1885). Origen against Celsus. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), F. Crombie (Trans.), Fathers of the third century: Tertullian, part fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, parts first and second (Vol. 4). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

Pliny the Younger. (n.d.). Letters (Latin). Medford, MA: Perseus Digital Library.

Tacitus, C. (1906). Annales (Latin). (C. D. Fisher, Ed.). Medford, MA: Perseus Digital Library.

Victor, W. M. (2016). Jesus, Trial of. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The lexham Bible dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Wenham, D., & Walton, S. (2001). Exploring the New Testament: The Gospels and Acts(Vol. 1). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.