THE LORD’S WORDS ABOUT RESURRECTION
Alistair M Brown
Mark 9: 7-10
Luke 20: 34-39
John 11: 23-26
These scriptures all speak of the resurrection, and in each of them we read the Lord’s own words about the resurrection. There is nothing like the words of Jesus. They are true; He is “the way, and the truth, and the life”, John 14: 6. Everything that the Lord Jesus said which is recorded for us in the Scripture is true, and the many other things that He said which those at the time heard and which had a lasting effect on them. We can trust in that absolutely. People may say things that are not true by mistake, or perhaps - sadly - on purpose, but everything that the Lord Jesus said was true.
This scripture in Mark’s gospel speaks about the Lord Jesus being raised from the dead: “unless when the Son of man should be risen from among the dead.” The Lord Jesus is speaking about His own resurrection. It is apparent that His disciples did not know what He was speaking about. Naturally we find it very difficult to believe in the resurrection, or to understand it, but it is the fundamental basis of our faith as believers, that Christ is risen.
In Romans 10: 9 it says, “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved.” It is the essence of Christianity to hold that One as our Lord, and believe in our heart that He has been raised from among the dead. The natural mind cannot take that in. When the apostle Paul was preaching in Athens, it is recorded in Acts 17 that when he spoke of the resurrection “some mocked” (v 32); yet he was speaking the truth. I trust that everyone here accepts in their hearts the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The apostle Peter was with the Lord here on the holy mountain. He took account of things that could be seen. When he heard the Lord speaking about His resurrection, Peter did not understand at that time, but there came a time when he did understand. He wrote later about not “following cleverly imagined fables, but having been eyewitnesses of his majesty”, 2 Pet 1: 16. And Peter was among the first persons, after Mary at the tomb, that Jesus showed Himself to as raised from among the dead. Peter saw the Lord in resurrection. The words of the Lord are true, and the human mind has to give way before that, has to yield to the truth of that.
There is nothing that we ourselves can do in the presence of death. Our sister has been taken from us in death, and we sorrow. There is nothing that we can do about that, and nothing we would want to do because she is in a far better place with her Saviour. We are entirely weak in the presence of death. God demonstrated the greatness of His power in raising Jesus from among the dead, and the glory of the Father was seen there - He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, Rom 6: 4. Our sister was in the good of the Lord’s resurrection; she believed in it. I believe in it, and I would desire that everyone here should believe beyond doubt in the resurrection of Jesus.
Our sister proved that to those “who believe is the preciousness”, 1 Pet 2: 7. Every believer in Jesus who has the light of His resurrection in their hearts has “the preciousness” of the fact that a Man is out of death. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that “he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once”, v 6. And more than two hundred and fifty of them were still alive when Paul wrote that letter - a matter established in the words and in the lives of many witnesses. We cannot follow it in our natural minds, but we believe and we accept the abundant witness.
Where we read in Luke’s gospel, we again find the Lord Jesus speaking about resurrection. He had been asked a question by the Sadducees, who according to verse 27, “deny there is any resurrection”. It is a sad and hopeless thing to deny the resurrection. The Lord Jesus speaks about it here as a reality, and for every one of us who believes in Him, that is enough. He establishes the truth of the matter. He speaks about those who are raised: “they who are counted worthy to have part in that world, and the resurrection from among the dead”.
In our first scripture, the Lord Jesus speaks about His own resurrection. The scripture refers to “the first-fruits, Christ”, 1 Cor 15: 23. He is the first rank; He is the firstborn from among the dead; He must have the first place in all things, Col.1: 18. Then there are those “who are counted worthy to have part in that world, and the resurrection”. What is natural does not have a place in this: they “neither marry nor are given in marriage”, and it says, “they are equal to angels, and are sons of God”. Those who die in the faith of the Lord are counted worthy to have part in this. Then the Lord says again, to put the matter beyond any doubt, “But that the dead rise … he is not God of the dead but of the living; for all live for him”.
It is a sober consideration that there will at the end of the age be another resurrection, Rev. 20: 5, 6. The Scripture speaks about that, the resurrection of those who have not trusted in Christ. But the portion of myriads of believers in Christ who have died in Him, our sister among them, is in that resurrection of the just. For those of whom the scripture speaks as “the living, who remain” (1 Thess. 4: 15), our part will be to be changed. The dead in Christ, including our sister, will be raised. That is a current reality to those who have faith in Christ. It is wonderful; it has an effect now in our hearts. As our sister looked forward to being with her Saviour for ever, so do we. That hope governed our dear sister’s life and should govern ours as believers in Christ.
I want to refer briefly to John 11 where the Lord Jesus says of Himself, “I am the resurrection and the life”. This does not depend on you or me; it does not depend on any person however great they may be: it depends on one blessed Man. When He says, “I am the resurrection and the life”, that is true. We are united with Him by faith, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in the believer and unites us with Christ, the living Man out of death.
We look forward to being forever with the Man who is “the resurrection and the life”. The actuality is still future for us but the reality of it is to be enjoyed now by believers by the Holy Spirit. Our dear sister was in the good of it and she will be in the good of it. Her spirit is with the Lord: what a blessed portion! She is among those “who are counted worthy to have part in that world, and the resurrection”. May these words stimulate our hearts towards our Lord Jesus Christ.
Livron
30th May 2023