The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD
Golden Text: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen." (Lk. 24:5, 6)
Lesson Plan:
1. Sunday Morning (Mk. 16:1-8)
2. Appearance of the Risen Lord (Matt. 28:9, 10; Mk. 16:9-12; Lk. 24:34, 13-31; Jn. 20:11-17)
3. The Upper Room - Thomas Absent (Lk. 24:33-43; Jn. 20:19-24)
4. The Upper Room - Thomas Present (Jn. 20:26-29)
Lesson Setting:
Time: The burial of Jesus was on Friday, April 7, soon after 3 o"clock, P.M. The resurrection early
Sunday morning, April 9, A.D. 30
Place: In Jerusalem and vicinity. Especially the garden and tomb near Calvary; the upper room where
the disciples met; their homes; and Emmaus.
Research and Discussion: The three days in the tomb. The proofs that Jesus rose from the dead. Did Jesus rise with the same body in which He had lived? When was it "charged" as described in 1 Corinthians 15? Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important for us? Its bearing upon our hopes of immortal life beyond the grave. The number of times Jesus appeared to His disciples.
Introduction: In our last lesson, with loving and penitent hearts, we watched Jesus during the scenes of His crucifixion till His soul returned to His Father into whose hands He commended it; and we awaited the promised resurrection, after three days. The proofs that Jesus really rose from the dead depend in part on the certainty that He really died. His enemies in their anxiety to guard against any possible fraud on the part of the disciples furnished the decisive proof we need. This we must review before entering into the story of the Resurrection Days.
The Authorities Took Pains To Make Sure Jesus Was Really Dead: (a) The soldiers pierced His body with a spear, and blood and water flowed from the wound - a proof of death (Jn. 19:34, 35). (b) The centurion, who was accustomed to executions, was convinced that He was dead, and so reported to Pilate. Even Strauss was constrained to say, "The whole countryside knew He was dead." (c) The tomb in which He was buried was new, i.e., no one ever buried there, and so what body was placed inside was easily determined. (d) At the request of the chief priests, the stone against the door of the sepulcher was sealed, and a Roman guard placed around the tomb, so that no one could take away the body, pretending that He had risen (Matt. 27:62-66). (e) His friends believed He was dead. Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus to the new tomb, bounding it in linen cloths with a mixture of myrrh and aloes (Jewish custom), having no expectation of His rising in way He did. The women prepared spices and ointments after His burial on Friday, and went early on Sunday morning expecting to anoint the body of Jesus. They were so certain of His death that it was hard to convince them even when they saw Him alive. (f) The story of the guards, i.e., that the disciples came by night and stole the body away while they slept (Matt. 28:11-15), was a falsehood paid for by the Jewish rulers; was ignorant, contradictory and absurd. Why? First, because if the guards were asleep, how could they know that the disciples stole Him away? Second, the disciples could not have stolen the body with soldiers placed on watch especially to prevent it. Third, wouldn"t the noise of rolling away the stone have awakened a sleepy guard? Fourth, the disciples had no motive for stealing the body. They did not expect a resurrection. They did not know its importance. What could they have done with the body to escape detection when the whole government would have paid well to have it found?
The Three Days in the Tomb: Jesus plainly told His disciples that He would rise again "after three days," "in three days," or "on the third day." He uses one expression, sometimes another, showing that the terms are interchangeable, according to the Jewish custom. Jesus was buried between four and six o"clock (perhaps nearer four) on Friday afternoon, April 7, and rose early on Sunday morning, April 9, so that He was in the tomb parts of three consecutive days. By Jewish Reckoning - 4 to 6pm Friday equals 2 hours; 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday equals 24 hours; 6pm Saturday to 4 or 5am Sunday equals 10 to 11 hours. By Common Reckoning - 4pm to 12 midnight Friday equals 8 hours; To 12 midnight Saturday equals 24 hours; 12 Midnight to 4 or 5am Sunday equals 4 or 5 hours. That the expressions "after three days," "in three days," and "the third day" are interchangeable, and are simply three ways of stating the same fact according to Jewish custom, is shown by the varied use of these terms by Jesus and His disciples (including Paul). They use them sixteen times with reference to the time between His death and His resurrection. They say "after three days," twice; "in three days," once; "on the third day," thirteen times. (The R.V. makes two changes). Each part of a day was reckoned as a day, just as in computing the reigns of the Jewish kings - each part of a year is reckoned as a year. Thus, a reign extending from say December, 1812, through 1813 into January, 1814, would be counted as three years, although only thirteen or fourteen months. It is so in the Old Testament, in the Talmud, in Josephus, and in the Assyrian tablets. Days are counted in the same way as years.
Scripture Reading: Mark 16:1-8
1. Sunday Morning
The narratives of Easter morning do not readily adjust themselves so as to make of them a single and consistent narrative. The exact sequence is as difficult as it is unimportant. We do not need a harmony of the resurrection appearances (Dr. W.E. Barton, ‘Day by Day with Jesus’). We have not sufficient knowledge to piece together the different fragments which have come down to us and it is no paradox to say that the difficulty of harmonizing the various narratives is in itself a security for their general truthfulness. Dishonest witnesses would have made the evidence more harmonious (Plummer, ‘Int. Crit. Com.’). Consider the disciples, excited, astonished, confused by the great change in their circumstances, scattered over the city, uncertain what to do, going separately to the tomb, running here and there to find each other and tell their wonderful story – exactly what we might expect. Each one reported what he or she saw and experienced, at different times and in different circumstances. Each of the four Gospels tells a different story, because each had a different story to tell. The narratives explain one another. There is no contradiction, any more than there is between two similar events that took place at different times. “The great certainties are unaffected by the small divergences, and the points of agreement are vital.”
Illustration: Two armies beheld the battle of Waterloo. General Alava said it began at half past eleven; according to Napoleon and Drouet it began at twelve; and according to Nay at one. Probably it began at different times in different parts of the field. There is no question that the battle took place.
Our minds might perhaps be vitalized and confirmed in the faith by considering the following few words on that special Sunday: “That Sunday brings a challenge to thoughtful man. If Jesus was ‘raised from the dead,’ Sunday is the great Evangel of days. If Jesus ‘be not raised from the dead,’ He is still with the dead. Did Jesus conquer death or did death conquer Jesus? Does He exist still Himself or did He go back into some impersonal hole? An answer to such questions is either a gospel or a summons to another forlorn hope. Sunday challenges us to say whether He is, not what He was. Jesus is still living, still man’s companion, still our Redeemer. Sunday demands a triumphant champion, not a fellow-victim. Assurance as to that land from whose bourne a Traveler has returned” (Dr. William Harrison).
First: The Resurrection of Jesus – Jesus was in a rock tomb (not a grave) in a garden near Calvary, outside the city wall. A great stone closed the door and Roman soldiers were guarding the tomb, so that no one could approach it. No one saw Jesus come from the tomb, or knew when His soul was restored to His body. But some of the circumstances are reported by Matthew. It was very early on that special Sunday morning, “and behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and His raiment white as snow, and for fear of Him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men.” Soon in their fright they rushed to tell the rulers what had happened. This gave the women and disciples an opportunity to approach the tomb unmolested. With What Body Did Jesus Rise? – He rose with the same body in which He was crucified. His soul went to paradise, where He promised to take the penitent thief. On the third day He returned into the same body with which the disciples were so familiar. This is of the utmost importance to us. There is no possible way to prove that Jesus rose from the dead, if the body was not the same as it was before He was buried. (a) To rise with His body changed, as Paul says our natural bodies are to be at our resurrection – transformed into glorious spiritual bodies, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God – would be to vitiate the whole proof of His resurrection on which our faith and hope depend. (b) Jesus takes special pains to show His disciples that He is the same, in the same body they knew. He declares that He is flesh and bones; He bids Thomas put his hands in the prints of the nails and in the wound made by the spear; He eats before them the same kind of food He ate before He died. (c) The fact that Jesus seemed to have peculiar power over His body, entered rooms apparently with closed doors, appearing occasionally and for brief seasons only, is no proof that His body was changed; because Jesus gave hints of such power before His crucifixion, in escaping crowds and walking on the sea, and especially in the transfiguration. If there had begun any change of His body into a resurrection body, it did not appear to His disciples. (d) Jesus’ body was doubtless changed into a spiritual body at the ascension. In that change we have in the resurrection of Christ a type of the change to be made in our bodies by the resurrection. Then took place what Paul declares is to take place on the resurrection day in those who are alive. We shall be changed in a moment; in the twinkling of an eye. Appearances At Jerusalem, On That Special Sunday: [a] Sunday, April 9. Early in the morning. To Mary Magdalene. Near the sepulcher at Jerusalem (Mk. 16:9; Jn. 20:11-18). [b] Sunday morning. To the women returning from the sepulcher. Near Jerusalem (Matt. 28:9, 10). [c] Sunday. To Simon Peter alone. Near Jerusalem (Lk. 24:34). [d] Sunday afternoon. To two disciples going to Emmaus. Between Jerusalem and Emmaus, and at Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-31). [e] Sunday evening. To the apostles, excepting Thomas. Jerusalem (Jn. 20:19- 25). [f] Sunday evening, April 16. To the apostles, Thomas being present. Jerusalem (Jn. 20:26- 29).
Second: The Three Women Come to the Sepulcher – On Saturday evening after sunset when the shops were open, the women bought spices so that early the next morning they could go to the tomb and embalm the body of Jesus. Three Women Named By Mark: First, “Mary Magdalene” (v 1), i.e., Mary from Magdala, on the Sea of Galilee, whom Jesus had redeemed from the terrible affliction allied to insanity – the being possess by seven demons (Lk. 8:2). No doubt her debt of gratitude was infinite. Second and third, “Mary, the mother of James [the less], and Salome” (v 1), the mother of John. There came other women (Luke) particularly Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. They probably started from their homes in different parts of the city, with the intention of meeting together at the tomb. This accounts for the variation in the narrative as told by Matthew (28:1), Mark (16:1), Luke (24:1), and John (20:1). They probably arrived at slightly different times, Mary Magdalene reaching the sepulcher first. “Three women crept at break of day, A group along the shadowy way Where Joseph’s tomb and garden lay. Each in her throbbing bosom bore A burden of such fragrant store As never there had lain before. Myrrh- bearers still, at home, abroad, What paths have holy women trod, Burdened with votive gifts to God! Rare gifts whose chiefest worth was priced By this one thought, that all suffered: Their spices have been bruised for Christ” (Frances E. Tyner).
v 3 ... “And they said [were saying] among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?” In some tombs near the probable site of Calvary there is a deep groove, about three feet wide, cut out of the rock, by the side of the doorway, under which the rock is hollowed to the same width for two or three feet. In the groove is a huge circular stone, of a diameter greater than the height of the door, like a huge millstone. To close the tomb, this stone was worked by hand-spikes into the socket under the doorway, which it completely filled. It would take two or three men to move it.
v 4 ... [But] “when they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away from the door of the tomb.”
The Stone Rolled Away From The Tomb: Difficulties in the path of duty, difficulties which we dread and which seem insurmountable, are often removed for us by God in unexpected ways, but not till we come to them. There are many examples in Bible history, in modern history, and in individual experience. There is only one thing to do – go straight forward, doing the work that is given us today, and then when we come to the obstacle, God will either take it away or show us a path around it. For instance: (a) The stone is rolled away from the tomb of death by the resurrection and the life. (b) The obstacles in the way of our salvation – our hard hearts, our sins, the opposition of friends, and the reluctance to do hard duties – are removed from those who go forward and trust in Christ. (c) Doctrinal difficulties are removed by doing every duty as it comes to us. By simply “speaking where the Bible speaks; being silent where the Bible is silent.” By accepting the Bible for what it claims to be – the Word of God. In other words, if the Bible says it, then let’s believe and obey it. (d) Christian experience, missionary work, the progress of true reform, the conquering of the evils around us, abound in examples.
Third: The Other Women – “Entering into the sepulcher saw a young man sitting on the right side” (v 5). Luke speaks of two angels, in shining garments, showing that they were angels. Matthew says this angel’s raiment was white as snow, and his countenance was like lightening. The white raiment was a symbol of purity and of fellowship with God (Rev. 3:4, 5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9-13).
v 5 ... “And they were affrighted.” Amazed at such a sight instead of the dead body of Jesus, they would naturally be alarmed at being so near such divine powers; and they would be afraid lest they had lost their Master.
v 6 ... “Be not affrighted ... He is risen; He is not here: behold the place.” The angel shows them the grave-clothes and the face-cloth folded by itself, showing them that He is risen as He had foretold. Then the angel declares that they would soon see Him again.
v 7 ... “Tell His disciples and Peter.” Peter is mentioned particularly to show that he is not cast out for his denials, but is one of Christ’s disciples. With his penitent heart, Peter will joyfully welcome the fact that Jesus was alive; and perhaps also because Peter would be one of the first to see and believe.
v 7 ... “That He goeth before you into Galilee.” The appearances in Galilee were not the first appearances of Jesus; but they are mentioned here because Galilee was appointed to be the scene of His manifestation of Himself to the largest assembly of witnesses, and of His most decisive instructions (see Matt. 18:16, with 1 Cor. 15:6).
v 7 ... “As He said unto you” (Matt. 16:32).
v 8 ... “And they went out quickly, and fled ... for they trembled, and were amazed,” departing quickly with fear and great joy, fleeing from the sepulcher, running without stopping to speak to anyone. They were astonished and joyful at the good news, but trembled in the presence of angels and amid such intense heavenly interests, afraid lest the news was too good to be true.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:9, 10; Mark 16:9-12; Luke 24:34, 13-31; John 20:11-17
2. Appearance of the Risen Lord
Mary Magdalene (Mk. 16:9-12; Jn. 20:11-17): It is a matter of special interest that the first appearances of Jesus were not to the apostles, but to women. (a) Probably because they “loved much,” and showed their love by going earliest to the sepulcher. The first, the highest, and the best revelations of God are to love. (b) It was typical of the changed position the Gospel was to bestow on woman. Much as the Gospel has done for man, it has done still more for woman. (c) It was typical of her work in the church, as a messenger of Christ. Mary, in her gladness, had gone to tell Peter the news. In the meantime the other women had come later, or had remained and entered the tomb. While they fled from the empty tomb, Peter and John were hastening through the narrow streets of the city to the sepulcher. Mary went more slowly and reached the place after they had left. Here Jesus appeared to her, the first of all His appearances after His resurrection. It gives us a deeper glimpse into the heart of Jesus, to learn that to her out of whom He “had cast seven devils” was the first vision given of the risen Jesus. Mary looked into the Tomb, and said to the Angels “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him” (Jn. 20:13). It is encouraging to know that the angels of heaven are interested in the redemption of man. Mary’s words have been used in later times to typically express feelings toward those who have tried to take the divine nature of Jesus from the Gospels. Mary turned back and saw Jesus Himself standing, but thought it was the gardener of the garden where Jesus had been buried. Why Did She Not Recognize Him? – (a) Her eyes were dimmed with tears. (b) Jesus Himself was altered in His appearance (Mk. 16:12), as He must have been by His long agony. A man rescued from drowning is likely to be so changed that even a close friend might not recognize him. (c) His garments were perhaps changed, maybe the simple dress of a gardener. (d) Her mind was occupied with great loss, and she surely had no thought of seeing Jesus. Perhaps she did not look up at His face. But when Jesus spoke – “Mary!” – She recognized the familiar voice, for the voice is one of the last things to change.
Other Women (Matt. 28:9, 10): Still early Sunday morning. The visit of Peter and John and the appearance to Mary took but a brief time, during which the other women were slowly returning to the city. On their way Jesus met them, and saluted them with “All hail,” “Rejoice,” the usual form of salutation. They worshiped Him, carrying His message to the apostles.
Simon Peter (Lk. 24:34): Sunday morning. This must have been a great comfort to him, opening the door of hope, a heavenly benediction of peace over a soul burdened with remorse because of his denials. He had been to the sepulcher with John, had gone within, and seen the linen cloth.
John followed “and saw and believed” (Jn. 20:8). We do not know the time when Jesus appeared to Peter, but it was before the two disciples returned from Emmaus.
Two Disciples on The Way to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-32; this will be considered in more detail in the next lesson): On the same Sunday afternoon two of Jesus’ disciples, one named Clopas, took a walk out of the city to a village named Emmaus, about 7 miles northwest of Jerusalem. It is not known exactly where this village was situated. On the way they were communing together on “the all-absorbing question of the hour – the unlooked-for fate of their revered Teacher, the sudden overthrow of their hopes, and the startling and incredible news of His resurrection” (Dr. Kendrick). While they were reasoning together, Jesus joined them.
Lk. 24:16 ... “Their eyes were holden that they should not know Him,” so that they did not recognize Him, probably for some of the same reasons that kept Mary from recognizing Him. “The cause of this was the will of the Lord Himself, who would not be seen by them till the time when He saw fit” (Alford). “Immediate recognition would have prevented the quiet instruction which followed, by putting them into a tumult of joy, fear, and doubt, as usual in our Lord’s miracles” (Riddle). “On one visit to my aged father, I saw him walking with another gentleman at twilight, so I joined with them and listened to their conversation. As their paths parted I heard my father whisper to him, ‘Who is this fellow who has been walking with us?’ He did not recognize his own son because he was not expecting me and thus was not taking particular notice. Mary and one of the two disciples going to Emmaus came to mind” (Dr. Harrison).
This gave Jesus the opportunity He desired: “And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk. 24:27), and through them to the other disciples.
When they reached their abode at Emmaus, Jesus “made as though He would go further. And they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent’” (Lk. 24:28, 29), words which are the theme of a beautiful hymn.
He came in and at the table “He took the bread and blessed” (Lk. 24:30); and breaking it, He gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight.
And they said one to another, “Was not our heart burning within us, while He spake to us in the way, while He opened to us the scriptures?” (Lk. 24:32). Consider that expression “Was not our heart burning within us?” “Their heart began to burn while the stranger expounded Scripture, and kept burning, and burning up into even clearer flame as He went on. This burning of the heart experienced by the two disciples was typical of the experience of the whole early Church when it got the key to the sufferings of Jesus. Their doubt and its removal was common to them with many, and that is why the story is told so carefully by Luke” (Bruce, ‘Expositors Greek Testament’).
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:33-43; John 20:19-24
3. The Upper Room - Thomas Absent
The two disciples hastened back to the city, finding the ten in the upper room. They reported to the two that Jesus had arisen and had appealed to Peter. The two rehearsed their experience.
Suddenly Jesus stood in the midst of them and said, “Peace be unto you” (Jn. 20:19). They were terrified and frightened, supposing Him to be a spirit.
But Jesus proved that it was Himself, in His own body. “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold Me having” (Lk. 24:39).
Lk. 24:41, 42, 43 ... “And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here anything to eat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish ... And He took it, and ate before them.”
Jn. 20:21, 22 ... “Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” The apostle Thomas was not with them. Think what he missed by being absent from this prayer meeting. He missed seeing Jesus. He missed Jesus’ blessing, “Peace be unto you.” He missed the conscious presence of Jesus. He missed Jesus’ bestowal of the Holy Spirit. He missed Jesus’ instruction. He missed Jesus’ promise. He missed for a whole week the assurance that his Master and Messiah was living. We should make our prayer meetings so full of the presence of Jesus that everyone will want to be present at all of them.
Scripture Reading: John 20:26-29
4. The Upper Room - Thomas Present
The disciples were gathered the next Sunday evening in the same upper room, Thomas being with them. The doors were shut for fear of the Jews, when Jesus appeared, and stood in their midst and, as before, said, “Peace be unto you” (v 26).
v 27 ... “Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.”
v 28 ... “Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and My God.” The “Messiah” In His lifetime, Jesus was looked to by some Gentiles and many Jews as God’s anointed King and Son – the “Messiah.” Jesus Himself accepted this status and the acknowledgment of others who ascribed these roles to Him (Matt. 16:16; Jn. 1:49). However, just as John the Baptist never called Jesus the Messiah, Jesus seemed reluctant to identify Himself as the Messiah during His ministry. This may have been due to His own ‘timetable’ of ongoing ministry (Matt. 16:20; 26:18; Jn. 2:4; 7:6; 8:20; 17:1), or it may have been to keep the many misconceptions of the Jewish people about their predicted Messiah from being applied to Him. It was most certainly not because He lacked a ‘messianic consciousness.’ These terms used to describe Jesus did not necessarily mean that those using them thought that Jesus was God. In fact, the forthright confession that Jesus was deity, other than from Jesus Himself, came only after His resurrection, when ‘doubting’ Thomas saw the scarred body of Jesus and said, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:28). The climax had arrived. The resurrection victory was decisive. The full identity of Jesus was now affirmed. Jesus is God – deity!
v 29 ... “Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Conclusion: The Messages of Christ’s Resurrection to Us – First, the most important event in the history of the world is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The whole alphabet of human hope lies in this fact. The most important fact now is the existence of Jesus Christ, a living Savior, sitting on the right hand of God (Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1), seated with the Father in His throne (Rev. 3:21; 22:1). We have a picture of His glory in Hebrews1:2-4 and in Revelations 1:10-18. We do not, as has been falsely charged, worship a dead Christ, but a living Christ. Having shown His power to conquer the great enemy, death, we know He has power to conquer all our enemies. He is the great, living Leader, Inspirer, Protector, Guide, Savior, and Life of His people. Also, He will make His kingdom triumph over all evil. The resurrection of Christ is the certificate of our Lord’s mission from heaven, to which He Himself pointed as a warrant of His claims. The very existence of Christianity, the wonderful changes it has brought into the world for good, is proof that Jesus rose from the dead, and is also the assurance of the continued presence of that wondrous power which has brought such marvelous works for the redemption of the world. “I firmly believe that the results [of Christ’s bodily resurrection] are now apparent to the whole earth and that without it we should not have had the unparalleled spiritual awakening which has produced the Lord’s church. I repeat that it is as certain as anything can be in this world that we should never have heard His name and that there would not have been any Christian evangel to preach” (R.J. Campbell).
Second, the resurrection of Christ is the assurance that death does not end all; that there is an existence beyond death. The soul does not die with the body, for Jesus’ soul did not die with His body. The resurrection of Jesus is the assurance of our own resurrection, with spiritual bodies like His glorious body, as shown on the Mount of Transfiguration and described in the first chapter of Revelation – all sickness, weakness, and pain gone; but new life, new powers, new joys, beyond our highest conception, as much beyond those we now have as the flower in sunshine, beautiful and fragrant, is beyond the seed underground.
Third, the New Testament teaches concerning the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus Himself did not have His resurrection body till He ascended. The disciples saw the same body they had seen before the crucifixion. Our present bodies with flesh and bones cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but out of them in some way shall grow spiritual bodies, just as we plant a grain of wheat, and from it grows a tall green plant bearing leaves and grain; or as we plant seeds and the little seed becomes a plant radiant with blossoms; the acorn becomes a spreading oak, with new powers and glories inconceivable in the seed. Or possibly it may be some fitting body exactly adapted to our need, for “God giveth it a body even as it pleased Him.” The body is the instrument of the soul. We only know that Jesus “will change our vile body” [corruptible, in comparison without spirit] “that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).
Fourth, the hope of Resurrection gives largeness and broadness to life. Everything we are and do has an influence and meaning beyond the grave. It gives assurance of the recognition of our loved ones beyond the grave. It takes away the darkness from the tomb, making it the gate of life.
Fifth, we should look forward to the life beyond the grave as an essential part of our life as the college student looks forward to graduation, entering larger spheres, grander opportunities, as Jesus taught in the parables of The Talents and The Pounds. Heaven is placed before us as an ideal; here we may learn the music of the angels, and the deeds of Jesus. To Christians, death is simply transferring to new and larger duties, among the “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister [‘to do service,’ R.V.], for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. 1:14).
