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Jesus Christ: Resurrection and Ascension
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The resurrection of Jesus, with its completion in the ascension, setting the seal of the Father’s acceptance on His finished work on earth, and marking the decisive change from His state of humiliation to that of exaltation, may be called in a true sense the corner stone of Christianity (compare
The Resurrection
(Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20; 21; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
With the narratives of the resurrection are here included as inseparably connected, those of the appearances of Jesus in Jerusalem and Galilee. The accounts will show that, while the body of Jesus was a true body, identical with that which suffered on the cross (it could be seen, touched, handled), it exhibited attributes which showed that Jesus had entered, even bodily, on a new phase of existence, in which some at least of the ordinary limitations of body were transcended. Its condition in the interval between the resurrection and the ascension was an intermediate one--no longer simply natural, yet not fully entered into the state of glorification. "I am not yet ascended .... I ascend" (
a) The Easter Morning--the Open Tomb
The main facts in the resurrection narratives stand out clearly. "According to all the Gospels," the arch-skeptic Strauss concedes, "Jesus, after having been buried on the Friday evening, and lain during the Sabbath in the grave, came out of it restored to life at daybreak on Sunday" (New Life of Jesus, I, 397, English translations). Discrepancies are alleged in detail as to the time, number, and names of the women, number of angels, etc.; but most of these vanish on careful examination. The Synoptics group their material, while Joh gives a more detailed account of particular events.
(1) The Angel and the Keepers.
No eye beheld the actual resurrection, which took place in the early morning, while it was still dark. Matthew records that there was "a great earthquake," and tells of the descent of an angel of the Lord, who rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. Before his dazzling aspect the keepers became as dead men, and afterward fled. The chief priests bribed them to conceal the facts, and say the body had been stolen (
(2) Visit of the Women.
The first intimation of the resurrection to the disciples was the discovery of the empty tomb by the women who had come at early dawn (
(3) The Angelic Message.
As the women stood, perplexed and affrighted, at the tomb, they received a vision of angels (Matthew and Mark speak only of one angel; Luke and John mention two; all allude to the dazzling brightness), who announced to them that Jesus had risen ("He is not here; for he is risen; .... come, see the place where the Lord lay"), and bade them tell His disciples that He went before them to Galilee, where they should see Him (Matthew, Mark; Luke, who does not record the Galilean appearances, omits this part, and recalls the words spoken by Jesus in Galilee, concerning His death and resurrection; compare
b) Visit of Peter and John--Appearance to Mary
(John; compare Mark 16:9,10; Luke 24:12,24)
The narrative in John enlarges in important respects those of the Synoptics. From it we learn that Mary Magdalene (no companion is named, but one at least is implied in the "we" of 20:2), concluding from the empty tomb that the body of Jesus had been removed, at once ran to carry the news to Peter and John ("They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him"). These apostles lost no time in hastening to the spot. John, who arrived first, stooping down, saw the linen cloths lying, while Peter, entering, beheld also the napkin for the head rolled up in a place by itself. After John likewise had entered ("He saw, and believed"), they returned to their home. Meanwhile Mary had come back disconsolate to the tomb, where, looking in, she, like the other women, had a vision of two angels. It was then that Jesus addressed her, "Why weepest thou?" At first she thought it was the gardener, but on Jesus tenderly naming her, "Mary," she recognized who it was, and, with the exclamation, "Rabboni" ("Teacher"), would have clasped Him, but He forbade: "Touch me not," etc. (
Report to the Disciples--Incredulity.
The appearance of Jesus to the other women (
c) Other Easter-Day Appearances (Emmaus, Jerusalem)
Ten appearances of Jesus altogether after His resurrection are recorded, or are referred to; of these five were on the day of resurrection. They are the following:
(1) The first is the appearance to Mary Magdalene above described.
(2) The second is an appearance to the women as they returned from the tomb, recorded in
(3) An appearance to Peter, attested by both
(4) The fourth was an appearance to two disciples on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus--a village about two hours distant (
d) The Second Appearance to the Eleven--the Doubt of Thomas
Eight days after this first appearance--i.e. the next Sunday evening--a second appearance of Jesus to the apostles took place in the same chamber and under like conditions ("the doors being shut"). The peculiar feature of this second meeting was the removal of the doubt of Thomas who, it is related, had not been present on the former occasion. Thomas, devoted (compare
e) The Galilean Appearances
The scene now shifts for the time to Galilee. Jesus had appointed to meet with His disciples in Galilee (
(1) At the Sea of Tiberias--the Draught of Fishes--Peter’s Restoration.
The chapter which narrates this appearance of Jesus at the Lake of Galilee ("Sea of Tiberias") is a supplement to the Gospel, but is so evidently Johannine in character that it may safely be accepted as from the pen of the beloved disciple (thus Lightfoot, Meyer, Godet, Alford, etc.). The appearance itself is described as the third to the disciples (
(2) On the Mountain--the Great Commission--Baptism.
Though only the eleven apostles are named in Matthew’s account (
It will be noticed that the Lord’s Supper and Baptism are the only sacraments instituted by Jesus in His church.
f) Appearance to James
Paul records, as subsequent to the above, an appearance of Jesus to James, known as "the Lord’s brother" (
g) The Last Meeting
The Ascension
(Luke 24:50-53;
Jesus had declared, "I ascend unto my Father" (
See, further, ASCENSION.
Retracing their steps to Jerusalem, the apostles joined the larger company of disciples in the "upper room" where their meetings seem to have been habitually held, and there, with one accord, to the number of about 120 (