The Resurrection of King Messiah
There were ten appearances of the Messiah after His resurrection.
The resurrection of Yeshua Messiah is the bedrock of our faith. It is the seal of all His claims of messiahship and divine Sonship. Without the resurrection, He could not be the Savior of mankind. Through His resurrection, however, He reached beyond the grave and proved His claim to be the giver of life and the judge of mankind. By His resurrection He became the first fruits of the eternal life that He guarantees to all His children.
The resurrection of Jesus is the most provable fact of the gospel accounts. On the basis of its historical validity rests the whole basis of Christ’s supernatural birth, sinless life, miracles, and substitutionary death. His whole life, from the cave to the grave, is unified by His glorious resurrection from the dead.
When Yeshua was laid in the tomb, the apostles were overwhelmed with grief and loss. They thought He was the One who was going to redeem Isra’el (Luke 24:21a). The apostolic group fled and hid. They did not seem to grasp the idea of the resurrection. Vast multitudes had flocked to Him and many thought He was the long-awaited Messiah. But He had flatly refused any offer or suggestion of an earthly Kingdom. After His death, utter helplessness possessed and held the small band of talmidim who had been loyal to Him. The crucifixion had disillusioned them. To the world, they appeared to be the fools of delusion.
But a vast change came in one day. They had a faith in Jesus as the Messiah that still inspired a flicker of hope in them. His substitutionary death was a climax and fitting close to His earthly life. The Eleven could not help but observe. He had told them many times of His death in Yerushalayim. Nevertheless, they were still confused and fearful. But the resurrection was the one thing that explained the necessity of His sufferings and death. It eliminated their fear and uncertainty. A dead Christ would mean nothing to sinful world, but a living Christ became the driving force of a movement that swept the globe. It is not surprising that the resurrection became the central subject of apostolic preaching. Rabbi Sha’ul said it best: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raise; and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also your trust is in vain; furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised either; and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins. Also, if this is the case, those who died in union with the Messiah are lost. If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone (1 Corinthians 15:13-19 CJB).
Leave A Comment