The Resurrection
 
     Lets study the resurrection of Christ from the grave.  Without the resurrection we cannot have assurance of salvation.  Two things are necessary if Jesus is to raise from the dead.  The first is His death of course.  Jesus Himself told us that He would die, but also that He would live again (Mat 16:21, 17:9, 17:22-23, Mark 9:10, Luke 9:22-27, John 2:18-22 and many other places).
 
     As we studied in chapter 4, Jesus was born, grew up, and in other ways lived a physically normal life.  He did not exist as an image of a man but as a man in body.  In the same way the man Jesus died a physical death, as we will.  When Jesus was dead His body was taken to a grave carved out of stone. The grave was owned by Joseph of Arimathea (Matt 27:57-60).  Before allowing Jesus' friends to have his body Pilate had asked for proof that Jesus was dead (Mark 15:44-44).  This evidence was provided by Roman soldiers who were certainly very
familiar with death.  It is notable that though Jesus had many enemies, none called His death into question.
 
     The body was prepared for burial with spices and washed.  The body was then wrapped in cloth and placed in the tomb.  A stone was rolled over the entrance so that no one could get in or out.  Normally the body would have been embalmed at this time but the Sabbath had to be
observed first.
 
     How do we know that Jesus rose alive from the grave?  Let's look at some of the evidence.  The Jews remembered that Jesus had predicted His resurrection so they requested and received a Roman guard detail from Pilate (Matt 27:62-66). Later on the third day an earthquake caused the Roman seal to be broken and the stone to roll away, probably up out of a depression in which it was seated.  The Roman guard then ran to the chief priests who had asked for them.  They did this so that the chief priests could smooth things over with Pilate.  The standard treatment of soldiers who failed in duty was death.
 
     The disciples had dispersed after Jesus' death, they had forgotten in their grief and fear that He would return.  Jesus appears to some and then all of them.  See Luke 24:34, 36-43, Jn 20:19-24, 26-29, 21:1-23, Matt 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-20, and Acts 1:3-12.  Another proof
of the active ministry of Christ after His death is how the disciples went from being a group of frightened depressed men, to an energetic and fearless team.
 
     In all Jesus appeared to many people over a period of 40 days after He had risen from the dead (1 Cor 15:6).  In Acts 2 Peter's first sermon is recorded.  The central theme is that of the risen Christ.  We are told that that the people were convicted in their hearts by what they had done, and that three thousand were baptized that day. If it was not commonly accepted that Jesus had indeed risen then surely some among them would have objected to Peter's speech.  It is not reasonable that so many people who were personally knowledgeable of these events
would have accepted this if it were not so.
 
     The proof of Christ's living power continue to this day.  For nearly 2000 years Christ has been changing and renewing His believers.  Many of us can testify to His power in our own lives.  The fact is that most of us believe because of what He has done for us and in those who
we know.
 
     The institution of the Christian Church also shows His power.  Even with all of it's divisions and sometime apparent aimlessness, do you know of any other entity that has continued to function for 2000 years? Do you know of anything else that has effected human history to
this extent?