THE RESURRECTION OF GOD'S SERVANT
Isaiah 53:10-12
Isaiah prophesied that God’s Servant would one day come to earth; He would live, please the Father, accomplish the plan of redemption, and ultimately be “exalted and extolled and be very high.” However, with all of the evidence before them, the Messiah would be “despised and rejected by men.” When Jesus arrived, His people “hid their faces from Him.” He was “despised,” they “did not esteem Him.” Despite all of the prophetic fulfillment that was seen throughout the life and ministry of God’s Servant, He was rejected. This rejection led to His suffering and death. Thankfully, even though “they made His grave with the wicked, but with the rich at His death” , His story did not end in Joseph’s tomb.
God promised that His Servant would “see His offspring.” As Christians we are Jesus’ offspring! We rejoice today because our Savior is not in some cold dark tomb; He is seated on His throne and He sees us, He is with us, and because of His resurrection we are assured that we will be with Him throughout eternity!
God also declared that His Servant “will prolong His days.” Jesus will live forever since He has defeated death once and for all. Paul said in Romans 6:9-10, “Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”
Isaiah says concerning God’s Servant, “the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.” Jesus’ life, ministry, suffering, and death were all pleasing to God. As a result of His acceptable sacrifice God has “highly exalted Him.”
The Apostle John spoke of a time during the Revelation that he received where he “wept much.” The reason was because after an extensive search, “no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.” But, then one of the elders said, John “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Though He has been and continues to be “despised and rejected of men,” Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority in History. One day, all will see Him for who He is!
- On this Resurrection Sunday I would like for us to examine “The Resurrection Of God’s Servant.”
Long before the week of His Passion, Jesus told His followers that there would come a time when He would suffer and die. Mark 8:31 says Jesus, “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” In spite of this clear warning, the Disciples of the Lord could not comprehend His teaching.
It is easy for us to trust in the teaching of the Resurrection because we have the written testimony of the witnesses (and the assistance of the Holy Spirit). But as Jesus lay in the grave for three days, the Disciples did not know that they were going to be eye witnesses of the risen Christ. That fact is evident based on their actions on resurrection morning. If they really believed what Jesus had been teaching them about His death, burial, and resurrection, they would have been camped out at the tomb instead of hiding in fear. If the women who were the first at the tomb had believed His teaching, they wouldn’t have been preparing to anoint His corpse.
Though these were the darkest days in the lives of Christ’s followers, something amazing was about to take place. Very early on Sunday morning there was a great earthquake, an angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. He rolled the stone away from the opening of the tomb and sat down on it. The soldiers who were guarding the tomb were understandably terrified and they became like dead men.
Shortly thereafter, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome made their way to the tomb as the sun was rising. While on their way they said to one another “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” (Mark 16:3) Upon their arrival they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. Mary Magdalene left the others and ran to tell Peter and John. She didn’t run to them with the news that Christ had been raised from the dead, when she found them she said franticly “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”
As this transpired the other women entered the tomb and saw that Jesus was not there. Then, to their amazement they saw two men (Angels) in dazzling clothes. They were terrified and bowed to the ground, and then they heard some of the greatest words in the history of the world; the angels said “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here, but he has risen!” The angels also reminded the women that this was exactly what Jesus had been teaching them for some time. They said, “Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” After this, the women were instructed to go and tell the Disciples that Jesus was alive and He would go ahead of them into Galilee.
Filled with fear, amazement, and joy those women ran to tell the Disciples the good news. However the Lord’s Disciples doubted the report concerning the Resurrection. After hearing the testimony of the women, Peter and John ran to the tomb. John arrived at the tomb first and “stooping down and looking in, (he) saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.”
Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths that had covered the body of Jesus lying inside; he also saw the cloth that had covered Jesus head folded and put in a separate place. John then went into the tomb and took a closer look. Both men realized that Mary had not lost her mind; the tomb was indeed empty.
After this, Peter & John returned to the place where they were staying. Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb and stood outside grieving and crying. She stooped down and looked inside and she saw the angels that had appeared to the other women while she was gone to find Peter and John. The Angels said to her “Woman, why are you crying?” Mary said, “Because they’ve taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”
After this, Mary turned around and saw a man standing behind her. Her eyes were filled with tears, blinded by grief she thought that it was the gardener. She said “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” Then Jesus said “Mary.” Filled with joy and amazement she grabbed Him and cried out “teacher.” She knew instantly that Jesus was standing before her!
Jesus said “Mary, don’t cling to me since I have not yet ascended to my Father.” Then He sent her to be the first witness of His Resurrection. He said, “go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary went to where the disciples were assembled and said, “I have seen the Lord!” Mark tells us that “when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by Mary, they did not believe it.” (Mark 16:11).
While the men were still huddled for fear and immersed in their doubt, the women who were so faithful to go to the tomb early that morning had their own personal encounter with Jesus. They were exceedingly excited about the news that they had received from the angels concerning the Resurrection. As they journeyed to tell the Disciples the good news, they encountered Jesus; He saw them and said “Greetings!” When they saw Him, the women humbly bowed at His feet and worshipped Him. Soon after this, the women reached the Apostles and told them that they had seen the Savior. But these words “seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.”
Later in the day, two followers of Christ were headed toward Emmaus; they were devastated by the death of Jesus and confused by the reports of His empty Tomb. As they were walking they had an encounter with Jesus. At first their eyes were restrained and they did not recognize Jesus. He approached them and asked, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” In a somewhat comical moment, these followers of Christ begin to tell Jesus the story of Jesus! After referencing the mighty deeds and words of the Savoir, one declared “we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.” (Luke 24:21)
After listening to their report, Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
I am convinced that as Jesus began to expound the scriptures and reference the Prophets that He covered the content that is recorded in Isaiah 53. Regardless, after receiving a Biblical history lesson from the Author Himself, Cleopas and that other follower ran to where the Apostles were staying and shared the news that they had seen the Lord. By the time they arrived, the Apostles had seen with their own eyes that Jesus was indeed alive!
Earlier, as they were hiding behind closed doors, Jesus appeared in their midst and said, “Peace to you!.” The Disciples were terrified and thought that He was a ghost. Jesus asked them “why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
After this, Jesus broke bread with them and reminded them of what He had taught them before His death; He said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Up until they saw the risen Savior, the Disciples were discouraged, confused, and hiding in fear. But after the resurrection they became bold witnesses of Jesus who turned the world upside down in His name. They were so transformed by the Resurrection that they were willing to suffer and even die for the cause of Christ. Many years later, when writing to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul said, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… He was buried… and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, …He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once… after that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (I Corinthians 15:3-8)
Paul did not see the empty tomb, he was not present when the Lord appeared to His Disciples as they were gathered together on the evening of the Resurrection, he was not there when Jesus was seen by those five hundred brethren, nor was he in attendance when the Lord ascended. In fact, Paul’s encounter with the Savior happened after Jesus had taken His rightful place beside His Father in Heaven. Regardless, he was a viable witness of the Risen Savior.
Most of us have never seen the empty tomb and none of us have seen our Lord with our physical eyes. However, we have seen Him with eyes of faith. We are convinced of His literal and triumphant Resurrection! We have full assurance that He lived, suffered, died, was buried, and rose the third day in accordance with the scriptures. Furthermore, we are confident that He is coming again. When He does, the dead in Christ will be raised up and those who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet Him in the air.
After the events on Good Friday the Disciples’ lives were filled with darkness, uncertainty, and grief for the followers of Christ. They did not know what would come after the sun rose on Sunday morning.
They all walked away, nothing to say
They'd just lost their dearest friend
All that they said, now He was dead
So this was the way it would end.
The dreams they had dreamed
Were not what they'd seemed
Now, He was dead and gone
The garden, the jail, the hammer, the nail
How could a night be so long?
Then came the morning
Night turned into day
The stone was rolled away
Hope rose with the dawn.
Then came the morning
Shadows vanished before the sun
Death had lost and life had won
For morning had come.
I hope that you possess full assurance in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. If not, I pray that you will come to same realization as the people we have considered today. Jesus is alive and if you will repent and believe in Him, you will receive forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
Those of us who are “in Christ” should rejoice today and every day because of the life & ministry, suffering & death, and the resurrection & exaltation of God’s Servant.
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