April 2005
"They watched Him there."
At this time of the year we are reminded of the details concerning the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been particularly struck this year by the verse found in Matthew ch 27 which reads: "And sitting down they watched Him there." Who is sitting down comfortably while the Saviour is hanging in agony? Who is able to rest while the Lord Jesus' body is racked with pain?
Of course we know that there were many people who came to see the crucifixion of this man. We read of those who mocked and reviled Him as He was hanging there. There were the chief priests, elders and scribes who jeered and the thieves who were crucified with Him.
One person missing from the scene was Pilate. He had already seen Jesus on several occasions and proclaimed Him innocent, yet when the pressure came to make a decision all he could do was to wash his hands and leave the matter to others.
Can I ask if there is someone reading this who has thought much about the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and yet because of the pressure of others has decided to wash their hands of all thoughts of Him and have nothing to do with Him? Remember what the people who were sitting down were watching. They saw a man who had been spat upon, mocked, humiliated, scourged so much that His back was like a ploughed field, punched and beaten so much that He was unrecognisable and then nailed to a cross in the hot sun until He would die. Why?
A hymn we often sing at this time of year gives us the answer...
"He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good.
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by His precious blood."
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
When reading through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we are reminded of various details concerning the resurrection. Some people try to use this as a way of claiming inaccuracy in the Bible. However, if you were to ask 4 different people to go out and draw the 4 different sides of the house you live in, you would end up with 4 different pictures, or views, of the one house. God used these 4 men, under the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, to record the details for us that we might learn more of His Son.
Matthew
When Matthew recorded the events, he is presenting to us the Majesty of His Resurrection. We read in ch 27 v65 - 28 v15 that there were the chief priests (representing the Religious power of the day); the "watch" of Soldiers, 70 to100 men (representing the Military power of the day); and a Seal placed upon the Sepulchre (representing the Governmental power of the day). Yet despite this show of human power, we find the stone rolled away from the tomb. This was not to let the Lord Jesus out but to let the disciples in to see that He had been raised from the dead. The Seal had no authority over Him, the Soldiers had no strength over Him (in fact later they are bribed with money to say His body had been stolen) and the Chief Priests had no claim over Him either. He had been raised by the Power of God.
Mark
As we turn to Mark's account, we find that he now will emphasise the Reality of His Resurrection. In ch 16 we find he explains the chain of events as they happened. How the women came early in the morning and find the stone rolled away. The appearance of the angel. The way the Lord Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and yet sadly we read that "When they had heard that He was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not." He then appeared to two on a journey to Emmaus and yet we read "neither believed they them". Sadly there are many people who are like this today: They are not prepared to believe that He has been raised from the dead and is alive today. If you were to read in 1 Corinthians ch 15 v 5-8 you would discover a list of individuals, small groups and large companies of people who all saw the Lord Jesus alive from the dead.
Luke
In Luke's Gospel we find that he is bringing before our minds the Necessity of His Resurrection. In ch 24 Luke records in detail the journey taken by two people as the return to their home in Emmaus. We read that one of them was Cleopas and it is thought that his wife was Mary, who stood at the cross in John 19 v 25. The Lord Jesus draws alongside them to take the journey together and begins to talk to them about the events of the previous few days. He says to them "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" Later on He could say "Thus it was written and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." It is important for everyone to understand that if we are ever to enter Heaven and be able to know people with God, the Lord Jesus had to die, be buried and then be raised from the dead to take away the power of death.
John
When we turn to the record of John, he brings out a simple yet lovely thought about the events. He seeks to show the Dignity of His Resurrection. He first shows his own caution at approaching the tomb in contrast to the courage of Peter who enters in immediately. He explains how that the linen clothes are lying in their place and the napkin in its own separate place, wrapped and laid down. What can we learn from these things? Firstly, no thief would leave the linen behind if he had stolen the body. Secondly, unlike when Lazarus had been brought back to life and still had the linen grave clothes wrapped around him, here the grave clothes are left behind as they will never be needed again by the Lord Jesus. He had been raised by the Glory of the Father and will never taste death again.
Every feature of the resurrection story of the Lord Jesus is a wonderful encouragement to those who believe in Him, yet for those who wash their hands of Him and do not want to believe, it is clear that the one who died, was buried and was raised again will be faced as a judge and will say "Depart from me, I never knew you."
"And when they were come to place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him." Luke 23:33
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