The Life of Christ - Lesson 41: Date - Sunday, 4/7/30 AD, 18 Nisan - The Resurrection

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1 The Life of Christ - Lesson 41 Date - Sunday, 4/7/30 AD, 18 Nisan The Resurrection While Mary Magdalene left the other women at the tomb and was running to get Peter and John, the rest of the women lingered a while at the tomb where they had other encounters with the angels which we studied last time. They then left to find the disciples. In the meantime Peter, John and Mary Magdalene had arrived back at the tomb. Mary had arrived last, and after Peter and John had left Jesus appeared to her. He had told her to quit hanging on to Him. It was no doubt because He had other places to be. We know that just after that, He appeared to the rest of the women who had come to the tomb, and after that He appeared to Peter before He appeared to the rest of the disciples. Continuing with the account of the Gospels: Matthew 28:8-15 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. [a] Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." [b] While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests (high priests) had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. 1 / 17

2 Mark 16:8-11 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. [c] She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. [d] When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Luke 24:9-12 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. [e] Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. For the account of Jesus appearance to Peter, we have two accounts. First, we have Paul in 1 Corinthians, who no doubt heard the account from Peter's lips. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on [f] the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. " [g] 2 / 17

3 Next, we have the appearance mentioned in Luke: Luke 24:33a-34 "There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.'" Jesus appeared to the disciples going to Emmaus Two disciples left Jerusalem going to Emmaus about seven miles away. Jesus appeared to them and talked to them for some time, maybe over an hour or two. Jesus either veiled their recognition of His appearance or changed his actual appearance so that they didn't recognize Him until after they had arrived at Emmaus. Mark 16:12-13 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 3 / 17

4 Luke 24:13-32 Now that same day two of them [h] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles [i] from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, [j] asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" [k] "What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions [l] went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." [m] He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened [n] and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" 4 / 17

5 Jesus appeared to the Eleven disciples (less Thomas) that evening. The two disciples returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven disciples assembled with other disciples, probably in the upper room of Mark's parents' house. Thomas evidently left before Jesus appeared. John 20:19-25 On the evening [o] of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." Luke 24:33-49 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." [p] Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. [q] While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 5 / 17

6 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Time Table of Events on Resurrection Sunday (my best estimate) 1. Jesus was raised from the dead some time after twilight of Saturday night which was the end of the third day. 2. About 6 AM, an earthquake occurred, and an angel came down and rolled away the stone from the tomb entrance. The soldiers were terrified, and probably fled at that time. 3. Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Joanna arrived and saw the first angel and went into the tomb. (About 6:30 AM if they left at first light) 4. The rest of the women arrived and went into the tomb. The first angel had disappeared at this point (About 6:45 AM). 6 / 17

7 5. The women came out of the tomb, and Mary Magdalene took off running to get Peter and John (About 6:45 AM). 6. Two angels appeared to the rest of the women, who were still at the tomb, and wondering what to do (About 7:00 AM). 7. Mary Magdalene found Peter and John, and they all headed back to the tomb with John running ahead and Mary lagging behind. (about 7:30 AM). 8. The other women left the tomb (About 7:40 AM).. 9. John arrived at the tomb and looked in. (About 7:45 AM). 10. Peter arrived at the tomb and went in, shortly joined by John. (About 7:45 AM). 11. Mary Magdalene arrived. (About 7:50 AM). 12. Peter and John left. (About 7:50 AM) 13. Mary looked in the tomb and saw two angels. She then turned around and saw Jesus. (About 7:50 AM) 14. Jesus appeared to the women going back into town. (Prob. about 7:55 AM) 15. Jesus appeared to Peter. (Prob. about 8:00 AM) 7 / 17

8 16. John returned to Jerusalem. (About 8:30 AM) 17. The women and Mary reached town. (About 8:40 AM) 18. The two disciples headed for Emmaus probably about 2 to 3 PM having only heard the report of John (which included the report of Mary Magdalene). 19. Jesus joined them and taught them on the 7 plus mile trip. He then broke bread with them a little after 6 PM, and disappeared. 20. Those disciples travelled back to Jerusalem by moonlight (it was near full moon) and arrived to tell their news to the Eleven disciples. By that time Peter had told them of seeing Jesus himself. (About 9:00 pm) 21. Thomas left the gathering. (about 9:30 pm) 22. Jesus appeared to those gathered. (About 10:00 pm) Now, I will make an argument that the Day of Resurrection was the fulfillment in reality of an Old Testament Feast, in the same way that the crucifixion and burial were fulfillments. Feast of Firstfruits 8 / 17

9 Proposition: The Resurrection of Jesus was the fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits. Proof: The Feast of Firstfruits was when the first grain that was harvested for the year was to be raised up to the LORD by the Priest. He lifted the sheaf of grain seeds and waved it before the Lord on the day after the Sabbath, that is Sunday. Leviticus 23:6-11 On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.'" The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. Some confusion can be caused by the term Feast of Firstfruits since it can be confused with the Feast of Weeks which was also at the regular first harvest. The Feast of Firstfruits was first celebrated when the Israelites first entered the land [r] at Passover. At that time the manna stopped. The normal first harvest in the bulk of Israel is at the time of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), but the climate in the Jordan River valley near Jericho was a mini-environment. In 9 / 17

10 winter the average temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and early crops are the norm. In the time of Christ, the priests had instituted a custom of planting a designated field near Jerusalem for the purpose of an early harvest [s] which was to be used for the purpose of providing this sheaf. Planting that early near colder Jerusalem was not a plan followed by other plantings near the city as it yielded less than optimal results. The Feast of Firstfruits is clearly speaking of the Resurrection of Christ. The waving of the grain is speaking of just that, as He himself clearly indicated and later Paul confirmed. He was raised on the Feast of Firstfruits because he was the Firstfruits. John 12:23-24 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 10 / 17

11 Proposition: Jesus was raised on the day of the Feast of the Firstfruits. Proof: Jesus was raised on Sunday the day after the weekly Sabbath. Matthew 28:1-6 After the Sabbath, [t] at dawn on the first day of the week, etc. Mark 16:2-4 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb etc. Luke 24:1-3 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb etc. 11 / 17

12 John 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene [u] went to the tomb etc. Feast of First Fruits - 30 AD The Feast of Firstfruits is an important type of the fact that Jesus was the firstfruits from the dead. It is important that He was raised on the Feast of Firstfruits. However, there were two traditions as to when the Feast of Firstfruits should actually occur. If, as I have demonstrated, Christ was crucified on Wednesday 14 Nisan 30 AD, then according to the Jewish custom predominant in that time, the official Feast of the Firstfruits would have fallen on 16 Nisan or Friday, which was the day after the special Sabbath of Passover. We know that Jesus Christ was not raised on Friday, but on Sunday. However, there is and was a controversy regarding when the Feast of Unleavened bread should actually have been held: The Feasts of the Lord, Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal, pp Firstfruits was an early spring feast, the third in the Jewish festive cycle. On the Hebrew calendar, it occurred on the 16 th day of Nisan, the first biblical month (March or April), only two days after the beginning of Passover season. Scripture did not specify the actual calendar date of First fruits, but merely prescribed its time of observance to be "on the day after the Sabbath" (Leviticus 23:11). This led to various interpretations and considerable debate as to which Sabbath 12 / 17

13 was in view. The Sadducees, and later the Karaite Jews, understood it to refer to the first weekly Sabbath (Saturday) which occurred during the week of Passover season. However. The word Sabbath also designated any holy day on which work was prohibited, no matter on which day of the week it occurred (Leviticus 23:24, 32, 39) the majority opinion, held by the Pharisees, was that the Sabbath in question was Nisan 15, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread, that day was to be "a holy convocation" (Leviticus 23:7) on which no work was performed. This same description was given to the weekly Sabbath (Lev.23:3) and to holy-day Sabbaths held on other days of the week( Lev 23:24-25, 28, 32, 39). The Sadducees held that the Feast of the Firstfruits should properly be held on the day after the regular weekly Sabbath. In 30 AD, or any other year according to that interpretation, the Feast of Firstfruits would have fallen on Sunday, which was the day that Christ was the Firstfruits. Leviticus 23:5-15 The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD's Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.'" The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; th e priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath (Feast of the Firstfruits). On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil--an offering made to the LORD by fire, a pleasing aroma--and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. " 13 / 17

14 From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. The Pharisees and their followers celebrated the Feast of the Firstfruits in 30 AD on 16 Nisan, calculating that the 1 st Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was the Sabbath Leviticus was talking about, but since Christians know that the fulfillment of that Feast occurred on Sunday, 18 Nisan 30 AD which was the day in the Seven day feast that was the day after the weekly Sabbath it would appear that the Sadducees were the ones who had correctly interpreted Leviticus. Conclusion: The event foreshadowed by the Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled on the Feast of Firstfruits of Sunday, 4/7/30 AD, 18 Nisan. [a] This happened after Mary Magdalene had run back to the city to get Peter and John, and then followed them back to the Tomb and saw Jesus. This gives us an idea of how long the women must have lingered at the Tomb before they left. Mary Magdalene alone had responded to the initial command of the angel who was sitting on the stone saying "go quickly and tell his disciples!" Evidently, only when two other angels appeared to them and asked them "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" did they "hurry away from the Tomb." (Mark 28:8) [b] The reconciliation of this passage seems to be that the women, less Mary Magdalene, first went to find the disciples but they could not find them. Possibly, the disciples (less Peter and John) had scattered after the visit of Mary Magdalene to spread the news. Before the women located the disciples, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb. After that, Jesus appeared separately to the rest of the women. This would explain the comment in Mark 16:8 that indicates that the women did not disclose their news for some time. It is possible that they talked to a number of people looking for the disciples before they found them and told what 14 / 17

15 they had seen. [c] This comment seems to be making the point that Christ appeared first of all to one who had been so abandoned to hope that she had been possessed by seven demons. The account of seven demons is also verified by Luke 8:2. Many have thought that Mary Magdalene was the one of whom the story is told in Luke 7:36-50 of the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears. Perhaps that is because, Mary Magdelene is first mentioned by name in the beginning of the very next chapter of Luke (chapter 8). [d] This was after she had been to the Tomb with Peter and John. [e] Although not specified here, we know that Peter had done that when the first women, Mary Magdalene. [f] There is no preposition "on" [g] Obviously, the term "the Twelve" here is meant in a global sense of "those from the Twelve." We know, of course, that at that meeting (Luke 24:36, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:14), neither Judas Iscariot (who was dead), nor Thomas (who was absent - John 20:24) were there. [h] This raises a question. Were these two of the seventy disciples Jesus had sent two by two into the cities ahead of Him in Luke 10:1? If so, was Emmaus the town they had been sent to? [i] In the original Greek sixty stadion, or about 6.82 miles. [j] The name Cleopas is the same name as Clopas. A Clopas is mentioned in John 19:25 in connection to "Mary of Clopas," who stood at the foot of the cross with Mary, 15 / 17

16 Salome, and Mary Magdalene. According to the language, she could have been the mother, wife, or daughter of Clopas. [k] This certainly implies that only a stranger from out of the country would not have known Jesus, or what had happened to Him. It certainly indicates that the idea that Pilate would not have been aware of Him is absurd. [l] Peter and John. [m] These men evidently left after John had returned from the tomb, but before Mary Magdalene had returned or they had talked to the other women. They knew from Mary Magdalene's first visit the story of the women's visit to the tomb. When they speak of "they came to us," they speak of Mary as representing the women. [n] Tony Evans suggests that they recognized Him when they saw the nail prints in His hands as He broke the bread. [o] John is evidently using Roman time, as it must have been after sundown, which according to Jewish time would have been the second day. We know that Jesus had been with the two disciples in Emmaus at sundown, and they had had enough time to walk or run back the seven miles from Emmaus. [p] The eleven disciples are referring to the Lord's appearance to Simon Peter, which Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. Simon was the name by which Peter was called by his close friends, including the Lord. [q] Evidently after the two disciples came in Thomas left, probably because he refused to believe their story. As a result he did not see Jesus and we have the situation that John records in John 20: / 17

17 [r] Joshua 5:11 "The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain." [s] Edersheim, The Temple - Its Ministry and Services. [t] The word "Sabbath" as it appears in both the Textus Receptus and Westcott-Hort Greek Texts is F"$$"JT< which is the ablative plural and actually should be translated from the Greek as " Sabbaths". This would indicate there were two Sabbaths between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection Sunday. [u] Although John only records the visit of Mary Magdalene, her statement to John and Peter in verse 2 "we know not" implies the presence of the other women. 17 / 17