Lord
Jesus’ Resurrection Was the First of Many
As we
approach the annual Christian observance of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus,
we also take time to recognize what He accomplished for our salvation through His
crucifixion, death and burial. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13) Those three days and nights were key to our restoration
to Him and our Father in Heaven, but for the sake of brevity they must be
addressed in another post to this blog. Instead, I’d like to address “His Resurrection”
in the context of the “other resurrections” that are noted in the Bible
Scripture. Further, hopefully we can
remove some misconceptions about what “resurrection” means to Christians. [This
single post might turn into a “series” of posts. 😊]
First it is important to note the
distinction between the two definitions of the word “Resurrection” as
given in our reference Strong’s Expanded Concordance Greek Dictionary.
(See # 386). Both definitions refer to
an individual’s being raised from the dead to live again. Further,
the
term “First” alerts the reader that the Bible Scripture describes more
than one resurrection. In fact, using
the “Strong’s” definition there are several occurrences of that miraculous
event. However, many of them are unknown
or not considered by most Christians beyond the exceptional resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly, it will be important to differentiate
between how those who have followed the LORD / Lord Jesus are to be affected by
what the Scripture says about resurrection, compared to how others have been or
will be affected by it. The Bible recorded
the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, who said: “Marvel not at this: for the
hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his (Son
of God) voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation.” (John 5: 28-29)
(Emphasis added)
But let’s
address the first issue first. From earlier discussions we learned that death
is what happens when an individual’s soul and spirit are separated from
the person’s physical body. Therefore, using the Strong’s
Dictionary’s most basic definition, the word “resurrection”
means reconnecting the soul and spirit to that same body. The Bible records several instances of this
event having taken place, including the following:
·
2
Kings 4: 18-32 Prophet Elisha raised
the son of the Shunammite woman;
·
John
11: 1-44 Lord Jesus raised His
friend Lazarus;
·
Acts
9: 36-41 Apostle Peter raised the
woman Tabitha / Dorcas; and
·
Acts
20: 7-12 Apostle Paul raised the boy
Eutychus.
What is key
to understanding these occurrences is that each of those persons raised from
the dead would eventually / later experience
a physical death a second time.
Now let’s
shift to the second interpretation of the word “resurrection”. Here the soul and spirit are also separated
from the person’s physical body, but…they are not returned to that
same mortal / corruptible / aging body made of flesh and blood, which
required blood to sustain life. (Leviticus 17: 1-11) In a likeness to the Lord’s resurrected body,
it will be composed of “flesh and bone”, without the blood, as discussed in a
previous post to this blog. (Romans 6: 3-5; 1 Corinthians 15: 35-50;
Philippians 3: 20-21) Most people
are familiar with the Lord’s “new” physical body because it relates to what
we’ve learned from our Bible. (John Chapter 20; et al. ) However, what
many Christians and others have not understood is that virtually all of mankind
will experience a such physical resurrection after death. (John 5: 25-29;
Luke 14: 12-14) (Those not being
resurrected will also receive a new body as was discussed in a separate blog
post on the subject of “The Rapture”.) But
there will be differences between two major groups…and the timing of the “Many
Resurrections that were implied in the title of this post.
Background
Because this second interpretation of
the meaning of the word “resurrection” is more complex than the first, to aid
understanding I’d like to give a scriptural framework taught by one of my
teachers (Les Feldick Ministries).
The following agricultural context relates
to the “end of the growing season”, which can be compared to the end of the
life of an individual person and/or the existence mankind in this current World
Age.
The comparison
to the meaning of the word “resurrection” is related to instructions given by
the LORD to Moses for the Nation of Israel when they came into the Promised
Land. They were to acknowledge His Divine Role in providing for them through
their annual “end of the growing season” / harvest of their barley grain crop. Consider
that in comparison to how the Lord Jesus has provided for man / mankind over
these many years / centuries of our existence. (Leviticus 23: 9-12, 22).
9 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto
the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which
I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf
(bundle) of the firstfruits (earliest
ripening stems of grain) of your harvest unto the priest: (Bold Emphasis parenthetical
explanations added)
11 And he
shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be
accepted for you: on the morrow after the
sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And ye
shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of
the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord…. (Bold
Emphasis added) [Does the sacrifice
of the “He Lamb without blemish” bring someone to mind?]
22 And when
ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners
of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning
(grain dropped or overlooked) of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them (remainders)
unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God. (Bold
Emphasis and parenthetical added).
If you review those Scriptural verses, you will
note that the “harvest” is accomplished in four phases. They include, in order:
1. The “sheaf” or bundle of
the “firstfruits”;
2. The “main harvest” of the crop
/ field;
3. The “corners” and the
“gleanings”; and
4. The “remainder” for the
“poor” and “strangers”.
Now I’d like you to consider those four phases of “harvest“ in the
context of what the Bible says about man’s resurrection.
Note this description of events at the end of the Crucifixion of
our Lord Jesus, from Matthew 27: 50-53:
“50 Jesus, when
he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And,
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the
graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept (had
physically died) arose, 53 And came
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
(Bold emphasis added)
The sequence of these events is key to our understanding of resurrection
and the agricultural / harvest example cited above. Later the Scripture
provides this additional information found in 1 Corinthians 15: 20: “20 But
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that
slept. (Emphasis added) [Our
Lord Jesus was the first man to be “truly resurrected” from the dead, never again
to experience “death”. Since the example
used above relates to a “sheaf / bundle” of grain, as we continue reading we
note the others who were resurrected following the Lord’s resurrection to form
the rest of that sheaf.] Now, before continuing with the next verses of that passage
of Scripture, I’d like to consider the possible makeup of those others who comprised
that group of “firstfruits”.
Note from the Scripture above, each of the “firstfruits” were
persons who were being joined with the Lord Jesus as He would soon be ascending
back to our Father in Heaven. To have earned that special honor / status they
would have had to have been “righteous” in His eyes. Their righteousness would
have been expressed by believing / having faith in what the LORD / LORD God had
told them, and / or how their conscience had led them to follow “good” rather
than “evil”.
To get a nice summary of some of those who met those criteria, I recommend
that you read the Scripture in what is
frequently called: “The Faith Chapter: Hebrews Chapter Eleven”. Some
familiar names include Abel, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, and Rahab, among others. Others
who were likely included in the “sheaf of firstfruits’ were Adam and Eve, as
they were saved by the LORD God (Genesis 3; 20-21, 4: 25). Consider also:
·
Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon (Daniel 4: 1-37,
note especially Verse 37);
·
Cyrus, the King of Persia (Ezra 1: 1-8; 2 Chronicles
36: 22-23; Isaiah 45: 1-3);
·
Ruth, the Moabitess (Ruth 1: 1-17);
·
Lazarus, the poor man in Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:
19-31);
·
The 2nd Thief Crucified Next to Jesus (Luke
23: 32-43); and
·
Others?
At this point I’d like to return to the discussion of the resurrection
of man beyond the first group of the “firstfruits”. Next will be the “main harvest”. However, because
of the length of this discussion, we’ll resume in continuation in Part 2, under
this same title.
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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