Jesus Takes His Life Again

Read Matthew28:1-6 ‘“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from MY Father”’ (Jn.10:17-18, NASB). Throughout the centuries the question has been asked and debated. “Who killed Jesus?” This question seeks to determine who is responsible for the physical death of the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth who is called the Christ. The Jewish authorities put Jesus on trial, even bringing forth false witnesses. They judged Him guilty, but they did not have authority to crucify Him. This authority rested with Pilate the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate offers to set Jesus free, but the mob cries out repeatedly “crucify Him.” The crowd takes the responsibility upon themselves. They say, ‘“His blood be on us and on our children!”’ (Matt. 27:25, NASB). So, who do we blame? Who is responsible for the death of Jesus? The answer is different from what we might expect. In the Gospel of John the writer records a confrontation that takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees (9:41). Jesus stakes His claim to be the one who owns the sheep. He is the one that is able to reconcile the people to God. All others, including the Pharisees that stake a claim to the sheep are thieves and robbers (10:1). Jesus makes two definitive statements to establish His claim. “I am the door of the sheep” (v. 7) and “I am the good shepherd” (v.11). Jesus stakes this claim based upon His willingness to die for the sheep. Jesus states that no one takes His life; rather he lays down His life, but He will take it up again. So it is that the historical record is that Jesus is crucified because of the false charges brought against Him by the religious authorities, the demands of the crowds, and upon the authority of Pilate the Roman governor. In a sense we can say that all of these killed Jesus. While this may satisfy the question raised by men, it says nothing about Jesus’ claims about Himself. Jesus says that no one takes His life. Instead, He lays down His life for the sheep, but He will take it up again. Jesus is crucified and buried in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea a secret disciple of Jesus (Jn. 19:38). It is three days after the crucifixion and the end of the Sabbath. Some of the women disciples come to anoint the body of Jesus. It is late in the day when they bury Jesus. They do not have time to properly anoint His body. It is early in the morning as it begins to dawn and the women are making their way to the burial site to complete the anointing of Jesus’ body. However, there is the problem of moving the very large stone that has been used to seal the tomb. Since it is early in the morning, the women wonder who they can find at this early hour to remove the stone. They do not know but they continue on to the burial site. When they arrive they find the answer to their question. By now I hope that the reader of this article realizes that the women expect to find a dead Jesus. Before His crucifixion Jesus tells His disciples about His death and resurrection, but at this time what Jesus has said has little or no meaning to them. Did they not believe Jesus? Were they so grief stricken that His words have escaped them? Sometimes we say that we believe a thing, but when the event takes place we might discover that we really have not assessed what we have said that we believe. Really, for the purpose of the article the thoughts of the women are of secondary importance. What is the primary point? Jesus always speaks the truth. Jesus is the truth. His words do not go out without accomplishing what He says. Jesus says that He has a command from the Father, and He has authority to effectively carry out the command. Jesus lays down His life and the women are about to learn that Jesus takes His life up again. In the Gospel of Matthew the writer gives us an account of what takes place on this resurrection morning. Matthew names two of the women disciples that come to the grave. The writers of Mark, Luke, and John name other women that come to the tomb: Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1. When the women arrive they see an angel sitting at the tomb and the stone is rolled away by the angel of the Lord. The appearance of an angel of the Lord strikes fear into the guards. Throughout the bible the appearance of an angel of the Lord causes fear in the person who sees the angel. It is what the angel says that is of most importance. The angel says to the women, ‘“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying”’ (Matt. 28:6). The grave is empty. The angel says that Jesus is risen “just as He said.” The statement of the angel indicates that the rising from the dead takes place in the same way that Jesus tells His disciples. While men murdered the physical body, Jesus does not die until of His own accord He lays down His life. This truth is seen in the last words of Jesus recorded by Luke and John. Luke writes: “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last” (Lk. 23:46, NASB). John writes: “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” Jn. 19:30, NASB). Jesus is in control to the end. The Luke account of Jesus’ death is significant when we seek to understand His resurrection. Jesus commends His spirit into the hands of His Father. While Jesus is in the grave the Father still controls the events that take place with Jesus. When the three days of burial are ended Jesus comes back to life. Jesus’ physical death and His time in the grave are all under the control of the Father. Jesus is resurrected from the dead because His life is in the hands of God. The hope of every believer is that when this life is over they will be resurrected to a new life, and they will live with God eternally. Just as Jesus lives to please His Father, those who trust in Jesus receive His Spirit and seek to live to please God. Believers know that in a physical sense they are at the mercy of sinful men. Sin kills. Sin means that we cannot live. God does not abide sin. We can enter into the presence of our Holy Father because Jesus makes the necessary sacrifice so that we are forgiven of our sins. We die a physical death, but just as Jesus rises from the dead we too will rise from the dead. We receive new life. “This perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53, NASB). Jesus was not resuscitated to the same life. He died and rose again with new life. Because Jesus is in control we have the assurance that we too have hope in His resurrection.