Jesus’ Death, Burial & Resurrection
Pastors Leslie & Adeline Chua
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received, in which you stand,
and by which you are being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you
—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures,”
“*
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places”
The above is the Apostles’ Creed. A creed is a set of formal statements of fundamental Christian beliefs. The Apostles’ Creed is the earliest formal creed, and it is widely accepted and used in many churches until today.
The heart of the Apostles’ Creed lies in the part where it says concerning Jesus, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.”
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection form the cornerstone beliefs of Christianity. In the Scripture, the apostle, Paul, made it very clear that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the heart of the gospel.
Take away any of these elements and the Christian faith falls apart.
If Jesus did not die, then, we are still in our sins, and the wages of our sins are still unpaid. If that is the case, we are still condemned and without hope of salvation.
If Jesus were not buried, and may I add, buried sinless, then, He could not have saved us from our sins. A Saviour tainted with sin would be useless as He would be powerless to save.
If Jesus had not risen from the dead, then, He had no victory over sin as the bible claims. Then, our faith is futile, and we are still under the tyrannical control of sin. Worse, there is no hope of everlasting life.
But thanks be to God, Jesus died, He was buried, and on the third day, He rose from the dead. He had saved us from our sins, He had conquered death. The sting of death no longer has any effect on those who believe and put their trust in Jesus. Because He lives, we will also live, and we will live forever. Praise be to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Jesus’ Death
Jesus is a historical figure. There is no doubt about it. Recorded history bears this fact. No historians who challenge the historicity of Jesus would be taken seriously.
Flavius Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, mentioned Jesus and His condemnation to crucifixion by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea.
Tacitus, regarded as the greatest Roman historian by modern scholars, specifically recorded that Jesus suffered the death penalty during the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator, Pontius Pilate.
While Jesus’ historicity and death by crucifixion are well-established, His death is surprising.
Jesus’ closest disciples did not anticipate His death though He often talked about it. Sometimes, He spoke about it in veiled form (John 3:14, 8:28, 16:16), and at other times, clearly, especially toward the end of His ministry (Mark 8:31-32; Matthew 26:12).
The disciples were too preoccupied with the thought of sitting on Jesus’ right and left when He established God’s Kingdom in Israel. Jesus’ death was furthest from their minds.
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Jesus’ death at the hands of His enemies and Pontius Pilate
was not accidental.
Neither was it because He lost the battle
of wits and political manoeuvring
to the corrupt religious leaders.
Jesus died because it was God’s will.
God’s plan was for Him to be an atoning sacrifice for sin.
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Many ordinary Jews had the same idea. They believed Jesus was their Messiah, and they were looking forward to Him kicking out the Roman occupiers and then reigned as King over Israel.
But God’s plan was different. Someday in the future, Jesus would reign as the Messiah-King over the entire world, not just Israel. But in the meantime, Jesus would be the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for the sin of humanity.
Jesus’ death at the hands of His enemies and Pontius Pilate was not accidental. Neither was it because He lost the battle of wits and political manoeuvring to the corrupt religious leaders.
Jesus died because it was God’s will. God’s plan was for Him to be an atoning sacrifice for sin.
Listen to what Peter said in his first public sermon – “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23).
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By His death, Jesus brought us life.
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Yes, the Pharisees were involved, the Sadducees framed Him, and Pontius Pilate sentenced Him to be crucified. But, ultimately, it was the will of God for Him to die. That was the reason for His incarnation, that He came in the flesh. He was the Lamb of God as John the Baptist rightly pointed out (John 1:35-36).
By His death, Jesus brought us life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Jesus’ Burial
Jesus was crucified. He died, and He was buried. The details of Jesus’ burial were recorded in all the four Gospels.
Up to recent years, there were wild suggestions that Jesus was not buried as claimed in the bible. There were also claims that He was buried in a different tomb. The weirdest speculation must be the ones postulating that Jesus did not die, but He was merely comatose, and He crawled out of the tomb afterwards. Nobody could survive the cruel scourging and crucifixion, and after that escaped from the cave tomb. It is a preposterous idea.
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Jesus was crucified. He died, and He was buried.
The details of Jesus’ burial
were recorded in all the four Gospels.
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Here is a surprising fact that is rarely mentioned. Two men were involved in burying Jesus - Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Both were secret disciples of Jesus. They were also respected members of the Sanhedrin, the highest religious council.
At least two women witnessed the burial – Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James. But while the testimony of women was not deemed credible, surely Joseph and Nicodemus were credible witnesses.
Also, do not forget the fact that the Pharisees requested Pilate to seal the tomb and put a few Roman soldiers to guard it to prevent the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus and faking His resurrection. They requested because Jesus had said – “After three days I will rise” (Matthew 27:62-66).
Jesus’ Resurrection
Christianity is unique in many ways, one of which is the proclamation of a Saviour who died and then rose to life again. The significance of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ is only matched by His resurrection.
A God that is dead is not worth worshipping. If He has no power over death, then He is not much of a God.
Christianity is not merely a religion like every other religion armed with a set of doctrines and rules serving as a guide for moral living. It is more than that. It is a living faith where the living God is constantly interacting with His people.
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Christianity is the only faith that promises eternal life
for anyone who would put his or her trust in Jesus Christ,
believing that by Christ’s death, they are saved,
and by His resurrection, they will also live forevermore.
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The Christian faith is simultaneously focused on the present life as well as the life to come. Life beyond the grave is the concern of many people. Understandably so.
What lies beyond this present life? Is there hope and confident certainty in the life beyond?
Absolutely! Christianity is the only faith that promises eternal life for anyone who would put his or her trust in Jesus Christ, believing that by Christ’s death, they are saved, and by His resurrection, they will also live forevermore.
Jesus is the firstfruits of resurrection (1 Corinthians 20, 23), which means that those who believe in Jesus will also be resurrected later.
According to the Scripture, this will happen sometime in the future when Jesus returns for His church (1 Corinthians 15:23). He will snatch us up to be with Him in the clouds. This is the rapture. Believers in Christ who are deceased will rise first. They will be followed by believers who are still alive (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Like Jesus when He rose from the dead, we will be given a new body. This new body is different from our present body. It will spiritual, imperishable, and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:42, 44, 53). With it, we will live eternally with no fear of sickness, corruption, and death.
This is God’s promise! This is our hope of glory! Hallelujah!