I will begin with a verse that is not usually associated with the resurrection of our Savior, but I want to show something profound that is hidden in these words, something that in fact directly testifies to the power, glory, and miracle of Christ's resurrection.
Matthew 16:18
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Brothers and sisters, I could spend forty minutes discussing this verse, but there is no time for that. So I'll lay it out quickly. The resurrection is indeed hidden in these words of the Lord, the new life of His kingdom is here in His words, and, yes, the Deity of Christ comes through vividly in these words.
The glory and power of the atoning death, victorious resurrection and coming kingdom are all in these words.
Here Jesus, by means of words and images His disciples, as Jews, instinctively understand, presents Himself as Lord of the people of God. In the wilderness the Israelites were a community, an assembly, in Greek ekklesia, i.e., God's church, but now Jesus speaks of His own community, of His own people, which can only mean one thing. He is the God of this people This is a bold, even startling statement, which can either be rejected as impossible or accepted on faith; there's no third option.
Moreover, this Jesus, like the former "Jesus," i.e., Joshua, will lead his nation, this new community of God, into the promised land, but this promised land does not lie beyond the Jordan River, nor beyond the walls of Jericho. This promised land lies beyond the river and the gates of Sheol, i.e., death. And this Jesus, the definitive "Author and Perfecter of our faith," is indicating that He will go out in front of His nation, across the river, and will himself break down the walls of death with His own body and blood, opening the way for the people following him, His nation, His church, and no gates can withstand him or people who belong to him, who follow him exclaiming "Hosanna in the highest!"
I am convinced that this image, with its deep Old Testament connotations, is what the Lord is depicting here. And one sees immediately how such a meaning directly relates to the words of the apostle Paul:
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is law. Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
The river has been forded, the walls have fallen, the gates of sin and Sheol have been broken down, the Captain and Conqueror advances before us and shouts,"Follow! The way is open! The kingdom is yours!"
This is the love of God. To bring this to fruition for us, He eagerly gave Himself up—to make His victory our victory, so that "Where I am, there you will also be."
This is the love of God. The risen Lord gave us the victory. The God who says, "Behold, I make all things new," has, precisely, made you and me new:
2 Corinthians 5:17
To anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away, now all things are new.
The old life is gone, you and I no longer live on that side of the river; He has made us citizens of heaven and set us in theheavenly places, in spiritual union with Christ.
Yes, even though we are still here in this world. Nevertheless, on the level of the deepest spiritual reality, we do not belong to this world, but our true home is already whispering to us—within the holy place of our communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—whispering to us that we belong to the King of heaven, that we breathe the air of His Kingdom, our eyes are filled with the light of His Kingdom, our hearts reverberate with the invincible life of His Kingdom.
In the opening statement of his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul used one word that we might read speedily without paying much attention to, but that word contains within, like a nuclear bomb contains within a shatteringly monumental force no matter how microscopic it is, so this word contains the greatness and glory of Christ's atoning feat, and the power of His resurrection:
Galatians 1:1-5
Paul the apostle, not by men nor through men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead, and all the brethren who are with me--to the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of God and our Father; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The word "deliver" is full of powerful meaning. In fact, the entire phrase "deliver us from this present evil age" expresses Paul's perception of the feat accomplished by Christ's death and resurrection. The apostle tells the Galatian Christians that the Lord gave Himself for our sins in order to tear us out of the whole order and spiritual regime surrounding us, so that we are no longer part of it, no longer share its dreams, its passions, its depravity or its destiny.
Can you imagine that a single feat could ever do all that? Yes, one deed can, when the deed is performed by God the Creator Himself, Who destroys the old fallen order, creates a new world, and makes His children part of this new never-ending world.
Which is confirmed by the Lord's words in His prayer to the Father just before His sufferings: "I gave them your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."
And the words of Paul witness in confirmation that, yes, He achieved this and, now, we have been transferred into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the saints. Victory!
The apostle John recounts this victory in the following words:
'Now very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. So she went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”Then Peter and the other disciple set out to go to the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, came in, and he saw and believed. (For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.)
So the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary replied, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she thought he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means Teacher). Jesus replied, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came and informed the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.' (John 20: 1-18, NET Bible)
"I am going to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." The whole import and design of the Atonement is encapsulated in these few shatteringly moving words.
"Why did You DO all this, Lord Jesus?!" "That my Father might become your Father again."
Yes, to make His Father again the Father to whom we turn with boldness, with childlike trust, without fear of cruelty or rejection.
"You must enter the kingdom as a little child."
Is that so hard to understand? We are all children, all of us, all the time. Even those of us over sixty, eighty, andmore! We have all been someone's children since we were born, and we will always be their children, we will never forget what it means to be someone's child.
But the world forgot what it means to be God's children. The terrible gates of Sheol and the river of death cut us off from our true Father, and we became orphans, lost, wandering, and falling into all kinds of wretchedness and despair.
But the river is forded. The walls and gates are broken down. And the Conquering Commander, Living and Mighty, rushes ahead into the promised land, calling out to us, "Move! Let's go! The way is open! I've opened it—because I love you!"
Tell my brethren, say to my people, I am going to my Father and your Father. To the Father Who sees in secret and rewards openly. To the Father, Who knows you better than you know yourselves. To the Father, whom I've given you to know.
Such is the glory, grace and miracle of the Christ's Resurrection. In the light of this glory we, together with the apostle Paul, declare in full assurance:
"For this reason I suffer so; but I am not ashamed. For I know in Whom I have believed, and I am confident that He is able to keep what I have entrusted to Him for that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)
We know in Whom we have believed. We know Him in whom we have believed: "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."
We have come to know our Father now, and continually, unceasingly come to know Him, always more deeply. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, "But since you have now come to know God, or rather, have been known by God...." Our Father has come to know us. This, above all, is His feat. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He first loved us. The resurrection made Him our Father again. The power of Christ's feat made us His children again. This is the joy in which the Lord broke through the walls and gates of death—to make it so.
Jesus' love for His Father brought the Father's love to us again, when the living Son of God came to abide with us together with the Father and the Spirit, one God forever and ever:
Galatians 4:6: But because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out: "Abba, Father!"
From the depths of that same Spirit, who abides with us by the feat of the Risen Lord, we cry out, "Yes, Abba Father, Christ is victorious! Christ lives! Christ is coming! For Christ is risen, He is truly risen!"
