Read Mark 16
Key Verse: Mark 16:6 “…He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”
One of the important ingredients in the resurrection of Jesus is the fact of His death. Jesus really died. Just like our ancestors have done. Just like you and I will do. Why is this so important? Here’s why.
Please indulge me as I quote from my book, “Theology for non-Theologians”: “…there have been two classic mistakes throughout history whenever Christians have attempted to explain the person of Jesus Christ. One is very practical–‘Jesus simply couldn’t have been God.’ And the other is very mystical–‘Jesus wasn’t really human at all’. Yet the Bible presents Jesus as fully God and fully man. He has two natures united in one person. Most believers have little sympathy for mistake number one, but they do have an affinity with mistake number two. This shouldn’t surprise us, for, historically, this dehumanizing of Jesus has always been a major problem for the church.” (P.253, Macmillan, N.Y.; Collier Macmillan, London).
Look at the key verse, “He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” Notice the words, “here”, and “place”. These are spatial words. Spirits are both “here” and “there”, and no one has ever thought to attempt the burial of a spirit in a “place”. Only physical bodies are buried in a place. Usually we mark the place with some kind of memorial. In fact, it is possible to visit the grave sites of some great religious leaders to this day. The point is this: Jesus didn’t just vanish, as if He were merely spirit or some kind of super-angel, He died. He had a body–a flesh and blood body, just like you and me. He was all man.
And He was all God. In fact, He was fully man and fully God. At the same time! God/man–the only one of his kind. The grave tells us He was man. The resurrection tells us He was God. And the post-resurrection appearances and final ascension tell us He is “the same, yesterday, today and forever.”
So, while He remains the same, we put our trust in Him–and are never the same again.
