Proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead
Thu, 4 January, 2007: Today’s Bible readings.
1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
Peter and John have just been a part of the miraculous healing of the lame man at the temple. They use the opportunity to preach about Jesus Christ, and the priests hear about. They are greatly annoyed about this. What bothers them so? The priests are part of the Sadducees, who, as the liberals of the day, deny there is any resurrection. What bothers them is that the apostles are teaching that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, and that there is a future resurrection that we look forward to.
What do we learn from this?
Opposition to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is nothing new. Some people believe that what we have now is all there is. Although there is no hope with their philosophy, they also aren’t burdened by the thought of final and ultimate judgment. This frees them to live however they like, since they deny there is any responsibility for their actions beyond the here and now.
The problem is, truth is not determined by what is convenient for us. We might want to believe something because it gives us freedom to live by our standards, but that doesn’t make it true. And the truth is that there is a resurrection of the dead that will come at the end of time. We will all stand before God in final judgment, and then we will be reunited with our glorified bodies for eternity in heaven, or we will spend eternity in our bodies in hell.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus Christ did rise again from the dead. His tomb is empty. He is the first fruits, and because He rose from the dead, we know that we will also be resurrected.
