EASTER LESSON 2005: Easter commemorates the resurrection of Christ. It also tells us about our own resurrection.
WHAT RESURRECTION ISN'T:
(1) The afterlife. Many believe in an afterlife who deny the resurrection of the body. Resurrection entails a physical dimension.
(2) Being born again -- as vital as that is.
(3) Something merely figurative -- for example, the "resurrections" of Isaac or Jonah.
(4) The idea of Jesus making a "comeback" -- as many liberal theologians who deny the resurrection of Christ claim.
(5) The "resurrections" of various gods or goddesses in the ancient pagan religions.
(6) Clawing our way out of our graves like zombies, with a decomposed body.
(7) Reanimation (coming back to life in the same body). Many examples of this in both testaments: 1 Kings 17:22, 2 Kings 4:35, 2 Kings 13!, Matthew 10:8, John 11 (Lazarus), Acts 9. After all, these men and women all died twice.
WHAT THE RESURRECTION IS:
A complete transformation (1 Corinthians 15:35). Intimated in the O.T. (Psalms 16, 17, 49, Daniel 12). Similar to the transformation of Jesus' own body. Paul's analogy: a seed. An acorn looks little like an oak, but there is a continuity. Our present physical bodies die, decomposing in the ground. But they are resurrected into a new state at the general resurrection of all mankind.
HOW WAS JESUS' RESURRECTION PERCEIVED BY THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT?
Threatening and exclusive (John 11:25). Jesus redeems all the saints, even under the Old Covenant (Matthew 27:52). The Jewish leaders were upset that the Christians were preaching in Jesus the resurrection. They did not necessarily object to the doctrine of the resurrection, but that one had to be in Christ in order to benefit from it.
THE COMMUNION CONNECTION:
(1) The body -- blood and flesh, wine and bread, something physical and vital. Proclaiming his death until he comes.
(2) Rebirth (baptism) AND communion appear in the scriptures to bring life. See John 6.
(3) In many languages, the word for Easter is the word for Passover. The Thursday evening Last Supper is connected with our present day Communion meal. Easter is therefore directly linked with Communion, and both include tremendously good news!
