The Death and Resurrection of Christ

Let's Pray:

O Lord, open our eyes that we may really know how You were crucified, and entered into resurrection to become the consummated God with the effectiveness of death and resurrection.

Hymn: 117

Today's Verses and Footnotes: John 21:15-25

Key Verse:

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week, Mary the Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was yet dark and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.

John 20:21 Then Jesus said to them again, Peace be to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.

John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Life Supply:

Christ ascended to the heavens with a resurrected body, and now, in John 20, He comes back to the disciples also with a resurrected body (Luke 24:37-40; 1 Cor. 15:44). With a resurrected body, the Lord came into the room where the disciples were with the doors shut( John 20:19). Since the doors were shut, how could He enter with a body of bones and flesh? Our limited mentality cannot comprehend it, but it is a fact, and we must receive it according to the divine revelation.

Consider the illustration of a carnation seed. A carnation seed has a tiny, round body. But when it has been planted and has grown out of the ground, it has a stem and a blossom. Is this not also a body? Before the carnation seed was sown into the ground, it had a little body. After growing out of the ground, it had a different body. This is exactly what Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15:44: "It is sown a soulish body, it is raised a spiritual body." The body is sown in one form and raised up from the ground in another form. The one sown is the original, natural body, and the one grown up is the resurrected body. After His resurrection, Christ had a resurrected body; yet it was physical and could still be touched. Even though the doors were shut, Christ entered into the room with this body.

[In John 20,] after the Lord showed them both His hands and His side, the disciples "rejoiced when they saw the Lord" (vv. 20). This was a fulfillment of the Lord's promise in 16:19 and 22, where He said, "You therefore now indeed have sorrow; but I shall see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you." Now the disciples saw the newborn "child" (vv. 21), who was the resurrected Lord born in His resurrection as the Son of God (Acts 13:33). As we shall now see, this fulfillment by His coming back to His disciples brought them five blessings: His presence, His peace, His commission, the Holy Spirit, and the authority to represent Him (John 20:23). (Life-Study of John, pp. 553-554)

Questions:

1. Why was Christ resurrected on the first day of the week? (See John 20:1 note 1)

2. Why did the Lord breath into His disciples after His resurrection? (See John 20:22 note 1)

3. How can we have life in His name? (See John 20:31 note 1)