Tag Archives: resurrection

Why Can’t I Be Baptized?

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WHY CAN’T I BE BAPTIZED?

“As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, ‘Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?’ He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. He had what he’d come for and went off down the road as happy as he could be.

“Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.” Acts 8:36-40 (The Message).

Mission accomplished! The seed of God’s word was sown in the heart of an African man who came to Jerusalem seeking the Lord. He was on his way home, with his feet firmly planted on “The Way” and the joy of the Lord spilling out of him.

Although Philip did not mention baptism, why did the eunuch seem to know what to do to seal his new-found faith in the Lord Jesus? If he was one of people the Book of Acts called “God-fearers”, he would have understood the ritual of baptism in the Jewish faith.

Baptism was a common practice in Judaism. It was a ritual washing (mikvah) in running or “living” water to initiate someone into a new office, e.g., into the priestly office, or into a new phase of his life or identity with a new leader, e.g., the baptism of John. Both John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples baptized people regularly, according to John 4:1. No doubt this man, being a Gentile, had been baptized into Judaism at some time in his life as a sign that he had embraced the Jewish faith.

Just as He had done with the Passover meal, i.e. revealed its fulfilment in Himself as the Passover Lamb, so Jesus had also infused baptism with a new meaning – His resurrection. When we eat the bread and drink the wine which symbolize His broken body and shed blood, we are expressing our faith in His sacrifice which redeemed us from slavery in “Egypt”.

Likewise, when we are “baptized”, we are immersed in a watery grave as a symbol of our identity with Him in His death and we “rise” to a new life with and in Him. This is a clear and visible statement that we have died to our old way and have risen to a new life of identity with Jesus.

“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:2-4 (NIV)

The implication of baptism is much more than a ritual initiation into Christianity. It is a public confession of our identity with Jesus in His death and resurrection and a symbol of our cleansing from sin and embracing our new life in him.

“Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV).

Perhaps at this stage the eunuch did not understand all the implications of his baptism, but at least he knew that his life had changed direction. He was now on course to follow Jesus and be identified with Him and with all those who had become a part of “The Way”.

It’s Really Me

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IT’S REALLY ME

“While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, ‘Peace be to you.’ They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, ‘Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands, look at my feet — it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.’ As He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much. It seemed too good to be true.

“He asked, ‘Do you have any food here?’ They gave Him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.” Luke 24:36-43 (The Message).

The Bible doesn’t give us carefully worked-out doctrinal schemes, but a little bit of detective work can yield some valuable clues to satisfy our curiosity; about the resurrection, for example.

Jesus assured us that, if we believe in Him, even though we die, we shall live. Obviously, dying would refer to physically dying which none of us will escape except those who are alive when Jesus returns. But we know that when we die, we leave our bodies behind to return to the ground. However, without our bodies we are not completely human. We are not angels who are spirits without bodies.

Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb to decay, but when He rose from the dead, He did not rise in a newly-created body but in His renewed body, leaving behind only the empty grave clothes. He invited His disciples to check Him out. The marks of His crucifixion were still there as an eternal reminder of His sacrifice for us. He had the same physical features which they recognised as their Master.

The Apostle Paul assured us that our resurrection bodies would be like Jesus’ body, not newly created but renewed, like a plant which grows from a seed. Our bodies will be sown into the ground and raised in an indestructible body just like the body of Jesus.

Jesus’ body was touchable. He was not an apparition. He had muscle and bone; He even ate fish to show them that He was real, not a phantom or a product of their collective imagination. There is no way they all could have imagined Him at the same moment and heard Him speak the same thing to all of them.

His body, though real and material, was much more than that. He came to them through a closed door. He was there and yet everywhere at the same time. Although He was not physically present in the Upper Room to hear Thomas express his scepticism about His resurrection, He knew what Thomas had said, came to him and invited him to put his fingers in the wounds to confirm that He really was alive.

Not only will our bodies be incorruptible but also our spirits. Jesus defeated death, the end result of sin. Since we cannot die, it will be impossible for us to sin. We will be as perfect as Jesus is. We will be like Him, in perfect unity with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see him as He is.” 1 John 3:2 (NIV).

Perhaps the most awesome of all is that Jesus is our High Priest, representing us to the Father in His human body. So great is the miracle of Jesus becoming a man that He will always be a man. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV). We will fellowship with Him in His kingdom as fully human.

He Is Not There!

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HE IS NOT HERE!

“They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, ‘Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here but raised up. Remember how He told you when you were still back in Galilee that He had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross and in three days rise up?’ Then they remembered Jesus’ words.” Luke 24:4-8 (The Message).

Funny how  grief blotted out the women’s ability to think straight! Had they remembered Jesus’ words, they could have saved themselves a whole weekend of emotional pain, and unnecessary activity and expense. Instead of weeping useless tears and spending their time and money preparing to preserve the body of Jesus for a little while longer, they could have enjoyed their Sabbath in anticipation of their beloved Master’s return.

I have often wondered why their minds refused to receive the promise of His resurrection. His disciples had heard the same information many times but they still didn’t get it. For some reason the women, who were far more receptive than the men, didn’t get it either. They believed He was dead and that He would stay dead and their belief brought forth the flood of grief that shut out the possibility for them, of His words being fulfilled.

Not even angelic visitors from the other side could convince them that Jesus was alive. The appearance of these two men was so startling that the women were overwhelmed and fell down in worship. They must have made an impression on them. No one can meet an unearthly being like these and not take note!

It took this powerful visitation to remind them of Jesus’ promise. but even that did not seem to have the desired effect on them. They remembered, yes, but what else? As the story unfolds, we will see how unbelief was like a disease that spread among Jesus’ followers.

As much as this was part of their journey, so it is a part of ours. The robust faith of the early church was the product of a painful process of failure and learning which formed the foundation of their unshakable confidence in their Lord. He was as dead as anyone could be, but He rose again and was powerfully alive and at work in and among them.

They only knew that because they had passed through the terrible grief of their loss to the indescribable joy of His resurrection. Their faith was not automatic and neither is ours. But our experience must never end at the tomb with eyes blinded by sorrow and ears deaf to His promise. Like them, we must pass through death to resurrection, through sorrow to joy and through despair to hope.

No matter what our pain or loss might be, it gains its true value only when we come through it to a faith in God stronger and more secure than before the trial. Suffering has no value if it does not take us into a peace and security that does not make sense in the natural. It is rooted in a God who is with us and for us because He did not leave His Son’s body to rot in a rocky tomb.

No religion, based on human imagination with roots men’s minds, not in history, can match the story of Jesus. His life, death and resurrection happened as God said it would, and with that comes the certainty that everything else He said is true. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (NIV).

The Sadducees Gave a Go!

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THE SACCUDEES HAVE A GO!

“Some Sadducees came up. This is the Jewish party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote us that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to take the widow to wife and get her with child. Well, there were once seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless. The second married her and died, and then the third, and eventually all seven had their turn, but no child. After all that, the wife died. That wife, now — in the resurrection whose wife is she? All seven married her.'” Luke 20:27-33 (The Message).

Quite a contrived story!

It must have been obvious to Jesus that it was a trick question. Perhaps these arrogant Jews were hoping to insult Him and make Him look like a fool so that they could undermine His credibility with the people.

Under normal circumstances, the Pharisees and Sadducees were on opposite sides of the fence. The Pharisees were the fanatically religious leaders, sticking rigidly to the minutiae of the Law while the Sadducees were part of the political wing. They denied the supernatural; hence they rejected any possibility of resurrection.

They made up this story to catch Jesus out, to make Him and the whole possibility of resurrection look silly, to undermine His claim to be Messiah and, ultimately, to be the Son of God because He was supporting a pipe-dream!

These men had to learn that God’s truth and God’s ways were not some superficial and poorly-devised idea to give them false hope and lure them into worshipping Him under false pretences. They were correct in their understanding of the law of levirate marriage but, as we examine Jesus’ response in the next study, their understanding of God’s kingdom and the life to come was way off track.

This is the problem when we try to rationalise God’s revelation and apply human wisdom to God’s ways. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ’As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'” Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV).

God does not reveal Himself and His ways to satisfy our curiosity. He only reveals what He wants us to know to show us His greatness so that we will take His word seriously and submit to His authority. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV).

The attitude of the Sadducees is still alive today. People, who have no desire to know the truth so that they can follow Jesus, replicate the Sadducees’ approach to Him. Their questions are not for honest answers but because they are looking for an excuse to justify their unbelief.

We need to be careful if we think we can make a fool of God. As the Apostle Paul said, ‘God’s foolishness is wiser than our wisdom!’ His mercy is wide open to those who are humble enough to recognise their need and to call on Him but there is nothing but judgment for the people who think they can make it on their own.

God has made it clear that He has no time for arrogant fools but endless mercy and grace for the humble. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6b (NIV).

God of the Living

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GOD OF THE LIVING

“‘Even Moses exclaimed about resurrection at the burning bush, saying, ‘God: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob!’ God isn’t the God of dead men but of the living. To Him all are alive.’

“Some of the religion scholars said, ‘Teacher, that’s a great answer!’ For a while, anyway, no one dared put questions to Him.” Luke 20:37-40 (The Message).

Hidden truths! Did anyone notice that the truth about resurrection is hidden in that short and seemingly insignificant statement – “God of Abraham”?

Every Jewish boy would have known that because his text book from birth was the Torah, the five books of Moses. He would have heard the Shema – “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” (Deuteronomy 6:4) – every time he suckled at his mother’s breast. By the age of six he would have memorised the book of Leviticus and by twelve, the whole Torah. In the Torah are the seeds of every major doctrine in the Bible, including the truth about the resurrection.

God created time and lives in a realm which is not subject to time. Unlike Him, human beings are not eternal. Our existence begins at a point in time but, from that point, we never cease to exist.

Because of Adam’s choice, we are subject to death, but death is not the end. It is the transition from time to eternity, from the realm of the physical to the realm of God where we shed all the imperfections of our fallen humanity and stand before God in the perfection of Jesus which He gave to us because of His death on the cross.

Because Jesus came from that realm, He could speak of as fact, that which we receive by faith, that God is the God of the living because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive in His presence.

Had the Sadducees paid a little more attention to the Torah, they would not have made fools of themselves by posing a question to Jesus that revealed their ignorance.

In His reply, Jesus shows us how we can find the answer too many of the questions that puzzle us about our faith. There is a principle of Biblical interpretation that will help us, called the Law of First Mention. The first time something is mentioned in the Bible is the key to understanding what it means in the rest of the Bible.

There is an example of this principle that will help us to understand God’s original intent about prayer. The first mention of prayer is found in Genesis 4:26: “At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.” In the original Paleo (picture) Hebrew, the word for “call” meant “to turn the head to face the One who can bear the burden.”

That’s it! We have made prayer into something quite complicated whereas the Bible presents prayer as the simple act of changing our awareness! When Adam and Eve chose to ignore God’s command, they lost their God-awareness and became self-aware, (“’…I was afraid because I was naked, and so I hid.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked?'” – Genesis 3:10b-11a), a preoccupation that has never changed

To change our awareness means to recognise and acknowledge God in the centre of whatever our concern is. We don’t have to bring God into our situations – He’s already there! When we change our awareness, we move from worry and panic to peace because He is there, He is good and He is in charge.

Jesus was saying, in essence, ‘Go back to the beginning where God has revealed His original intent. That’s where you’ll find His answers to your questions.’