Jesus Christ, the Son of God, went in the place of the dead for three days, and He showed everyone that He is the Only Son of God and His words are only “Yes and No.” He is the natural Alpha and Omega and the Truth. Through The Resurrection of Jesus, we are free and washed from all sins.
Did Jesus resurrect?
The Bible tells us that Jesus did indeed rise from death. He promised that after three days, something fallen out of love for people would rise again. And after the resurrection, He showed Himself to the apostles and those He loved. He told them that He would ascend to their father in Heaven and would not leave them, orphans. And He goes to prepare a place for all who desire it. Some scholars have proved Jesus of Nazareth existence that he was a natural person and existed.
A man who existed, with countless pieces of evidence found to prove that the biblical accounts are accurate. Jesus’ resurrection was to fulfill what the scriptures spoke of. That the Son of Man would be given to die on the cross for us and descend into the abode of the dead, and after the descent into this abode of the soulless, Jesus will rise to ascend.
There was a notable silence in Heaven before He came to Earth because God asked the seraphim and archangels which of them would come down to earth. To restore freedom from the bondage of sin. But there was silence, and no one said anything, and from behind the crowds of archangels, He saw the light not contained, and Jesus came forth. Immanuel, the only son of God, broke the silence and said He is the one who will go on Earth. He said He came to earth to give freedom and is the Man born by the Word.
Jesus reveals Himself to Mary.
Mary Magdalene was sleepless because of her grief because her Lord had died. So she went to the tomb and saw the tomb empty. She became frightened and began to weep, thinking that the Jews had stolen the body of Jesus Christ. As she sat on the ground weeping, a man came to her to ask her why she was troubled. Mary told him the story and said they had stolen her savior from the tomb. In front of her was a man so beautiful you couldn’t even look at Him, like the sun.
She asked if he knew anything about moving the body to another grave. It was only when He called her name: “Mary!” and forgetting that she had come to look for a dead person, she addressed Him “Rabuni!” meaning Master—spontaneously wanting to approach Him. The Myrrhbearers bear the first witness to the Resurrection. And not just one, because they could have been mistaken. The identical testimony of all the Myrrhbearers is difficult to doubt.
And Mary realized that this was Jesus. She wanted to embrace him, but she told him not to. Because he hadn’t yet gone up to his father in heaven, he urged Mary to go to the disciples And tell them everything she had seen. Tell them I will go to my Father and your Father in Heaven. Please describe the Apostles to go to Galilee, for I will meet them there. Mary did everything the Saviour told her, but some disciples could not believe her. She said to them that she had seen Him. Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene because she was a disciple who loved Jesus very much—and seeing her terrible suffering, Jesus wanted to give her joy.
Did Jesus appear to His mother after His resurrection?
Yes, but not primarily to her alone. People speculate that Jesus would have been guarded by his mother hence the mistake that Jesus showed himself to his mother. But in God’s word, it is not mentioned that Jesus showed himself directly to Mary, his mother. But it is specified that the disciples were hiding in houses where Mary was, and before the meeting at the Sea of Galilee, Jesus came there to demonstrate to the disciples that what Mary Magdalene told me was true. His mother was thrilled when she saw that her son was alive.
Jesus wanted to show that the promise had been fulfilled. However, the holy Mary was the only one who believed that her son would rise again on Sunday. She sensed this by having a premonition. How could she not feel she had seen so many miracles and wonders? How could she doubt that her son would not rise when his birth was announced to her by an angel of the Lord?
Doesn’t what Jesus and God say always come true? No mother loved her son more than Mary. And for this, Jesus said that whoever loves him will show himself to me and save him, and it will always remain a relationship of supreme love. What greater love can we find than that of Jesus, who was willing to be a sacrificial lamb for us? Jesus calls us His friends in the Bible.
Jesus revealed Himself in Galilee after His resurrection
The angel who announced this revelation to the Myronosites said: “Tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, he will go before you into Galilee, and there you will see Him.”
This revelation is one of the most important fulfilled by Jesus to the Apostles because it concludes the story of the Saviour’s life and activity in the first Gospel. It is related only by Matthew, and Mark indicates it by a few words of commendation of the Saviour to His Apostles.
Galilee was the province of His childhood and His activity, more fruitful than that of Judea. It was in Galilee that He acquired His first disciples, who were natives of that place; it was there that He changed His face before His closest Apostles.
The apostles were not alone on the mountain at the solemnity of this revelation. Therefore some of them, at the sight of Him, the Apostles bowed down, and some other assistants doubted. They were unable to believe their eyes that He was Christ the Messiah.
Thomas doubts Jesus
Three years in which everything Christ had said had been engraved on his heart. All His teaching had passed through the filter of Thomas’ heart. Christ’s words and faith were in the being of Thomas, who was slowly becoming one of the most profound disciples. There was much pain in him, and he had no one to tell the tension in his heart. He looked dumbfounded and could not find the sense to go on living. Life without Christ was no longer the life he desired.
This was Thomas at the moment when the voices of the Resurrection appeared in his heart and around him. They were sporadic and unconcerned voices that He had risen and that the tomb was empty. The pain in Thomas had become so great because he didn’t know what to believe. It all seemed a malicious joke, mocking him in the depression he had fallen into. Thomas cried out in pain.
Thomas the unbeliever
The expression “Thomas the unbeliever” is undoubtedly one of the best known but also the most false. Some people may believe that Thomas was to question everything, constantly demand tangible proof, and be an empiricist in every field, even in the spiritual. Someone like Thomas seems more like a metaphysician who wants a touchable God, in the Archaean sense, and only then can cry “is.” In other words, this missionary can only convince others after he is confident that God is “one plus one equals two,” a rational God. So not three.
Who was the other disciple with Peter at the tomb?
John and Peter went to check Jesus’ tomb, which was empty. The other apostle that went with Peter to His grave was John. But they could not believe that Christ rose from death. Towards evening, the Saviour also shows Himself to the Apostles, greeting them with “Peace be with you.” The Gospel does not bypass or hide their fear. They had seen him dead, and it was natural that they should be troubled (Luke 24:36). And now a counter-argument springs to mind: “It seemed to them that they saw the spirit” (Luke 24:37).
They were tempted to take him for a ghost because they were convinced he was dead. Sensing this, Jesus answered them on the spot, “Why are you troubled, and why do such thoughts arise in your hearts?” and offered them material proof: “Look at my hands and feet, for I am He myself; touch me and see that the Spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me have flesh and bones.” And to give them final assurance, seeing them still afraid, he said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” He ate before them. Peter will use this argument when he speaks to the crowds: “I ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from the dead.”
Jesus shows Himself to Thomas.
Thomas was not an unbeliever but a logician who tried to penetrate and understand the divine mystery with reason, logic, and his mind. That this is so is testified to by the fact that, after eight days, Jesus shows himself again to his disciples, this time with Thomas, in the same way as on the first day of the resurrection, that is, by entering with his body through the locked doors. The evangelist says, “And after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.
And Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you.”. At this point, the risen Lord invites Thomas to approach him and feel his wounds: “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Bring your finger this way, and see My hands. And bring your hand and lay it on My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Jesus now manifests Himself as the true God, the One who can do all things and knows all things: He enters with his body through the locked doors; he reveals to Thomas his “doubt,” scrutinizing his thoughts and repeating to him the words he had spoken to the other disciples: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Jesus’ response to Thomas
In fact, for every claim of Thomas, there is a response from Jesus: “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails” – “See My hands!”; “Unless I put my finger in the mark of the nails” – “Bring your hand!”; “Unless I put my hand in His side” – “Bring your hand and put it in My side!”; “I will not believe” – “Do not be an unbeliever, but a believer!”.
Jesus made Himself known through doubt, and it became the symbol of doubt. If the other Apostles were content with the view, Thomas was not satisfied with that: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). The event of the Resurrection was so unusual that it overwhelmed reason. For eight days, Thomas was haunted by pangs of doubt. He met with the other Apostles who had seen Him and believed in His Resurrection, but Thomas doubted.
Jesus appears to seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias
This last appearance of the Lord after His victory over death happened at dawn, when, almost 40 days before, also at this time, He came out of the tomb, surrounded by Roman soldiers and by the darkness of unbelief that had overtaken Jerusalem, which had killed the prophets and was unworthy of the Lord’s call.
After a hard night, when the fishermen’s work of the seven had proved fruitless, the Saviour appeared to them on the seashore, but they did not know Him, though they had seen Him risen. They had spoken with Him. Still, they had received the power of forgiveness of sins with others. Still, Thomas had touched with his earthly hand the marks of the wounds on the risen One’s body. Their inability to know or recognize this demonstrates that after the Resurrection, the Lord was easily mistaken for other men, and also the failure of eyes that perceive only this world to see and penetrate the eternal and imperishable face of God to become a man.
Now they no longer recognize the Man Jesus of Nazareth of Galilee, but they silently penetrate the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. It was also here that the first call of the apostles took place. And now, after the Resurrection, the last revelation of the mystery to be penetrated with the eyes of the soul takes place.
Jesus predicts Peters’s death.
Peter had a revelation from Jesus about his death. After His resurrection, when He showed Himself to the disciples, Jesus asked Peter three times in succession if he loved him. Then he told him the following:
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, that when thou was younger, thou girded thyself alone, and wentest whithersoever thou wilt: but when thou art old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wilt not.” He said this to show what kind of death Peter would glorify God. And when he had thus spoken, he said to him, “Follow me.” (You can find out how Peter the Apostle died by reading this article about Jesus’ apostles.)
These verses reveal the following truths about Peter’s death: He will die old in years. Peter will pass with outstretched hands While another shall gird him. He’ll be taken where he won’t. Peter’s death will glorify God. Another Biblical reference to the end of Peter is found in one of his epistles, where He tells us the following: “But I count it right, while I am yet in this tabernacle to keep you awake remembering; for I know that the loosing of my tabernacle will come at once, as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. “
From the above text, we understand that the death of the apostle Peter was to come at once. And he knew this very well because the Lord had revealed it to him.
The priesthood after the resurrection
The priesthood of ancient Jerusalem knew that Jesus had risen, and they tried to cover up the Prophecy that the one who died had been fulfilled. The chief priests instructed the watchman to tell everyone that they had positioned the tomb of Jesus to make sure that no one would touch the tomb of the dead Nazarene. But at some point, a deep sleep came over them, and they fell asleep. All this time, all the Lord’s apostles came in the night and stole the body of Jesus to lie to the people that He had risen as He said. (If you need to become more familiar with the priesthood from Jesus’ times, check our article about the giant priests at the moment of Jesus’ crucifixion.)
It was not a happy occurrence at all for the priesthood. The condemnation of Jesus was a political sentence. One of the priests was so distraught by the resurrection that he could no longer speak. It was necessary to conceal the truth lest it provokes a revolution of faith and truth. Caiaphas paid his guards, did and consulted alone but made up his mind to hide the fact with the wise elders of the people of Israel. Better to lie than to acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus, the Angel who opened the tomb. The lie of the priests has spread to many parts of the world, but the true believers are among us even today, and we know that Jesus has risen as He promised.
Caiaphas was scared of Jesus.
When the guards saw what had happened, the angel who took the tombstone was as frightened as death. And they ran off to tell the chief captain all that had happened. After he had spoken the words to him about the resurrection, the Caiaphas would not believe it, and he was afraid of the consequences that awaited him. It was he who condemned Jesus to death. And now to rise and meet Him again?
Because he was scared, Caiaphas paid the guards at Jesus’ tomb to say that the disciples had come and stolen Jesus’ body. So that it would not reach Pilate’s ears that they had killed a saint and the expected Messiah. After the guards had left, he thought to himself that now it was all over. The false story would spread, and no one would hold him accountable, but Caiaphas forgot about the judgment that awaited him.
The meaning of Jesus’ resurrection
Scripture tells us that the curse bound the whole human race due to Adam and Eve’s sin being broken through Christ’s death and resurrection. So that as all men die in Adam, all will rise in Christ.
Since He is the conqueror of sin, hell, and death and the giver of eternal life, the Lord Jesus Christ has promised eternal life to all who believe in Him.
Without universal resurrection and without the hope of transfiguring the present universe into a new heaven and a new earth, human history is consumed in a dramatic struggle for existence and an endless chase after limited and fleeting happiness, and the whole present universe seems like a massive cemetery in fascinating expansion and slow disintegration. Without the proclamation of the Gospel of the Resurrection of Christ and the confession in the Orthodox Creed: I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of forever that has to come. The Church risks being reduced to social morality and becoming a secular institution like any other.
Holy Scripture shows us that the purpose of the Saviour Christ’s descent into hell, states the bondage and solitude of the souls of the dead, was “to overcome by His death him who has dominion over death, that is, the devil, and to deliver those whom the fear of death had kept in bondage all their lives.”
The sending of the 11 apostles
After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to His disciples ten times for 40 days and taught them about the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. And before His Ascension into heaven, Jesus commanded His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high, then to go into all the world to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He had commanded them while promising them that He would be with them in silence forever and ever.
If after Jesus’ crucifixion and death, His disciples were sad and fearful, puzzled by what had happened and hiding for fear of the Jews, after He had risen from the dead and appeared to them several times, they became courageous witnesses and witnesses to his Resurrection. And after receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they began to preach to the crowds in Judea, Samaria, and throughout the world the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as the foundation of their faith in His deity.
They also testified that the Resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the resurrection of all men at the end of the ages on the Last Day. As attested by the Holy Apostles, the belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the new news that fascinated and amazed many and grieved others. The fact that the body’s death could be overcome was overwhelming news to the ancient world, pagan or polytheistic.
Facts about Jesus’ resurrection
- Moreover, this takes on a special significance because the Lord’s Resurrection is not simply a simple resurrection of the dead, as was the case with Lazarus, the Lord’s friend, with Jairus’ daughter, or with the son of the widow of Nain. It is a different death for the world’s sins, a different resurrection, a different body of Jesus, and a transfigured body.
- The resurrection is the soul’s joy that is neither fleeting nor unfulfilling. It is joy par excellence because it is an eternal and complete joy. Therefore, no one should be sad on the night of the Resurrection. No one should weep. All the reasons for sadness now appear meaningless in the face of overcoming death. Death is no more, for the blood of salvation has conquered it.
- The resurrection is, without a doubt, a historical fact, actual and irrevocable, an absolute certainty for Christians that Jesus died, took the world’s sins with him, rose again and is in Heaven at the right hand of the Father.
- Easter is always the end and always the beginning. We always live after Easter and always go towards Easter. The whole spirit and meaning of the liturgical life are contained in Easter, along with the following 50-day period that culminates in the Feast of Pentecost, the Pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.
Jesus’ ascension into Heaven
The spirituality of the Ascension is based on hope. Christians look to the heavenly home that awaits them, still living on earth in the reality of the new world in which Christ reigns.
The Lord’s ascension to heaven means man’s ascension into the eternal light, holiness, and love of the Most Holy Trinity. Luke the Evangelist tells us in his Gospel and, in more detail, in the Acts of the Apostles, that forty days after His Resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ took his disciples to the Mount of Olives and, as he was blessing them, he ascended into heaven, taken up by a bright cloud.
During those 40 days, the Saviour Jesus Christ appeared to the disciples several times. He explained to them the words written in the Law of Moses, in the prophets. The psalms explained the meaning of His death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. They promised that he would send them “the promise of the Father” and “the power from on high,” that is, the Holy Spirit, so that the disciples might preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all nations.
Facts about the ascension of Jesus
According to the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared to the apostles 40 days after his resurrection, after which he ascended into heaven with them.
The significance of the Ascension is not so much related to the phenomenon itself but as an expression of the heavenly glorification of Christ who, raised by the Resurrection to the right hand of God, reigns as King. By conquering death, Christ began a new way of life with God, which he also prepared for his chosen ones. The whole of human nature takes part in His victory. He defeated death for eternity.
Ascension Day is one of the royal feasts with a changing date. It varies according to the date of Easter, 40 days after the Resurrection (Easter). After His resurrection from the dead, the Saviour Jesus Christ spent 40 days on this Earth.
On the day of His Ascension, Christ went with the Apostles to the Mount of Olives. There, raising His hands, He blessed the Apostles and ascended to Heaven.
As it happens with shining and transparent bodies. When a ray falls on them, they become more brilliant, and another brightness comes from them. So it happens with the souls bearing and illuminated by the Spirit. They become spiritual and spread grace to others.
Jesus second coming
The most important effect of the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ is that He is goodness and cleverness incarnate and should be like that. Another is that He showed that God exists. He has promised that He will return on the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see Him.
In those days, the sun will be darkened after that tribulation, and the moon will no longer give her light. And the stars will fall from the sky. And the powers that be in the heavens will falter. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds. From the ends of the earth to the lots of heavens.
Learn from the fig tree this parable: When its twig becomes tender and buds, know that summer is near. So also you, when you see these things come to pass, know that He is near, near the doors. Truly I say to you. This generation will not pass away until all these things are done. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not.
Five truths about what will happen at Jesus’ second coming:
- The restoration of Israel
- The end of earthquakes, famine, and war
- The gospel will be preached in every corner of the world
- Churches are desolate, and the love of believers is cold
- The appearance of a false Christ
Jesus promises
Before Jesus ascended, he told his disciples that if they kept his commandments, they would love God. He promises them that he will send the spirit of the Lord and truth upon them. He says he will not leave them orphans and will come for them. It affirms that Jesus is part of the Trinity, that He is in the Lord and the disciples in Him.
Jesus promised He would not leave us alone in the world and would come for the elect because this life is just a journey, a little preparation for eternity.
The Resurrection of Jesus concerns all humankind because, through the Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ – the Son of God, beginning with the Incarnation and culminating in the Resurrection and Ascension, man is freed from the bondage of sin and death.
If you enjoyed reading our article about Christ’s Resurrection, check another article about Jesus’ passions by accessing the link.
You may also want to play a Quiz about Jesus’ Resurrection. Have a good day!
