Jesus was Sent to RIse again
John 10:14-18, John 20
The command Jesus has received from the Father is to give His life in death and take it up again through resurrection. This is an explicit purpose statement by Jesus, a moment not entirely uncommon throughout the Gospels. Every time Jesus mentions His ultimate purpose to be glorified in death and be raised again on the third day, the disciples either don’t understand or grow so distraught at the thought of Jesus dying that His subsequent resurrection is overlooked. In other words, none of them could grasp what it meant for Jesus to take His life up again, though it is now what we stake our hope on as Christians.
The scripture points to Jesus’s death and resurrection to achieve the new covenant between God and His people. The Bible Project explores this theme thoroughly in their article “Why did Jesus Rise on the Third Day,” highlighting different components of the covenant we would eventually receive in Jesus. Substitutionary atonement with the story of Abraham and Isaac, new identity through salvific means in the story of Exodus, and resurrection introduced by Jonah and the big fish (Heibert, 2020). Jesus references this sign specifically as the one which will be given to prove Himself to be the Messiah (Matthew 12:39b). Resurrection is the chosen sign to prove to the world our God can save, and not even death can take this hope away from us.
Death is the inevitable conclusion to life as a human. No matter what we do to prevent it, we will die. Defeating death is unfathomable to the degree culture bids us to distract ourselves from it as much as possible. We work out hard, eat incredibly healthy, and follow influencers' “anti-aging” routines to prevent us from even seeing the reminder of it we carry in our bodies. Should we mention the strange elixirs royalty of old has consumed? The undefeated weapon of the sin-stricken world, overtaking everyone with no sign of comeback, had met its match in Jesus. When death struck Jesus, its victory celebrations would only last a short while, for the body that was publicly executed was taken up again in life by Jesus’s power and authority. The empty tomb boasts the grave of death itself! Jesus was sent to bring death to death, a victory only our God could achieve on our behalf. And everything we know about Jesus rests on this undeniable fact of His divine triumph.
A few days following Tim Keller’s passing into glory this year, Desiring God released a short audio clip of Keller teaching on death and the incredible hope resurrection brings to those found in Him. Using Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus as an example, Keller states:
“When Paul realized that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead, suddenly, everything broke open… Because if Jesus Christ really died on the cross taking our punishment, and he’s now raised from the dead… not only are our sins forgiven, but we have incredible hope about the future; we’re going to be raised. And everything in this world is going to be put right. And there’s not going to be any suffering or death. That is an astonishing hope!”
Christian, death is defeated! Abide in Him who is resurrected, and let your joy grow in this unshakeable hope.
I encourage you to listen to the rest of the Desiring God audio here: Death Can Only Make Me Better: Remembering Tim Keller (1950–2023)
