This is my favorite part of the salvation story. Because while Jesus caught a lot of people by surprise on Palm Sunday, then he baffled some others when he died, he really proved he was King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the resurrection. This is why we celebrate Resurrection Sunday. (The secular name is “Easter”, but I prefer “Resurrection Sunday”.) While some mocked Jesus on the cross, he had told everyone he was going to die. Before it all happened, prophesies explained that Christ would die and rise again. Then when Jesus came to earth in flesh he fully explained how he would die and rise again. So the real proof that he is God came from resurrection. His enemies knew this. They felt he was a “deceiver” and they knew if he rose from the dead that he would fully prove his stature. So they took precautions to ensure that the body of Jesus would not leave the tomb.

Up until this point, no angles had come down to work on Christ’s behalf. Jesus could have called angels while on the cross to kill those who crucified him, but he did not. He knew there was a job to complete, even when his father in heaven could not look at him holding the sins of man. But with Jesus’ body in the tomb and guards at the door, Christ had completed his work. So Jesus was given all power and angels came to take care of Christ’s light-work. (”Light-work” being a slang term, meaning they took care of the guards and stone in front of the door. So Jesus did not even need to lift another finger.)

The book of Luke records that more than 2 women went to the tomb and saw more than one angel. Read Luke 24 when you can. Basically the various accounts of events in the Bible each offer details you might not find in reading a single book. In this regard the book of Matthew records 2 women and an angel, while the book of Luke offers more detail. Think of it like one reporter saying an ambassador went to a country and met a dignitary. While a different reporter gets more detailed and mentions that the ambassador had an entire group with them and met more than one representative.

So Jesus is out of the tomb. Those who hated Christ knew this was bad for their efforts to paint Jesus as a false god. So what did they do? They paid some folks off and spun the story.

Of course precautions were taken by Christ’s enemies to ensure that his body could not be removed. And anyone going up against some Roman soldiers on a mission from governor Pilate would have been punished/killed for certain. But in this case the spun story was put into the public and the disciples were not hunted down for attacking Roman guards. Because it never happened. Despite their efforts, the enemies of Christ could not keep his body in the tomb. Jesus said what he was going to do and did it. There was no deception on Christ’s part, but his enemies made so many efforts to stop him because they knew he had called them out as the true deceivers.

Once Jesus was out of the tomb, he met with his disciples and gave them specific instructions.

See Luke 24 and John 20 for more details, but he helped them get over their fears and when he left they were all praising him.

Take note of what Jesus instructed. For them to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching what Jesus commanded them to teach. Jesus never requested that they make converts via force. So when Jesus said to make disciples of all nations, it was nothing like some who try and make converts at the tip of a sword. Just telling people this story sells its self! This is why the Christian evangelical exists. Because Christ asked us to spread the gospel. It is our job until he returns to make disciples and teach others to observe what he commanded.

Jesus also appeared to John while he was in exile on the island called Patmos. He explained to him his power gave him authority over death.

Because Christ has power over death, that is why those who accept him are granted eternal life.

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, man had the opportunity to eat any fruit of his choice, including fruit from the tree of life. Man made a terrible choice and ate from the one tree that God instructed man not to eat from, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So God had to prevent us from having access to eternal life at that time. Given we allowed ourselves to be deceived.

We failed to follow instruction from God and fell from grace. God had a plan for our development, that we decided to alter via our own sin. But God in his perfect wisdom still had a means for us to come back to him. (He knew what we would do before we did it.) Satan was once highly exalted in God’s kingdom, but made a choice to defy God and was tossed out. For him there is no redemption. So why do all this? To prove that Jesus is Lord, shame the devil (Satan) and give God a group of people that prove themselves to be faithful to him. It is he who made us for his purpose and so we must prove ourselves worthy of eternal life by doing as we are told.

When Jesus comes for this world to be judged, all who accepted him will not have to face the fate of those who never repented. Christ gave himself, so that we might live. He lives in the souls of those who accept him and sits on the right hand of the Father in heaven.

Accept the Lord. Do his will and you can have the eternal life that God once had to deny us.