Heaven’s View of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Easter 2020

4.12.2020

Introduction

The background for the Easter story of Jesus is our personal sinfulness.

God is Holy, and we are sinful. Though He loves us, His love alone cannot allow us entrance into heaven because we are impure and He is pure.

Our sinfulness has to be cleansed judicially to satisfy God’s need to be just and fair in His love for us. Someone has to pay our sin penalty in order for God to justly forgive us.

Without personal cleansing from sin, we cannot go to heaven when we die. We will go to hell. Not because God wants us to, but because we are impure as sinner and we would demoralize the pureness of heaven with our sin.

We are born in sin and unable to approach a Holy God.

Romans 3:23 (NLT)

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 6:23 (NLT)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:12 (Passion Translation)

When Adam sinned, the entire world was affected. Sin entered human experience, and death was the result. And so death followed this sin, casting its shadow over all humanity, because all have sinned.

Hebrews 9:27-28 (NLT)

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

John 3:16-18 (NLT)

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

Scripture

Mark 14:53-65 – NLT

They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered. 54 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire. 55 Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find evidence against Jesus, so they could put him to death. But they couldn’t find any. 56 Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other. 57 Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’” 59 But even then they didn’t get their stories straight! 60 Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” 61 But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” (62) Jesus said, “I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 63 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? 64 You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” 65 Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.

Mark 15:1-39 – NLT

Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.” 3 Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, 4 and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” 5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise. 6 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8 The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual. 9 “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!” 15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. 16 The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 19 And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. 21 A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 23 They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it. 24 Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 28 And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, “He was numbered with the lawless ones.” 29 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. 30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!” 31 The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.

33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!” 37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

1. Jesus’ suffering was compared to His sufferings.

Jesus’ physical sufferings were extreme. Even barbaric.

He was betrayed by one of His close associates with a kiss, a signal of deep friendship and affection.

Then, He was led to Caiphas’ judgment hall where in front of the Jewish High Priest He was blindfolded, spit upon, insulted, and beaten.

He was taken to Pilate, then Herod. He was mocked at and jeered, clothed with a purple mock garment of kingly authority, and then a mock crown made from thorns was placed on His head to insult Him.

He was sadistically beaten until His body was emaciated by the Roman bone, glass, and metal-tipped whip.

Worn out from the pain of His beatings, He was made to carry His own heavy cross upon which He would hang in crucifixion.

Then, adding insult to injury, He was attached to the cross by spikes that were driven into His hands and feet, and then hung naked in the grueling sun. As He hung there, He was mocked and ridiculed by the crowd.

Death by crucifixion would come by asphyxiation, as the person failed to be able to bear the pain of pushing against the nails in the hands and feet in order to breathe.

We often give most of the attention to Jesus’ gruesome physical sufferings.

His physical sufferings were only a door to the necessary path that gave us freedom from sin and a hope of life beyond death.

Paul mentioned in Ephesians 6 that our combat is not just physical but spiritual!

Ephesians 6:12 – NLT

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Paul tells us that our weapons are spiritual, since our biggest enemies are spiritual.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 – NKJV

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

2. Jesus’ death on the cross was a act by God’s will. He went to the cross by the of God.

Jesus’ death on the cross was a deliberate act sanctioned by God’s will. He went to the cross by the purpose of God.

Acts 2:23 – NKJV

Him, being delivered by the , you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

As Jesus prayed, He came to know that He must die for the sins of the world:

Luke 9:22 (NLT)

The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things, he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.”

Luke 9:44-45 (NLT)

Listen to me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of His enemies.” (45) But they didn’t know what He meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

Luke 18:31-34 (NLT)

Jesus Again Predicts His Death

Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. (32) He will be handed over to the Romans, and He will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. (33) They will flog him with a whip and kill Him, but on the third day He will rise again.” (34) But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of His words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what He was talking about.

Isaiah 53:3-4 (NIV)

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a Man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

(4) Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.

In the gospels, He was struck and whipped by men. But the prophet Isaiah saw Him struck and smitten by God!

God saw Jesus as a substitute payment for our sins.

Isaiah 53:5-6 – NIV

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. (6) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him

the iniquity of us all.

3. God allowed Jesus to our .

Jesus was pure. When He was baptized by John the Baptist, God spoke from heaven saying – This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

1 Peter 2:22-23 – NIV

He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at Him, he did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

When Jesus hung on the cross, the entire human race was represented by Him. He literally took every person’s place as their sin payment. He was our substitute. He hung there as a judgment for our sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 – TPT

For God made the only One who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him.

Jesus became every wrong thought, word, or action for every single man, woman, boy, or girl that has ever lived or will ever be born. He was pure. He never sinned in what He said, in what He thought, or what He did. Yet, He stood in our place and bore that penalty that the holiness of God requires as our sin payment so that we can enter heaven. Upon Jesus’ sinless spirit life came our sin, and He was rejected by God, just like we are in our sin.

Mark 15:34 – TPT

Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

At that moment, your sins were being placed upon Jesus the Christ!

Isaiah 53:8 – CJB

After forcible arrest and sentencing, He was taken away; and none of His generation protested

His being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves.

4. Jesus became our .

Jesus actually died twice.

He died spiritually when God forsook Him as He cried out My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Spiritual Death is actually separation from God. And that is what happened to Jesus right then. God forsook Him. He became our spiritual death, our separation from God.

Notice Isaiah 53:10-12.

Isaiah 53:10-12 – NCV

But it was the LORD who decided to crush Him and make Him suffer. The LORD made His life a penalty offering, but He will still see His descendants and live a long life. He will complete the things the LORD wants Him to do. (11) “After His soul suffers many things, He will see life and be satisfied. My good servant will make many people right with God; He will carry away their sins. (12) For this reason I will make Him a great man among people, and He will share in all things with those who are strong. He willingly gave His life and was treated like a criminal. But he carried away the sins of many people and asked forgiveness for those who sinned.”

Sin is not JUST a physical thing. Sin is a spiritual problem. And you cannot solve a spiritual problem with a physical penalty only. There had to be a spiritual payment for sin. To pay it, Jesus HAD to become our spiritual death, our separation from God.

Hebrews 2:9 – NLT

What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.

Not JUST physical death, but spiritual death too.

5. When He , Jesus also went to in our place.

The penalty for sin is separation from God and being placed in hell. Jesus went there for you!

Matthew 12:40 -NLT

For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Acts 2:25-27 – NKJV

For David says concerning Him: I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Romans 10:6-7 – NKJV

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Ephesians 4:7-10 – NKJV

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. (8) Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

Jesus stayed there until God was satisfied that our sin penalty was paid by Him.

6. Jesus was raised from spiritual to spiritual , and then He was from physical death!

Jesus was actually the first person to be born again!

After God’s justice towards our sin was satisfied, the Holy Spirit came on Jesus there in hell, and His fellowship with God returned. He was born spiritually. Jesus was born again!

Colossians 1:18 – NIV

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.

1 Timothy 3:16 – NKJV

God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

1 Timothy 3:16 – Rotherham Translation

And, confessedly great, is the sacred secret of godliness, — Who was made manifest in flesh, , was made visible unto messengers, was proclaimed among nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

1 Peter 3:18 – NLT

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

1 Peter 3:18 -NIV

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

7. Jesus was raised from the dead into a new, body, and promises us a new one day!

Sin marked our bodies for death. But Jesus’ resurrection guarantees that we will receive a new body when He returns!

Mark 16:1-7 – NKJV

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”

John 20:1-17 – NLT

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed — 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Revelation 1:18 – NKJV

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 – NLT

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. 51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. 54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Jesus’ physical death made a way for Jesus to become our sin sacrifice. His death was God’s preordained will. Jesus died spiritually, becoming our sin. As our sin substitute, He went to hell and paid our sin penalty Himself. He was then Justified by God on our behalf, and was raised from spiritual death to spiritual life. Then, Jesus was raised from physical death to guarantee us that we will live in heaven with a glorified body for eternity, just like Him.

Action Points:

1. Do you believe that Jesus took your separation from God so that you could come back to God?
2. Do you believe that Jesus paid the penalty for your personal sin when He died?
3. Do you believe that Jesus did time in hell for you so that you never have to go there?
4. Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead into a new transformed physical body?
5. Have you been born again by accepting Jesus’ payment for your sins?

Romans 10:9-10 – NLT

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.