Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible
Douglas Sean O’Donnell asks why Mark’s gospel ends without mention of Jesus’ resurrection. The “longer ending” of Mark appears to be a later addition, not original to Mark’s text. O’Donnell has a few theories:
O’Donnell’s brief reflections are well worth your time.
A firm grasp on the natural human longing for a better world will take your application skills to the next level.
As we grow to love our neighbors as ourselves, this world becomes a better place to live. Good but not great. Finer but not final. A place of progress but not perfection. We long for a better world.
When God created the heavens and earth, all was very good (Gen 1:31). But man sought out many schemes (Eccl 7:29), and the consequence was a curse upon the ground (Gen 3:17). Now the human experience is one full of sickness (Ps 6:2), waiting (Ps 6:3), injustice (Ps 10), poverty (Ps 12:5), abandonment (Ps 13), corruption (Ps 14:3), abuse (Ps 22), grief (Ps 31:9), sin (Ps 51), fear (Ps 55:5), violence (Ps 59), sleeplessness (Ps 77:1-4), war (Ps 79:3-4), depression (Ps 88), chronic suffering (Ps 88:15), weakness (Ps 109:24), interpersonal conflict (Ps 120:2), disrespect (Ps 123:4), and loneliness (Ps 142:4)1—to name just a few of the things we now suffer.
When God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden, he did it so that they would not live forever as sinners (Gen 3:22-23). In that action was the shadow of a hint of a hope of resurrection. If they would die, it means they could live again, right? So prophets such as Isaiah foresaw a new world to come, a new creation to replace the fallen creation (Isaiah 65:17-25). A place where lives would be long and full, no person would labor in vain, and weeping and distress would never be heard.
When Jesus came along, he spoke often about how the age to come was breaking into the present through his own person and work (Mark 1:15, Luke 17:20-21). But that presented a tension with the reality that the age to come was … still a time to come. A time when those hearing Jesus’ words would get to dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matt 8:11). A time when a faithful servant would receive their full reward (Matt 6:20). A place of joy that the persevering steward would enter (Matt 25:21). Jesus associates this new age with both bodily resurrection (John 5:28-29) and a new, regenerated world (Matt 19:28-29).
Paul speaks of a new creation, where the sons of God are fully revealed and suffering is replaced by disproportional glory (Rom 8:18-25). Peter motivates us to wait for the new heavens and new earth—the place where sin and suffering are gone and only righteousness is left (2 Peter 3:11-13). And John caps off our hope with his glorious picture of the dwelling place of God with men. A place that is already here but also not yet fully here. A place without tears, pain, or death (Rev 21:1-4).
Whatever we face now is but a photo-negative of what those who have trusted Christ will face then. And does not every human heart long for such a place? Isn’t that what people seek whenever they expose abuses of power, contribute aid to the needy, and rectify injustice? We all want to live in a world that is better than the one in which we now reside. And the Bible holds out much hope that such a place is coming. Just hold fast to the grace of God, persevere through these light and momentary afflictions, and testify persistently to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?
In nearly any text, you can ask “unrequited hope” questions with respect to the author’s main point:
I am intentionally sidestepping matters of creation, gifts, strengths, law, grace, salvation, and sanctification when I ask these questions. That’s not because such matters are unimportant, but only because the focus of this post is on the natural human longing for a better world.
Sometimes, robust reflection on our hope for the future will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: lament, oppression, injustice, sin, suffering, tragedy, misery, perseverance, joy, hope, satisfaction—to name just a few.
Deepen your grasp of the natural human longing for a better world, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.
We tend to think of Jesus’s resurrection as his last act on earth, the final event in the Gospel accounts. But this isn’t so.
While the empty tomb is the last major episode of the Gospels, we must read on to know what Jesus did afterward. The Gospel writers did not end their accounts with the resurrection!
What Jesus spent his time doing and saying after the resurrection was crucial, both for the disciples and for us. In this article we’ll look at the Gospel of John, and we’ll see that Jesus spent his time confirming the resurrection and sending his disciples on their mission.
I will not focus on the resurrection itself, as Peter has already written about the resurrection as Jesus’s final sign in John’s Gospel.
Jesus’s meetings with the disciples after his resurrection take up most of the last two chapters of John. Jesus took care to reveal himself and show that he was the same man who had recently died and been buried.
When Jesus first appeared to the gathering of the fearful, hiding disciples, he showed them his hands and side (John 20:20). Thomas had not been present, and he (famously) wanted to see the proof for himself. Jesus encouraged Thomas to touch his hands and side—something we are not told he did for the other disciples. Thomas believed, and said “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24–29)
John understood that Jesus aimed to persuade. He said that Jesus did many other signs for the disciples beyond those which were recorded (John 20:30). John was on board with this mission—he wrote his Gospel in part so that readers would believe Jesus is the Christ (John 20:31).
Jesus also appeared to seven of the disciples on the sea shore. They recognized Jesus when he told them to fish on the other side of their boat. He invited them to the shore and made them a breakfast of bread and fish. John emphasizes the importance of these appearances: “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (John 21:14).
In these encounters, Jesus repeatedly confirmed that he was alive. His disciples could see and touch and eat with him. He was not a ghost or a hallucination; the resurrection really happened, just as he had said.
Jesus also took time after his resurrection to send his disciples on their mission.
When Jesus greeted his disciples at that first post-resurrection meeting, he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” He breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:21–22). John connects the power of the Holy Spirit with the sending of the disciples, just as Luke does (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8).
Jesus commissioned the disciples as a group, but he paid special attention to restore and empower Peter. Three separate times Jesus asks Peter if he (Peter) loves him (Jesus). When Peter says that he does, Jesus points him to his work: “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” “Feed my sheep.” Jesus also told Peter directly: “Follow me” (John 21:15–19).
Later, when Peter asked Jesus about John, Jesus cut through the question to remind Peter of what was most important: “You follow me!” (John 21:22)
After his resurrection, Jesus focused on confirming his resurrection and sending his disciples on their mission. But these are not separate tasks for Jesus.
Jesus’s resurrection confirmed all of his teaching and prophecy. Since the disciples were sent out to proclaim the good news of the Messiah, it was vital that they had this validation for themselves. Because they would face intense persecution and hardship for their message, they needed to be convinced of the truth. Jesus sent them on their mission, emboldened with resurrection hope and power.
What was true for Jesus’s disciples in the first century is true for us today as well. This is, after all, why John’s Gospel was written (John 20:31).
Are you convinced that Jesus rose from the dead? If so, does this give you courage and hope to go on the mission God has for you?
Jesus’ disciples were not at their best at the end of his life. They were fearful, uneasy, and uncertain about the future.
And yet, at the end of the Gospels, these same men were ready to take on the world. How can we explain this difference?
For most of the last chapter of Luke, the disciples were not exactly full of faith.
When the women who visited the tomb told the apostles what they had seen, the men did not believe them—it sounded like an “idle tale” (Luke 24:11). Peter was curious, but he didn’t have much company when searched out the evidence (Luke 24:12, John 20:8).
The two disciples on the road to Emmaeus were intrigued by the women’s report (Luke 24:22), but they had lost hope in Jesus as the Redeemer of Israel (Luke 24:21). His death was unexpected and disheartening.
When Jesus appeared to his disciples, they thought he was a spirit (Luke 24:37). They were full of fears and doubts (Luke 24:38). Even after Jesus showed them his hands and feet and invited them to touch his wounds, they weren’t convinced it was him (Luke 24:41).
The end of Luke 24 stands in stark contrast to its beginning.
The disciples witnessed Jesus’ ascension, worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Luke 24:51–52). They were continually in the temple praising God (Luke 24:53).
The fact that the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy is itself an act of faith. In Luke, Jesus spent the first part of his ministry teaching and healing in Galilee, but then “he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).
Things unraveled quickly after Jesus and his companions arrived in Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried, and killed. The religious and governmental leaders who were responsible were largely still present in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday; this would have made the city a terrifying place for Jesus’ followers.
Yet Jerusalem was to be the launching place for the proclamation of the gospel to all the nations (Luke 24:47). Jesus told his disciples to stay in the city until they received power for this mission (Luke 24:49). The fact that they faced staying in a dangerous place with “great joy” shows the magnitude of their transformation.
So, what caused the change?
As we observe the text of Luke 24, we notice three ingredients that kindled the disciples’ growth.
Jesus’ followers did not understand the Scriptures. Consequently, they did not grasp who he was nor did they expect him to suffer, die, and rise.
At the tomb, the angels reminded the women that Jesus had told them that he “must” die and rise (Luke 24:6–8).
Jesus told the Emmaeus-bound disciples that they were foolish and slow to believe what the prophets had spoken (Luke 24:25). He explained that it was “necessary” for the Christ to die and then enter glory (Luke 24:26). He then taught them about himself through all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27).
When Jesus appeared to the disciples, he reminded them that everything in the Law, Prophets, and Psalms “must” be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).
God’s word is the central corrective element in this passage. Jesus, the angels, and Luke all point to the Scriptures for a proper understanding about the Messiah. That understanding brought transformation.
The disciples heard rumors of Jesus’ resurrection, but they were changed when they finally saw him.
After the two traveling disciples recognized Jesus at a meal, they felt conviction like heartburn when they reflected on his Scripture lesson for them (Luke 24:32). They returned to the eleven with the ground-breaking news (Luke 24:33), and when they arrived, the others were convinced of the resurrection because Jesus had also appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34).
When Jesus “stood among” the disciples, they weren’t convinced it was him (Luke 24:36–37). But Jesus invited them to touch and see. He showed them his hands and feet. He ate with them (Luke 24:39–43). Thus convincing the disciples that he was not a spirit and that he was, in fact, Jesus, he gave them supernatural understanding of the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).
Finally, the disciples went with Jesus to Bethany for his ascension (Luke 24:50). He blessed them as they watched him depart (Luke 24:51).
The disciples had experienced a traumatic stretch of days. At the center of their disappointment was the death of their leader and their loss of hope. Spending time with and learning from Jesus between his resurrection and ascension had a powerful effect.
When Jesus visited the disciples, he didn’t only give them instruction and fellowship, he gave them a purpose for the future.
When explaining the Scriptures, Jesus said “it is written” that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). And the disciples were not just messengers but “witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).
Jesus gave the disciples a promise to accompany their mission.
And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49)
The disciples had a great task in front of them, but there was a mighty helper on the way.
Luke had at least one main point in writing the last chapter of his Gospel: An encounter with the resurrected Jesus will transform disciples and prepare them for a joyful mission.
We can start to apply this powerful truth by praying. Let’s pray for these encounters—for ourselves and others.
And as you brainstorm ways to bring yourself and your neighbors into contact with the risen Christ, remember that he is powerfully present in the Bible and with his people.
When we repeat a particular idea often enough that it becomes part of the air we breathe for years, or even generations on end, it accumulates a gravitas, an authority, that soon goes unexamined. It’s easy for us to see other cultures or communities doing this; it’s difficult to see ourselves doing it. That’s why I’ve sought to expose numerous unquestioned mantras (such as: Jesus’ ministry lasted 3 years, judge not, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, forgetting what lies behind, and Jesus never broke a bruised reed) that have become unassailably axiomatic in evangelical Protestant circles. I am deeply grateful when others show me that what I’ve always heard and assumed isn’t actually supported by the text of Scripture.
So with all due respect to commentator D.A. Carson and the countless others who have always believed Jesus walked through walls, I raised the question last week: Do John 20:19 and John 20:26 truly claim that Jesus walked through walls? Is the matter as obvious as we typically assert?
John Calvin would disagree, and with flair:
And while the doors were shut. … We ought, therefore, to believe that Christ did not enter without a miracle, in order to give a demonstration of his Divinity, by which he might stimulate the attention of his disciples; and yet I am far from admitting the truth of what the Papists assert, that the body of Christ passed through the shut doors. Their reason for maintaining this is, for the purpose of proving not only that the glorious body of Christ resembled a spirit, but that it was infinite, and could not be confined to any one place. But the words convey no such meaning; for the Evangelist does not say that he entered through the shut doors, but that he suddenly stood in the midst of his disciples, though the doors had been shut, and had not been opened to him by the hand of man. We know that Peter (Acts 10:10) [sic Acts 12:10] went out of a prison which was locked; and must we, therefore, say that he passed through the midst of the iron and of the planks? Away, then, with that childish trifling, which contains nothing solid, and brings along with it many absurdities! Let us be satisfied with knowing that Christ intended, by a remarkable miracle, to confirm his disciples in their belief of his resurrection.
Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on the Gospel according to John (Vol. 2, p. 264). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
Augustine read the text to say that Christ “appeared” within the room, without speculating on how exactly he got there:
When he appeared with all the members of his body and used their functions, he also displayed the places of his wounds. I have always taken these as scars, not as actual wounds, and saw them as the result of his power, not of some necessity. He revealed the ease of this power, especially when he either showed himself in another form or appeared as his real self to the disciples gathered in the house when the doors were closed.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (p. 356). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Gregory of Nyssa reads the text similarly:
After his resurrection he showed himself whenever he wanted to his disciples. When he wished to be present with them, he was in their midst without being seen, needing no entrance through open doors.… All of these occurrences, and whatever other similar facts we know about his life, require no further argument to show that they are signs of deity and of a sublime and supreme power.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (p. 357). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Regarding the grave-clothes left in the empty tomb (John 20:6-8), Chrysostom seems to think they were simply stripped off and laid aside:
They see the linen clothes lying there, which was a sign of the resurrection. For if they had removed the body, they would not have stripped it first, nor, if any had stolen it, would they have taken the trouble to remove the napkin and roll it up and lay it in a place by itself apart from the linens. They would have taken the body as it was.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (pp. 340–341). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Eusebius of Caesarea hears the text saying the grave-clothes were simply left lying:
The cloths lying within seem to me at once to furnish also a proof that the body had not been taken away by people, as Mary supposed. For no one taking away the body would leave the linens, nor would the thief ever have stayed until he had undone the linens and so be caught.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (p. 341). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Now my point is not to say we must agree with whatever the commentators write. That would go against a fundamental principle of this blog.
Rather, my point is that the notion of Jesus’ resurrected body passing through solid objects is by no means required of the text. Many Bible readers, in cultures and times different than ours, saw nothing of the sort. Or at least, if they did, not many saw reason to say so.
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:19
What is plain is that the disciples were in a room with the doors locked. And John’s explicit reason for mentioning the locked doors is to highlight not Jesus’ miraculous entry but the disciples’ great fear of the Jews. And then at some point, Jesus came and stood among them. He may have entered the room in a miraculous way (which would be consistent with the views of the older commentators quoted above), but again, John doesn’t say so outright.
John doesn’t want us to focus on how exactly Jesus got into the room, though it may have been miraculous. And there is no reason to believe John wants us to think Jesus could pass through solid objects (but as I stated last week: It’s possible he could have!).
John wants us simply to see the risen Christ, in the flesh, offering peace to his fearful followers and sending them to bear witness to these things (John 20:20-23). Those are the facts of which we can be certain, and they ought to be the focus of our attention as we strive to understand and teach John’s message in this text.
Jesus accused the Pharisees of holding to traditions which had been added to the Word of God. We may accuse those outside our tribe of doing the same today. But could there be extra-biblical traditions to which we hold steadfastly within our own circles? Oral traditions repeated often enough to now appear nearly self-evident?
I propose one such tradition is the notion that Jesus walked through a wall. If we can suspend our familiarity with the tradition and observe the text carefully, we’ll find the tradition far from evident.
We find the tradition’s source in John 20:19 and John 20:26:
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
D.A. Carson’s commentary on John’s gospel is a masterpiece, which I am happy to recommend. But no-one is perfect, and in his comments on these verses, Carson reflects the tradition:
But the function of the locked doors in John’s narrative, both here [v.19] and in v.26, is to stress the miraculous nature of Jesus’ appearance amongst his followers. As his resurrection body passed through the grave-clothes (v.6-8), so it passed through the locked doors and simply ‘materialized.’
Carson, The Gospel According to John, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991, p.646.
Carson simply asserts that Jesus’ body “passed through locked doors and simply ‘materialized'” as he did with the grave-clothes. So I turn to his comments on the grave-clothes for further textual evidence of the phenomenon:
The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Clearly John perceives these details to be important, but their exact meaning is disputed. Some have thought that the burial cloth still retained the shape of Jesus’ head, and was separated from the strips of linen by a distance equivalent to the length of Jesus’ neck. Others have suggested that, owing to the mix of spices separating the layers, even the strips of linen retained the shape they had when Jesus’ body filled them out. Both of these suggestions say more than the text requires. What seems clearest is the contrast with the resurrection of Lazarus (11:44). Lazarus came from the tomb wearing his grave-clothes, the additional burial cloth still wrapped around his head. Jesus’ resurrection body apparently passed through his grave-clothes, spices and all, in much the same way that he later appeared in a locked room (vv. 19, 26). The description of the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head does not suggest that it still retained the shape of the corpse, but that it had been neatly rolled up and set to one side by the one who no longer had any use for it.
Carson, p.637
So we see Carson first exposing a few baseless traditions (that the grave cloths were shaped liked a hollow mummy) because they “say more than the text requires.” This standard for evaluating traditions is eminently reasonable. However, Carson goes on to link the grave-clothes with the entering of the locked room. And he says more himself than the text requires by suggesting that Jesus’ body must have “passed through” solid objects.
C.S. Lewis offers another way one can grasp the tradition of Jesus walking through walls. In his novel Perelandra, as well as in The Great Divorce, he grapples with the idea that heaven is in fact more real than earth. The heavenly grass pokes at the sensitive feet of spiritual tourists, and heavenly rain drops threaten to crush those who lack substance. Lewis challenges the standard tradition in that he wants us not to see Jesus’ resurrection body as less “real,” or more “ghostly” than ours. He wants us to see Jesus’ body as more real and ourselves as the ghosts.
Both Carson and Lewis have important points to make on this topic, but both require us to look more closely at the text: Did Jesus walk through those walls? Did his body pass through the grave-cloths?
I’ll start with the grave-cloths:
[Simon Peter] saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.John 20:6b-7
John tells us that Peter saw the grave-cloths “lying there.” He does not say they were shaped like a hollow mummy. And he does not say they looked as though the body had Disapparated and the cloths had fallen flat without being unwrapped. He says they were “lying there,” but he says nothing about the condition in which they were lying (except for the face cloth being folded).
They could have been ripped off like one of The Incredible Hulk’s shredded garments. They could have been removed and tossed aside like dirty laundry. They could have been rolled or folded neatly. John says the face cloth was “folded up in a place by itself,” so with confidence we can declare that piece of cloth as folded. But the rest? John simply doesn’t tell us. He doesn’t say nearly enough to require us to conclude the body must have passed through the garments.
Now look again at the locked room:
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
john 20:19, 26
We know the doors were locked, with the disciples inside. We know the disciples were afraid of the Jews. We know that Jesus then stood among them within the room and spoke to them. But John doesn’t tell us how Jesus got from outside the room to inside the room.
Perhaps he walked through the walls. Perhaps. Or perhaps he knocked on the locked door until they heard his voice, opened up, and let him in. Or perhaps he spoke by the word of his power and made a section of the wall collapse. Or perhaps he found some others to open a hole in the roof and let him down on a pallet. Or perhaps he teleported from one location to another. I intend no irreverence whatsoever; I only wish to highlight that which we simply don’t know.
Please note: I am not saying that Jesus could not have walked through the walls or passed through the grave-cloths. He certainly could have. He is the Lord.
I am saying only that it is not self-evident, from John’s narrative, that he must have walked through walls. John is not nearly as clear about metaphysical post-resurrection ontology as we might wish him to be.
Why does it matter whether Jesus walked through a wall or not? What is at stake here?
Simply the fact that traditions snowball over time, with the end result of making void the Word of God (Mark 7:13). In this case, the tradition has led many to speculate on the physical properties of either the resurrection body or the new heavens and the new earth. This can lead many to make too sharp a division between the “natural” and the “spiritual”—and then we use those adjectives more like Plato than like Paul, which promotes unbiblical asceticism (Col 2:20-23), among other things.
May our thinking and our doctrine be increasingly rooted in vigilant observation of the God-inspired text, that we might be complete, equipped for every good work.
In 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul issues a brief command, remarkable for its profound simplicity. “Remember Jesus Christ” is both the most important and most difficult thing a person could do. And what are we to remember about him?
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!” (2 Ti 2:8–9).
There are five things on Paul’s list:
Of course, we ought to remember the risen Christ at all times and not only on Easter. But Easter gives us a timely opportunity to remember the risen Christ once again.
Jesus’ resurrection confirmed the passing of the present age, and it signaled the invasion of the age to come. This historic event, which changed everything, is dynamic enough that one explanation of it could never capture its effects. That’s why the four gospel writers have at least four different points to make when they recount the resurrection.
Perhaps this weekend would be a good time for you to remember Jesus Christ. Dig into each gospel and discover anew what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each had to say about the center of human history, the risen Christ.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Ezekiel’s vision in the valley of dry bones, where the Spirit of the Lord sets Ezekiel down and commands him to prophesy over the bones, and to the breath, so they might live. After a rattling sound, bone comes together with bone, flesh appears, and the dead come back to life, an exceedingly great army. You may have heard this story read from Ezek 37:1-10, with its accompanying interpretation: You are the dead ones, brought out of your sin and misery because of God’s Spirit giving you faith in Jesus Christ. Seems clear, right? Perhaps not so much.
Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independently assembled inspirational stories—we’ll discover that some of our most familiar passages don’t actually mean what we’ve always assumed.
Caitlin Tobias (2014), Creative Commons
We’re helped here by the historical context. The prophet Ezekiel was living in Babylon with the early Jewish exiles (Ezek 1:1). These people had been carried off before the nation of Judah’s final fall to Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel spoke of God’s glory departing the temple in Jerusalem (Ezek 10:1-22) and going to reside in exile with God’s people (Ezek 1:1-28).
Ezekiel prophesied to a broken people, who were devastated by the Babylonian conquest and captivity. They were too crushed even to admit that their own idolatry had caused this turn of events. Therefore they persistently resisted Ezekiel’s message (Ezek 3:7-11).
And to these defeated, exiled people, Ezekiel promises a coming day (Ezek 36:22-32). A day when God will vindicate the holiness of his name (Ezek 36:22-23). A day when he will sprinkle them with water to cleanse them from the filth of their idolatry (Ezek 36:25). A day when he will give them new hearts of flesh to replace their dead hearts of stone (Ezek 36:26). A day when he will put his own Spirit within them and enable them to obey him (Ezek 36:27).
Ezekiel leaves no doubt about when this day will come. It is the day when “I will take you from the nations…and bring you into your own land” (Ezek 36:24). The day when they “shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers” (Ezek 36:28).
The exiled people, dead in their idolatry, will be raised to new life when God restores them back to their land.
We’re also helped by the immediate literary context. It’s all too easy for us to read only Ezek 37:1-10, because it feels like it could have been written to us. But the next few verses remind us that, though this may have been written for us (1 Cor 10:11), it was not written to us:
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezek 37:11-14)
The Lord himself makes the interpretation clear to Ezekiel. There is no reason for us to be unclear on this ourselves. The dead bones coming back to life are a picture of the exiled people being brought back into the land of Israel, placed in their own land. A people without hope are resurrected to new hope.
Some might ask: “But doesn’t all that simply find greater fulfillment in the new covenant, when those dead in sin believe on Christ and are raised to new life?” And I would say: “Yes! Of course!”
But look at what we miss if we ignore the context of Ezekiel and jump right to today.
Even if our intentions are good, let’s not miss what God has communicated about himself and his rescue of us.
Context matters.
For more “context matters” posts, such as the widow’s mite, the faith hall of fame, chief of sinners, and quick to listen, slow to speak—click here.
Next week, we once again give our focused attention to the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This sequence of events marks the center of history and the cornerstone of our faith.
And why is this so? What is so critical about these events?
In a short series of posts last year, Ryan and I narrowed this question even further to only the resurrection. Why did Jesus rise from the dead? While there are many theological answers we could give to this question, our concern was with the gospel accounts themselves. What reasons did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have for recording Jesus’ resurrection?
Observe carefully, and let the text speak for itself! Don’t assume you know the answer, or you may grow too familiar with these beloved passages to see the true point. If you’d like a fun study during Holy Week, consider revisiting the four resurrection accounts once more, and try to discern what each author had to say about the risen Christ. Was he the proven king, renewing his world? Or was he the vindicated sacrifice for all the world? Was he truly the divine Son who gives life? Or was he God’s gracious authority for the Jewish people?
Don’t assume they’re all saying the same thing. Don’t rush into an unhelpful form of harmonization. And perhaps our posts can assist you as you examine each account once more:
anonymous (2015), public domain
There’s hardly a more important question: Why did Jesus rise from the dead?
Over the past six weeks, we’ve studied this question in each of the Gospels. Each writer had an audience and a purpose in mind. In four separate articles, we’ve explored what each writer was trying to communicate.
We tried to observe the text carefully. We noticed the titles given to Jesus, the reactions of those who saw the empty tomb, the descriptions of those at the grave site, and even the time of day. All of these details are in the Bible intentionally, and they help direct us to the main point of the passage.
We leaned heavily on the context of each resurrection account. What was said about Jesus and what was done to Jesus in his trial and crucifixion matters when the writer turns to the resurrection. Even more, the writer’s purpose in penning the book drives the entire narrative. A book overview is crucial, even when studying a short passage near the end.
Though each gospel is slightly different, in all four passages this much is clear: the resurrection is massively important. It changed the women, it changed the disciples, and it should change us as well.
As we look back over the main point of each account of the resurrection, let’s do the hard work of application. I’ll pose some questions; let’s give ourselves to prayerful consideration, that we might be doers of the word and not merely hearers (James 1:22–25). Let’s pray that God would use the resurrection to change us, our churches, and our communities.
Matthew’s main point: The risen Jesus is the gracious king of the Jews, the Messiah.
Mark’s main point: The King has come, but he is not here; so everything must change.
Luke’s main point: Jesus is the innocent Son of Man, raised from the dead for the whole world.
John’s main point: Jesus truly is the Son of God, the Messiah who makes all things new, the source and essence of life. You can trust him with your life.
All four Gospel writers want us to know that Jesus rose from the dead. This is the revolutionary truth that changed the world.
But in the context of each Gospel, the resurrection points to a slightly different face of the diamond. We see Jesus the King, Jesus the innocent, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the gracious.
God’s word is wonderfully rich. By studying carefully, we can learn what each inspired account has to say.
