You can physically LIVE AGAIN after you DIE (Mark 12:18-27)
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You Can Physically Live Again after You Die
The certainty of the bodily resurrection,
from the gospel of Mark 12:18 to 27
You are all going to die! What a great way to begin a sermon. As long as that statement isn’t followed by a maniacal laugh, we’re okay. But you all are going to die. The statistics are pretty solid. So what happens after you die?
James Dana, of Yale University, said one time, “I cannot believe that God would create man and then desert him at the grave.” Gathered in that statement is the hope in every heart–and that hope has been expressed by people like you and me in every culture and in every age. Everyone wants there to be life after death. We wanna live.
Pick up the Egyptian book of the dead, and you’ll find it filled with the hope of a resurrection life. In the tomb of Pharaoh, Cheops, sealed for over 5,000 years, you will find a solar boat which he had built so he could sail through the heavens in his next life. In Greek religion, a coin was often placed inside the mouth of the corpse so he could pay his fare across the mystic river of death into the land of immortal life.
Some American Indians would bury a pony, and a bow and arrows with the warrior so he could hunt in the happy hunting grounds. In Greenland, when Eskimo children died they were buried along with a dog, so they would have a guide through the cold wasteland. We were created to anticipate life after life.
Even some of the great wonders of the world were actually built because the desire and intrinsic knowledge for life after death is so strong in each one of us. The pyramids in Egypt were designed as giant tombs. The Taj Mahal in India was built as a tomb for a beloved wife. Part of this desire for life after death is not merely to live forever, but to live forever in a physical state–bodily, not floating around as a spirit, but in an actual body and spirit person.
Everyone wants this, and the Jews were no different. It was part of Jewish thinking that there was life after life. Jewish leaders and people alike held to the belief of a resurrection from the dead. All of them did, except for one group–the Sadducees, who we will meet today. But what does our God say about the resurrection? Is life after death a certainty? What would Jesus say to any who don’t believe in a physical resurrection, like the Sadducees?
You will be encouraged, even though this is a difficult day. It is Wednesday of the Passion Week, and Jesus is being antagonized. Nobody likes being attacked. No one enjoys being confronted. But as the Lord is assaulted by every different group making up the leaders of Israel, we are also witnessing the amazing wisdom, knowledge, grace, mercy, compassion, and gentleness of our God, Jesus Christ. Mark has already told us that one by one, the religious leaders are out to destroy Christ.
First The entire Sanhedrin failed with a historical question at the end of chapter 11
Second The Pharisees and Herodians failed with a political question in chapter 12:13 to 17. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar?
Third Now thirdly, today, the Sadducees ask a theological question in verses 18 to 27 concerning the bodily resurrection. The Sadducees don’t believe in a physical resurrection at all–but Jesus teaches a bodily resurrection. Guess who’s correct? Stand in honor of the Word of God, and let’s read verses 18 to 27 of Mark 12.
“Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also.
23 “In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.’ 24 Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.’”
Father, help us to not only understand your Word, but to act on it. Move us from being hearers to doers of Your truth. Move us to grow in our excitement about our future with You in eternity, and cause those whose eternity is bleak to turn to Christ today. Amen. Let’s look at the next confrontation as we witness point number one.
#1 The ATTACK TEAM
Verse 18, “Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying.” Some Sadducees are the next attack team–surprisingly, this is the only mention of the Sadducees in the Gospel of Mark. Who are they? The Sads were certainly not the largest religious sect in Israel, but they were the most powerful.
Of the several parties of Judaism in first-century Palestine, two dominated Jewish life in general, and the Sanhedrin in particular. They were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Both parties grew to prominence during the Maccabean revolt in the 2nd century B.C. But despite their common origin, they greatly differed in outlook.
Sadducees were wealthy, worldly and influential. They were composed mainly of the High Priestly families and leading lay families in Jerusalem. They were fewer in number, and never gained the popularity of the Pharisees. And they were little known outside of Israel. Plus, they disappeared from history with the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.
Even though they were smaller in number, they were the elite–the top brass of all the Jewish sects. They’re the wealthy aristocrats. They were the ruling class of Judaism, and even by historians, they were noted for their arrogance and harshness. Though smaller in number than the Pharisees, when it came to the ruling counsel, the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees were the majority.
All the High Priests, the Chief Priests, were Sadducees. They were the fat cats, pro-Rome. The Temple was their domain. The very Temple Jesus just cleansed the day before, on Tuesday–the Lord’s righteous anger cutting into their profits. But what will their question be? Look at verse 18. “Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection)”–the Greek text informs us they are confident in that view. They rejected even the possibility of a resurrection.
They’re very different from Pharisees in this matter. The Pharisees believed in divine sovereignty, while the Sadducees affirmed human freewill alone. The Pharisees believed in angels and demons, but the Sads did not. The Pharisees accepted a broader understanding of Scripture and revelation, which included both written (the Old Testament) and oral traditions, whereas the Sadducees accepted only the written Law. In fact, the Sads only accepted the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, the writings of Moses.
The Pentateuch alone, to a Sadducee, was the only authoritative teaching for all Jewish life. And because they didn’t see the teaching of the resurrection in the Pentateuch, they rejected the resurrection, calling it a Pharisee invention. Get this—the Sads claimed that the Pentateuch didn’t teach the truth of a bodily resurrection, therefore they believed that the resurrection was a false doctrine—a manmade doctrine.
This became a major point of controversy between Sadducees and the Pharisees–even as the Church was being established in the book of Acts. Early on, the apostles were teaching the resurrection, which greatly bothered the Sadducees. Acts 4:1, “As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, 2 being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. “
Later on, Paul even used this resurrection division between the Pharisees and Sadducees against them in Acts 23:6, “But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, ‘Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!’ 7 As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”
The historian Josephus said, “Because they did not believe in any life after death, therefore there was no judgment, no rewards, no penalties. As a result, they lived for the moment, for the here and now. At death, they believed the soul perished along with the body.” In other words, they embraced–when you’re dead you are dead. That’s IT–it’s over.
So what did this attack team do? Verse 18, “They came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying.” Came to Jesus is a historical present tense, picturing this group confidently approaching Jesus to make Him look like a fool. Just like the Pharisees and Herodians previously, the Sads come with sinister motives. What are they? Arrogantly, they want to prove their viewpoint is superior.
There seems to be a proud, competitive, one-upmanship occurring as each of these groups go after Christ. The first who gets the upper hand against Christ will be the winner. And like the other members of the Sanhedrin, they want to kill Christ, which means they need to make Jesus look bad in front of the population.
They are opportunists, seeing this confrontation as killing two birds with one stone–make Christ look like a fool, and then gain the upper-hand before the people. So now, after the humiliation of the Pharisees and the Herodians who tried to trick Christ with the poll tax, these arrogant Sadducees thought they could take Christ out with their resurrection stumper question. They are certain their question will confound Christ, leading to . . .
#2 The AUTHORITATIVE TRUTH
Verse 19, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother.” I love this, when this happens–do you see it in verse 19? They quote Scripture–that means they’re bringing the written Word to the Living Word. They’re quoting a verse to its author. They are asking the Word of God, to explain God’s Word–they’re in trouble. This is no contest–I love it.
What’s the first thing they say? They call Jesus “Teacher”, or “Master”–a polite, formal greeting, no flattery or pretense. They felt superior to Christ, and intended to trap Him with their unbeatable question. They’re going to prove that Christ is a backwards, hillbilly Galilean, and they hope to discredit Him in front of the watching population, and demonstrate their superiority over everyone.
According to the Law of Moses, if a wife lost her husband before a son had been born, the brother of that husband, or the closest male relative, would marry that widow. This would ensure that the first born of this marriage would be counted in the lineage of the deceased, thus continuing the family lines and preserving the family name. It would rescue their heritage, their land and their inheritance.
Today, with the growing divorce rate or the death of a spouse, it increases the likelihood of encountering more than one former spouse in Heaven. What becomes of the monogamous marriage bond when it’s shared in eternity with more than one partner in this life? Elisabeth Elliot had three husbands–whose wife will she be? Have you solved that question yet?
The Sadducees put their spotlight on Deuteronomy 25:5 to 6, and the levirate marriage. The word “levirate” comes from a Latin word meaning husband’s brother. Look at Deuteronomy 25:5 to 6, “When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.”
A beautiful Old Testament illustration of this is Ruth, isn’t it? You remember Elimelech–he had two sons, and Ruth had married one of the sons. And that son, her husband Obed, died and they did not have any children. Then along came Boaz into her life, and Boaz took her as his wife, and they raised a child. So Ruth was redeemed by her kinsman. And we love this story also, because Elimelech was in the line of the Messiah, pointing to the fact that we have a Kinsman, the God-man Jesus Christ, who was our Redeemer as well.
One commentator states, “The custom of levirate marriage was not devised for the purpose of allowing a man to have more than one wife, nor to condone sexual promiscuity nor immorality. Levirate marriage was, rather, a social custom designed to prevent intermarriage of the Jews and Gentiles [since, I add, without a husband a widow would be destitute and desperate], and to preserve honor and property within a family line.” (Edwards)
Again, the goal of this Mosaic regulation was to keep the family line from dying out, and to prevent the family from being broken up. Again, why was this important to the Sads? Because they don’t believe in an eternal future, so the earthly line and inheritance would be super important. “The now” is everything, since there’s no “eternal later” with the Sads.
This is one of the reasons I pick on Hemet. I’m trying to remind you this planet is going to burn–that family lines, birthplaces, schools you belonged to, sports teams will all burn and will all be considered garbage once we arrive in Heaven with Christ. This world is not our home–our hearts are to be focused on Heaven, right? Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” So the Sads use this levirate truth and come up with . . .
#3 The ARROGANT TRAP
Verse 20 to 23, “’There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.’”
Literally, verse 20 begins with “seven brothers there was,” emphasizing the number seven. Seven of them—seven husbands . . . whoa! They’d heard of this extraordinary affair somewhere and eagerly seized upon it as a favorite weapon to further their views. They may have borrowed the idea from the apocryphal book of Tobit, which tells the bizarre story of a woman who married seven times, only to have each husband strangled by a demon in the bedchamber on their wedding night. Kent Hughes calls that demon-strangle version of the seven husband story an inter-testamental Stephen King tale.
Sadducees considered this story ludicrous–in fact, ridiculous. They want to prove Christ is a Galilean bumpkin, and that they’re correct in their no-resurrection belief system. All seven brothers successively fulfilled their duty to marry their brother’s wife, but the seven left no offspring–no seed. This childlessness meant none of them had a superior claim to be her husband in the resurrection.
Finally, verse 22 says, “Last of all the woman died also.” Having survived all seven husbands, she died. So then what happens in the afterlife? Verse 23, “In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”
This describes their difficulty with the future resurrection, which the Pharisees taught, and they already knew Jesus accepted. The question confidently assumes she’ll be the wife of one of her husbands in the resurrection, but which one? The Sadducee assumption is this–the resurrection life is simply a continuation of life down here. They assume every relationship on Earth will continue to be the same as in Heaven. They’re thinking Heaven is exactly like Earth. They’re assuming life eternal is just like life in the flesh, so they ask in verse 23, “which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”
You can sense their superior arrogance, can’t you? You can hear their cynical tone as they state their question. One commentator adds, “Not only were seven men supposed to have equal claims on the same woman, but these seven men were brothers, between whom a wife in common, or a strife for possession of her, would appear more incongruous than if the seven were strangers to each other.”
Again, they make certain the Lord embraces their dilemma and they want to make certain the Lord feels the weight of the absurdity of the whole concept of a resurrection. For the sake of the argument, they were willing to grant the resurrection, but their question clearly revealed how ridiculous the whole idea was to them. Resurrection? What a joke?
I know you realize this was their “ready answer”. This was their “prove our point—we’ve got you nailed” response. This was their stock conundrum which they repeatedly used to confound the Pharisees in arguments about the resurrection. You hear stock conundrums too, don’t you? Those faithful to share the Gospel will hear stock conundrums.
Eddie Roman and the evangelism guys hear these all the time. You tell of what Christ has done, that Christ is truth, and someone will say, “There is no truth.” So you answer, “Is that true?” “Nobody can know anything for certain.” “Are you certain?” “You believe in a book that’s thousands of years old.” “At what age does something that’s true become false? 10 years? 100 years? 1,000 years?” There are more–take the evangelism class. How does Jesus answer the Sads and their stock conundrum?
#4 The AWEFUL TUNING
Jesus says to the Sads, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know the Scripture you’re quoting! This is awe-ful! Deuteronomy never built an argument for seven husbands and which one she might have in the resurrection. Verse 24, “Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?’”
I’m blown away on how gracious Jesus is here. Our Lord didn’t openly denounce these Sadducees as hypocrites–they’d been candid. The Lord quietly assumes their denial was due to error, and proceeds to point out their error to them. Jesus corrects their error. Is this not the reason you are mistaken? This is why you err. “Mistaken” is most likely a middle voice, telling us they’re deceiving themselves. Their trouble lay with themselves by a false deduction, drawn from Deuteronomy 25:5 to 6.
And notice, according to Mark, Jesus skillfully put His answer in the form of a question, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken?”–which implies an affirmative answer. Yes it is–this is why you err, inviting them to examine themselves, to discover the truth. What’s the truth? “That you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” They thought they denied the resurrection because they were enlightened. But Jesus tells them their struggle with the resurrection was due to their double ignorance, a two-fold, inexcusable weakness.
ONE They don’t know the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus charges them with ignorance of the contents of the Bible. They had failed to understand the true meaning of Deuteronomy. They said they embraced the first five books of the Bible, but they failed to understand those very Scriptures they held.
TWO They also failed to embrace the true nature of God Himself, or the power of God. They failed to embrace that our God is capable of miracles. Jesus is a miracle-working God. The Pentateuch includes the creation account, where God spoke, and out of nothing came the universe. But they doubted God’s power, and because of that, they doubted God’s power to raise the dead. The Lord now explains both their errors in the remaining three verses.
#5 The ACCURATE TEACHING
The Lord now teaches the Sadducees and us about what eternal life will be like in our resurrected bodies. He explains the power of God and an accurate account of Deuteronomy 25.
First The reality of our resurrected life
Here is the clarification in verse 25, “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” When Jesus says, “For when they rise from the dead,” He’s expressing absolute certainty that we do rise from the dead, that our next life in Heaven will be different, so different we will be “like angels in heaven” regarding marriage. We do not become angels, for angels were created by God as servants and messengers. And angels do not marry or propagate, and neither will glorified human beings.
On Earth, where death reigns, marriage and childbearing are important in order to “fill the earth and subdue it.” But bearing children will not be necessary in the resurrection life, because people will be raised up to glorify God forever, and there will be no more death. And the fact that we will be like angels means those of us who are living in Heaven will no longer be governed by physical laws, but will be “like angels” in that we will share the immortal nature of angels. We will be spiritual, eternal beings who will not die.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Jesus’ statement doesn’t mean people will not recognize their spouse in Heaven. Jesus was not dissolving the eternal aspect of marriage, nor doing away with sexual differences, nor teaching that we will be asexual beings after death. He simply meant we must not think of Heaven as an extension of life as we now know it. Our relationships in this life are greatly limited by time, by knowledge, by death, and by sin.
The Lord’s power in transforming the resurrection body no longer made marriage a necessary part of the future state. One writer says, “By the power of the resurrection, marriage, sex and family relationships will be transcended by perfect communion with God and perfect communion with each other.” We don’t know everything about the resurrection life, but Jesus affirmed that our relationships will be different from what we are used to here and now.
The Lord is showing us this because there will be no levirate marriage in the resurrection, nor new marriage contracts, making this Sadducee question completely irrelevant–shut down. Oh the wisdom, knowledge and graciousness of our Savior. And the Sadducees are ignorant about the Scriptures. This is like telling Wall Street they know nothing about finances, or telling Kobe he has no game! And their assumption about the resurrection from Deuteronomy needs a definitive answer, so Jesus gives them one in verses 26 to 27.
Second The reality of the resurrection from the Pentateuch
Verses 26 to 27, “’But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.’”
Jesus graciously stays within their frame of thinking. “Have you not read in the book of Moses?” In the Greek, the implied answer is “yes”. They had read the Pentateuch–it was written by Moses. Again, the Sads viewed only the Pentateuch as authoritative. They didn’t believe in the prophets or the historical books. And Jesus could have gone outside of the Pentateuch to prove the resurrection, but He doesn’t.
Jesus could have turned to Daniel 12:2, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” Or Isaiah 26:19a, “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,” and many other passages to prove the resurrection, but He doesn’t.
Jesus quotes from Moses because the Sadducees did in verse 19. And our Lord gets specific, before there was chapter and verse–Jesus says, “in the passage about the burning bush.” And there, how did God speak? “‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’”? Notice, “I Am”, from Exodus 3:6 is based on the emphatic present tense. He does not say, “I was their God”–no, He says, “I am their God.”
By saying, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” our Lord is affirming that the patriarchs still exist. They must still be living, since He is still the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. All three patriarchs were dead when God spoke to Moses at the burning bush. But nevertheless, God is still their God as much as when they were alive on earth.
Because that’s true, Jesus adds verse 27, “’He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.’” By His very nature, God is not the God of the dead but of the living. If God is the God of the patriarchs, He does not cease to be God at death. He continues to be God. This is a clear description of the Lord’s power to resurrect believers to life.
One commentator said, “The everlasting covenant God made with these Godly men, involved an everlasting relationship that cannot be terminated by death.” The patriarchs were dead to the visible world, but they were still alive unto God in the invisible world. Death certainly changes our relationship to our world. But it does not change our relationship to God. We experience eternal fellowship with Him, now and forever.
So Jesus says to the Sads, “’You are greatly mistaken.’” You’re totally wrong. You’re deceiving yourself. You lead yourself astray. The patriarchs are alive today. God is the God of the living. They have died, but they’re still alive. Matthew reveals the crowd response in 22:33, “When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.” To be astonished means to strike one’s wits. They went out of their minds–this blew their minds.
Amazing, astounding, and marvelous–Jesus Christ hailed as the King, hailed as the Messiah, confronted by hate-filled religious leaders who want Him discredited and dead. But again, Jesus is unaffected by their pecking assaults. The Lord only manifests greater glory, greater wonder, and greater praise by confounding His enemies. And it only gets better with the greatest of all commandments next week. Let me ask you two pointed questions, just like they asked Jesus.
ONE Are you looking forward to your FUTURE?
Maybe you’re thinking, “If we are like angels, will we have wings? Will we recognize each other? Will we be neutered, sexless?” We’ve probably all heard happily married people say, “If there is no marriage, I don’t want to go!” If you’ve indulged such questions, please remember the point of this text is that your body will be resurrected–your body will be resurrected.
Hebrew thought regarded each person as a unity with physical and immaterial parts–body and spirit, which are perfectly fused together, so that one is incomplete without the other. Biblically, it’s the body and spirit which combined makes you a living soul. Our bodies are part of who we are. When God said He was “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” He’s saying He’s the God of their whole person—body and spirit.
The whole person will be resurrected. Our bodies, to use Paul’s word choice in 1 Corinthians 15:42, will be raised “imperishable”. Eternal life will be experienced by the whole person. You, not merely your spirit (the immaterial part of you), will be resurrected. This means your individuality will be preserved for eternity.
Abraham has everything about him that was Abrahamic. Jacob has everything that makes him God’s Israel. These great men have lost nothing and gained everything. They have grown and developed gloriously. They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at their very best–or at least will be, at their ultimate resurrection. One commentator says, “The new body must be like the old. Not only that, it must be the same body … with all that was distinctive and visible like before. The accidental, the nonessential, the unrevealing, the incomplete will have vanished. That which made the body what it was in the eyes of those who loved us will be tenfold there.”
You’ll be more recognizable and more lovable in Heaven than ever before, When someone asks you, “Will you know me in Heaven?” the answer is, “I will know you fully and love you perfectly.” There will be no marriage in Heaven, and no concern about past husbands or wives, but that does not suggest a reduction in love or relationship in the slightest. You will be yourself, at your ultimate best, and you will be more lovable and more loving than ever before–finally!
You’ll never be subjected to death or disability in Heaven–there is no death. Those who were crippled or mentally challenged–anyone with a damaged body . . . remember, everything that was flawed here will be perfected there. Your body will be glorious, grown to its eternal potential. Your personality will be at its fullest—your wit, charm, even words will be noble, even beautiful, since you will be like Jesus.
First John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” How our hearts should burn with excitement! There is more–Mark 13, but this is so stupendous, I hope it grabs your soul with joy at what is coming for each of you who know Christ.
TWO Do you have a future with CHRIST?
Jesus said of the Father, “’He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.’” God has an eternal relationship with the living. But it’ll only be those who are in Christ who will be resurrected to life eternal. Those without Christ will be resurrected to eternal death. Where does your hope rest? Are you trusting in Christ, who became a man, died for your sin, took your punishment, and calls you to exchange your life for His? Are you hoping in Christ? If we hope only in this life, we are to be the most pitied of all.
Only Christ can give you a resurrection certainty. The Lord never doubted. He was certain. You can be certain too. Philippians 3:10a, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” The power of God has raised Jesus from the dead–that power will raise you, if you place your faith in Christ. First Corinthians 6:14, “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.” Christ not only taught the doctrine of the resurrection, Jesus lived it–the tomb is empty. He has risen. Let’s pray.
