This is the greatest invitation that has gone out since the events around Jesus’ life. In John 2:19, Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The temple, of course, is a type and it served as a type for nearly everything that Jesus stood for. In a sense, we become a spiritual temple which God is preparing and Jesus says, ‘if you overcome, I will make you a pillar in My temple’ (Revelation 3:12).
The temple was quite magnificent. “Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? (John 2:20). But Jesus ‘spake of the temple of His body’ (John 2:21). Jesus was predicting that he would die and in three days he would rise from the dead. To understand the three days, we have to know that the Jews used inclusive reckoning, which means any portion of a day was counted as a day; therefore Jesus died on Friday the preparation day prior to sunset (day 1), remained in the grave on Sabbath (day 2), rose early on the first day of the week (day 3).
In Jerusalem there is a garden tomb where some claim this is the spot where Jesus laid, and it is highly probable that this is the right place. There is a grove at the tomb where there must have been a giant stone or giant flat stone that could have been rolled away. This place was discovered while doing some excavation, and when they came across this tomb they were stunned for everything fit so beautifully together. John 2:22 says, “When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” What scripture were they referring to? The Old Testament, for that is what they had at that time. It referred to Isaiah where there is a beautiful story about the Messiah, how he would suffer, how he would die and be crucified amongst criminals.
Corinthians tells us what the significance is of the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:14,17; “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” All the other great religions of the world serve at the tomb of their founders, this is not so with Christianity, for the tomb of Christ is empty. ONLY through the death and resurrection of Christ can my sins be forgiven. This is something the world must understand, because there is a movement today to join up all the religions as if they were on the level with each other. If we remove this sentence, then salvation becomes meaningless. Then, 1 Corinthians 15:18 says, “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” So those that died in Christ are waiting for the resurrection which is guaranteed through the death and resurrection of Christ. He was the firstfruits of that resurrection. How can He be the firstfruits if the bible says that others were raised by Christ himself (a widow’s son -Luke 7:11-17, Jairus’ daughter -Luke 8:49-56, Lazarus -John 11:1-44, saints in Jerusalem on resurrection morning -Matthew 27:50-54)? And, the book of Jude implies that Moses was raised The fact of the matter is there are other people in heaven that never died like Elijah and Enoch Christ rose together with the graves that were open and a number of people were raised from the dead at the resurrection of Christ what about all of them? Christ is the guarantor, in other words, even if people were translated before the death of Christ it was under the full knowledge that the Messiah would live a sinless life in his humanity, died and would be raised from the dead. Their salvation depends just as much on the death and resurrection of Christ as ours does.
“…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” (Acts 2:23,24 ,32).
God knew Jesus would succeed. Could Jesus have failed? Yes, he could have – for not only was Jesus fully divine, he was also fully human; but he never used his divinity once to protect himself. In His human form, in his humanity, he could have failed but he succeeded where Adam failed. Only in Christ is there salvation. Can we be witnesses today of the resurrection of Christ? Yes, we can because only in Christ can we find the type of transformation that we see in people who accept him and follow him in all his ways. Without Jesus it is impossible. Christ must be alive! If we walk with him, we will have an experience with him and we will know He is not rotting in some grave. He is the one who rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father.
After the resurrection, Jesus gives the commission, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).
This was commission in the full power of the Godhead. This commission is all encompassing, we cannot teach just some of it – we must teach all of it. The relationship here which culminates in baptism is based on truth, it is based on the word because Christ taught them through the prophets or personally. He is the Word of God. We cannot just take portions of it, we have to take all of it.