Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your
hearts. Psalm 95:7-8, Hebrews 4:7
Was Jesus really dead? Was
Jesus ever dead?
Yes, Jesus was truly and definitely
dead. And after He
was fully dead, He became fully alive. This is called the
Resurrection. Jesus had to be fully dead in order to rise from the
dead. Else it is a cruel hoax. Since Jesus was truly dead, His
coming to life on His own proves Jesus is God.
The proofs that Jesus was truly dead are
found in the New Testament in the books of Matthew 27:46-56 and Mark 15:33-41
and Luke 23:44-49 John 19:29-37.
The most obvious scientific sign
that Jesus was actually dead is found in John 19:31-34. John, the eye witness
of this event states: Because the Jews did not want the bodies to be left on the
crosses during he Sabbath (their religious time), they asked Pilate to have the
legs broken and the bodies taken down. (The reason they wanted the legs broken
was to speed up the dying process so that by sundown they could remove the dead
body from the cross.) The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the
first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But
when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break
his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear,
bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
Any one who has seen a dead corpse knows
that the blood coagulates, leaving the water to separate away from the blood.
Thus when the soldier pierced Jesus’ side, he was proving that Jesus was truly
dead and did not need to have his legs broken.
Now the reason that the other men on the
crosses next to Jesus did not die is because in the course of nature it takes
much longer time to die than it took for Jesus. In fact, in Mark 15:42-47 it
states that " Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who
was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for
Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead.
Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he
learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph."
Here were two witnesses to report that Jesus was indeed dead.
However, we have yet to find the reason
that Jesus died so quickly. In Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15: 34 Jesus refers to
Psalm 22 of the Old Testament. It is here where Jesus is bearing the sins of
you and me and everyone else in the world. God his father cannot bear to look
upon sin, so, for this time, Jesus Christ is carrying the sins of us and is
separated from His Father (See Christ, the atoning Lamb of God)
In Mathew and Mark and Luke 23:44-46 it is
recorded that: It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the
whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. (This is about 3
o’clock in the afternoon) Jesus called in a loud voice, "Father, into your
hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his
last. Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37, and John 19:30 all report the same thing. You
see, no regular man can "give up his spirit". No one can choose
when he or she will die. One may try to cause one's own death, but one cannot
choose the specific moment of their death without physically harm
oneself. However, Jesus was tied to a wooden cross and could not
move. He was incapable of physically moving Himself. Jesus Christ
was no ordinary man. Jesus was, and still is, God. And only God alone can
choose the time of life and the time of death, the time when a soul enters and
leaves a body. So, the reason that Jesus died so much earlier than it
would take naturally was because His work was finished. He could go to
His Father now. He didn’t need to linger, for Jesus was a man of purpose, and
his purpose of carrying our sins to the cross on Himself was now finished.
It is important to note the proof of
Jesus’ work that was done on the cross. The proof is the effect of Jesus’
death. You see, Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins, so that you and I
who trust in Jesus’ carrying away our sin would now be able to be in God’s
presence. (See Good News or Suggested Prayer) The proof that Jesus’ work on
the cross was complete is in Matthew 27:51 and Mark 16:38 and Luke 23:45.
"At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom." This is crucial since it proves that now there is no
separation from us in Jesus Christ and God the Father. The temple curtain
separated man and woman from the Holy of Holies, which is God’s dwelling place.
The second proof that Jesus is God is that
the curtain was torn from the top to the bottom. No man could tear the
holy of Holies curtain without fear of being put to death, let alone tear it
from the top, many feet above his own head. This proves that God Himself
tore the curtain in acceptance of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God alone was the one who tore the curtain. The curtain was torn from
heavenward (top) to earthward (bottom).
This page will be embellished upon at a
later date. In the book of Acts, for forty days there were hundreds of
eye witnesses of Jesus walking around and eating and speaking after His coming
alive again. And after that they watched him rise up into the sky,
ascending into heaven. He promised to come back as He had left, on a
cloud from the sky.
Therefore Jesus said again, " I tell
you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.....I am the gate; whoever enters
through me will be saved...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep....I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just s the
Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Bring me to New Creation or Come
to Me or Who is God or
or to Jesus Christ's Power or Jesus Christ Messiah