“He Is Not Here, for He Is Risen”
Lesson 27 – Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20
Elder
James M. Paramore: “Many years ago … a writer
for a newspaper was asked an important question, ‘What would be the most
important news the world could receive?’ ”
Elder Paramore continued: “[The writer] thought and thought about the
question, he talked to many people, and read all he could in an effort to find
an answer for himself. And finally, he printed his answer, ‘To know that Jesus
Christ lives today would be the most important news the world could receive. In
fact, if He lives today, then we too will live eternally as He said’ ” (Ensign,
Nov. 1990, 64).
The
disciples’ sorrow at Christ’s death was replaced with unspeakable joy at his
Resurrection. We too can rejoice in the knowledge that Christ was resurrected.
Mary Magdalene and other women were witnesses of the
resurrected Lord.
Matt.
27:57-60; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42 After Jesus was crucified, his body was wrapped in
clean linen cloths and placed in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, one
of Jesus’ disciples. This was done quickly because the Sabbath was about to
begin. The morning after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and other women returned
to the tomb with spices and ointments to more thoroughly anoint and embalm
Jesus’ body.
Matt.
28:1-4; Luke 24:1-4 Mary Magdalene and the other women, when they came to Jesus’
tomb, found angels at an open tomb. (The Joseph Smith Translation of
Matthew 28 states, as Luke does, that there were two angels. See Matt. 28:2,
footnote 2a.)
Matt.
28:5-7; Luke 24:5-8 The angels told the women that 1) they knew the women
sought Jesus, 2) Jesus was not there, but had risen from the grave, 3) they
should look for themselves and see the empty tomb, 4) they should go quickly to
tell his disciples of the resurrection, 5) they should expect to see the risen
Lord in Galilee, and finally, 6) the angels had discharged their responsibility
in delivering this message.
Alma
11:42-45 (see also
Bible Dictionary, “Resurrection,” 761.) When the
angels said, “He is risen”, they meant that Jesus had been resurrected. Alma
explains what it means to be resurrected—that the spirit and body are reunited
again in its perfect form and in an immortal state, not being subject to
corruption again.
1
Corinthians 15:22, 50-58; Alma 11:42-45 Blessings we will receive because of Jesus’
Resurrection include the blessing that we will all be resurrected and be given
immortal bodies.
President
Howard W. Hunter said that the words “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6) “contain all the hope,
assurance, and belief necessary to sustain us in our challenging and sometimes
grief-filled lives” (Ensign, May 1986, 15-16).
Consider
how your testimony of the Atonement and the Resurrection has helped you through
difficult times.
Matt.
28:8; Luke 24:8-9 After the angels finished speaking, the women departed quickly, feeling
a combination of fear and joy, to tell his disciples of the resurrection.
As
foretold by the angels, Mary and the other women were the first of many people
who saw Jesus Christ after he was resurrected
2
Corinthians 13:1 It was important that the resurrected Lord appear to earthly witnesses
to provide proof of his resurrection and to fulfill prophecies about his
atonement and resurrection.
Two disciples on the road to Emmaus were witnesses of
the resurrected Lord.
Luke
24:13-24
Cleopas and his companion were sad as they walked along the road to Emmaus
because Jesus had been crucified and they had expected him to redeem
Israel—which, it seems, in their opinion, had failed to come to pass.
Luke
24:25-27
The resurrected Lord taught them as they walked that all of this had been the
subject of numerous prophecies—which he then expounded to them as they walked.
Luke
24:32 The
two disciples felt their hearts burn within them as Jesus taught them. This feeling was the influence of the Holy
Ghost. Consider your own experiences as you have received a witness from the
Spirit while studying the gospel or hearing someone teach it. Didn’t your heart
burn as you felt the truth of gospel teachings?
The Apostles were witnesses of the resurrected Lord.
Luke
24:36-37
The Apostles thought they were seeing a spirit when the Savior appeared to them
on the evening of the day he was resurrected.
Luke
24:38-43 Jesus
reassured them that he was a resurrected being, not a spirit, by inviting them
to feel his hands and assure themselves that he had a body of flesh and bone.
John
20:24-25
Thomas responded to the other Apostles’ testimonies that the Lord had been
resurrected with some disbelief.
John
20:26-29
Thomas came to believe that the Lord had been resurrected by seeing the risen
Lord with his own eyes. Sometimes we may show the same weakness as Thomas and
fail to believe the testimony of others.
Elder
Gordon B. Hinckley said: “Have you not heard others
speak as Thomas spoke? ‘Give us,’ they say, ‘the empirical evidence. Prove
before our very eyes, and our ears, and our hands, else we will not believe.’
This is the language of the time in which we live. Thomas the Doubter has
become the example of men in all ages who refuse to accept other than that
which they can physically prove and explain—as if they could prove love, or
faith, or even such physical phenomena as electricity. … “To all within the
sound of my voice who may have doubts, I repeat the words given Thomas as he
felt the wounded hands of the Lord: ‘Be not faithless, but believing’ ” (Ensign,
May 1978, 59).
John
20:27
Consider carefully how you can more fully follow the Lord’s admonition to “be
not faithless, but believing”. What can you do this week to accomplish that?
Some of the Apostles saw Jesus again at the Sea of
Tiberias (Sea of Galilee).
John
21:4-7 The
resurrected Lord showed himself again to seven of his Apostles as they were
fishing. They came to realize it was Jesus on the shore when he directed them
where to fish and they suddenly caught an abundance of fish after previously
fishing in vain.
John
21:15-17
After they had eaten, Jesus ask Peter and the other Apostles to feed his sheep.
Today,
we are also charged with the responsibility to feed the Lord’s sheep through
actively serving in our callings and giving selfless service outside our formal
Church callings.
John
20:30-31 John’s
reason for writing down some of the things that the resurrected Jesus said and
did was to help us believe in Christ.
Consider carefully how you have benefited from studying the scriptural
accounts of Jesus’ Resurrection and pondering these great events.
In
addition to the many witnesses mentioned in the Gospels, others who saw the
resurrected Lord include:
Stephen
(Acts 7:55)
More than 500 brethren (1 Corinthians 15:6)
The Apostle James (1 Corinthians 15:7)
The Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8)
2,500 Saints in the ancient Americas (3 Nephi 11:8-15; 3 Nephi 17:25)
The Prophet Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith—History 1:17; D&C 76:22-24)
Sidney Rigdon (D&C 76:22-24)
Jesus
Christ was resurrected and because of him we will also be resurrected. This
testimony and knowledge of the Resurrection brings us strength and comfort.