WORDS
from the WORD by
Charles L. Feinberg, Th.D., Ph.D.
MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS A t the heart of the Christian faith stands an empty cross and an empty tomb. Their message is the crux of the gospel which- we proclaim: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Unless these verities stand firm, we are yet in our sins and are of all men most miserable (1 Cor. 15:3, 4, 17-19). Therefore, in an age which examines all claims in the light of scientific proof and historical certainty, it is well to recall at least the broad outlines of the solid, irrefutable evidence which undergirds the Easter message. There . is the witness of the empty tomb. Futile to argue that the women and the disciples in their grief went to the wrong tomb to seek His body. Aside from the fact that this was not one tomb among many, but was a private burial place, men do not forget where they have laid to rest their dearest loved one all within the space of three short days. Were the angelic messengers likewise at the wrong tomb? Equally futile to speculate that the death of our Lord was not real, that He merely swooned upon the cross and revived in the chill of the cave. The soldiers at the cross were hardened, exper ienced executioners who, when they went to break His legs, testified that He was dead already. To this was added the confirmation of blood and water from His spear-rent side — the sign of rupture caused by anguish, the evidence of a broken heart! Are we to suppose that a person whose head was lacerated by thorns, whose hands and feet were tom by spikes, whose back was flayed and whose side had a hole large enough for a man’s hand (John 20:27) from which had flowed his heart’s .blood, could gather strength after three days without food or water to roll back a vast stone, then escape undetected past a squad of Roman soldiers guard ing the tomb under penalty of death? A. H. Strong comments: “ A wheel of granite, eight feet in diameter and one foot thick, rolling in a grove, would weigh more than four tons.” To escape from the tomb under such circumstances as these would in itself be a miracle, but even this could not explain how one half-dead, weak and ill and in immediate need of medical aid could appear unto the eleven disciples, change their sorrow into enthusiasm, their defeat into worship and joy, and give the impression that He was the Prince of Life, the conqueror over both death and the grave! It is beyond dispute that Christ’s death was real and that the tomb in which He was buried was empty on the third day. To this fact, bewildered centurions and trembling disciples together gave witness. Where then was Christ’s body? It was not in the hands of His enemies, for they blamed the theft upon His friends. Pilate did not have the body; rather, it was upon his command the tomb had been sealed. Unbelieving Jews did not have the body, for they became the sworn ene mies of the early Christian Church and would not have hesitated an instant to produce the body of Christ, if indeed it had been in their possession. Had they been continued on page 46 19
FIRST-FRUITS T he highly significant message of the resurrection is beautifully and tersely contained in the word “first- fruits.” In the Old Testament it is a translation for two words ( bikkur and re’shith) and in the New Testa ment for one (aparche). In the literal sense “ first-fruits” refers to the first ripe products of the earth which were a pledge of a future harvest. These fruits were offered to the Lord at His express command (Lev. 23:10,17 Deut. 26:1-11). The Feast of First-Fruits was observed during the week of unleavened bread (Lev. 23:9-14). It was presupposed settlement in the land and its observ ance was one of the first religious acts of Israel on pass ing over the Jordan under Joshua (Josh. 5:10,11). The godly in Israel, in bringing their fruits to the Lord, were admitting God’s ownership of all. Just as the portion presented to God was recognized as His, so all the com ing harvest belonged to Him as well. When we come to the New Testament, we find that the word first-fruits is found in seven passages and is employed figuratively. Romans 8:23 speaks of the bless ings believers now enjoy through the Spirit, a foretaste of the greater benefits in the future. _In Romans 11:16 we have the enunciation of a far-reaching principle of divine dealing. Paul indicates that the separation of Abraham unto God from all mankind was a first-fruits of the permanent separation of Israel (the nation that sprang from him) to God. Both Romans 16:5 and First Corinthians 16:15 have to do with the first converts in a given geographical locality, an earnest of a larger spiritual harvest. The reference in James 1:18 is to all believers of a specific generation. The last mention of first-fruits in the Bible is found in Revelation 14:4 where John is speaking of the 144,000 witnesses from Israel in the Great Tribulation who are used of God to gather in a spiritual harvest in those dark days. With the Church gone from the earth in that age, these heralds will be the channel for God’s message of love. Their fruit is vividly portrayed in Revelation 7:9-17. But the highest fulfilment of the Feast of First-Fruits is set forth in the resurrection chapter of the New Testa ment, First Corinthians 15:20-23. Here we read: “ But now Christ has been raised from [the] dead, first-fruits of them that have fallen asleep. . . . But each in his own rank, Christ, first-fruits. . . .” When the priest in Israel indicated that as the first-fruits were the Lord’s, so would all the coming increase be, he was actually pre dicting in symbolic fashion that when Messiah would rise from the dead, He would be the glorious pledge of an abundant spiritual harvest. The Lord Jesus promised the disciples that because He would live again in resur rection power, they would live also (John 14:19). Just as the first-fruits sheaf was a sample of the whole har vest, the resurrection of Christ is the model, pattern, and picture of our resurrection. Says Paul: “ For our citizen ship is in heaven, from which we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humiliation, conformed to the body of His glory . . .” continued on page 35
APRIL 1953
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