December 10th, 2023
We confess in the Nicene Creed that the Son of God “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” We need to understand the resurrection of the Son of God according to the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments.
When Peter preached the Gospel of Jesus’s death and resurrection to Cornelius and his household in Acts 10, he cited the witness of history and the apostles. Cornelius and his household had heard about Jesus. They knew there was something unique about him, that he was anointed, that God was with him and was working through him. They knew about his miracles, how he healed people, and how he delivered those who were oppressed by demons.
But knowing what happened is not enough. Cornelius needed to hear the testimony of the Apostle Peter:
And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:39-42)
The apostles were chosen as witnesses to all that Jesus did, to his death, and to his resurrection. Their testimony is eyewitness testimony, but they were chosen as witnesses by Jesus himself and empowered by the Holy Spirit to bear witness (John 15:26-27). Their testimony is divinely-appointed and empowered.
The apostles did not simply testify that God was with Jesus. They bore witness to the divine identity of Jesus. In the book of Acts, Peter declares that Jesus is the Lord (2:36), the Holy and Righteous One (3:14), the Author of Life (3:15), and the Saviour (5:31). In this sermon to Cornelius, he testifies that Jesus is “Lord of all” (10:36) and “Judge of the living and the dead” (10:42).
The Apostles bore witness to the identity of Jesus and to what God was doing in and through Jesus. They not only testified to what happened, but to the meaning of what happened. Yes, Jesus died on the cross and was raised on the third day, but the apostles declare that he died for our sins and that in his death, death and Satan are defeated. The apostles not only proclaimed that Jesus had died and was raised, they proclaimed that whoever believes in him receives peace and the forgiveness of sins.
The apostles' Spirit-inspired and Spirit-empowered teaching is written and preserved in the New Testament and received by those who have ears to hear. Cornelius and his household had ears to hear. While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word (Acts 10:44).
We confess that the Son of God “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” which are the Spirit-inspired and Spirit-illuminated witness to the resurrection of the Son of God.