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The impact of Christ’s death on those who experienced it was definitely profound. The words used to describe their response are “affrighted, amazed, afraid, believed not.” These words speak of panic, having a phobia, shock, standing outside oneself. They were confused and hopeless. They definitely had not understood Christ’s words when he said he would die. But neither did they understand his words when he said he would rise from the dead in three days, so they were not only shocked and devastated by his crucifixion, but they struggled to believe that he had risen from the dead.
In light of the confusion and shock of the crucifixion and resurrection, it is amazing that sixty days after the resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, the women and apostles had grasped the meaning of the death and resurrection. This is proven by Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and by the sermons preached and the missionary work carried out throughout the book of Acts.
The meaning of the death and resurrection of Christ is more than popular Christianity since the Reformation has proclaimed. The primary meaning/theme introduced by Luther and developed further until the present time was that Jesus died on the cross to provide a way for God to forgive sins so people can be relieved of their guilt and go to heaven when they die. The means or method Luther offered is that God put all human’s sins on Christ at the cross, punished these sins in Jesus (made Jesus pay the penalty for these sins), and puts all Jesus’ righteousness on the account in heaven of every person who trusts/believes that Jesus paid the penalty for their sins.
A more Biblical view of the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection includes the following ideas:
- Jesus offers forgiveness of sin to both Jews and Gentiles, which fulfills God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the spiritual father of both Jews and Gentiles.
- Jesus rescues people from their worship of idols and sins and restores to people the ability to worship the God of heaven and earth.
- Jesus establishes Christ as the supreme authority, king, and ruler of heaven and earth, the one who can defeat all his enemies “in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:5-11).
- Jesus restores to the believer the ability to “exercise dominion” as described in Genesis in the creation story.