1 Corinthians 15:1-8 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
I had always wondered why Paul spent so much time listing all the people that had witnessed Jesus after He was raised from the dead. I guess I thought it was to prove that He really had risen. And although I’m sure that is part of the truth, I found through study of the Scriptures that there was much more importance to it than I had realized. For one thing, Paul states he is making the Gospel known to the Corinthians - and the Gospel amazingly somehow includes Paul’s list of witnesses.
The Day of Atonement was a once a year ritual that took place during the years of the Tabernacle. Everything that took place and was written down for us in the Old Testament was given to us for our instruction. 1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” In studying the Day of Atonement, I found one answer to why Paul listed individually the people who had seen Jesus after His resurrection.
Leviticus tells us that on the Day of Atonement after the high priest had taken the blood from animals sacrificed into the Holy of Holies, Israel would wait expectantly outside the court for the high priest to appear. If he didn’t come out of the Holy of Holies, they would know God had not accepted their offering and had killed the high priest. Besides the fact that the high priest was dead, they had another problem to deal with. The offering that was rejected had been their safeguard from the wrath of God for an entire year. Without it, God would surely have destroyed them because of the conditions of the Covenant that they had made with Him. However, you can almost hear the sigh of relief from the crowd on that day once each year when the high priest did come out safely from the Holy of Holies and waved to all the people signaling that God had accepted their sacrifice. Atonement for their sins had been granted for one more year.
The Day of Atonement was only a picture of the time when true atonement, forgiveness and cleansing would be made once for all sins and once for all time. Hebrews 10:10 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” The true “Day of Atonement” happened over 2,000 years ago, during the time that Jesus’ body lay in the tomb. During that time, Jesus Himself entered into the True Holy of Holies in the heavenlies with the perfect offering—His Own blood. If God accepted that offering then all the elect could be saved from the wrath of God. If God did not accept His offering, then each person who ever lived or ever would live would be required to pay for his own sin—with his own death—separation from God for all of eternity.
Can you see why it was so important for Jesus to be seen after He was raised from the dead? God was signaling to all peoples for all time that the sacrifice of Jesus had been accepted as full, complete and final payment for their sins. Can you see why Paul regarded the witnessing of the risen Lord Jesus such an important part of the gospel? We can breathe a sigh of relief. Jesus has paid our debt for us! God is satisfied with His payment! Jesus was the propitiation for our sins!!!
John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
The Greek word for “It is finished” is teleo, a derivative of tetelestai. Tetelestai was a legal term that was printed across a certificate of debt when the debt was paid off. The certificate was them nailed to the doorpost of the debtor’s home to show everyone that his debt was finished, paid in full! Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow! Do you see it!!!
Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow! God accepted Jesus’ payment for me and I am now alive together with Jesus!!! Praise You, Praise You, God!!! Praise You, Praise You, Jesus!!! Thank You, Thank You, my God and Lord!!!
God nailed the parchment of Christ’s flesh to the cross to show everyone, Satan included, that your debt and mine had been paid in full!!!
Tetelestai!
Praise!!! O, Praise the Name of Jesus!!!
Give Glory and Praise and Honor and Blessing to the Name of the LORD!!!
Revelation 5:6-14 “And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.”
Adapted from "HIStory—From Event To Event The Bible Is One Story"
