What Was Jesus Doing On the Cross?

# 6 (He was) paying the price for His resurrection 

In 2022 when Jennifer and I were in Jerusalem, we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that was built in the early 4th century by Queen Helena, the Greek mother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine. 

The site was carefully excavated, and the Chapel was built to cover and preserve Golgotha (the small hill that Jesus was crucified on) and the tomb location that Jesus body was laid in 

While we were visiting the tomb and looking at the place where Jesus body was laid, I was reminded of the words of the angels who spoke to the women who visited the tomb early on that Sunday morning, Luke 24: 5-7 “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has been resurrected! Do you remember what He said in Galilee that it was necessary for the Son of Man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men and to be crucified and on the third day to rise again?” CSB, ASV, HCSB, ICB, MOUNCE 

I am also reminded of a famous quote from Charles Colson who said ~ "The resurrection of Jesus Christ is more powerful than anything else we believe."   

Why is “the resurrection of Jesus Christ more powerful than anything else we believe'? 

1/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies  

Luke 24: 46 ‘He (Jesus) said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.”’ 

Luke 18: 31-33; Luke 24: 25-27, 44-47; Acts 2: 25-32; 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4;  

1 Peter 1: 11 

2/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Christ’s own predictions 

Matthew 17: 9b “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 

Mark 16: 19; John 2: 19-22; Acts 1: 9-11; Acts 5: 31; Acts 7: 55-56; Ephesians 1: 19; Revelation 3: 21 

3/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Christ’s redemptive work 

Hebrews 10: 12 ‘But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.’ 

John 10: 17-18; Romans 1: 4; Romans 4: 25; Hebrews 12: 2b  

4/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to King David that Jesus would sit on Heaven’s throne forever  

Acts 2: 30b ‘he (David) knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.’ And 33a ‘Now He (Jesus) is exalted to the place of highest honor in Heaven, at God’s right hand. 

Acts 2: 34-35; Acts 13: 34-37; Revelation 3: 21 

5/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed Jesus' return to Heaven’s glory 

John 17: 5 ‘Now, Father, bring Me into the glory we shared before the world began.’ 

Philippians 2: 8-9; 1 Peter 1: 10-11, 20-21 

6/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed Jesus would become the Head of the Church and Ruler of all things 

Ephesians 1: 22-23 ‘God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him Head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.’ 

Matthew 28: 18; Colossians 1: 15-19 

7/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed the resurrection of every believer 

Firstly, for every Old Testament believer  

Ezekiel 37: 12-14; Daniel 12: 2 

Secondly, for every New Testament believer  

John 11: 25-26a; 1 Corinthians 15: 223, 50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 

Thirdly, for every Tribulation believer  

Revelation 20: 4-5 

John 5: 26-29; John 14: 19; Romans 4: 25; Romans 6: 5-10; Romans 8: 1-11, 31-34; 

1 Corinthians 15: 13-19, 20-23; Ephesians 1: 19-20; Ephesians 2: 1-6; Colossians 3: 1-4; 1 Peter 1: 3 

 8/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed promise of the Baptism WITH the Holy Spirit for every believer 

Acts 1: 5 ‘John baptized WITH water, but in just a few days you will be baptized WITH the Holy Spirit.” (Words are important; there is no Baptism OF the Holy Spirit)  

John 16: 7; Acts 1: 8; Acts 2: 1-4, 38-39 

9/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ prepared the believer to live for God 

Romans 7: 4b ‘You belong to Christ, whom God raised up after His death. As a result, we can be used in service to God.’ EASY, ERV 

1 Corinthians 15: 14, 58 

10/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ instituted and established the day of fellowship and worship for every believer 

John 20: 19 ‘That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” He said.’ 

Matthew 28: 1; Acts 20: 7; 1 Corinthains 16: 2 

11/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ provided eyewitnesses to verify and confirm our Faith 

The Apostle John said concerning the suffering and death of Christ on the cross, John 19: 35 ‘(This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.)’ 

And concerning the resurrection of Christ, John said, John 21: 24a ‘This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate.’  

Matthew 28: 9-11; Mark 16: 9-19; Luke 24: 9-11, 13-32, 34, 36-53; John 20: 11-31; John 21: 1-23; Acts 1: 4-11; Acts 9: 1-6; Acts 22: 6-11; Acts 23: 11; Acts 26: 12-18; 1 Corinthians 15: 5-8 

12/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed the resurrection of every unbeliever 

Jesus Himself said, John 5: 29b ‘those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.’ 

The Book of Revelation calls this the ‘second death’, Revelation 20: 11-15 ‘And I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from His presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.’ 

Acts 17: 31; Revelation 19: 20; Revelation 20: 5-6; Revelation 21: 8 

13/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed the final judgement of the devil 

Through Jesus suffering and death on the cross, He crushed the head of the devil 

Genesis 3: 15a 

And when Jesus returns to the world, the devil will be captured and bound for  

1, 000 years 

Revelation 20: 1-3 

And when the 1, 000 years are complete, Revelation 20: 10 ‘the devil who had deceived them (the unbelieving world) was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.’ KJ21 

14/ The resurrection of Jesus Christ guaranteed the ‘end of everything’ 

1 Corinthians 15: 24 ‘After that, the end of everything will happen. Christ will win against every ruler and power and authority. He will give the kingdom to God, the Father. God will rule over everything.’ EASY 

What was Jesus doing on the cross? 

(He was) paying the price for His resurrection 

Dear friends, I agree with Charles Colson - "The resurrection of Jesus Christ is more powerful than anything else we believe."   

Are you saved – have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  

Receive Him today – do it now!