Prophesying of the death of Israel’s Messiah was tragic beyond words. The realization that when the long-awaited Messiah was to come, He would meet with all the brutality and injustice that was prophesied. And, as bad and evil as it was, there was only one thing that could have made His death even worse than it was. What could that be? That there would be no resurrection for Him after His death. That would have compounded the tragedy into unthinkable proportions because it is only because He lives that we, too, shall live. Our resurrection is inseparably connected to and dependent utterly upon His resurrection. And, that there will be a future resurrection for all is echoed throughout the Old Testament. Job spoke confidently of it, as did so many of the Old Testament writers. Yet, there is one passage that so vividly speaks of the prophetic promise that the Messiah would be resurrected and, of course, His resurrection presupposes and necessitates His death, and, again, we turn to the Psalms. In Psalm 16, verse 8 through 10, “I have set the Lord continually before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely, for Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol, neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.”
For years, this passage was utterly mystifying to millions, particularly of Jews. The mystery was due to the fact that David, the psalmist, was recognized as the writer. Yet, what could he possibly mean by what he said? Was he the holy One of whom he spoke? And how could he say that he, David, would not see bodily corruption and decay upon his death? A mystery indeed, and one not solved until Jesus Christ arose from the dead on the third day.
Peer declared the matter so well in his Pentecostal message in Acts, chapter 2, when he spoke about the person of Christ. Catch the electricity as Peter explained what the Spirit of God revealed to him. In Acts, chapter 2, and verse 29, “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died, and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he (David) looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus, God raised up again, to which we all are witnesses.” David, the psalmist, was not speaking of himself. He was speaking of his son, who would come a thousand years later, as David’s greater son, the Messiah.
And, now, for the first time it all makes sense and, brethren, we are so grateful that it does.
CC-03-20
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