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Luke 24:1-2 ESV

NT

Luke 24:1-2

esv

The Resurrection 24 1 h But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, i taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found j the stone rolled away from the tomb,

Block Diagram

editing

1 Peter 1:3-5

I. The Object of Our Salvation

Blessed be the God

and Father

Explanation (Apposition)

of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Relationship

II. The Means of Our Salvation

According to his great mercy,

Agency

he has caused us to be born again

Result

The Benefits of Our Salvation

to a living hope

Advantage #1

through the resurrection

Means

of Jesus Christ

Descriptive

from the dead,

Separation

to an inheritance

Advantage #2

that is imperishable,

Content #1

undefiled,

Content #2

and unfading,

Content #3

kept ... for you,

Destination

in heaven

Locative

who ... are being guarded

Association

by God’s power

Manner

through faith

for a salvation

Content

ready to be revealed

Condition (of 5f)

in the last time.

Temporal

*1:3d – God is the agent of the mercy

*1:3e – this clause is subordinate because 'he' is actually the definite article in Greek. According to the rules of block diagramming

when a definite article stands in place of the pronoun it is subordinate to the main clause.

*1:5e – the condition is the "last time." Salvation will not come to full fruition until the Temporal is complete.

phrasing

notes

I. The Object of Our Salvation

The one who is blessed is none other than God Himself. This first phrase stands as the chief though for these three verses, and one could argue, for the rest of the epistle. This section can be summarized in two questions: Who is God? and who is Jesus Christ? 1. Who is God? He is the one who is Blessed . According to Peter, He is blessed ( Εὐλογητὸς ). The word denotes an interesting feature as noted by Blenkin in his commentary for The Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges . He writes, " worthy to receive blessing is nearly always restricted to God in the LXX. while εὐλογημένος, one who receives blessing , is used of men." The same form of benediction occurs in Eph. 1:3 and 2 Cor. 1:3 . (pg. 29). God, and not man, is the one who is to receive our blessing. Not that we give anything to God excepting our praise alone. He expects this because He is the sole creator and worthy of our attention in our day-to-day lives. Peter is getting ready to explain in detail why he blesses God and why all believers should exult this type of doxology. He is Father . The term "God and Father" conveys a double meaning: God means that He is the author of life, creator of the universe, and in complete and sovereign control over all the creation He has made. Father signifies His great benevolence towards His creation, and especially of mankind. Jesus uses a similar illustration of God's heart as a Father in the gospels. " 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Mat 7:9-11) . 2. Who is Jesus Christ? The answer to this question is implied in His title. He is the Christ , God's anointed One. He is anointed for a specific task which Peter earlier identifies as the One who sprinkles us with His blood (verse 2). The sprinkling of the blood has purified all believers and has caused us to obey Him. He is the Son of the Father . Of course this does not imply that He is any less important than the Father. Scripture makes it clear that the Father, Son, and Spirit are all co-equal and co-eternal. But Jesus is the lamb that was foreknown before the foundation of the world to be the sacrifice for the believer's sins (1:20). The title of Son only implies that He willingly took this position, not begrudgingly or out of necessity, but simply out of love. He is Lord . The title Christ is the addendum to the precursor of His being Lord. He is first and foremost Lord. The word itself invokes the sense of nobility and the head of an estate. In this case, He is the head of the estate of all creation as is stated by the apostle Paul in Colossians 1:15-18. Though the Lord hold everything together by the power of His word he humbly clothed Himself in human flesh, became submissive to His Father and allowed Himself to die cruelly for His own creation. It is no wonder at all why He is pedastled by the Father Himself to be preeminent in everything.

II. The Means of Our Salvation

Our salvation is only "according to His great mercy." The Agent by which salvation comes . While some would focus on the mercy itself and say that that is the means, I think Peter's focus is on the One from whom this mercy springs. Thus, I have labeled this relationship as Agency instead of Manner or Means. It is solely of God giving His mercy freely that mercy can be obtained. And this mercy is described as being great. It is great in the sense that it is marvelous and wonderful. How can man understand the depth, and the riches, and love by which God loves us? (Eph 3:18-19). The result of mercy . God's great mercy results in a new birth. The familiar phrase "born again," which is so common in Evangelicalism is used here. The connotation is that something brand new is conceived and brought forth from the result that God's mercy has had upon us. So often we use the phrase loosely without considering its implications. Being born again results in having God's incorruptible seed within you (1:23). We cannot claim this mercy if we are not walking in fellowship with the Triune God. Scripture is very clear that those who do not practice God's commandments are those who not truly experienced the new birth (1John 3:7-10).

III. The Benefits of Our Salvation

This is the largest section of the three as Peter describes what the believer has on account of the great mercy of God. A living hope . This is contrasted with the rest of the world which has no hope, or a dead hope, just as Paul describes in the epistle of Ephesians (Eph 2:1-2). Those who are spiritually dead have no hope beyond this life. Yet the believer's hope is alive and full of assurance of what God has promised him in Jesus Christ. And why? Because of the resurrection. This is where the foundation of our hope is found. If there is no resurrection then there cannot be any mercy or salvation which results in mercy (1Cor 15:17). Christ's resurrection from the dead was to prove with finality that His blood sacrifice was acceptable to the Father. The blood which we have been sprinkled is what Jesus has presented to the Father on His throne so that His wrath may be turned away from our sin (Heb 7:27, Heb 9:12). This is why we have a living hope. Christ is the first born from among the dead so that we may follow. An inheritance . God's mercy not only gave us life, but also gave us an inheritance along with His Son. This inheritance is described by Peter in three words: Imperishable - this is that which can never be affected by the effects of the Curse, that is, it will never rust, or corrode, or otherwise be subjected to the natural consequences of the Fall. It is everlasting. Undefiled - it is completely pure and untainted by man. Man has a way of corrupting everything. Even in our holiest of prayers are we in corruptness as we often pray for that which would benefit us over our fellow man. Not so with this inheritance. It is pure, and will never have the stench of the world or its selfish desires. Unfading - some associate this with the first description of imperishable. But unfading, here means that this inheritance will never loose its luster or brilliance. In a sense, it is closely tied with imperishable as time is the enemy of all things. But Peter makes it clear that the brilliance of this inheritance is unfading. Note that the description of our inheritance is that which is heavenly and stands in stark contrast of that which is earthly. That which captures man's heart is contrasted by what true beauty and worth is. It is that which God gives to those who love Him and His Son. The power that guards. Lastly, I would like to point out that this inheritance is kept for a specific group of people. It is those "who are guarded by God's power." The implications of this are unfathomable. The fact that it is God Himself who guards us reminds me of the Old Testament passages which commanded Moses and Joshua not be afraid because God Himself would fight for them (Ex 14:14, Josh 1:5). Peter tells us that this guarding comes through means of faith. Faith is not necessarily abstract (Heb 11:1) but is that for which we hope in. It is this same faith that God gives as a gift (Eph 2:8-9) and that allows us to be free of our sinful nature so that we may again obey God. But the real assurance is this: God defends His people and brings them into their inheritance. It is only because of this promise that we are able to stand (Josh 23:14).

Wisdom, Works, and Worship

That One with such authority would give His life a ransom, and that One with all sovereignty would send His Son to be that ransom is a great encouragement. He keeps us by His very own power. If my power were involved I would be in Hell this very day, this very hour, this very minute! His mercy is the hope for our future and He deserves all praise, honor, and glory from His people, that they would obey Him and make known His greatness in all the earth ( Isa 12:5 ).