A Word From Father Jim
A quick google search for the phrase "He is risen" yields some interesting results. Why do we say "He is" instead of "He has"? Isn't "has" more gramatically correct? Well, the short answer is yes, "He has risen" is more gramatically correct, but it really doesn't tell the entire story. Jesus' act of rising from the dead is not simply something that happened in a single point of time, but rather an eternal act; one that is continual and of which the benefits and effect are ongoing.
The phrase "He is risen" is found in Matthew 28: "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." (KJV). This verse is written in what is called the "aorist" tense in Greek. The translators of the King James version understood that the aorist tense states a general truth without the implication of time. Since we have no tense to correspond to the aorist tense in the Greek, it is best translated into English as present tense1. The NASB version of the Bible does the same in Luke 7:35, John 13:31, 1 Corinthians 15:54, and 1 Peter 1:24 where timeless truths in the Greek aorist are conveyed in the English present tense.
So why is this important? How can Jesus' act in a single point in time be eternal? In 1 John 2:2 we read, "He is the propitiation [best translated as “perfect, complete offering or satisfaction”] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus died not only for the sins of those who died after him, but also the sins of those who died before him. This is something that is really hard for us to wrap our minds around, but Jesus’ death could perhaps best be described as the fulcrum of time and eternity or the gateway to eternity.
That’s why Jesus is the only way to salvation for all: those who came before and after his death on the cross. Just as those who came after the cross must put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation, so must those who died before him.
Obviously the Bible doesn’t tell us how this happens but we are given a couple of hints:
“For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.” (1 Peter 4:6 ESV)
and
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey...” (1 Peter 3:18-20a ESV)
That is why Jesus’ death and resurrection can never be repeated. It was one perfect, eternal sacrifice which can never be duplicated. One fateful day the earth shook and the stone was rolled away and time and eternity met. Jesus, the Lord of Heaven and Earth is alive, risen from the dead. A new race is born! Indeed, Jesus not only has risen, but he is risen! Hallelujah!
May the joy of the resurrection be yours now and evermore! Happy Easter! Jim+
Shalom!
Jim+