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From Pastor Harry Rogers
THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK
The Lord resurrected “on the first day of the week”
(John 20:1). The resurrection of the Lord was a new start
opening the way to a new generation and a new age. This
is why the Lord resurrected “on the first day of the week.”
This day is the greatest day in the Bible. That it is called
“the first day of the week” means that it is a new beginning. A week is a period of seven days, and the first day denotes a new
start. Why did the Lord not rise up on the sixth or seventh day, or on any other day of the week?
Because His resurrection ushered in a new period, a new
age, a new generation. In the old creation there were seven
days. God created for six days and rested on the seventh.
These seven days were the generation of the old creation.
By the resurrection of the Lord Jesus another generation
was newly started. The old creation belonged to the seven
days. Now, after the seven days, there is a new start with
another first day. In other words, by the resurrection of
the Lord, the old creation has passed away and a new
creation has begun; the old generation is over and the new
generation has started. Thus, the first day of another week
signifies the beginning of a new creation, a new
generation, and a new age.
Have you ever noticed the type in the Old Testament
which indicated that the Lord would resurrect on the first
day of the week? In Leviticus 23:10, 11, and 15, a sheaf of
the firstfruit of the harvest was offered to the Lord as a
wave offering on the “morrow after the sabbath.” That
sheaf of the firstfruits was a type of Christ as the firstfruit
in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). Christ resurrected
exactly on the day after the Sabbath. In these verses in
Leviticus 23, the term “the first day of the week” is not
used; instead, another term is used—“the morrow after the
sabbath.” The Sabbath is the seventh day, and the morrow
after the Sabbath is the first day of the week. The
firstfruits of the harvest were offered to the Lord “on the
morrow after the sabbath,” meaning the first day of the
following week. The firstfruits of the harvest typify the
resurrected Christ. He is the firstfruit of resurrection.
Since the Lord resurrected from the dead as the firstfruit
of the harvest, when was the firstfruit of the harvest
offered to God? It was on the morrow after the Sabbath,
that is, on the first day of the week. This is not only a type
but also a prophecy which was fulfilled in John 20.
The firstfruit of the harvest offered to the Lord was the
wave offering signifying resurrection. The wave offering is
contrasted with the heave offering. The wave offering was
offered with a back-and-forth motion signifying Christ in
resurrection; the heave offering was lifted with an up-and down
motion signifying Christ in ascension. To wave indicates constant motion. Hence, Christ is moving in life because He has
resurrected. He is the life giving Spirit, He is the wave offering on the first day of the week.
Another matter to be considered here is the circumcision of the children of Israel. On what day did God instruct them to be
circumcised? It was on the eighth day (Gen. 17:12). After a period of seven days, there is the first day of another period of seven
days—that is, the eighth day. The significance of the Lord’s instructing the children of Israel to be circumcised on the eighth day
was that they had to eliminate their old nature and live the resurrected life. They were born naturally and had to cut off their old
nature and have a new nature which lives by the
resurrection life. Thus, the Israelites were commanded to
be circumcised on the eighth day. Colossians 2:11 and 12
declare that in Christ we all have been circumcised by His
cross. It is God’s intention that His people put off the old
nature and put on the new nature that they might live in
the resurrection life. This is something of the eighth day,
the first day of the week. This simply denotes resurrection
because resurrection is a new beginning for a new
generation in a new creation.
By His all-inclusive death, Christ terminated the old
creation, which had been completed in six days plus one
Sabbath day. In His resurrection, He germinated the new
creation with the divine life. Hence, it is the beginning of a
new “week”—a new age. The day of His resurrection was
appointed by God. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day
which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in
it.” If we read this verse in its context, we shall see that it
refers to the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The day of His
resurrection was a special day, a day appointed by God.
The day of the Lord’s resurrection was prophesied as being
“this day” in Psalm 2:7, which is quoted in Acts 13:33 and
Hebrews 1:5. When the Lord Jesus was still walking on
earth, He prophesied that He would be crucified and that
He would rise up from the dead on the third day (Matt.
16:21; John 2:19, 22). This “third day” was the first day of
the week. Later, this day was called by the early
Christians “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). What a wonderful
day it was!
It should also be pointed out that the Lord was not only
resurrected on the first day of the week, but also during
the first part of the day. He resurrected in the morning,
not in the evening. Once again this signifies a new start, a
new beginning, a new period, a new generation, a new age,
a new creation, and a new day. The resurrection of the
Lord is the beginning of a new day because He resurrected
early in the morning of the first day.
When the Lord Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week,
He left the old creation in the tomb (John 20:1-10).
Peter entered into the tomb and “beheld the linen cloths lying there, and the
handkerchief which was on His head, not lying with the
linen cloths, but folded up in a place apart” (John 20: 6-7).
Before the body of Jesus was buried, it was bound in linen
(John 19:40). This means that He went into the tomb with
something of the old creation, indicating that the old
creation was brought into the tomb by His burial. All the
things which were cast off from the Lord’s resurrected
body and left in His tomb signify the old creation, which
He wore into the tomb. He was crucified with the old
creation and buried with it. But He resurrected from
within it, leaving it in the tomb and becoming the firstfruit
of the new creation.
Everything left in the tomb was a testimony to the
Lord’s resurrection. If these things had not been left there
in a good order, it would have been difficult for Peter and
John to believe (John 20:8) that the Lord had not been taken
away by someone but had resurrected by Himself. These
things were offered to the Lord and wrapped about Him by
His two disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus (John 19:38-42). What
they wrought on the Lord in their love to Him became very
useful in the Lord’s testimony. The Lord resurrected from
the dead, leaving all the old creation which He had
brought into the tomb as a testimony that He had walked
away from death.
In the eyes of God, the entire old creation was buried in
that tomb. This is a wonderful fact, whether you believe it
or not. The old creation, including your old man and your
old self, was buried in the tomb with Jesus and left there.
When the all-inclusive Christ went into the tomb, we went
there with Him. When He resurrected, He left us there. In
this universe there is such a wonderful, all-inclusive tomb
where our old man has been buried and still remains. Now
our old man is in the tomb, and our resurrected new man
is in the church.
The cloths and the handkerchief were left in the tomb
in a very good order (John 20:7). Who took the linen cloths and
the handkerchief from off the Lord Jesus, and who folded
the handkerchief and left it in a good order? It was not
done by angels but by the Lord Jesus Himself. The proof of
this is the resurrection of Lazarus in chapter eleven. After
Lazarus had been raised from the dead and had come out
of the tomb, he was “bound hands and feet with burial
cloths, and his face was bound about with a handkerchief”
(John11:44). Hence, Jesus said to the people, “Loose him and
let him go” (John11:44). Lazarus needed help to be released
from his burial cloths because he was the resurrected one,
not the resurrecting One. But the Lord Jesus was the
resurrecting One, not the resurrected one. He rose up by
Himself and did not need the help of angels. The angels
were merely observers. If the angels had removed the
wrappings, it would have meant that the Lord was unable
to rise up from the dead Himself.
The testimony of the Lord’s resurrection was from two
sides—from man and from the angels. As we have seen, all
the wrappings were offered to the Lord by two honorable
disciples. Eventually, what they provided the Lord out of
their love for Him became a solid and substantial
testimony of His resurrection. This was the testimony from
man’s side. Also God sent two angels to be a testimony from the heavens. Hence, there were two sides of the testimony of the
Lord’s resurrection, one from man on earth and the other from the angels in heaven. Praise the Lord that both man and angels,
earth and heaven, are a testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
HE HAS RISEN!!! PRAISE THE LORD!
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