Christ resurrected as “the firstfruit” of “resurrection” (1 Cor. 15:20-23). In resurrection He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God. As the unique, only begotten Son of God, He did not need to be begotten, but in order for the only begotten Son to become the firstborn Son He had to be born in resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5). On the day of His resurrection, Christ was born to be the firstborn Son of God and “the Firstborn from among the dead” in order to be “the Head of the Body, the church” (Col. 1:18).
When the Lord Jesus resurrected, He left the old creation in the tomb (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” (vv. 6-7). Before the body of Jesus was buried, it was bound in linen (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 (v. 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 (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 (v. 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” (11:44). Hence, Jesus said to the people, “Loose him and let him go” (11:44). 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.
I believe that at a certain point the Lord might have said to death, “Death, your time is over. Now I shall rise up, walk out of your domain, remove the wrappings from off My body, put everything in a good order, and leave it in the tomb as a testimony that I have raised Myself up from among the dead.” Then the Lord might have said good-bye to death and walked away. In principle, at least, it must have been this way. The Lord was not in a rush. He did not run excitedly away from the tomb like a kidnap victim who hurriedly flees after he has been released. No, the Lord was at peace and very much at ease. He might simply have taken a good look at death, finding that it was powerless to do anything with Him. Although death tried its best to retain Him, this was impossible. Being very much at ease, the Lord removed the wrappings, folded the handkerchief, and put them in a good order. Death watched Him as He easily did this. He was unafraid and nothing threatened Him. He might have said, “Death, I have finished My mission. You can do nothing with Me, and I am not afraid of you. Now is the time for Me to walk out of your domain. I am not in a hurry. I could stay here for another day if I wanted to, but now it’s time to leave.” This was the true situation when the Lord rose from the dead.
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. As we shall see later, 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.