The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the historical fact upon which our faith is based. It is the reason we who believe in Him and His resurrection will ourselves be raised from the dead. So I think it is highly significant what Jesus first said when He appeared to people after His resurrection. It was one word in the Greek text of the New Testament. However, it is necessary to do a little research to find out what this word was and what it means. Not all translations make it clear.
“He Has Risen” acrylic. by Amy J Heath
When Jesus met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at dawn on the first day of the week after His death by crucifixion, they were running to tell His disciples that they had seen an angel of the Lord at His empty tomb. The angel had told them,
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” So, they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring His disciple’s word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So, they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him” (Matthew 28: 5b-9 New King James Version).
The word translated “Rejoice!” above is “Xairete” in Greek. This word means: “Be “cheer”ful, i.e. calmly happy or well off, be well: farewell, be glad, God speed, greeting, hail, joy, rejoice.” (Strong’s Greek English Dictionary) Bible scholar Spiros Zodhiates defines this word as “Rejoice, be glad.” (Hebrew Greek Key Word Study Bible) Joseph Henry Thayer in his Greek English Lexicon defines it as “to be well, thrive.”
The even more revealing fact of this Greek word is that it is in the present imperative tense. This tense means: “Orders or commands that are expected to have continuous or repeated application are given in the present tense….A commitment to a long-term way of doing something. A command to keep on doing an action as one’s general habit or lifestyle. Repeat each time this situation arises.” (Gary Hill, The Discovery Bible) Zodhiates defined this tense as follows: “The present imperative is a command to do something in the future and involves continuous or repeated action.”
The word also in the plural. So, it is a command enjoining us all who believe in Jesus to be full of cheer, calmly happy or well off, to rejoice.
This same exact word is used twice in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:4:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
Our study of this word reveals the truth that there is an inextricably strong link between rejoicing and healing. This truth is captured and capsulized in Proverbs 17:22:
A joyful heart 1is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. (New American Standard Bible, 1Lit., causes good healing)
The heart referred to here is the Hebrew word “leb” which James Strong in his Hebrew-Chaldee Dictionary states “is also used (figurative) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect.” Zodhiates added: “However, it usually refers to some aspect of the immaterial inner self or being since the heart is considered to be the seat of one’s inner nature as well as one of its components.”
So the “heart” then as used in this Proverb is one’s soul and spirit. If you rejoice in your inner being, this will cause you to have good healing for you to enjoy good physical health.
How do we rejoice in the midst of physical challenges and illness? Jesus’ word translated “Rejoice!” is a command. To rejoice we must obey His command. To rejoice is a choice. You can choose to moan and groan, which will not help your healing. Or you can choose to rejoice in the Lord. This causes good healing.
Writing of Abraham, a father of our faith, the apostle Paul wrote:
In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, he was able also to perform. Therefore, also it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was reckoned to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the Love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 4: 18-5:5 NASB).
If one is not healed immediately, one should continue to rejoice. We are to repeatedly exult in our tribulations, for ultimately our hope will be realized. Having just written a little book on Biblical hope in the course of which I read and researched every verse in which hope was used in the Bible, I have concluded and concurred that Jack Hayford’s definition of hope as used in the Bible is most accurate and concise. He wrote in the Spirit Filled Life Bible that hope is “confident expectation based on solid certainty.” Hope as used in the Bible is not wishful thinking but future reality. Hope in God does not disappoint but will be realized.
Abraham and Sarah experienced hope when she conceived and bore his son at age 90. This promise of good health in old age is also for all of us who trust in Christ for our salvation.
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds, you were healed (1 Peter 2:24).
We live to righteousness because Christ has made us righteous when He took our sins upon Himself on the cross and died to pay the penalty for them.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB).
So everyone who trusts in Christ and His finished work finalized on the cross is righteous in God’s sight.
If you have not done so, you can tell God you do now in words like this:
“Dear God, I have sinned and need to be forgiven. I believe Jesus Christ died for me and I say out loud right now, “Jesus is Lord.” I believe you raised Him from the dead. I thank You for Your forgiveness and accepting me into Your family forever.”
If you have confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised Him from the dead, you are righteous in Christ. Therefore, the following promises are true for you:
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
Planted in the house of the LORD,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
They will stay fresh and green,
Proclaiming, “The LORD is upright.
He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him” (Psalm 92: 12-15 NIV).
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
Tom Giesecke (Sonrise Magazine Editor) Author. Grew up in Olympia, WA, where he received Christ at age 15. He graduated from Davidson College, NC, and Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. After his medical internship at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, MD, he trained and served as a U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon for four years. Following residency training, he served thousands of people as a Board-certified Family Physician for more than thirty-five years. Learning of God’s love motivates Tom to daily search the Scriptures for more. Tom has led Bible studies for many years and enjoys sharing “the word of God, and recently publishing a book (find in the Sonrise Bookstore and Amazon) on the grace of God: Gracious Goodness.” Reach Tom at tomgiesecke@comcast.net
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