Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Luke 24:1-7 (NLT)

But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.   As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.  The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground.  Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?  He isn’t here!  He is risen from the dead!  Remember what He told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that He would rise again on the third day.”

   

The main message of Easter is that the crucified Christ was not in the tomb on Easter morning.  The two men told the women that He was/is risen from the dead.  Who were the two men?  John 20:12 describes them as angels, that’s all we are told.  The word they used for “risen” was “egeiro” that literally meant “to arouse from the sleep of death”.  It is important to note that right after declaring that Christ has risen from the dead, the angels told the women to remember what He has told them earlier about His impending betrayal, death, and resurrection (see Matthew 16:21). 

Of all the descriptions about the meaning of Easter, my favorite is what Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, wrote in A Man Without Equal (New Life Publications, 1992):   

·  The Resurrection proved that Christ was divine. The fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross does not prove in itself He is God. Jesus proved His deity by fulfilling the prophecies of His death and by His return from the grave (Romans 1:4).

·  The Resurrection proved Christ's power to forgive sin. The Bible asserts, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). By rising from the dead, Jesus proved His authority and power to break the bonds of sin and to assure forgiveness and eternal life to all who accept His gift of salvation.

·  The Resurrection revealed Christ's power over death (Romans 6:9). The Resurrection secured our victory over death as well and "lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 2:6).

·  The Resurrection defeated God's enemy. From the moment of his original rebellion until the day of the Cross, the devil fought viciously and cunningly to overthrow the kingdom of God. Satan must have thought he had dealt the final and decisive blow in this age-old war. But this was the devil's most serious miscalculation. The Cross was heaven's triumph. And when Jesus Christ arose, the power of sin and death was forever shattered. Because of the Resurrection, Christians need never fear Satan or death again.

Who can read these words of Bill Bright, along with the biblical references, and not be moved and convinced about the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?  What convinces you the most that Jesus Christ is resurrected from the dead?  Is there any event in history that is more significant than what happened on Easter Sunday?  How does the resurrection of Jesus give you hope and peace as you reflect on this reality? 

“The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.” - Henry Morris