What could be better than the fact that Jesus died for our sins? That He didn’t stay dead! Jesus died, but He rose. Not only did He conquer sin and its power. He also conquered death and gave us that victory. As Easter draws near, it’s good for us to prepare our minds towards it, reminding ourselves of what we actually celebrate, reminding ourselves of the God who loves us so much that He gave us everything, even His victory.
Before going into the main message, permit me a brief apologetic detour to debunk the one argument that many unbelievers use to discredit the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.
Was His body moved or stolen?
Scripture tells us that the resurrection of Jesus was not witnessed by one or two people alone. He appeared to many, and at one point to more than five hundred people at once (1 Cor. 15:6). In any serious matter, multiple witnesses strengthen credibility. How much more when hundreds testify to the same truth?
The theory of a stolen body is often raised by those unwilling to accept the possibility of resurrection. But that explanation creates more problems than it solves. Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that He would die and rise again. If that claim were false, it would mean He knowingly built His ministry on deception and lies. It would mean He was not an honest person. But why would He willingly endure rejection, torture, and crucifixion for what He knew to be a lie? What did He stand to gain by carrying out a great deception such as this?
And what of the disciples? These were men who, at the moment of Jesus’ arrest, scattered in fear. One of them even denied knowing Him. What then explains their sudden boldness after His death? Why would they risk imprisonment, persecution, and a torturous death to defend something they knew they had invented? Men may suffer for what they believe to be true. They do not willingly suffer for what they know to be false.
If it was truly a heist, was there not a single eyewitness to attest to this claim? What of the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb? Were they in on it too, risking their very lives to protect an agenda that didn’t concern them?
Then there is the matter of the tomb itself. If Jesus did not rise, where was His body? The opponents of Christianity had every reason to produce it, yet they did not. If the empty tomb testifies to the risen Christ, where then is the body that says otherwise? Instead, Scripture tells us that the story of a stolen body was itself spread as a cover (Matt. 28:11–15). It was a rumor circulated by people who hated Jesus in an attempt to suppress the truth.
Before one comes to a conclusion that Jesus’ body was moved or stolen, these are a few questions one must think upon. When these questions are faced honestly, the conclusion becomes difficult to avoid: Jesus truly died, and He truly rose again on the third day, just as He said He would.
Why is it important that Jesus rose again to life?
First of all, that gives validity to His ministry and everything He had been saying. By rising from the dead, exactly as He had said, Jesus vindicated His claims and revealed Himself truly to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4). His resurrection was so tangible that He could be seen and touched (Lk. 24:39, Jn. 20:24-29). He was raised to life bodily, validating His claim. Based on this, we can trust in His deity and every other thing He promised and said.
Even the disciples were in despair and great sorrow when Jesus died. They had not yet fully grasped all that Jesus had said about His death and resurrection. But when they came face to face with the risen Christ, they remembered all He had said to them, and they acknowledged the truth of His words. (Jn. 2:22)
It is because Jesus was raised to life again that we can confidently speak of the resurrection of the dead (1 Thess. 4:13-14). It is what gives us the hope that we, too, will rise to life again. And if that canon event did not take place, then our hope is useless, and as Apostle Paul says, we are of all men most miserable (1 Cor. 15:19 KJV).
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1 Corinthians 15: 17-19 NIV
The testimony of the risen Christ is what brought about the reunion of the disciples and the subsequent rise of the Christian movement. If Jesus didn’t rise again, there would have been no Christian faith. Our faith would have been useless. The preaching of the apostles would have been in vain, as a matter of fact, false. Everything, including the Man who claimed that He would rise again, would have been a scam. The entire authenticity of Christianity rests on the gospel of the risen Christ. And since He really did rise again, we can be certain of the truth of the message of the Apostles and confident in Jesus, the Truth.
What is the significance of His resurrection?
It signifies hope that death will not be the end. For those of us who were wronged in this world, there will be a time of compensation. For those who lost loved ones too abruptly, there will be a reunion. For those of us who believe in Jesus, there will be restoration. (1 Cor. 15:20-23)
Jesus’ death dealt with sin. His resurrection declared victory over death. The message here isn’t that we won’t die. After all, these bodies must give way for the new to become (1 Cor. 15:50). The thing is that death will no longer have the victory it once had. It will no longer have that sorrowful sting. By His death and resurrection, He conquered the sting of death and death itself, giving us the ultimate victory.
“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15:54-55
Because He lives, we live too. If we have been crucified with Christ, then we also live with Him (Rom. 6:5). We too will rise from the dead with glorified bodies, never to die again, walking in the victory that Christ has won.
Jesus is alive and is at the right hand of the Father, continuing in intercession for us. Before we even knew we needed a prayer for forgiveness, He was praying for us (Lk. 23:34). And scripture helps us understand that He continues to do so for us till this day (Rom. 8:34). More than this, He has prepared a place for us so that where He is, we may also be (Jn. 14:2-3). His resurrection gives such a strong assurance that we have a destination after this world. It gives us the confidence to say that we know where we are headed.
Since by faith we died with Him, then by faith we are also alive in Him to walk in the newness of life. Paul wrote it perfectly: I have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). The life that we have now is for Christ. It is by the conviction of this truth that we can say: if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).
Jesus arose to secure our hope, confirm our faith, and give us victory that reaches beyond this life. His resurrection is the assurance that sin has been dealt with, death has been conquered, and everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame. The tomb is empty, Christ is alive, and because He lives, our faith is not in vain, and our future is not uncertain.
Faith+blog 