The importance of Easter

Happy Easter, everyone!  I hope that in the midst of your day today you take some time to reflect on the real reason for this holiday: Jesus Christ is alive!  He literally and bodily resurrected from the dead over 2000 years ago.

It occurred to me that some of you might not understand why we Christians hold the resurrection of Christ up as such a momentous event.  What’s so important about the resurrection?  There are many reasons, but I want to camp out on just one today.  Jesus Himself said that He was going to die, but that He was not going to stay dead.  If you read the gospels you see Jesus, on more than one occasion, informing the disciples of what was eventually going to happen to Him (although they didn’t understand what He was talking about).  Consider Mark 9:31 for example, Jesus says, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.”  Verse 32: “But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.”

If Jesus was killed, and He stayed dead, it would have been revealed that Christ was nothing more than a liar.  Why?  Because He said on numerous occasions that He was going to die, but that He was going to be resurrected.  Therefore, if Christ did not literally and bodily resurrect from the dead, Christianity’s founder, Jesus, was essentially nothing more than a charlatan!  No wonder the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”  But, hallelujah, Jesus did rise from the dead!  It is a matter of historical fact.  Despite Christianity’s opponents, no one has been able to produce conclusive evidence that Christ actually stayed dead.  Christ the Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!

By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning more, I would encourage you to read “More Than a Carpenter” by Josh and Sean McDowell.  It addresses the resurrection of Christ, but also many other important issues as well.

Happy Easter!

Kevin