The importance of Easter in regards to the Christian faith as a whole cannot be overemphasized. In short, everything regarding the truthfulness of Christianity is dependent on the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus didn’t literally, physically and bodily rise from the dead then Christianity is a deceptive hoax. If Jesus simply died and remained in the tomb, there is no point in reading the Bible, going to church or a small group Bible study, or living for God. In 1 Corinthians 15:17, we read, “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
Why is this? Consider all of the times that Jesus Himself clearly declared that He was going to die and then subsequently be resurrected. I decided to list all the times Jesus makes this clear statement in just the book of Matthew. He speaks of His resurrection in Matthew 17:9, Matthew 17:22-23, Matthew 20:18-19, and Matthew 26:31-32. On my Good Friday blog, I stated that Jesus was innocent, pure, and sinless. But if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, He is a liar, and therefore certainly not innocent, pure, and sinless. If this is the case, He is not the Savior of the world; He would actually be an imposter and a religious con artist. Once again, everything regarding the Christian faith depends on whether or not Jesus resurrected from the dead.
Because of this, opponents of Christianity have proposed numerous theories as to why Jesus didn’t actually rise again, all equally ridiculous. Some have suggested that Jesus never actually died as a result of the crucifixion. This view says that Christ only appeared to die, but He was only wounded, not dead. Others have suggested that the disciples stole the body of Jesus from the tomb so the story could be told that Jesus arose, when He didn’t. Still others claim that Christ was never even crucified, rather it was someone who looked like Him, once again, a clever ruse from the disciples, proponents claim. There are many other views, but they are all ludicrous.
Christianity is valid because, the truth is, Jesus did physically arise from the dead. After stating that Christianity is useless if Christ didn’t rise again, Paul writes in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 15: “But now Christ is risen from the dead.” Verse 26 of this same chapter: “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” Christ is the victor, even over death itself! Easter is the greatest of days because it is a celebration of the day that Jesus proved that He really is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). This is because He arose from the dead, just as He repeatedly predicted that He would do.
Happy Easter!
Kevin
No comments:
Post a Comment