There’s
a lot of confusion regarding why we celebrate Easter. I was reminded on this fact when I was at
retail store and I saw an advertisement that stated that giving and
thankfulness is what Easter is all about.
It’s great to give to others, the same goes for being thankful, but they
have nothing to do with this importance of this day. Further, Easter isn’t about a cute little
bunny. What, then, is Easter about? Well, I called this my “resurrection Sunday”
blog. I did this because Easter
celebrates the fact that Jesus Christ, the One who gave His life as a sacrifice
for sin, didn’t stay in the grave after that noble act; He conquered death
itself. The resurrection of Jesus isn’t
a fable or a fun story; it is an undeniable historical fact.
Why
is Jesus’ resurrection so important? Let
me answer that by asking you to imagine this scene with me. Suppose six months before he entered into his
Heavenly reward, my dad called a family meeting and he said, “Here’s the deal:
in six months, I’m going to die. But God
told me three days after my death, I’m going to be resurrected.” And then suppose, three months later, he
called everyone together once again, and made the same announcement. And then he articulated it again a couple of
months later. The day came, and he
passed away, but his body remained in the grave. As time marched on, it became abundantly
clear that his prediction was wrong. We
would be left to conclude that my dad was a liar, or delusional, right? After all, he predicted an impending
resurrection, but it didn’t happen.
Please
don’t misunderstand me on this one. The
truth is, my dad didn’t know he was going to pass away that day. Even in his last hours on Earth, he didn’t
have the faintest notion. I really
believe that he was as surprised as everyone else was at his sudden homecoming
to Heaven. Furthermore, Dad certainly
didn’t predict that he was going to rise from the dead in three days. I said all this to illustrate a point: while
my dad didn’t predict an imminent resurrection, Jesus Christ did. Read the gospels for yourself. You will see that on more than one occasion
Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die, and He told them that He was
going to rise from the dead. If it’s not
true, Jesus was nothing more than a liar, or delusional.
There’s
more to this discussion. Not only did
Jesus predict His resurrection, the Old Testament also predicted that the
foretold Messiah was going to rise from the dead. Psalm 16:10, for example, says, “You will not
leave me in the place of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see
decay.” In this Messianic Psalm, the
author was prophesying that the Coming One will not be left in the grave to
experience decay. Interestingly, in Acts
2, Peter quotes from this very Psalm in his sermon. I’m paraphrasing, but basically he says, “David,
the human author of this Psalm, remains in the grave to this day. He isn’t speaking of himself. He is speaking of Jesus Christ, who died, and
is now alive forevermore. We are
witnesses of this fact!”
Isaiah
53 contains another Old Testament instance of Jesus’ resurrection. Let me give you the context on this one. In verse 8, Isaiah predicts Jesus’ death;
verse 9 speaks of Jesus’ burial, and then in verse 10 we read these words: “But
He will still see His descendants and live a long life.” Then in the next verse, Isaiah 53:11, it
states, “After His soul suffers many things, He will see life and be satisfied”
(NCV). My point here is these Old
Testament verses (and others like them) speak of Jesus’ resurrection. If it didn’t happen, it calls into question
the reliability of the Scriptures.
Why
is Jesus’ resurrection important? It’s
important for many reasons. But one of
the fundamental reasons is if Jesus’ resurrection didn’t happen, then He is a
delusional liar, and a religious charlatan that is not to be trusted. Furthermore, the Bible would be
unreliable. Both in the Old and New
Testament, it asserts that the Messiah was going to taste death, but that He
would subsequently conquer it. If that
didn’t happen, the Bible isn’t accurate, and therefore, is not to be
trusted. But, as I said back at the
beginning, the resurrection is a historical fact. Opponents have tried to suppress and disprove
it for centuries, but no one has – and no one will. Trust Jesus; He is the Truth (John 14:6). Trust the Bible; it is wholly reliable. Jesus Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!
Kevin
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