Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus, his coming to new life and leaving the empty tomb behind. But more than a single event, Easter impacts our lives in the here and now and for all eternity. In this Easter message, Pastor Ryan discusses why everything had to happen this way, and what the resurrection proves about Jesus and about our eternity.
Easter
Today is Easter. Because of that, both here and at nearly every other church in the world, church services are completely and totally focused on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the empty tomb. This is the Super Bowl for churches! On this day we celebrate THE most influential day in human history.
The Apostle Paul says this day is so crucial that the reality of this event – whether the resurrection actually happened – determines whether Christians are utter fools or free from sin.
1 Corinthians 15:17 – And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Many people wonder, given the suffering, pain and grief Jesus had to endure, why did it have to happen this way? Why did Jesus have to be betrayed, arrested, beaten, crucified, buried, and then resurrected on the third day? It all sounds terribly complicated.
Couldn’t God – if He’s God and in charge of everything – have simply waved a magic wand instead? If He’s the One who makes all the rules, why did He make it so that His Son had to suffer and die and then come back to life?
Even Jesus, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, asked His Father about a Plan B – “If there is any other way….” His humanity knew what lay ahead and hoped that perhaps God could save the world in a less torturous way.
Today I want to show you why God’s plan had to go from Jesus’s birth to the cross to the empty tomb.
Blood Covers Sin
It’s important to understand that in God’s economy, based on the rules He established from the very beginning of time, blood had to be shed to cover over sin, wrongdoing and evil. Forgiveness is found in the blood.
The writer of Hebrews spells this out clearly when he writes:
Hebrews 9:22 – In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Scripture shows us this pattern from beginning to end.
Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, sinned and ate from the tree of knowledge. Immediately they realized they were naked, and they felt ashamed. The first sacrifice in human history was when God Himself made garments of skin to clothe Adam and Eve. An animal was killed; blood was shed for the sin of Adam and Eve.
At the Passover, God went through the land of Egypt and passed over all homes with the blood of a spotless lamb smeared on the door frame. He spared them from the death of their firstborn. Judgment was on all who were not covered by the blood.
When God finally codified the law and gave it to Moses while the Israelites began walking through the wilderness, the sacrifice for sin was the shedding of the blood of animals. It was a part of nearly every festival and every time the priest entered the presence of God. Blood was constantly being shed for the constant sin of the people.
But everything was changed with Jesus. The night He was betrayed, while Jesus shared His final meal with His disciples, He told them “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Jesus fulfilled God’s requirement for the shedding of blood so we never again have to bring a lamb into church to be slaughtered. That was the Old Covenant, the old way of doing things. Jesus brought a New Covenant founded in the sacrifice He knew He was about to make.
This is why the cross and the shed blood of Jesus (God’s own Son, the spotless lamb, perfect, holy and free from sin) was necessary. Jesus had to die, and His blood had to be shed to cover OUR sin. In the same way God provided the sacrifice for Adam after mankind’s first sin, God provided the ultimate sacrifice for all humanity.
God couldn’t change the rules He had established from the beginning of time (that forgiveness is found in the shedding of blood) but He could make a once-for-all-eternity sacrifice.
His Resurrection is as Important as His Death
Many people stop with the story of the crucifixion and nod in agreement that the cross is the pinnacle moment of the Christian faith. In fact, the cross is THE symbol of Christianity. People wear crosses as necklaces and earrings. We put crosses all over our churches, in our hospitals, and in our homes. However, we can’t miss the fact that Jesus’s resurrection is just as important as His death.
Both of these events HAD to take place. Blood had to be shed. But if Jesus died like every other person on earth and stayed dead in His tomb, then what made Him different from anyone else? The day Jesus died, His disciples didn’t feel joy for having their sins forgiven. They felt utterly defeated and abandoned. Without the good news of resurrection, His death felt like a knockout blow.
That’s why Paul writes about the equally important aspects of Jesus’s death and resurrection:
Romans 4:25 – He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
It’s as though these two events are two sides of the same coin, both necessary events in God’s redemptive plan for all of humanity.
What the Resurrection Proves
1. Jesus is who He said He was.
All of Jesus’s early life, from His birth through His ministry and His miracles, was to demonstrate that He was the promised Messiah, the servant of God who was to come and set Israel free. At various points in His ministry, people recognized who Jesus was. Anna saw it in the baby brought to the temple. Peter saw it through His ministry, and claims “You are the Christ.” Martha stated her belief even before Jesus brought her brother, Lazarus, back to life.
Yet, if Jesus had died with no resurrection, it would have cast doubt on how He could be the promised one from God. This is why Thomas (who, unfortunately, is better known as “Doubting Thomas”) did not believe Jesus was the Messiah or was alive until he saw Jesus for himself. After putting his fingers in the holes in Jesus’ hands, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus’s resurrection proved that He is God.
2. Jesus did what He said He would do.
While Jesus’s death seemed to come as a shock to His disciples, it really shouldn’t have. Jesus predicted His death and told His disciples He would be resurrected on the third day.
Matthew 16:21– From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Unfortunately, His disciples seemed to doubt that this was actually going to happen. That’s why Mary Magdalene, when she found the empty tomb, went to Peter and reported that Jesus’s body had been stolen. Later, when John saw the empty tomb, he wrote that he saw and believed. As the other disciples encountered the risen Jesus, they also believed that He fulfilled all He said He would do.
3. Jesus did what ONLY He could do.
It’s important to recognize that Jesus did not come back to life in His regular old, beaten body.
Three times in His ministry, Jesus brought dead people back to life; but it was better understood as resuscitation rather than resurrection. In each case, the person returned in exactly the same body he or she died in.
Jesus, however, came back in a body that made Mary mistake Him for a gardener. Jesus was able to show up out of nowhere in the middle of locked rooms. He had holes in His hands to show the death He experienced, and yet He was in a glorious, resurrected body that had been made new.
Nothing like this had ever happened in human history. In fact, no other religion has had a resurrection to a glorified body. Some had karma or resurrection of spirits into a spirit realm, but the resurrection of Jesus into a new, perfect body, is unheard of and unique.
4. We will follow Him into eternal life.
The most important point of what the resurrection proves is based on these three previous points. If the resurrection proves that Jesus is God (as He claimed He was), if He is able to defeat death (as He said He would), and if He came back in a glorified body, then the resurrection proves we, too, if we put our trust in Him, will follow Jesus into eternal life with glorified bodies.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 – But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Jesus’s resurrection proves that His words can be trusted and His power is unfathomable. Even better, we are told that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to each and every one of us.
Ephesians 1:18-20 – I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know… his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead.
This is incredible news! It completely changes how we view this life because we now have to view it through the lens of eternity. We must see that our suffering might have a purpose. Even if someone comes down with a disease or a loved one unexpectedly dies, we can still have the hope of seeing them again in new bodies that will never again be sick.
What Does Easter Mean to You?
This is my primary question for you today. I hope Easter means more to you than bunnies and baskets and family dinner. The Bible tells us that our eternity rises and falls on what we do with Easter.
Some of you might hear this story and write it off as a fairy tale. You don’t believe it’s true, so there is nothing you need to do. But if this is you today, then I hope you have a compelling explanation for why the tomb was empty and Jesus’s enemies could never produce His dead body to squelch the boldness of the early church.
Others of you may say you believe, but as of tomorrow you won’t do anything with this message. You’ll go back to work on Monday, back to living your life like none of this actually affects you. The problem is that you’ll find your life will lack a grander purpose. You’ll struggle to make sense of this chaotic world, and you will miss out on the peace and joy that come from a living, breathing relationship with Jesus. If you truly believe in the truth of the resurrection – if you truly believe Jesus is alive and wants a relationship – then it should affect how you live.
OR – you can respond like Jesus’s disciples did (and many others who saw Him after His resurrection) and believe. You can allow that belief to change you from the inside out. When the power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, you know it! Your choices are different. You see the world differently. You are different.
There’s nothing I want more than for every one of you to choose life and put your faith in Jesus. Choose to believe that His resurrection proves He is God and has the power to give you life after death, just like Jesus. Believe that God’s plan for your redemption is for your good. Believe that putting your faith in Jesus will change your whole life.
Believing in Jesus will give you:
- Direct access to the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.
- A community of Christians who are walking the same journey of faith.
- Peace and comfort, even in your suffering and struggles.
- Most importantly, you will receive a new meaning and purpose in God’s great drama through which He desires to redeem and save the whole world.
God’s love is so great He gave His one and only Son to our world – a world He knew would betray and kill His Son. Yet God did it anyway so that whoever puts their faith in Jesus can experience the abundant life He gives. This new life sustains us in the here and now, and we will follow Jesus into eternal life when our earthly bodies give out.
That has been God’s plan from the very beginning. God’s plan is incredibly good news!
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