What About the Resurrection?
The fact of the Resurrection is not our topic today. Let’s talk about its impact on us. So I ask “What about the Resurrection?”
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
How much hope did Peter have on Easter Saturday? It seems not much. His living hope came through the resurrection of Christ.
Jesus said a lot of radical things and called them to radical faith. Take up your cross, and follow me would be one of many. He worked to transform every person he met. Some would doubt if there was anything to it, On Easter Saturday, most people were ready to move on to the next big thing. When Jesus rose from the dead without any human agency, he showed that there was power behind every word he spoke. For example he could make any one a sheep or a goat.
What About the Resurrection? Then, Everything He Said Is True
Jesus said he would give the keys to the kingdom to his disciples, and that empowered them to write the New Testament. If God had not raised Jesus, they never would have wrote a thing. They would have hid away like they did when Jesus got arrested.
Every action hinged on the resurrection just like Paul showed in 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus’ crucifiction and death are the fulcrum of history because he rose from the dead in power.
God did not ask the disciples to go on an empty promise. He showed them absolutely that they need have no fear of death, even death on the cross. Much as God in the Old Testament said, we should ignore a prophet whose prophecy failed. Jesus whole ministry was predicated on his his statement that he would rise from the dead. It was a shocking challenge that Jesus was glad to lay down.
Death has lost its sting because Jesus conquered the grave and showed the disciples in power. Can we live in the joy of knowing that Jesus is good for everything he said? Not easy, but God opened that door.
