He is not here. He is risen, as He said. Matthew 28:6
More chocolate is eaten today than on any other day of the year. Leading up to today, the stores have been overflowing with chocolate Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, and other candy specifically designed for the Easter season. Is chocolate the reason for the day? Many people will condemn today’s designation of Easter as an ancient pagan festival that has no roots in Christianity at all. And they are right. Christendom today will make note of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, even as millions of people are added to the ranks of those who consider Jesus Christ to be irrelevant and His resurrection a fable. So how are we as Christians to consider this day? As far as the observance of Easter goes, it probably does not matter. But as far as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead goes, it matters more than anything else. Because it’s true, it’s real, and it’s critical to our salvation.
How do we know the resurrection is true? For one, the tomb was, and is, empty. The disciples and several women verified that the tomb was empty. The Roman soldiers confirmed that it was empty, although they were bribed to tell a fiction about how it became empty. Christ arose, because the tomb is empty.
We also know that the Lord Jesus arose because He was seen alive by so many people after His resurrection. Whether it was Mary Magdaline in the Garden, or Cleophas and his wife on the road to Emmaus, or the disciples in the upper room and on the Galilee seashore, He appeared to many. Consider the words of 1 Corinthians 15:4-6: He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. Paul wrote that epistle which was publicly circulated. Paul openly challenged those who doubted his words to ask any of those 500 witness still living. With all of those witnesses, there is more proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead than that Christoper Columbus discovered America.
Another great proof of the resurrection is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. This man told of encountering the risen Christ on the Damascus highway. How else can we explain the transformation of a fiercely zealous Pharisee, a possible heir apparent to the title of high priest, an intense persecutor of the Christians into the great apostle Paul?
Another proof of the resurrection is the transformation of the disciples from a wishy-washy bunch of cowards who forsook Jesus and fled at Gethsemane into the bold and vibrant band who led the proclamation of the Gospel to the world. The message of those disciples was that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. And all but John died defending that great claim. Those disciples would certainly know first-hand whether the resurrection was true. Would they have been willing to die to defend something that they knew was a lie. Of course not.
Another great proof of the resurrection is the explosion of Christianity into the rest of the world. Usually, when a great leader dies, his ideas and aims die with him, or shortly after his death. The exact opposite happened after the death of Jesus. Excited by the news that He had risen from the dead, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples and other believers carried the Gospel to the far reaches of the world.
Amid the proofs of His resurrection, Jesus Christ claims our acknowledgment today of Him as Lord and Saviour. -Jim MacIntosh