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"He is not here He is risen,
just as He said, Come and see the place where He lay."
Matthew 28:6
The concentration of Christians at Easter is on the resurrection
of Jesus with the joyous cry, "He is risen, Christ is
risen indeed." And what Thomas Arnold described as "the
best attested fact of human history" and EP Goodman said:
"The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a certainty, if
any fact, not merely of Christianity, but of history, stands
on an impregnable foundation, this does, is proclaimed again
as a truth of inestimable value to people everywhere and all
the time."
The crucifixion had taken place on Good Friday and the body
of Jesus placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. It was
well guarded by Roman soldiers to ensure that the friends
of Jesus would not steal the body away. On Sunday morning
early when the women came to anoint the body - they had been
prevented from doing that with the intervention of the Sabbath
- they found the stone which sealed the entrance had rolled
away and were told by an "angelic messanger" that
Jesus had risen from the dead. What He had promised had happened.
There were to be many witnesses to it for Jesus appeared afterwards
to those who were mourning his death. The evidence for the
resurrection of Jesus is such that for two millennium people
everywhere had been satisfied as to its veracity.
They were impressed by the sincerity, honesty and accuracy
of the accounts, became believers in Christ and convinced
of the truth He taught, and of the pivotal place that is His
in the plan and purpose of God for the salvation of people.
The witnesses were unexpentant, incredulous and their honesty
was undoubted even by the sceptical of the time.
The Resurrection was the fulfilment of prophecy; a vindication
of the promises of Jesus, and proof of His divinity. The resurrection
became, and remains, of primary importance in the teaching
and preaching of Christians. Paul described his position as
a Christian leader when he said:
"I passed on to you first of all the message I had myself
received - that Christ died for our sins as the Scriptures
said He would; that He was buried and that He rose again as
the Scriptures foretold." 1 Corinthians 15:3.
The resurrection gives credence to the Cross for it proved
the truth of the claims Jesus had made about Himself. It was
the certification of God's acceptance of His atoning sacrifice
as sufficient for the sins of the world. Paul explained. "He
was delivered up for our sins and raised to bring us into
a right relationship with God". Romans 4:25.
The resurrection of Jesus is the promise, the earnest, of
our own resurrection if we have the essential relationship
with Him as Lord and Saviour.
The Church - a proof of the Resurrection is the existence
of the church. Nothing short of Resurrection could have changed
despairing men and women into people "radiant with joy
and flaming with courage". These were the very people
who on Good Friday ran off to leave him to His fate and who
hid themselves until resurrection day. Defeat had been turned
into victory: the end had become a beginning. Without the
Resurrection there would have been no church, no place for
Christian teaching and witnessing.
The Resurrection means that Christ is not just an historical
personage of incredible fame and achievement but an ever-living
presence: not just someone to hear about but the one to travel
with in the journey of life. The Christian is the person who
knows Jesus rather than the one who knows about Him. Paul
described himself as a "man in Christ" for his commitment
meant that Christ lived through him. He said, "I live
yet not I but Christ lives in me."
On Easter Day the Christian faces the world with a truth
that can transform everything; the experience of the living
Christ in the life of the believer. Easter is a continuous
miracle for it presents a state of being; a spiritual experience
to be shared for "the Christian is resurrection person."
"Almighty God, who through your only begotten Son
Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting
life; Grant that we who celebrate with joy the day of our
Lord's resurrection may be raised from the death of sin by
your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever." Prayer Book.
"Ring, joyous bells of Easter, Death hath not conquered
Life; Victorious is our risen Lord, And finished all His strife.
From Calvary's mount of darkness; Lo starry lilies bloom;
For by the cross we conquer, And fearless face the tomb."
M.E. Sangster.
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