SERMON: EASTER -- WHY THE RESURRECTION?

 

I.  Introduction

      -- turn in your Bibles to Luke 24:1-12

 

Luke 24:1-12 (NIV)

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?

6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:

7 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"

8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.

10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

 

 

      -- this morning, as we gather together to celebrate Easter -- the most holy of days in our Christian church -- I have a confession to make -- for a long time in my life, I really didn’t understand what Easter was all about

      -- like most of you, I grew up celebrating Easter from childhood -- Easter was the day of bunnies and baskets -- of waking up and running into the living room to see what presents the Easter bunny brought -- enjoying chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs at breakfast before we got all dressed up and went to church to hear the same story again -- the story of Jesus rising from the dead

      -- but it really didn’t mean a whole lot to me -- it seemed like Christmas was the bigger celebration -- it seemed like the church and the world put more importance on Christmas than Easter, so that was obviously the more important holiday -- I mean, we spent over a month getting ready for Christmas -- buying presents and decorating our houses and getting together for Christmas parties and meals

      -- but for Easter, we really didn’t do much other than hiding eggs and getting Easter baskets -- I knew it was important -- I knew it was a celebration -- but I just really didn’t understand the significance

      -- as I got older and learned more, I began to understand the cross and that Jesus died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins -- I began to understand that He had to suffer and die as the perfect sacrifice so that our sins would be forgiven -- and I began to make that connection and the importance of the cross

      -- that’s why we have crosses in our church -- that’s why we wear crosses around our necks as decorations -- that’s why we symbolize our faith with a cross -- it’s all to celebrate the fact that Jesus died for our sins -- that’s what we tell people about when we tell them about Jesus

 

      -- but that still didn’t explain Easter -- even after coming to Christ -- even after giving my life to Him and asking for Him to forgive me of my sins and to be my Lord and Savior, I still didn’t understand the importance of Easter -- the importance of the resurrection

      -- I couldn’t figure it out -- from what the church was saying -- from the way we celebrated the holidays -- it seemed like the two important things in Christianity were Christmas and the Cross -- we talked about them a lot -- but Easter was just a day and the resurrection was only really mentioned that one time

      -- and then there was the way the world looked at Easter -- they joined with us in buying bunnies and baskets and giving out chocolate at Easter -- but they didn’t put any special emphasis on anything else

      -- and every year, there were always stories on TV or articles in the paper or magazines where scientists were debating the resurrection -- trying to prove it wasn’t true -- that it was  impossible for Jesus to have risen from the dead -- and the church didn’t really have much to say about it -- we’d just say, “Yes, He did” and that was about it

      -- and, so, I was confused -- I just couldn’t understand what the big deal was all about -- what was so important about the resurrection? -- I mean, if the important thing was that Jesus died for our sins on the cross, what did it matter if He rose from the dead or not?

      -- if our sins were forgiven, wasn’t that all that mattered? -- I just didn’t understand

 

      -- but I’m not the only one -- the disciples didn’t understand, either -- we see that in Scripture -- we see that in this passage from Luke

      -- as the sun rose on that first Easter morning, the disciples weren’t looking forward to that day with joy or happiness -- they weren’t waiting for Jesus to come walking in the door after rising from the tomb -- no, the Bible says they were huddled together in the upper room in fear --praying for their own survival

      -- that’s understandable -- people didn’t just rise from the dead -- sure, Lazarus did, but that was a special case -- and it was Jesus that raised Lazarus from the dead -- but now Jesus is gone -- dead and buried -- and everything has changed

 

      -- for three years, the disciples had followed Jesus with the hope that He was the promised Messiah who would restore Israel to prominence and rid the land of the Romans and the Gentiles -- it sure seemed like this was going to happen when He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to the shouts of “Hosanna, Hosanna” from the crowd on Palm Sunday -- but how quickly things turned

      -- just a short seven days later, their leader was dead -- betrayed into the hands of chief priests and the Sanhedrin by one of their own -- turned over to the hated Romans -- beaten, whipped, and sentenced to death on a Roman cross

      -- and when Jesus died, the hopes and the dreams died, too -- with the death of Jesus, their lives had changed forever -- Jerusalem -- the city that was so familiar to them was now foreign -- the people that they once called brothers now looked to them as strangers and enemies -- death waited at every door

      -- they didn't know if the next knock on the door would bring the temple guards or another frightened follower seeking respite from a cruel dark world

      -- for them, nothing would ever be the same -- all their dreams -- all their hopes -- and all their desires -- were crushed when Jesus was crucified -- and for the past three days, it had been the same

 

      -- the only ones who dared to venture forth were the women -- the silent followers of Jesus who could come and go hidden in their dark robes and tunics -- the second-class citizens who were regarded with little account and who passed by the Romans and the temple guards with no notice

      -- the Bible tells us that three of these women left the upper room and went to the garden tomb on that first Easter morning to finish anointing the body of Jesus with oils and fragrant spices

      -- as you remember, when Jesus died, Pilate had allowed Joseph of Arimathea to take His  body and bury it -- but there hadn’t been enough time to properly prepare the body for burial before the Passover began -- normally, the body would be wrapped in a linen cloth and covered with about 100 pounds of oils and aromatic spices, mixed together to form a gummy substance intended to retard decay, but Joseph hadn’t been able to complete the job -- all he could do was wrap the body of Jesus in a linen shroud and leave it until later

      -- but now that the Sabbath had ended, the women followers of Jesus went to finish the job -- they went alone, because the men did not dare to show their face for fear of meeting the same fate as Jesus -- but what they found was not what they expected

 

      -- Jesus often talked about rising from the dead in three days -- everyone remembered Him saying this -- the thing is no one really understood what He meant -- perhaps they thought it was just another of His stories -- another parable that they didn’t quite understand -- no one took His words literally -- no one really believed it would happen and that He would rise from the dead

            -- the Pharisees and the priests didn't -- they just wanted to prevent the body from being stolen so they could produce it later in case the disciples claimed Jesus had risen -- their response to Jesus’ proclamation was to seal the tomb and secure it with a guard next to the entrance

            -- the disciples didn't believe that Jesus would rise again, or else they would have been waiting in anticipation for the event -- they wouldn't have been huddled up together in a small room in fear for their own lives

-- The Bible backs this up -- John 20:9 says that the disciples did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to die and be raised again -- even though they had spent three years with Jesus -- even though they had seen many, many miracles -- even though Jesus had told them He would rise again, they didn't believe -- they didn’t understand

-- so, on that first Easter morning, they weren’t waiting at the tomb in expectation for Jesus to come walking out -- they were hiding together behind locked doors -- and even when the women came and told them that the tomb was empty and that they saw angels who proclaimed that Jesus was alive -- even when the disciples saw the empty tomb with their own eyes, they still didn’t understand -- they still doubted, because nothing in their life could have prepared them for this -- and so they continued to hide in fear and in depression and in sadness, because Jesus had died and was not coming back

 

-- but just a few days later, something has happened -- the disciples are changed men -- the Bible records that these frightened sheep -- these men who were huddled in back rooms for fear of the Jews -- were now standing boldly in the streets of Jerusalem -- filled with the power of the Holy Spirit -- preaching the gospel message to all who would listen -- and proclaiming that Jesus was not dead, but that He had risen, just as He said

-- they were no longer fearful and frightened men -- they were no longer discouraged and hopeless -- they were no longer worried about being arrested and losing their life

 

-- but here’s the question: what changed them from being fearful followers hiding in the shadows to boldly proclaiming the good news? -- what made the difference? -- one thing: the resurrection -- they changed because they had seen Jesus

-- Jesus had appeared to them and they knew -- beyond the shadow of a doubt -- that Jesus was God and that He had risen from the dead just like He said -- and that made all the difference

-- when you experience the power of the risen Lord in your life, all fear is gone -- and that is exactly what happened to the disciples

-- this is one of the most convincing proofs that the resurrection actually occurred -- the changed lives of the disciples give testimony to the fact that the resurrection was real -- but what does that mean for us?

 

            -- as I have grown and studied God's word, I have come to understand that the resurrection is the single most important event in Jesus' life and in our faith    

            -- the doctrine of the resurrection is foundational to our Christian faith -- our religion hinges on the truth that Jesus rose from the dead -- it is more important than anything else, because without the resurrection, we have no religion -- without the resurrection, our faith is in vain -- without the resurrection we have no hope and we are wasting a perfectly good Sunday morning because we are here for no reason at all

 

            -- Gerald O'Collins put it this way:  "Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter.  It is not Christianity at all."

 

            -- we are here today because we believe in the resurrection of Jesus -- we are here today because we know what the resurrection means to us -- we see it in the witness of the disciples and the early followers of Jesus -- how their lives were changed and how they turned the world of their day upside-down because of it

            -- we see it in lives through our personal experience with the risen Christ -- the resurrection changes everything -- and because we believe that Jesus died on the cross at Calvary for our sins and that God raised Him from the dead three days later, we will be raised as well

            -- this is a foundational truth -- you cannot be a Christian if you don't believe in the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the body

            -- I didn’t understand that as a child -- I didn’t understand that as a young man growing up in church -- in fact, I didn’t understand that even as a new Christian -- it took years for me to truly understand the significance of Easter and the significance of the resurrection

            -- so, I’m going to take a few more minutes this morning to express to you how important this is to us as Christians

           

            -- if you would, turn over with me to 1 Corinthians 15 and we’ll finish up there

            -- let's start in verse 3

 

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NIV)

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

 

 

            -- as I said, the resurrection of Christ is the core of Christianity -- in fact, the emphasis of the early church was not on Christmas or on the cross like ours is today -- we tend to focus on the cross -- we tend to focus on the death of Jesus -- on the atonement for sin and the forgiveness of sin that comes through the cross  

            -- but the early Christians didn’t focus so much on the cross -- their focus was on the future -- their lives and their faith revolved around the resurrection -- and for good reason

            -- it was real -- they could point to it and say, "The resurrection happened -- we saw it with our own eyes -- after Jesus died, He appeared to Peter and then to all twelve of the apostles -- and then He appeared to over five hundred other believers at one time -- He appeared to James, His brother -- and finally, He appeared to Paul"

            -- "if you want to know if the resurrection was real, ask us -- ask any of them -- we know that everything Jesus taught was true because He died and rose again -- and because Jesus died and rose again, we know that we will, too!"

            -- this emphasis on the resurrection doesn't negate the atoning death of Jesus on the cross -- but that happened in another realm -- the atoning of our sins -- the judgment that came against Jesus -- was in the spiritual realm -- no one watching Jesus die on the cross that day could point to Him and say, "Look, our sins are being taken away" -- it was only after the fact that the Spirit revealed just what had occurred on the cross as Jesus offered His body and blood as an atoning sacrifice for us -- the atonement of our sins is a spiritual truth, not a physical truth

            -- but the resurrection was different -- it happened in our physical world -- and the early Christians could point to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and say, "This proves Jesus was the Messiah -- this proves Jesus was God”

 

            -- now, the Pharisees also believed in the resurrection -- it was one of the distinct differences that set them apart from the ruling Sadducees -- but their view of the resurrection couldn't make room for Jesus returning from the dead

            -- kind of like us, the Pharisees lived in the real world -- they believed in the immortality of the soul -- that at some point in the future, there would be a resurrection of the spirit and that all who died would be resurrected -- some to eternal life and others to eternal punishment

            -- they taught that they would be given a new body at this time and that believers would live with God forever -- all the way back in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 12:2, we see an indication of this belief -- "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."

            -- but for the Pharisees, that was in the future -- that was something that would happen in the spiritual realm -- they never envisioned someone in their day walking out of a burial tomb three days after being crucified -- it was a matter of faith -- something that talked about but couldn't be proven

 

            -- but for Peter and James and all the other disciples and apostles, the resurrection ceased to be theory and became a fact -- their faith had been given sight

            -- in other words, they believed in the resurrection of the body because they had seen a dead man raised -- they knew, without a doubt, that Jesus was dead -- they had witnessed His crucifixion -- they had seen His body taken down from the cross -- they knew He was a dead as dead could be -- like we said, on the day when Jesus was laid in the tomb, the thought that He might physically come back to life again in their day never even crossed their minds

            -- but Jesus had risen from the dead -- not as a disembodied spirit -- but as a living, breathing person who spoke with them, ate with them, and let them touch Him

            -- as Peter said in Acts 2:31, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. "

            -- the early Christians believed in the resurrection, not because they had been taught about it from a book, but because they had witnessed it with their very own eyes -- and that is why it became the most important part of Christianity and the emphasis of their message to others

 

            -- look at verse 12

 

1 Corinthians 15:12-13 (NIV)

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

 

 

            -- sometime later, false teachings began to circulate in the church -- in this case, some people in the church at Corinth had apparently begun to teach that there was no resurrection of the dead -- a position similar to that of the Sadducees

            -- this had the people concerned -- if this was true -- if there was no resurrection of the dead -- what did that mean?

            -- so, Paul addresses the resurrection issue here in this passage by pointing out that the proclamation of Jesus' death and resurrection are proof that the dead will be resurrected at the last days     

            -- if we preach that Jesus was raised from the dead -- if we are eyewitnesses of this fact -- how can you say that there is no resurrection?

            -- if you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then you have to believe in the resurrection of all -- because, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus was not raised, either -- nowhere in the Bible does it say that only the Messiah will be raised from the dead -- nowhere in the Bible does it say that the resurrection is only for Jesus -- no, the resurrection is for all of us -- Paul’s point here is that the resurrection of Jesus is real, then it means that it’s real for everyone

            -- in John 11, Jesus is talking to Martha after the death of her brother, Lazarus -- in verse 23, Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." -- Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

            -- Jesus tells us that the resurrection is for all -- Paul tells us that Jesus' resurrection is the proof that it will happen

 

            -- now Paul addresses the question of why the resurrection is important -- look at verse 14

 

1 Corinthians 15:14-19 (NIV)

14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

 

 

            -- Paul is saying that if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then we have no chance at being raised from the dead, either -- and so, he makes the argument that if the resurrection didn't happen, then it doesn't matter what you believe -- you can believe that Jesus was the Son of God -- you can believe that He paid the penalty for your sins on the cross -- you can trust Him for eternal life -- but if Jesus didn't rise from the dead on the third day, then your faith is in vain and it is not true

            -- if the resurrection didn't take place, we are not saved by grace, we are still condemned by the law

 

            -- Do you see why I said that the resurrection of Christ is the most important aspect of Christianity? -- Do you see why the early Christians didn't preach about the cross but emphasized the fact that Jesus rose from the dead?

            -- As Lee Strobel wrote, "The resurrection is the supreme vindication of Jesus' divine identity and his inspired teaching.  It's the proof of his triumph over sin and death.  It's the foreshadowing of Christian hope.  It's the miracle of all miracles."

            -- The resurrection of Christ confirms His deity.  It proves that He bore the price of our sins on Calvary.  It proves that He has conquered Satan and death.  It proves that there is an eternal life after physical death.  It proves that believers will one day be physically resurrected as well.

 

Closing

-- When the Greek philosopher Socrates lay dying, his friends asked, "Shall we live again?" -- He could only respond by saying, "I hope so." 

 

-- If we have put our trust and our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we don't have to say "I hope so" about our own resurrection -- our answer is "I know so,” because Jesus' resurrection gives us a sure hope

 

            -- What does Easter and the resurrection of Jesus mean to us? -- it means everything -- It means that we have won -- It means that our sins are forgiven -- that death has been defeated -- that Christ is victorious -- and our faith is not in vain.

      -- It means that we can step out in faith, empowered by God and empowered by the knowledge that Christ has risen from the dead -- It means that we can trust God in all our situations because our eternity is certain and our hope is sure

      -- our faith -- our lives -- and our eternity rest on the resurrection of Christ

      -- that is what is important about Easter -- that is why we are here this morning -- and that is why we join together with Christians all over the world today to proclaim, “He is risen!”

      -- Let us pray