What Easter is about…
A Certainty:
To the believer in Jesus Christ, Easter is far more than a high day of festivity observed with sunrise gatherings, crowded services, great music, and special sermons. It is an annual announcement proclaiming a fact - a foundational conviction apart from which, everything else in the Christian faith is meaningless (I Corinthians 15:17). Jesus’ resurrection is viewed as more than a mere resuscitation; He did not merely revive from a coma. The historical record is clear. He suffered on the Cross, and the examiner’s evidence of His death was conclusive - He died. He had been speared in His side, both blood and water gushing forth, indicative of a ruptured pericardium. Because He had so obviously succumbed already, the examiner waived the Roman practice of breaking the legs of crucified prisoners to hasten death (John 19:30-35). Christ was a corpse, taken from the Cross and buried in a tomb hewn from rock (Matthew 27:57-60). Furthermore, the tomb was sealed by Imperial authority and a Roman guard set to insure against grave theft (Matthew 27:62-66).
But on the third day following His burial, Jesus rose again according to His own prophecies that death could not bind Him. This historic narrative may be read in the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, chapter 28; Mark, chapter 16; Luke, chapter 24; and John, chapters 20 and 21. This record deserves reading by everyone - believer or not. Historic records may be denied, but ignorance is unworthy of any. The New Testament records no less than a dozen instances of the Resurrected Christ being witnessed by people with whom He was present for over a 40-day period following that first Easter. As few as one or two, and as many as 500, not only were in His presence, but also ate with Him and challenged the factuality of His resurrection by touching Him (John 20:14-31).
Over the centuries, skeptics and doubters have made earnest searches for the verifiability of this historic phenomenon, since all vital faith rests upon it; if it can be disproven, the Christian case sinks into oblivion. But the truth has stood the test of time, and not only have hosts of honest inquirers come to the acknowledgement of this reality, but also millions have had such genuine and life-changing encounters with the person of Jesus that they will affirm, in the words of hymn writer Alfred H. Ackley, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!” It is the Spirit of the Resurrected Christ that continues to stir human hearts and shape destiny. This certainty is secured in history, revitalized in experience, and induces a confidence concerning one’s future.
A Confidence:
Increasing evidence posited by today’s research is presenting dramatic testimony to the likelihood of the life beyond death. What has been a longtime dream of mankind and a long held doctrine of the Church seems recently to be gaining support from the scientific community. However, those believing in Jesus and the reality of the resurrection have been confident of the hope of eternal life well before it gained such popular acceptance. Moreover, their hope embraces a confidence of where they are going eternally - a far greater point of assurance than merely that a person will exist beyond this life.
The concepts of heaven and hell have been bandied about in myth, fable, legend, and popular notion to the point that the biblical truth concerning each has been muddied or tainted beyond recognition. For too many, heaven is clouds, harps, and angels; hell but flames, demons, and devils. Whatever element of truth may be in those terms, it has become blurred for most people by reason of strained applications and exaggerated imaginations. But for the Christian, both are a reality; heaven, a place distinctly prepared for an eternally purposeful experience in the presence of God; and hell, a place never intended for man, but the appointed place of every being who willfully rejects God’s will and way, forever apart from His presence.
The significance of these observations about heaven and hell is that, in the light of His Easter Day resurrection, Jesus Christ has made an ultimate announcement of assurance: “Because I live, you shall live too!” (John 14:19). His eternal life-beyond-death is promised to everyone who follows Him, for He is not only the example to live by in this lifetime, but also the pathway into the future for an eternal lifetime. And the consummate confidence this lends to all of the believer’s life is relevant to more than the eternal future; it breeds an overcoming faith in the present trials and stresses of life. If Easter’s testimony is true, then we are given a hope concerning the tomorrows of this week, not only the ones beyond the world. It’s a practical faith that works in the marketplace of today and holds the promise of a forever with the Lord who rose again that first Easter. In the words of songwriter Bill Gaither,
“Because He lives I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know, I know He holds my future,
Now life is worth the living, just because He lives.”
That is what Easter is about.
- Jack Hayford
Tags: Theology
