Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Easter weekend 2023. What is YOUR perspective of the importance of this weekend? Is the most significant question about Easter simply this: WHY? Why are the events of this weekend 2000 years ago so important? What difference does it make today, 2000 years later, if the Biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ are true or false?
Every human being dies, that’s an unavoidable reality of the human life experience, right? You and I and every person will die someday, no exceptions. No human being has ever permanently defeated death…except one, Jesus Christ! Some dead people have miraculously been raised back to life, either through medical or spiritual miracles, but it was temporary, and they all eventually died permanently… all except one, Jesus Christ!
Every great leader… political and religious has died. Every king, every pharaoh, every president. The prophet Mohammed is dead, all the Popes are dead, every person claiming to be some great leader in any sphere of society is dead… except one, Jesus Christ! Only Jesus Christ rose from the dead, showed Himself alive to many people over a period of 40 days, and in full view of a crowd of people elevated into the sky, returning to heaven where HE, Jesus Christ, is alive today, permanently!
The Bible gives us the eyewitness accounts of both the death and the resurrection of Jesus. (Matthew 27,28 & John 19,20) The Bible gives us the eyewitness accounts of several appearances of the resurrected Jesus and His encounters with many people during those 40 days after His death. (Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20,21)
The Bible answers the question WHY! Why was Jesus born? Why did Jesus do the miracles, speak the messages for which He is famous? Why did Jesus live a perfect life, never committing any sinful act? Why was Jesus arrested and eventually executed on a cross? Why was the tomb of Jesus sealed and guarded 24×7? Why was Jesus resurrected? Why did Jesus prove His resurrection is true by appearing, speaking with, eating with, doing more miracles with many people during the 40 days after His Easter Sunday morning resurrection? Why did Jesus elevate into the sky, in full view of many people, returning to heaven?
Because the Bible answers all those, and many more questions about Jesus, you and I are engaged in the daily privilege of digging into the Bible to understand and experience God’s answers, and that’s why I offer you “Walking with Jesus”.
In the days when Jesus was most popular, most visible and available to the people living in Jerusalem and much of the land of Israel, there were many people determined to STOP Jesus! Stop His miracles, stop His preaching, stop His influence, if possible, kill Him! And then, by any means possible, erase His name and His memory from human history.
Perhaps none of those was more flamboyant and determined than the Pharisee known as Saul Paulus of Tarsus! While we have no Biblical record of Jesus and Saul ever meeting face to face before the death and resurrection of Jesus, Saul had undoubtedly been an observer of Jesus many times in Jerusalem, and was certainly one of the most vehement in the closed door meetings of the Sanhedrin planning the death of Jesus, especially during that Passover week.
Saul may have been among those who paid Judas 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus. (Luke 22:1-6)
Saul may have been part of the interrogation of Jesus at the High Priests home when Peter, warming himself by a fire out in the courtyard, denied that he even knew Jesus. (Matt. 26:57- 27:1)
Saul may have been among those to whom Judas came remorsefully returning the betrayal money. (Matt. 27:3-5)
Saul may have been among those religious leaders who stood among the crowd when Pilate brought before them badly beaten Jesus and the condemned criminal Barabbas. (Matt. 27:15-26)
Saul may well have been among those urging the crowd to demand the crucifixion of Jesus and the release of Barabbas.
Saul may have walked along in the crowd following Jesus and the soldiers and Simon of Cyrene carrying Jesus’ cross, to the hill of crucifixion, Golgotha, just to be sure execution was accomplished.
Saul may have been among those who went to Pilate requesting the tomb of Jesus be sealed and guarded to prevent any tampering or claim of resurrection. (Matt. 27:62-66)
And Saul may have been among the very first Pharisees to hear the news… the unbelievable… the miraculous news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that Easter Sunday!
Did Saul ever see with his own eyes, the resurrected Jesus Christ in any of His appearances during those 40 days between Easter Sunday and His ascension from the mount of Olives? We have no record. What we do know is that shortly after the ascension of Jesus, Saul led the assault in Jerusalem on anyone who claimed the resurrection of Jesus was true and was bold enough to declare themselves to be a follower of Jesus Christ! Saul’s persecution of those people was horrific as described in Acts 8. We know Saul was among those who condemned Stephen to death and supervised Stephen’s execution by stoning. (Acts 7) And of course we know Saul was on his way to Damascus, Syria to arrest and prosecute any who claimed the resurrection of Jesus was true and declared themselves to be followers of Jesus in that city!
And that, of course, is where history and Saul’s life changed dramatically, for in Acts 9 Saul himself tells the story of his encounter with the resurrected Jesus Christ! Yes, Saul the persecutor met resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus and Saul was so radically changed by that encounter he changed his name to Paul and is known today as the Apostle Paul, the author of 13 books of the New Testament of the Bible!!
So to this Saul Paulus of Tarsus, we put the most significant question regarding Easter… WHY is the resurrection of Jesus important? Paul answers that question in his letter to the Christians in Corinth: “I pass on to you this of first importance: that Jesus Christ died for our sins… that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared… to Peter, the disciples… many other people, and last of all He appeared to me!“ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
Did you notice that little phrase ‘according to the Scriptures’? Paul means this all happened to Jesus in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy Scriptures, and that the accurate reports of the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, about the resurrection of Jesus, can be trusted as authentic Scripture! ‘Scripture‘ means the words are written by a human being under the inspired guidance of God, and therefore are the very words of God!
Paul continues with these words answering the question WHY Easter is so significant: “If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead our preaching is useless and so is your faith… If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead your faith [in God] is futile; you are still in your sin. Then those who have died in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:12-19)
That is painfully clear, isn’t it? Our faith in God, our hope of eternal life with God after death ALL hinge on the truthfulness, the authenticity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! If Jesus is NOT resurrected, the Gospel is a lie; faith in God is useless; there is no hope of ever arriving in heaven for anyone! That is dreadful, hopeless news! Without the resurrection of Jesus this pain filled life on earth is ALL there is. Oh my, what a terrible existence. Better never to be born than to live with the belief that Easter is a lie!
Finally, Paul concludes his answer of WHY Easter is so important with this declaration of confident truth: “But Jesus Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died….as in Adam all die, so in Jesus Christ all will be made alive. But each in their own turn: Jesus Christ, the first fruits, then when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come when Jesus hands over the kingdom to God the Father after Jesus has destroyed all evil dominion, authority and power. For Jesus must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:20-26)
There it is my friends, the ultimate WHY of Easter! In His resurrection Jesus Christ conquered and defeated evil, sin, Satan and death! Jesus Christ as the resurrected victor is now able defeat evil, sin, Satan and death in ANY and EVERY person, all around the world, in every generation! That’s what Hebrews 7:25 proclaims the resurrected Jesus is doing right now, today: “Because [resurrected] Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them!”
So, my friends, this Easter Sunday, let’s personalize the question: WHY is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead so significant for you, and me, and our families and friends? Because the Resurrected Jesus is the ONLY Savior who has defeated death and therefore can rescue you and me from our sin condemnation and has the proven power to escort us into God’s presence in heaven for all eternity!
For that reason, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most significant event in the history of planet earth and provides the most significant opportunity for every human being who has ever lived! So my friends, have you trusted the resurrected Jesus Christ to be your Savior? He’s ready right now, why not trust Him with your life? And here’s a great resurrection song to celebrate this Easter…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Corinthians 15:3-26.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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