Hymn: Because He Lives
Jesus prophesied about His resurrection even before His crucifixion. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up...But He spake of the temple of His body." (John 2:19,21).
Why is the resurrection of Jesus significant? Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep... I lay down My life, that I might take it again…I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:11,17-18) Jesus is the Source of Life and death has no power over Him. By resurrecting from the grave, He declares to us that He has power over death and power to raise us up to eternal life after we die. "I (Jesus) am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25)
His resurrection not only fulfils His own prophecy and verifies His claims of His power over death but also fulfils Old Testament prophecies about His death and resurrection – “For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10) His resurrection also proves to us that God had accepted His sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. "(Jesus) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again (resurrected) for our justification." (Romans 4:25) Thus, we can be confident that once we’ve placed our trust in Jesus for the cleansing and forgiveness of our sins, we HAVE the free gift of eternal life in heaven after we die, as promised by Jesus Himself. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
From the time after Jesus’ death and for many decades afterward, His death and resurrection were widely known and could not be refuted. In the late 1st century AD, Josephus, a Roman historian recorded that Pilate had condemned Jesus to be crucified. Tacitus, a famous Roman historian wrote around AD 116 that Jesus was put to death by Pontius Pilate and the “mischievous superstition” about Jesus and His resurrection had caused problems throughout the Empire. Justin, a Roman pagan turned Christian, wrote to Emperor Antoninus Pius about how the crucifixion of Jesus and events in the Gospels could be confirmed by the Roman records such as the Acts of Pilate. Many eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection were also willing to die for their belief that He had risen from the dead.
Have you trusted in Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, and can you say with confidence, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15:55-57)
(For more on biblical archaeology, check out the books written by Titus Kennedy, Professor in biblical archaeology including “Excavating evidence for Jesus”, “Unearthing the Bible 101 - Archaeological discoveries that bring the Bible to life”.)
#easter #eastersunday #resurrectionsunday