Easter, 2016
My Dear Christian friend:
I for one never tire of talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This Resurrection Day we call Easter gives one a great excuse, should one even require it, to regale friends, family, or anyone who might listen about what this day signifies. Here is the one event that signifies what is so unique about Christianity, what out faith truly represents, and the unique power that is to be found in our faith.
Here Judaism, with all its rituals, its history of symbols, and its prophecies, met their fulfillment, and the reality of what all of this meant. Here also paganism, what in our present world would be called false religion, or just plain unbelief, met its longings, perhaps even its hopes. Here the Satanic effort to enslave, and then manipulate the destruction of humanity, was itself destroyed. Here the longing of mankind for the meaning of existence were revealed. Here the questions of pain, disease, death, and evil were answered. Obviously, so much is entailed in the surprising, improbable, yet the reality of that empty tomb. So much of Christianity is captivated by the willing sacrifice, and yet horrific death of Jesus, who, we believe, took upon Himself the mantle of Messiah, what we call the Christ.
As critical, and as important as is His atoning death, its fulfillment of all that was the priestly acts, how it is the fulfillments of the divine plan of the wilderness Tabernacle of ancient Israel, how it all began with the call of one man, Abram, on up to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. All this would have meant only dusty irrelevant Jewish history without the resurrection.
What I am saying is, that without the resurrection, Calvary would have meant nothing more than the death of another Jewish prophet. The destruction of just one more would be Jewish Messiah. Without the resurrection the life of Jesus of Nazareth is that of another itinerant Jewish teacher, with only the strange reports of marvelous healings. Without the resurrection Jesus may have rated only a few comments in the Jewish commentaries and histories of the time, instead of the scathing and intense scorn. Without the resurrection there is no Easter, and, obviously, then no Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit. Without the resurrection there is then no Holy Spirit empowering the great first century missionary movement that would reach from India to Britain, and is still growing. Without the resurrection there is no Christian Church, perhaps no hospice movement, no legal end of slavery, no gracious defense of life. And how many other gracious and loving efforts that has made our life more bearable might be missing? And then as the Apostle Paul will declare, without the resurrection “then our preaching is in vain…. (our) faith is futile and (we) are still in our sins…if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” ( 1 Cor. 15:14, 17,19).
But! And this is the point of this entire celebration we call Easter, This resurrection is the purpose of our preaching, the reason for any and all proclamations, and the cornerstone, the crucible of this faith that is called Christianity. The questions, the doubts, and rejections are not new, for it is this same Paul that asserted long ago that, “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (15:20). He will go on describing some of the perils that he experiences almost daily for this message of the resurrection. Why would he undergo such dangers to his life if Christ has not been raised? He will even ask rhetorically, why not just eat, drink and make merry if Christ is not raised from the dead. Of course, His point, and mine has been made, Christ has been raised, and this one event makes everything, I mean everything worth undergoing. It is because of this event that lives are changed, the Church, as a living extension of Jesus Christ, has made the lives of countless millions better, even going so far as to improved national cultures. And as a bonus there awaits a reward beyond measure, an existence in the presence of the very glory of God. For do we not all wish to hear our Lord and Master say “well done good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Master.” (Mt. 25:21,24)).
Praising the Lord for those that made this testimony real
Thomas R. Wyatt
