Death is defeated, the King is alive
““The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.””
We call it “the good news”, and we call it this with the knowledge that it is good news because there was bad news. And when you read this statement this way, you see the resurrection from death for what it is. Real bad news, in the form of death that’s caused by sin, a death promised to Adam at the gates of the garden of Eden. God defeated this death with the resurrection, and that leads to salvation. Resurrection is to salvation as death is to sin. And Easter rewrites the finality of death.
You should know that God didn’t pull an arbitrary stunt here. This is meaningful: the resurrection of Jesus assures us of salvation from death. The cross is not your starter pack, it’s not the beginning of the salvation journey, it’s the finish. By dying and rising for us, he has sealed the deal for us. We have hope, we have eternity. No depression, no temporary struggles can overpower this.
““When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.””
Three messages delivered to us on the first Easter
The incidents on that first Easter are noted and preserved in several eyewitness accounts, handed down to us through the (overlapping) books of the Apostles in the New Testament. There’s much to read, and much to focus on, but I’ll draw your attention to three messages that leap out at me from that first Easter.
1. A message that challenges us with its implications, and the way it’s told
If you rewind the clock 2000 years and cast your mind to that time, you’ll see that there were many messianic movements at that time. There were a lot of people saying that they were the saviour promised by the books of old. You have to wonder why it is that Christianity as we know it kept on going the way we know it, and even exploded all over the world. Nations changed, the course of history was changed forever. How did this one movement become this force of reckoning? Jesus was not the only one who was crucified for blasphemy, but He is the only one who rose again.
When you read the gospels, you see that this isn’t a glib little story put together by one smart person. It’s a series of overlapping, messy eyewitness accounts, narrated by those without privilege and power. In fact, these unlikeliest of witnesses make the story come to life and give it credibility.
In today’s day, the gospel is sometimes met with opposition or arguments. People don’t outright deny the resurrection, but people find it very difficult to accept this story: “the resurrection is literally real?”, they ask. But consider that this story is one that has eyewitness accounts by named people who lived in the region. Think about it: back in the years following the resurrection, you could pop into the next street over and meet these eyewitnesses. Also consider that the only eyewitnesses that Mark could write about were women, who were culturally disadvantaged. Why wouldn’t you pick your strongest witnesses if what you wanted to tell was a mere story? Why not pick the most “believable” people? Why do so many normal, overlooked people keep turning up in eyewitness accounts in the gospel? That gives us a challenge and adds credence to the idea that this real. And messy.
Note also that Jesus ignores the ghettos of the day. On the cross, he invites the fellow next to him to heaven; he speaks to the Roman centurion, he speaks to Pilate. Then there’s Joseph of Aramathea. They’ve all come together regardless of their race, creed and their birthright. All of a sudden, you begin to see that God is not interested in the colour of your skin, your past religion, your creed, your gender. The traditional social frameworks that underpin religion are ignored in the story of the cross, and that’s life changing by itself.
There”s a quiet but incredibly strong implication hidden in the events of the resurrection day: if the resurrection is true, then the rest of the things Jesus said must be true as well. And that was a challenge even for the women who showed up at the tomb that day with those expensive spices: they thought someone stole the body from the tomb. They were alarmed to see the Angel there. When the Angel reminded them that Jesus said he’d return the third day, they were like “umm, we forgot, we actually didn’t believe it”. Because if they believed that He rose, they must believe that everything else He said to them must be true as well. And that would mean that they would have to change the way they lived their lives from that moment on.
This is what you can do for your loved ones when you discuss the resurrection with them. You have to let the evidence in front of you challenge you. It is a challenge to us all.
2. A message of uncommon grace
““But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”””
In verse 7, the angel says “go, tell his disciples and Peter”. Why is this a message of grace? Just look at where the disciples were during and after the arrest and during the ordeal of the cross. They weren’t there. It is well documented that they were not there, and that they did abandon Jesus at the hour of his trial.
When Jesus rose, He wasn’t waiting for them to repent. The message of grace here is that He asked the Angel to tell Peter specifically, even after that denial. Now if Jesus hadn’t included Peter in that list, I think what would have happened is that Peter would have stayed back, assuming He was mad at him and that he had let him down. But here’s the grace of God. Jesus makes a way even for Peter. Jesus makes an invitation for Peter to repent, despite his betrayal.
Religion puts it the other way, see? That you have to repent first so that God can make his way to you. But Jesus does it the other way: the invitation comes first. I know we have all faced the guilt of betrayal; and this story encourages you that Jesus goes to great lengths to invite us back into his fold.
Peter went on to lead them all. He is the one who experienced the most grace and that makes him fit to lead everyone else at church. Religion says the best is the one that’s the most qualified. The gospel says it’s the one that’s received the most grace.
Let your failure drive you to the resurrection. If you’ve got failure in your life, let it guide you to the resurrection. The whole reason Jesus rose again is because God accepted that sacrifice of his death. That unblemished lamb took upon himself our sin and completed the sacrifice. Let your sin guide you to life, not death. That is the scandal of grace.
3. A message of mission
The third message that leaps out at me from the day of Easter is one of mission. Of how we are free from the world, but are free to go into the world. “But go”, says the angel. That’s a mission.
It would have been a danger to them to go, but because Jesus went ahead of them, it made sense. Jesus showed us that this life isn’t all there is. The doctrine of the End Times tells us that all of this life will be restored without sin. So many of us live like this life we have is all we have. “Before we die” is our rallying cry, and it’s going to be very annoying to get to heaven and realize that everything is restored.
What’s in the back of my mind when I’m with family? “This is going to go away one day”. But the story of this cursed tree and the glory of the risen Christ shows us that there is an eternity beyond this life, there is something beyond.
This is why this message continues to grow. There is hope here. Even if things don’t go your way, know that Jesus is in control. Take risks knowing that God is in control and he’s got you. You can walk in the strength that Jesus is with you. Don’t walk in fear.
That’s the three messages in the reality of the resurrection. That God is good, is in control, and has come back for all. For all of us.