He is Risen Indeed!

Last week we looked at Palm Sunday and I tried to give you a little taste of the passion of the people and Jesus at this triumphant time.

Next, we have the cross. This past Friday’s inter-church service did a beautiful job of explaining the passion of the people and Jesus during Christ’s trial and crucifixion. Now Jesus wants us to pick up our crosses and follow Him wherever He goes.

Today I want to continue with showing the passion at the time of Jesus’s resurrection. Today my title is ‘He is Risen Indeed!’ The worship team, the ladies’ readings, and the children’s object lesson have given us the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I gave a monologue description of the last week of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. This led into the following passage of Scripture.

Hebrews 2: 14-15 NIV

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—

15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 

The death of Christ was gruesome and heart breaking. The loss of all that His family and followers had come to believe in and hope for was devastating. Death was real and final and feared by all.

His resurrection on that Sunday morning released all the pent-up fears and emotions those people had. The flood of relief and resurgence of hope and excitement, mixed with disbelief, would have caused such passion to overcome them.

The early Christians spent the first Easter Sunday morning behind a locked door. They huddled together, fearing for their lives. Jesus had just been killed, and they thought they were next. They walked into that room defeated, but when they walked out, they were dynamic. They walked into that room crushed; they walked out confident. They walked in having a pity party; they walked out ready to take on the world. They walked into that room paralyzed by fear; they walked out filled with faith.

The Apostle Paul raises the question of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15: 12-19 NIV.

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul, in a backward way in these words, emphasizes the primary importance of the empty tomb. It is the basis of virtually everything else we believe and do.

Sam Morris stated, ‘The tomb of Christ is famous because of what it does not contain.’ He is risen indeed and the empty tomb was proof of that. Can we believe this story? What gives us the hope of the resurrection being true? Why do many not believe?’

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Jesus left us the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us when He left us to be with God again. That is how we know this is true! Jesus is talking to Martha just days after her brother Lazarus died. Hear what He says and how she responds. This is the way we should respond today.

John 11:25-27 NIV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Dennis Stone wrote: ‘I have to say that beyond all the teachings and proofs the greatest evidence I myself can speak of is this: the transformational power of the Gospel in my life and that same power as I have seen it in others. Because of this I have also known the power of the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.’ ¹

He continues with, ‘Let us not forget it is the work of the Spirit to convince people of the truth. God is not dependent upon our limited ability to spew forth knowledge. Just share what you know … and if you know Jesus then tell that story!’ ²

Titus 2:11-14 NIV

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Easter is all about an empty cross and an empty grave. And because they are empty, our lives can be full. “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead”! (Matthew 28:6)