Why is it that some people who never darken the door of a church will put on their Sunday best and head for the nearest pew on Easter Sunday?
It goes beyond wanting to see their kids dressed in finery, searching for decorated eggs and munching Easter candy. I think deep down in their hearts people want to believe that Jesus lived, died for us, and lived again. They yearn for Jesus to be the resurrection and life he professed to be in John 11:25-26 and that whoever “believes in him will live, even though he dies, he will live.”
Perhaps nothing brings more hope to people than the resurrection. Jesus Christ’s resurrection celebrates the victory of life over death. It declares that Jesus Christ is Lord. Without a resurrection, Jesus would be just another prophet. Critics don’t deny that Jesus lived. There is too much evidence to the contrary. However, they do challenge his resurrection.
Those not believing Jesus rose from the dead make such claims as: Jesus wasn’t really dead, the disciples stole the body to make it look like Jesus had risen, the Roman authorities removed the body, the eye witnesses who saw Jesus were hallucinating, some saw a vision they conjured up themselves, and when the more than 500 saw Christ at the same time they were all caught up in a “mass ecstasy.” It matters not that: it would be impossible to live through a crucifixion, the disciples would not have been willing to die for a lie, the Romans would have gladly produced Jesus’ body if they had it to debunk Christianity, all the eyewitnesses could not be hallucinating the same thing, and “mass ecstasy” sounds like a feeble attempt to find anything to support a losing battle.
Why are some desperate to discredit a risen Christ? According to the late German Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, “It wasn’t the morality of the Sermon on the Mount which enabled Christianity to conquer Roman Paganism, but the belief that Jesus had been raised from the dead.” If Christianity was simply based on Jesus’ moral teachings it might have flourished for a while, but would have never lasted – for “if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)
When Paul spoke to the philosophers in Athens, the intellectual center of the world, he preached Jesus and his resurrection. (Acts 17:18) This message was so remarkable and amazing that it turned the “world upside down.” (Acts 17:6) He told them God had given assurance to all men because he raised Jesus from the dead. (Acts 17:31) Jesus was not some dead teacher, martyred prophet, or philosopher! He was the risen Christ. He conquered what no one else could – death!
People are burdened with the cares of life and overwhelmed with an uncertain world. The resurrection represents victory, joy, and hope. They want the hope that Christ offers. So even though they may run from him most of the year, on Easter Sunday they run toward him. Deep down they know the risen Christ is our only hope!
And the angel answered and said unto the women, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen…” ~ Matthew 28:5-6
