The very idea of Easter offends many people
As for Easter and the Resurrection, forget it.
True, many prominent figures in our Nation and around the world loudly proclaim they have no use--and no need--for God.
They say, "It's an outdated concept. Today we have science and besides, we don't need it. We're perfectly able to manage our own lives."
It's a popular theme, that we're beyond such simplistic thinking. Too intelligent, too educated, too advanced to think Christianity has any more relevance to our Century than Grimm's fairy tales.
Even some church-goers say, "I don't take Easter literally. To me it's more of a nice metaphor for new life in Christ."
Consider the evidence
t's true that faith is a matter of, well, faith. Not logic. Not scientific proof.
That does not mean there is no backup. Historians lived in that day, too, and archaeology findings prove the accuracy of their accounts.
Josephus, for example, recorded the facts surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and afterward. His writings are remarkably similar to Gospel accounts such as Matthew 26:47 to 28:10.
Those historical accounts note that despite heavy guard, Christ's body did vanish from the tomb. They also record that during the following weeks many people saw the flesh-and-blood Jesus alive.
That's what the four Gospels say, too
Each one ends with the risen Jesus appearing to his followers, not as some sort of spirit being, but in a physical body.
The Apostle Paul also wrote about that in his Epistles, as in 1 Corinthians 15.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive ...
Most of whom are still alive ... Real people of that time saw the real risen Jesus and heard him speak.
There's only one logical conclusion, even if you believe only the historical accounts:
Unlike every other human being who has lived and died since the beginning of time, Jesus Christ did not stay dead.
Jesus was no ordinary human
He was God come to earth in human form. Our minds cannot even comprehend that, let alone explain it.
Jesus Christ was born and died to set things right between us and God. To pay the penalty of our sin. To overcome the power of death and the devil. Remember John 3:16?
[Jesus said] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
"The world"--that includes you and me and every other person who will ever live.
Easter--Resurrection Sunday--is our Freedom Day. Because Jesus lives, you and I can live, too, eternally.
What we believe about Easter matters, all 365 days of the year
Without the resurrection, Christianity shrinks into just another code of ethics, another set of rules.
Or it becomes no more than a warm fuzzy sentiment, such as, "I'll hold good thoughts for you," or "I'll ask the Universe to send good things your way."
It's just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17, 19:
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins ... If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."
The Bible makes it clear that it didn't end there. In John 14:15-16 Jesus made a promise:
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."
That promise is for us, too.
The Holy Spirit changes us, from the inside out
When we believe in Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection it takes away the pressure to try to change on our own. Change comes through the quiet work of the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus, within our hearts and minds.
This is what Easter and the resurrection mean to those of us who trust in Jesus and call ourselves Christians.
Let skeptics doubt and denounce, it makes no difference. The Truth still stands.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. --Hebrews 13:8
A blessed Easter to you and may you know the calm, sweet peace and comfort of Jesus every day!
Lenore
*Cartoon by the late Johnny Hart
