He has Risen!
The tomb is empty! Jesus has been raised from the dead! It is just as He said it would be in John 12:31-32 (NKJV), “Now is the judgment of the world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” And in John 12:44-50 (NIV) He proclaims, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
It has all been fulfilled today; the prophesies of a coming Messiah to save His people – it has now been fulfilled; the requirements of the Law given to Moses has been fulfilled in our Savior – the Savior of the world – JESUS! Isaiah 19:20 (ESV) declares, “It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.”
On this day we celebrate our salvation in Christ Jesus because on this day He was raised from the dead proclaiming victory over sin, death, and Satan once for all. This event is recorded in Luke 24:1-9 (HCSB), “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about his, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground.
“‘Why are you looking for the living among the dead?’ asked the men. ‘He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?’ And they remembered His words.
“Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest.”
This is why the Apostle Paul declares in Romans 6:4-11 (KJV),
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This brings us to the true meaning of this Easter celebration as we take to heart the words of John 3:14-17 (NKJV), “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Dear LORD,
As we celebrate this Easter holiday, please help us to grasp the true story of salvation in our Savior Jesus. Please help us to tell our children the true meaning of Easter, in that it is not merely a story of a bunny and some eggs, but that of our Savior who died on the cross to pay for our sins that we may be forgiven of them and have eternal life – in Christ – through His resurrection. In Jesus name I pray, amen. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!