WHY THE RESURRECTION MATTERS, ESPECIALLY DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

WHY THE RESURRECTION MATTERS, ESPECIALLY DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC 

Script: MATT. 28:1-10

The meaning of Easter, the anchor of our faith, is Jesus’ resurrection. 

As believers it’s always a special time of the year when we move into the Easter season. It laser-focuses our attention on the most essential moment in the history of mankind – the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Resurrection Sunday, truly is a day of great celebration. 

Like never before in our lifetime, this year’s Easter has not been marked by the traditional conventions, church services and family gatherings, but by newness. 

We will chat “He is risen!” and “He is risen indeed!” back and forth and will celebrate together, not as the church gathered but as the church scattered on digital platforms around the world. 

We opened God’s Word while sitting on our couches in our sitting rooms or even lying on our beds. 

Although it grieves me that we did not celebrate the resurrection together this year, the need for hope in times of trouble is intense, and that hope is only found in the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. 

Traditions have been missed this year, but we have opportunity we have to display the joy and hope we have in a risen Savior to a world full of fear and anxiety that is groping in the darkness for peace. 

The point of Easter isn’t fancy clothing and family gatherings, although I do love celebrating in these ways. 

The meaning of Easter, the hinge-point of our faith and the anchor of our hope, is Jesus’ resurrection. 

Without it, our faith is useless and we are still dead in our sins. 

As C.S. Lewis said of Jesus, without the resurrection Jesus must have been a liar or a lunatic, not the Lord He claimed to be. 

Jesus could not claim to be the Son of God, and also promise to return to His people, if the substance of those claims wasn’t found in His bodily resurrection. 

Why does the resurrection matter? 1. The resurrection testifies to the forgiveness of sin and 

eternal life. Jesus is the Passover Lamb. 

Passover was a time of looking back to what God had done to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 11–14). 

The tenth and worst plague resulted in the death of the firstborn in all households, including livestock. 

But God’s people were spared because they had slaughtered a spotless animal and put blood over their doorposts. 

It was because of this blood and the death of the firstborns in Egypt that God’s people were delivered from their oppression. 

This was the annual festival that was prepared the day that Jesus was crucified on the cross. 

The day that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, the perfect Lamb of God was also crucified on the cross, so that death might pass us by through the power of His blood. 

He is also the spotless lamb sacrificed on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) to atone for sin. 

Once a year the High Priest would slaughter an animal to pay for the sins of the people while also releasing a scapegoat into the wilderness with the sins of the people on its head, representing God’s removal of sin from the people. 

Jesus has both made a way for death to pass us by and for the penalty of sin to be paid. 

2. The resurrection reveals the defeat of sin, giving us 

access through Christ to God. Jesus has satisfied the just demands required by God the Father for sin. 

If you read some of the promises of God shortly after the Ten Commandments in Exodus, you’ll see the intensity with which God hates sin. 

God cannot be around sin because He is holy, perfect, and His justice demands that sin is paid for rightly. 

He died the death that we deserved (Romans 3:23). 

He took on the penalty of our sin and swapped places (substituted Himself) with us so that we would be forgiven of our sin and have a righteous relationship with God as sons and daughters and also heirs to all that is God! 

The work Jesus did on the cross doesn’t just matter for us in eternity, but it has changed our position with God today. 

Because the resurrection happened, we know we can be right with and have access to God. 

3. The resurrection is the promise of what is to come for 

those who trust Jesus. His resurrection is the first-fruits among the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20). 

This means that Jesus’ resurrection is a pattern that will be repeated in our lives. 

He is the first-fruit of the resurrection that is to come for all who believe in Him when He returns to reign. 

In the Old Testament, first-fruits of any crops were dedicated to God for His faithfulness to provide for them. 

These were offered on the Sabbath day following the Passover feast (Leviticus 23:9-14). 

Just as the giving of the first-fruits was a picture of the faith God’s people had that the rest of the harvest would follow the first, all who have union with Christ will be raised again as He was raised, through the power of God. 

➢ This union is mysterious, but is founded in two truths: ➢ we are in Christ and Christ is in us, and ➢ when He returns, we too will be raised. 

4. The resurrection is our hope and peace. 

In Jesus’ resurrection, we know that death, sin, and suffering have been defeated. 

The life we live today is temporary, but eternal life dwelling with the Father is coming. 

When Jesus resurrected, He appeared to the disciples, a group of scattered, scared men. 

This year, Easter came to us similarly, as many are experiencing great fear, and the church is certainly scattered, unable to meet together physically. 

Yet, Jesus is with His people, and He is not bound by if we are gathered in a building together or joining together through the blessing of technology. 

There has not been a moment in my lifetime where people were so desperate for peace and hope. 

The Church has the answer: - 

It is Jesus and His resurrection! 

5. CONCLUSION 

Jesus’ resurrection is the hope of the gospel. 

It has been written in the tomb that He was buried as: 

He Is Not Here, He Is Risen! 

He is risen indeed!

By REV.KOFI OKYIRI APPIANING