Luke 24:1-7 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome) came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, ‘the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
Six English words are found in the gospel accounts of Christ’s death and resurrection that define the gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) and “He is risen!” (Mark 16:6). If Jesus is dead, then Christianity is dead. If Jesus is alive, then Christianity is alive. Paul himself declared as much in 1 Corinthians 15:17: “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” But Jesus Christ has risen from the dead; thus our sins are forgiven by grace through faith in Him.
On Easter Sunday we are going to take an “investigative” look at the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as it is found in the Holy Scriptures. Many people try to compare Jesus Christ with other individuals who gave birth to other religions. But what separates Jesus from ANY other alleged “Messianic”-like individual is that Jesus promised that after He was crucified, He would rise again from the dead on the third day. Jesus declared that He would rise again to His disciples, the multitudes, and His enemies (Matthew 20:19; Mark 8:31; Matthew 27:63). Thus, the validity of the Christian faith stands or falls on whether or not Jesus rose from the dead. The stone was rolled away, not to let Jesus out, but to let the whole world know that He was The Son of God Who had risen from the dead. And today we will see that Jesus showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs to both His disciples and His enemies (Acts 1:3).
Beloved, during the coronavirus pandemic we are virtually gathered together to worship a risen Savior! Jesus Christ is alive! He has conquered the grave and is victorious over sin, death, Satan, and the corona virus pandemic. “Hallelujah! For The Lord our God The Almighty reigns.” (Revelation 19:6, ESV) Selah
