When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

—Mark 16:9-12 (TNIV)

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all others. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But in this order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

—1 Corinthians 15:12-28 (TNIV)

It seems that from the very beginning, people have had trouble believing in the Resurrection. And why wouldn’t we have trouble wrapping our minds around this? It is simply outside our experience or frame of reference. We certainly have our fair share of scoffers today, being such advanced and highly sophisticated people and thinkers that we are. That notwithstanding, Paul reminds us that mind-blowing as the Resurrection is, it is nevertheless true because nothing is impossible for God. Nothing.

When God raised Jesus from the dead, he vindicated his good but fallen creation. In Jesus, we have a preview of coming attractions of God’s promised New Creation. I will speak more about that later in the week when we have the appropriate text. In the meantime, we have the heart of the Gospel here. On the cross, God has addressed the intractable problem of human sin and the alienation it causes. Through the Resurrection, God has defeated death. We have the hope of living forever directly in God’s Presence in his New Creation when Christ returns again to consummate his saving work started in his Incarnation, death, and resurrection. Sweet. Very sweet.

Paul is right. If the Resurrection is not true, we who call ourselves Christian are most to be pitied. We are dead in our sins and have no future ahead of us beyond our mortal  years. More seriously, we make God a liar by believing and spreading false news. We do not have to worry about this latter issue, however, because the Resurrection is true. There is no other way to explain the  birth of Christianity.

Moreover, we know the Resurrection and the promise of New Creation are true because we choose to let Scripture sit in judgment over us. We do not choose to sit in judgment over Scripture, in part, because we know that our puny minds as well as our finite and fallible nature are no match for the Mind, Wisdom, Mercy, Power, and Purposes of God. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I serve a risen Saviour,
He’s in the world today;
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy,
I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him
He’s always near.

Chorus:
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and He talks with me
Along life’s narrow way.
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart.

In all the world around me
I see His loving care,
And tho my heart grows weary
I never will despair;
I know that He is leading
Thro’ all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing
Will come at last.

Chorus

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,
Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs
To Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him,
The help of all who find,
None other is so loving,
So good and kind.

Chorus

—Alfred Ackley, 1933

From the London Times Online. Wonderful stuff and a must read for anyone who is interested in Easter.

Jesus of Nazareth was certainly dead by the Friday evening; Roman soldiers were professional killers and wouldn’t have allowed a not-quite-dead rebel leader to stay that way for long. When the first Christians told the story of what happened next, they were not saying: “I think he’s still with us in a spiritual sense” or “I think he’s gone to heaven”. All these have been suggested by people who have lost their historical and theological nerve.

The historian must explain why Christianity got going in the first place, why it hailed Jesus as Messiah despite His execution (He hadn’t defeated the pagans, or rebuilt the Temple, or brought justice and peace to the world, all of which a Messiah should have done), and why the early Christian movement took the shape that it did. The only explanation that will fit the evidence is the one the early Christians insisted upon – He really had been raised from the dead. His body was not just reanimated. It was transformed, so that it was no longer subject to sickness and death.

Let’s be clear: the stories are not about someone coming back into the present mode of life. They are about someone going on into a new sort of existence, still emphatically bodily, if anything, more so. When St Paul speaks of a “spiritual” resurrection body, he doesn’t mean “non-material”, like a ghost. “Spiritual” is the sort of Greek word that tells you,not what something is made of, but what is animating it. The risen Jesus had a physical body animated by God’s life-giving Spirit. Yes, says St Paul, that same Spirit is at work in us, and will have the same effect – and in the whole world. [Emphasis mine]

Savor it all.

The reason we look forward with confidence to the consummation of all things is that we look back with confidence to the resurrection. The Christian hope has already begun to be fulfilled.

—Dr. John R.W. Stott, The Authentic Jesus

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

The Word tasted death once on our behalf, the death of the cross. He went to his death So that by death he might put death to death. The Word, becoming human flesh, did not suffer in his divinity but suffered with humanity.

—Epiphanius the Latin, Ancorcitus 92

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord, though he was God, became human. He suffered for the sake of those who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: “Who will contend with me? Confront me.” I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised the dead from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken humanity up to the heights heaven: I am the Christ.

Come, then, all you nations, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your ransom, your life, your resurrection, your light, I am your salvation and your king. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up, and I will show you the eternal Father.

—Melito, Bishop of Sardis (ca. late 2nd century), Easter Homily