Jesus Is The Victor

In 1799, Napoleon's armies appeared on the heights above the small town of Feldkirch, Austria. It was Easter Day, and the rays of the rising sun glittered on the French weapons as they appeared drawn up on the hills to the west of the town. The Town Council was hastily called together to consult on what to do.

After much discussion, a pastor rose and said, “My brothers, it is Easter Day! We have been reckoning our own strength, and that fails. Let us turn to God. Ring the church bells and have service as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands.”

They agreed to do as he said. Joyous peals rang out from the church towers throughout the city in honour of the resurrection, and the streets were filled with worshipers hastening to the church.

The French heard the sudden ringing of the bells with surprise and alarm. They concluded that the Austrian army had arrived to relieve the place. So they hastily fled, and before the bells had ceased ringing not a Frenchman was to be seen.

This story teaches us that sometimes, the way to dispel the darkness is through faithful praise. Sometimes, we defeat the enemy not by cleverness of our plans or the strength of our arms but simply by turning to Jesus, remembering the victory that he has already won, and trusting him to fight for us.

It’s like the story of the Exodus from the Old Testament. After Israel leaves Egypt, the Egyptian army comes to hunt them down. As they march towards the frightened Israelites, God’s people cry out to Moses.

Exodus 14:13–14 NIV

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

I wonder, “What are each of you facing this Easter?” Are you facing the burden of your family of origin - of the ways they negatively affected your life? Are you facing financial stress and worry? Relationship struggles? Are you facing exhaustion from parenting? Frustration in your job or your lack of a job? Are you resentful and fearful about your health issues?

If we are honest, most of us are facing something, and we want to experience some form of deliverance from our struggles.

The resurrection of Christ shows us that there is hope - that we will experience God’s victory over all of our struggles. It may not come exactly how we expect it to, but our victory is assured because the God who loves us is the God of miracles.

He is the God who split the sea so the Israelites could walk through to freedom.

He is the God who saved Jonah from drowning by having him swallowed and then vomited by a massive fish.

He is the God who stopped the sun in response to Joshua’s prayers.

He is the God who gave Samson superhuman strength.

He is the God who protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego from the flames of Nebuchadnezzar.

And the greatest miracle God ever did was conquering sin and death through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection three days later. More than any other miracle before or since Jesus’ resurrection stands as the greatest testament to God's goodness and power.

On Good Friday, we remember, with solemn gratefulness, that Jesus died so that we could live. But today, on Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate with joy that Jesus came back to life and in doing so, he changed everything.

But what does the resurrection mean to you and me? For one, it means God has given us…

Victory over our Doubts

One of the battles that we all face at some point is doubt. Whether it’s before you came to faith, or whether you grew up in church and now are wrestling with it, we all go through a season of doubt. For some, they allow their doubt to overtake them and they turn away from God. For others, their doubt becomes the spark that re-ignites faith because they press in towards God to seek their answers. But God gives us victory over our doubt through the resurrection.

If you use Instagram, you have probably seen how some people have a little blue checkmark beside their Instagram name. That means that they have been verified by Instagram, but getting that blue checkmark of authenticity isn’t easy. There are requirements that you have to meet, including being notable—a lot of people have to search for you both on Instagram and on the web.

But what is the point of being verified? Why bother to get it? Some people get it because they want the prestige of having something that not everyone can. Only 3.26% of all Instagram accounts are verified. Some get it because it is a status symbol of success. On accounts with more than 1M followers, 73% are verified.

But many do it so that their followers can distinguish between a real and a fake account. Some celebrity’s have become victims to people creating accounts in their name and then trying to scam people. So, to have a system in place that says, this one is the legit account is a good idea. It gives you a sense of reliability that you are following who you want to follow.

The resurrection of Jesus is the verification symbol of our faith. It is proof that our faith is built on something more than hopes and wishes but is built on a historical event that has eternal implications for all humanity, no matter what you believe. Pastor and author Tim Keller wrote,

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” - Tim Keller

The apostle Paul said it this way:

1 Corinthians 15:17–20 NIV

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Without the resurrection, we are still held captive by both the power and the penalty of our sin, and without the resurrection, then all those who have died throughout history are just gone. But the good news is that Jesus has risen, and it verified what he said. Therefore, we have the assurance that our sins are dealt with, that forgiveness and freedom are ours to enjoy, and that heaven is our destination.

How many of you believe that it is possible for people to fly? That we could create a machine to hold groups of people in sustained flight thousands of feet in the air for hours at a time? Of course we do. We see it all the time. But for the vast majority of human history, people did not believe that we could fly. It wasn’t until Wilbur and Orville Wright created and successfully flew the first plane did we begin to believe it. Our faith in flying followed after the evidence it could be done.

The same is true for our Christian faith. It flows not out of wishful thinking or made up stories, but on the precedent that Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead. For those who want to investigate the truthfulness of the resurrection further, I recommend reading “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel, “The Reason for God” by Tim Keller, or “The Resurrection of the Son of God” by N.T. Wright.

The resurrection acts like an anchor for our souls, reminding us that our faith is not based on emotional manipulations or feelings of closeness or distance with an invisible force. It’s not based on whether we see God answering all our prayers or doing things for us but on the historical reality of Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection validates our faith and defeats our doubts.

Victory over Fear and Despair

The second implication of the resurrection is God gives us victory over fear and despair. On Good Friday, something horrible happened. An innocent man was arrested on trumped-up charges. He was beaten and whipped to an inch of life by the military/police of the time, then he was mocked by those same soldiers.

They forced him to carry the instrument of his death through town for the people to jeer and disparage him. Then, they stripped him of his clothes and crucified him on a hill for all to see. For 6 hours, he hung there in agony, and then he died.

The disciples were scattered and lost. They had put their hope in Jesus as the Messiah and now he was dead. What were they supposed to do now? But although the disciples were broken and despairing on Friday and Saturday, there was still hope for them. Sunday was coming. But in their pain, they had forgot Jesus’ promises.

Luke 9:22 NIV

22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

And isn’t that just like us? That in our pain and our struggles, we forget the promises of God? We forget that, through the resurrection, Jesus gives us victory over fear and despair.

We forget that, when we are lonely and afraid, God has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

We forget when mourn over death and loss that Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

When we are stressed about our finances, we forget that Jesus said, “Do not worry about what you are going to eat, drink, or wear because God knows you need them and will provide for you.”

We forget when we are confused about what to do in our lives Jesus promised us that he would send the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.

Like the disciples, we often forget God's promises and wallow in Friday’s pain.

But the resurrection of Jesus means that for every Friday in your life, there is a Sunday coming. For every day of pain, struggle, loss and anger that we endure, there is another day coming where we will experience love, joy and peace.

1 Peter 1:3–5 NIV

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

D.L Moody tells an anecdote about a bright young girl of fifteen who was suddenly cast upon a bed of suffering, completely paralyzed on one side and nearly blind. She heard the family doctor say to her parents as they stood by the bedside: “Her best days are now behind her.”

“No, doctor,” she exclaimed, “my best days are yet to come, when I shall see the King in His beauty.”

Above all others in this world, because of the resurrection of Jesus, Christians have hope that one day, it will get better. So let us be harbingers of hope in a world that desperately needs some. As followers of Jesus, let’s not add discontentment and despair through our conversations, through our social media presence or in our workplaces or schools, but instead let’s spread the hope that Easter promises: that the future is bright for those in Christ. God gave us victory over fear and despair.

Victory over Death

Finally, God gives us victory over death.

Tim Keller, in his book “Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering”, tells a story about Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church.

“Dr. Barnhouse lost his wife when their daughter was still a child. Dr. Barnhouse was trying to help his little girl, and himself, process the lost of his wife and her mother.

Once when they were driving, a huge moving van passed them. As it passed, the shadow of the truck swept over the car. The minister had a thought. He said something like this, ‘Would you rather be run over by a truck, or by its shadow?’

His daughter replied, ‘By the shadow of course. That can’t hurt us at all.’ Dr. Barnhouse replied, ‘Right. If the truck doesn’t hit you, but only its shadow, then you are fine. Well it was only the shadow of death that went over your mother. She’s actually alive—more alive than we are. And that’s because two thousand years ago, the real truck of death hit Jesus. And because death crushed Jesus, and we believe in him, now the only thing that we can come over us is the shadow of death, and the shadow of death is but our entrance into glory.’”

Death is a part of the human experience. It comes for every one of us. And for many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, death is their greatest fear and it affects their lives.

A 2016 study showed that a fear of death can amplify our desire for revenge or for political violence. A study from 2020 found that those who were afraid of death themselves were more likely to have prolonged symptoms of grief when another died.

The compassionate part of me understands why people are afraid of death. But because my life and my soul have been infused with the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus, I want to cry out that because of the resurrection, God has given us victory over death.

In Christ, our physical death is the final release from this world and takes us into the presence of our God and King. It is the freeing of our souls from lives where God is sometimes obscured by our pain, shame, trauma, worldviews and doubts.

Right now, we see through a mirror darkly. But soon and very soon, when we are freed from these mortal bodies, we shall see our Jesus face-to-face and we will worship him in rapturous delight. We will experience what the apostle John describes in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 21:4 NIV

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

The resurrection of Jesus is the defeat of death. It is the evidence that death does not get the last word but that by faith, we who put our hope in Christ, though our bodies may perish, we will live forever with God in eternal bliss and joy. Jesus said,

John 11:25–26 NIV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Death is not something that followers of Jesus need to fear because for us, death is not the end, it’s just the beginning. God has given us victory over death.

Conclusion

I would like to invite our worship team to come up and start playing. As they play, I am going finish with a poem from John of Damascus, a 6th century monk.

The day of resurrection? Earth, tell it out abroad;

The Passover of gladness, The Passover of God.

From death to life eternal, From this world to the sky,

Our Christ has brought us over With hymns of victory.

Now let the heavens be joyful, Let earth her song begin;

Let the round world keep triumph, And all that is therein;

Let all things seen and unseen Their notes in gladness blend,

For Christ the Lord has risen, Our Joy that has no end.