Death to Death

Matthew 28 CSB

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men. The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.” So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news. Just then Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.” As they were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping.’ If this reaches the governor’s ears, we will deal with him and keep you out of trouble.” They took the money and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day. The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

A Brief History

Today, we gather together as brethren in the Lord just as we do on every Sunday. However, today is special for us as Christians, isn’t it? Today is Easter! Resurrection Sunday! The set time every year where we take special time to remember the Resurrection of the Lord from the tomb.

We should not only remember it in a passing sense — meaning we ought to do more than just think about it. We must be grateful for the Resurrection of Jesus our Lord and Master (and, just to say it clearly, we ought always to be grateful for this glorious and holy moment in human history)

Today, I want us to look at three particular things regarding Easter:

A brief history and origin

A few reasonable evidences for the historicity of the Resurrection

What the Resurrection, then, means to us and all mankind.

Easter, A History

Every year, when certain holidays come around, there is always the crowd of people who chime in that they will refuse to celebrate for one or another reason. That’s fine, Romans 14.5 states fairly clearly that the celebration of holidays is no matter of salvation. However, there is always that group which cries “pagan” at each holiday, and Easter is no exception. The general idea, as far as I can see, is that they believe the celebration of Easter is inherently pagan and even originates with paganism. But, is this the case?

Some of our American traditions surrounding Easter, the bunny for example, do perhaps have roots in some form of pagan celebration. The myth of the bunny came to America from German Immigrants in the early days of the nation. Beginning in Pennsylvania, where the Germans usually settled, the myth spread to the rest of the country shortly after. Where the myth originally comes from is, from what I was able to read, unclear

However, the roots of the Easter egg go back quite a way. Going all the way back to at least the 13th century, one source I read said specifically 1290, people were painting their eggs as decoration. For pagan observance? No, rather, according to Britannica and the History Channel website, eggs were a forbidden food during Holy Week for a time, and Christians began painting “Holy Week eggs” as a way to symbolize the resurrection of the Lord on Sunday.

The Christian celebration of Easter goes back much farther than that. We know that Christians were celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord on a particular day every year, because in AD 325 leaders in the Church from all over the Roman Empire came together at what is known as the Council of Nicaea. Part of what was discussed during this council was in fact when to celebrate the Resurrection: should it be on the date when Jews have Passover, or should it be independent of the Jewish celebration entirely? What it came out to was the latter, and eventually falling on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Hence, why it changes dated every year.

Even two centuries prior to the Council of Nicaea Christians were disagreeing over whether it was right for Christians to celebrate what we now have as Easter, or if they should celebrate the Passover with the Lord in mind. Polycarp, who is a renown early Christian and Church leader possibly taught by the Apostle John, supposedly argued the latter.

The celebration of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead is no new thing — nor is it in any way a pagan thing! It is Christian through and through, and we ought not let the Americanized commercialism and introduction of later traditions distract us from what is truly important about what we celebrate today.

A Defense of the Resurrection

There are also a set of evidences for the historical accuracy of the Resurrection of the Lord. Not least among these is the fact that there are more surviving manuscripts (copies) of the New Testament than of any other historical document. The sum total of which reaches over 5,000. The earliest of the Gospels was written most likely about 20 years after Christ. The earliest copies of these books date back to no more than 200 years after they were written.

John’s Gospel was probably written in the 90’s AD, and the oldest copy of his gospel comes from 100-150 AD.

Compare such things with Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor in the first century, wrote a Natural History volume. The earliest surviving of its copies is from 400 years later — yet no one questions its validity. Greek poet Homer, who wrote 6-700 years before Christ is not questioned as to having truly been the author of the Iliad and Odyssey. yet the earliest copy of his literature that survives is from the third century after Christ.

I say all this to call to mind the fact that the earliest copies we have to the New Testament are withing a couple hundred years, yet people remain skeptical. It doesn’t make sense to accept histories and documents whose earliest known copies are 400, 900, are 1000 years after the originals yet dismiss the New Testament, especially the Gospels!

Of all the other evidences I could cite I will give two more quick ones:

The fact that the tomb was in fact empty! Even secular historians understand that Jesus is a real, historical figure. And we have extrabiblical evidence of His crucifixion. Seeing that the Gospels are historically reliable, we see that the tomb was, in fact, empty! And found empty while at least 6 Roman Soldiers were on guard!

Nobody could move the stone, there was Pilot’s seal on it promising death to anyone who did, and the lie the soldiers were told to give was that they fell asleep! Which, would have ended in at least a beating and probably even their death hence the Pharisees needing to keep them out of trouble.

Then there is the eye-witness Testimony

Matthew and John both saw the risen Lord for themselves, as did Paul and Peter and the rest.

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 CSB

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

That’s a lot of eye witnesses! Then you look at what happened to those eye-witnesses and it gets even more shocking:

excommunicated from their synagogues, shunned by loved ones, hunted down by angry religious officials, put to death by the State. The persecution of the early Church, particularly the Apostles, is a weighty matter to consider when thinking of the historicity of the resurrection. If, as some people assume, the Twelve were liars and they built a religion for fame, why would they have held to their own lie until death? Most people would not die defending that which they knew was false.

The Impact of the Resurrection

Now we come to the part where the resurrection affects us directly.

For Christians, the resurrection of Christ is the absolute center of everything we stand on. Our entire faith is based on the fact that Jesus died, lay in the grave three days, and rose again according to the Scriptures. Look at what Paul says of our faith if this were not a true event:

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 CSB

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “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, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

If the tomb was not empty, our lives are because we are believing and trusting in a false reality. Praise God Most High that the tomb is, indeed, forever empty!! Now, look what happens for us because of the empty Tomb:

1 Corinthians 15:20–23 CSB

But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

Because Christ didn’t stay in the grave, neither shall anyone who has been born again through faith in baptism for the remission of sins.

Further, we know by the Resurrection that Jesus is Lord over all, the promised Messiah, exalted above all by God the Father! The Resurrection proves the Authority which Jesus posses:

Acts 2:29–36 CSB

“Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay. “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

And finally, the Resurrection serves as a proof to all mankind that Jesus will come and judge the world in righteousness.

Acts 17:30–31 CSB

“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

That Authority that Jesus proves to have by His resurrection is no joke — He will judge the world on the appointed day. His resurrection proves that He is the One is able and worthy and in authority to carry that out.

Inventory

So, we now know a little history of this day we call Easter. We have looked at evidences that Jesus is truly alive. We have seen that the Resurrection means absolutely everything to the Christian and that it spells judgment for the ones who have not obeyed the Gospel.

Today, if you have not repented of your sins called on the name of the Lord in baptism to wash your sins away, today He calls and commands that you repent! Because He loves you and does not desire you to exist now or in eternity apart from Him. Will you obey His command and heed His kindness and grace?

For those of us who have already, make it a point today to truly thank the Lord and celebrate, yes, CELEBRATE the resurrection of the Lord, because Death has no power over you, just as it has no power on Him.