Easter is Good News!

Today’s news is filled with problems that seem like there is no resolution. It is not that good things don’t happen; it is that bad news leads the news cycle. The saying in news is “if it bleeds, it leads”.

But today is not for bad news. It is for celebrating the life of Jesus Christ and the hope that we have.

Easter is Good News!

100 years ago, as communism was on the rise in Russia, there is a story about the power of the good news of Easter.

… the Communist leader Nikolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally. For an hourhe abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if the whole structure of belief was in ruins. Then questions were invited. An Orthodox church priest rose and asked to speak. He turned, faced the people, and gave the Easter greeting, "He is risen!" Instantly the assembly rose to its feet and the reply came back loud and clear, "He is risen indeed!"

I wish I could have been there to shout, “He is risen indeed!” Well, His Resurrection is not only a historical fact, but it empowers us…

Romans 8:11 NIV

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The Resurrection of Christ is Good News because it…

1. Provides a firm foundation for our faith.

2. Assurance of the forgiveness of sins. (His death was sufficient for a Holy God)

3. Provides believers with a faithful and merciful high priest in Heaven.

4. Assures Christians of their heavenly life after this world.

5. Confirms that there will be a day of judgment. (Not every gets what they deserve in this world.

Too Good to Be True?

Each year as I prepare for Easter, I reread the Gospels accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This year, as I read the narratives, the thing that stood out to me was the resistance that the disciples had to the initial news that Jesus had risen from the dead. Let’s look at it together in the Gospel of Mark:

Mark 16:9–20 NIV

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. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Maybe They Were Too Grief Stricken to Believe

It is interesting that the legitimacy of the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection would be initially entrusted to Mary Magdellan. From the Gospel of Mark we see an agreement with the Gospel of Luke that it was Mary Magdellan that Jesus first appeared. When she told the grieving disciples that she had seen Jesus, they didn’t believe.

Mark 16:10–11 NIV

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.

It is pretty ironic to think that while some of the disciples were mourning and weeping the death of Jesus, they brushed off the good news that He was alive! (Illustrate this – Philip, Bartholomew, James, Andrew, Matthew)

Possibly because…

· They forgot His promises.

· They wanted Him to be something He wasn’t – an earthly king isn’t The Eternal King

· Their fear blinded them. Maybe Jesus wasn’t too upset because He knew that Another would come to empower the disciples.

2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Maybe They Were Too Stubborn to Believe

Apparently, all 11 disciples were not together when Mary Magdellan told them about Jesus. The rest were told by the disciples who were on the road to Emmaus. They had returned to tell the rest of the disciples. Still, they didn’t believe.

Mark 16:12–13 NIV

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.

In the days that followed the resurrection, rumors began to swirl in the community. Some of these proposed explanations were:

Jesus was only unconscious and later revived.

But… A Roman soldier told Pilate that Jesus was dead. (Mark 15:44-45)

… The Roman soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because he had already died, and one of them pierced Jesus’ side with a spear. (John 19:32-34)

… Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped Jesus’ body and placed it in the tomb. (John 19:38-40)

The Women Made a Mistake and Went to the Wrong Tomb

But… Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw Jesus placed in the tomb. (Matthew 27:59–61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:55

… On Sunday morning, Peter and John also went to the same tomb. (John 20:3–9)

The Body Was Stolen by Thieves or the Disciples

But… The tomb was sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers. (Matthew 27:65–66)

… The disciples were ready to die for their faith. Stealing Jesus’ body would have been admitting that their faith was meaningless. (Acts 12:2)

The Religious Leaders Stole Jesus’ Body to Produce It Later

But… If the religious leaders had taken Jesus’ body, they would have produced it to stop the rumors of his resurrection.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that the lie they were told to tell was that the disciples came and stole the body while they were asleep. This lie was spread for a long time. There are many who, when faced with the resurrection of Jesus today, continue to stubbornly lie to themselves:

· The atheist says “There is no God”

Frank Turek is famous for going around the country to college campuses offering opportunities for atheists to give their opinions. As a result of his meetings he writes, “What I am saying is that many atheists don’t want Christianity to be true. I’ve seen this firsthand among atheists on college campuses. When I sense hostility during the Q& A period of an I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist presentation, I normally ask the questioner, “If Christianity were true, would you become a Christian?” On several occasions I’ve had atheists yell back at me, “No!””[1]

· The agnostic says “I don’t know if there is a God”

· The relativist says truth is what I believe it to be

· The secularist is really an atheist who believes man is the highest authority

· The pantheist (new age) believes that there is no one path to God, all are equally spiritual.

Ultimately, all these ideas place man on a pedestal. The world continues to lie to one another, burying their heads in the sand.

Activate Your Belief

None of us want to repeat the disbelief of the disciples, but unfortunately, we often struggle with disbelief, disappointments, and distractions. God doesn’t answer all the questions that you and I have, and we have to walk in faith a lot of the time. When we struggle with faith and trust in God, the Resurrection serves as a lighthouse. A lighthouse provides security, direction, and, ultimately, comfort. The Resurrection does the same for the Christian:

Is Jesus Different from Your Expectations?

The disciples became comfortable with Jesus as flesh and blood but needed to see Him as their Divine Savior. Today, people must reject small expectations of Jesus and embrace Him for who He truly is.

Liberals: good news! Jesus is just like you! He criticizes the Pharisees for being too religious, and imposing their religious expectations unfairly on others (Matt 23.4).

Pastors: good news! Jesus is just like you! When he sees the crowds coming to him, rather than being overwhelmed, he is moved with compassion (Matt 9.36, 14.14, Mark 6.34).

Radicals: good news! Jesus is just like you! He just doesn’t seem to care what people think of him (Mark 12.14) and he taught his followers to have a similar disregard for the opinions of those in authority (Acts 4.19).

Introverts: good news! Jesus is just like you! He experienced some of his most important moments of affirmation and testing in long periods of time spent on his own, away from others (Luke 4.1–2).

Charismatics: good news! Jesus is just like you! He engaged in some rather bizarre actions, spitting on mud and laying it on people’s eyes and ears instead of just praying (Mark 7.33), and doing obscure and apparently meaningless things like writing in the sand whilst people watched, without offering any explanation (John 8.6).

Nationalists: good news! Jesus is just like you! He was quite clear that the Jewish people were special in the sight of God, and he had come to minister to them alone.[2]

Of course, there is truth in all those statements but to accept Jesus in only one facet and reject the rest is to make a serious mistake. The great preacher, Timothy Keller said…

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.[3]

Believe the Word of God

It’s easy to criticize the disciples for failing to believe Jesus’ words, but how often do we fail to believe the promises God has given us in His Word, the Bible? Ask God to open the eyes and ears of your soul, that you may come to know His promises and put your trust in them every day. Remember: “He has given us his very great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4).[4]

Is the Holy Spirit Drawing You?

We are taught that trusting God and having faith in Him begins as the Holy Spirit begins to draw us.

John 6:44 NIV

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

If you were to ask people to your left and right, what their experience was before they committed their lives to Christ, they might tell you that they were experiencing little hints (the Bible calls them convictions), dreams, visions, or messages (very individualized) from God. Just like the disciples had doubts, we’ve all had doubts.

Easter demands we investigate an empty tomb and make a decision. If you choose to believe, the Spirit of God (the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead) makes your spirit alive…eternally alive.

Belief = Salvation

Those who believe, see Jesus! The disciples didn’t doubt any more once they saw Him. Their message was the Resurrection and it occurred in every message in the Book of Acts. It was the Gospel – the Good News and every day on this side of the Resurrection is good news for us as well.

[1] https://chab123.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/frank-turek-on-why-people-reject-god/ [2] Paul, Ian. “How to create your own personal Jesus”. www.psephizo.com. Accessed March 27, 2024. [3] https://hail.to/st-barnabas-fendalton/article/vCzQLS0#:~:text=Nothing%20in%20you%20that%20has,Mere%20Christianity%2C%20very%20last%20paragraph. [4] Graham, Billy. “Why were Jesus’ disciples so disheartened and fearful after His death? Hadn’t He told them that He’d come back to life again?” www.billygraham.org. Accessed March 27, 2024.

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