“He is not here, He has risen!”

“While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words.” (Luke 24:4-8 ESV)

As emotionally devastating as the crucifixion is to those of us who have been born again, this announcement that “He is not here, but has risen” is overwhelmingly encouraging to us. You see, for those of us who have put our faith in the finished work of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay for all our sins for all time, His resurrection proves beyond any doubt that our Savior lives and that He has power not only over sin, but over death itself. His resurrection proves we have nothing to fear. After all, what can Satan, his angels, or his followers do to us? All they have ever had was the power to kill us, and now Jesus has taken that away from them.

Remember Jesus saying, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” All the evil one has ever been able to threaten us with is death, and now Jesus has conquered that as well. Remember in 1 Corinthians where Paul states, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now if you are not a believer in the complete work of Jesus on the cross, His resurrection might not sound like a big deal to you. “I mean, what’s the big deal? A man died and came back to life- a miracle for sure- but how does that change my life?” The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is only one of over 300 Old Testament prophecies about Jesus. These prophecies foretold His birth to a virgin young woman, where He would be born, and that His miracles would include healing the blind, deaf, and sick. They told of His trial and crucifixion among criminals, of His death on the cross to pay for the sins of all who would accept His gift of eternal life. They told about His resurrection and how He would prove that He would conquer Satan and Satan’s hold over mankind.

All the Jewish leaders and many Jewish followers knew these prophecies and were waiting for the promised Messiah. But instead of believing what the Old Testament had told them, they chose to allow Satan to influence their understanding. They allowed Satan to blind their eyes to the truth, to deafen their ears to the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, and to turn their hearts away from the truth to follow the lies of the evil one.

Every one of those 300 prophecies proved that what Jesus spoke and every miracle He performed were leading to His resurrection: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

So, with hearts broken over the price that our Savior had to pay for our sins, those same broken hearts have turned to hearts of joy, because our Savior lives. All of our hope hinges on this truth of the resurrection. The Apostle Paul stated, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” If Jesus had lived as a man and died as a man only to be placed in a grave just like all other men, then we have nothing to hope for, just another good man dying and being buried in a grave. But as we read in every Gospel account of Jesus’ ministry, and all throughout the New Covenant letters, Jesus rose from the grave. The Apostle Paul states that after the resurrection and before Jesus’ ascension into the heavens, he appeared to over 500 people at one time, in addition to all the apostles and many disciples.

The historical fact that Jesus lived, died, was buried, and rose again is one of the most documented truths of the first century. The problem most people have isn’t the amount of proof, but what that proof means. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. … All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Accepting the proof of Jesus’ resurrection means that we must change our minds about how we can earn salvation; we must admit that we cannot “balance the scale” with good deeds to make up for the sins we’ve committed.

We must acknowledge that we are sinners and that we need a Savior, the Lord Jesus. Once you are ready to admit and agree with God that you are wrong and that He is right, then and only then will this truth cause your heart and soul to rejoice: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” It’s true, my friend; accept the gift of eternal life. Come to Jesus.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"