Uh-huh, He did it!

Uh-huh, He did it! Matthew 28.1-10 

God, give us new eyes, new ears to glean the miraculous, and its implications for us! 

“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. 

Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. 

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.” Matthew 28.1-8 

Miraculously, Jesus did what he said he was going to do—he defeated the grave and death itself. 

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Because the resurrection changes everything. Jesus had said he would die and be buried, and on the third day, would rise again1 Here’s the thing: IF Jesus did not rise from the dead, it would have made him a liar, and nothing else he taught would have been credible; IF he did not rise from the dead, we would not serve a living Savior and Lord, and IF Jesus did not rise from the dead, we would not have the hope of resurrection after death ourselves to make our home with him forever. 

Paul said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins."2 – That is right, Paul! The Christian faith would not have gone forward if Jesus had been killed, and never heard from again. The disciples would have remained hopeless, died in shame, and that would have been the end of Christianity. Alas, it was not, and we are evidence of that. The young Jewish-Christian church started in Jerusalem, and soon spread to Mediterranean lands and beyond--which assures us that these young believers, who were enduring persecution, saw and believed in the risen Lord. 

In a profound sense, Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all.3 
Paul wrote the most extensive biblical treatise on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, ‘I delivered to you that … Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, (Peter) then to the twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. (so Paul was an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus).4 These verses formed a creed that was recited in early Christian churches, and has been dated by scholars to within two to eight years of Jesus' resurrection. 

Eyewitness accounts are the most valuable evidence in any matter or event being analyzed; 515 eyewitnesses, most of whom were still alive when this was written, could have refuted what was recorded about Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, but they did not. In those appearances, Jesus talked, walked and ate with his disciples. 

The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest symbol of hope for believers today. It means that we serve a living God! Combined with our faith is the HOPE that there is a new world to come, and in that world, God will set the record straight and… HE… WILL. Besides, the resurrection is one more testament that God keeps his promises. 

Let us conclude by saying, the Resurrection is the epicenter of belief. It is not a belief that grew up within the church; it is the belief around which the church itself grew up, and the 'given' upon which its faith was based.5 

From death to life . . . our Redeemer lives. Nothing matters more than that. Uh-huh, he did it. Jesus rose from the dead, just as he said would. 

Christine

PastorWoman.com

1) Matthew 12.40; 16.21 
2) 1 Corinthians 15.17 
3) Gerald O'Collins, theologian 
4) 1 Corinthians 15.3-8 
5) C.H. Dodd