Day of resurrection

Two extraordinary events that occurred around two thousand years ago – death through crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday- form the foundation of the Christian doctrine and theology. Christ was crucified at the Cross at Calvary at 9 a.m. Friday after hours of agony, died at 3 p.m. Later His body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and entombed in a grave as per Jewish custom. On Sunday, God resurrected Christ from His grave and the first to see him was Mary Magdalene. Without the resurrection, there would have been no Christian faith and neither salvation by faith through grace, no connection with God, no remission from sins, no purpose for life, no hope, no reason for living, and no reason to for evangelism, discipleship, or missions or any other kind of ministry-all would be futile and meaningless. As Paul wrote: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins” (I Corinthians 15:17). The entire structure of Christianity – and indeed of any hope for eternal life and for any meaning to human existence – stands with Christ’s resurrection and without it, Christ would have passed away into history as just one of the many prophets. According to the Bible, after Jesus rose from death, He went into a show-and-tell mode. Resurrection was not a “coming back” from the dead. It was a going beyond death. It was not a coming back to mortal existence (as was true for Lazarus). It was nothing less than Jesus’ entrance into the life of God. Christians believe that the risen Christ can never die as He entered into an entirely new kind of existence: an immortal existence that robbed the grave of its victim, not temporarily, but eternally. Three truths stand out as proof of Christ’s resurrection: (1)The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion; (2)Jesus’ disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ and (3)As a result of the preaching of these disciples, which had the resurrection at its centre, the Christian church was established and grew. Some have suggested that these post-resurrection appearances of Christ were only visions or hallucinations, or perhaps a case of mistaken identity. But visions and hallucinations don’t occur repeatedly like this, to individuals and to groups, indoors and outdoors. And certainly the disciples could recognize the One who had been with them every day for more than three years. There are serious and grave issues that the people are being confronted with today. This desire for progress and to see a better tomorrow is exciting and this is where the vision to see and realize the promises comes from. The state of mind therefore, plays a critical part in the entire perspective. The message of resurrection is that, salvation through faith and hope in Christ fulfils the promise of victory of life over death and an eternal life.