Lessons from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Luke 24:1-9 (AKJV):

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5 and as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

John 11:25-26 (AKJV):

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.Believest thou this?

1 Corinthians 15:12-23 (AKJV):

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

A story is told of an African Muslim who became a Christian. His friends asked, “Why have you become a Christian?” He answered, “Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go. There at the fork were two men, one dead and one alive—who would you ask which way to go?”

            Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All throughout scriptures, the day is described as the day of resurrection. It was in fact never popularly called Easter. Has the word Easter been mentioned in the Bible? Yes, it was, but only once, and only in one translation.

Acts 12:4 (AKJV): And when he had apprehended him [Peter], he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Does the original text really mean Easter? Early original texts do show that Easter is a translation for there was a Greek word that was left untranslated: pascha. Pascha was used 29 times in the scriptures. None of these times did pascha mean a Christian holiday of Easter. Pascha is in fact translated into three categories as (1) Passover, (2) passover meal, (3) passover lamb. The Greek word pascha were used in the Gospels in the New Testament, before the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ even occurred.

So why did the 1900 King James Version use the term Easter? Remember that the disciples preached after the gospel only after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ? The event in Acts 12:4, where the only time in the Scripture was the term Easter mentioned, is past the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, there are two ways to look at what happened here. First, the standard Greek-English Lexicon says that the Easter festival is a sense of the word pascha that developed only in later Christian usage. Rome became officially a Christian nation only in 312 A.D. when Constantine became emperor because of his vision of the cross. Constantine claimed that he received a vision to use the cross in his conquest when he saw this inscription in the sky: “In hoc signo vinces”, which means “by this sign, you shall conquer”. Christianity coined the term Easter and in 1990 when the KJV was written, there was already the Easter festival in the Christian world.

Secondly, one can notice the event as described in Acts 12:4. This event was Luke’s description of the perspective of Herod.

Acts 12:4 (AKJV): And when he had apprehended him [Peter], he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Easter here in Acts 12:4 is not a Jewish context since there was no Easter celebration among the Jews.  Since Luke’s description of this event was based on Herod’s perspective, then we can see that Easter is a Roman celebration and not Jewish.

How do we celebrate Resurrection Sunday? The way we celebrate Resurrection

Sunday is based on how we understand the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christian faith, for Paul said that if Christ has not risen, then the apostle’s preaching is vain, and our faith is also vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then Christianity is false. If Jesus Christ did not resurrect from his death, then our faith is futile. But the truth is, the event of Jesus Christ’s resurrection is believable and irrefutable as biblical evidence proved that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Atheism, in fact, has ever yet to prove it to be wrong with evidence.

We can talk about 5 things that make the resurrection of Jesus Christ significant to believers.

#1. The resurrection is God’s confirmation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

In Romans 1:1-4, we can read: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle unto the gospel of God, 2 (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Paul proclaimed that God’s ultimate demonstration of the divinity of Jesus Christ is through His resurrection. Jesus Christ rose from the dead because He is God. If Jesus Christ was granted the resurrection power, we can trust in the same power that can work in us.

#2. The resurrection is God’s assurance that we can be forgiven of our sins.

1 Corinthians 15:17: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Paul was proclaiming this truth that since Jesus was raised from the dead, then sins will be forgiven

when we obey the gospel. Peter laid down the requirements for obedience to the gospel through repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Since Jesus Christ died on the Cross for us, then our sins are washed and paid for. As Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, all the more we can be assured that our sins are indeed forgiven.

#3 The resurrection is God’s message of life beyond the grave.

1 Corinthians 15:20: But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:23: But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

It is God who gives life, who quickens all things (1Timothy 6:13). Being the giver of life, God has the power to give life to the human body. And as Jesus Christ triumphed over His grave, God pledged to us that we too will be raised from the dead.

Jesus Christ is the “firstfruits” of those who are asleep, those who are dead. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to life. Later, we believers will also be raised from death to life at the coming of Jesus Christ.  

#4 The resurrection is God’s appointment of a sovereign ruler to His kingdom.

Revelation 1:17-18: And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

The ruler of God’s kingdom is alive and reigns forever. The Savior of Christianity was dead and was risen from death. The Lord of our faith reigns in heaven. Not so with other faiths. The founder of Islam is dead and remained dead. The founder of Hinduism is dead and remained dead. The founders of many other religions of the world, i.e, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Gnosticism, Modalism (Monarchianism), Roman Catholicism, Islam, Rosicrucians, Protestantism, Tibetan Buddhism, Freemasonry, Swedenborgism, Shakers, Mormonism, among many others, are all dead and remained dead.

But the Lord and Savior of Christianity, Jesus Christ, appeared to John in the island of Patmos 60 years after his death. Jesus Christ appeared to John and proclaimed that He is not only the first and the last, He also lived and was died and is alive for evermore (Revelation 1:17-18).

Only Jesus Christ was appointed by God the Father as the ruler of His own kingdom. He rose from the dead to take and rule this kingdom for all eternity.

David Leffeman, Simon Lewis, and Jeremy Atiyah wrote this story on Rough Guide to China in 2014.

Some bones from one of Buddha’s fingers were sent as a gift to the emperor of China during the Tang dynasty. They were later forgotten about and then found in 1981. The finding was a sensation to Buddhists everywhere, and the bones are now visited by many Buddhists. If someone claimed to find a finger that belonged to Christ no Christians would believe him because our faith is founded on the fact that there is no finger to find—Christ rose from the dead.

#5 The resurrection is God’s ultimate victory over all enemies of faith.

In Revelation 5:6, we read: And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

The book of Revelations pictures Jesus Christ as a lamb that had been slain. But notice closely the description. The lamb “stood”. Even when the lamb was slain, but the lamb was standing again. The same lamb that was slain is the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).

Jesus Christ has overcome his enemies. Jesus Christ overcame death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). He overcame His Enemy (John 8:44; Revelation 12:11). He overcame sinfulness (Romans 5:10; Luke 19:27). As Jesus overcame these enemies, we too will overcome as the result of His sacrifice and victory over death (Revelations 12:11; Matthew 13:39; Luke 10:13). Do we celebrate this victory only every Resurrection Sunday? We celebrate our victory over sin, over death, over the Enemy, not once a year, but every day.

The Long Angeles Times on March 3, 1991, published this story: On February 27, 1991, during the Desert Storm War, a woman by the name of Ruth Dillow received the worst call of her life. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private First Class, had stepped on a landmine and was dead. For the next three days, she grieved. No one could comfort her. On the third day after receiving the terrible news, the phone rang. On the other end of the phone there was a voice that said, “Mom, it’s me. I’m alive.” At first, she thought it was a cruel joke, but as the conversation continued, she realized it was her son. Later she said she laughed and cried and rejoiced because what seemed to be a hopeless situation turned out to be the greatest day of her life.

That’s what news from a graveyard can do for you when your faith is in Jesus Christ.