Last week at Palm Sunday, we looked at the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem five days before Passover. So today, we celebrate Easter. Easter is when we celebrate Jesus going to the cross and dying. But that was not the end because three days later he then rose again from the dead. But why did Jesus go to the cross and die? And why did Jesus rise from the dead? Today we will cover these two fundamental questions and see how this affects us.
So first of all, why did Jesus go to the cross and die? The answer lies in the Old Testament. We have to go back to the Book of Exodus and the time of Moses to get the answer. But today, I want to go back slightly more and into the Book of Genesis. There was a famine, and God blessed the family tribe of Israel by sending them to Goshen, the most fertile land in Egypt. But amid such a blessing, the Egyptians later decided to suppress the Israelites through hard labour and slavery. However, God intervened and brought Moses back from Midian where he was a shepherd to rescue his people. He came back to Egypt, and through a series of plagues, God forced the Egyptians to release the Israelites. And it was the last plague, the plague of death of the firstborn, that ushered in the change of the Pharaoh’s mind. And it's in the face of the potential death of every firstborn that God directed each Israelite family to take a lamb, a spotless, unblemished lamb. The Israelites were told to sacrifice the lamb and put the lamb’s blood on the door fame. When the angel saw the blood, then he would pass over the house and not bring death to the family. Those who didn’t paint the wooden doorframes were met with tragedy when their firstborn son died. The Passover came into history as a reminder of the deaths and God’s mercy to the tribe of Israel, now a population of approximately two million.
At the time of Christ, the Pharisees brought false insurrection charges against Jesus Christ. An illegal court was held at night, and Jesus was condemned. The Romans who ruled with an iron fist, didn’t want to pick a fight with the Jewish Zealots and backed down. They released a murderer, named Barabbas and condemned the innocent man Jesus Christ to death. Jesus, who healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed thousands, was condemned to die. Jesus, who had never sinned, his soul was white as wool, white as snow, was to be crucified on a cross. And so it was, Jesus, as he foretold, was tortured and killed. The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, they twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spat on him, took the staff, and struck him on the head again and again. This ensured that the thorns in the crown would dig even deeper into his skin. After they had mocked him, the soldiers took off the robe and put his clothes on him. They whipped him nearly to the point of death, and then they led him away to be crucified. So Jesus became the Passover lamb who died. Instead of the blood being painted on a wooden door frame. Jesus' blood flowed down the wooden cross. At the exodus, the Passover lamb died so that the Israelites might live, now, Jesus died so that the whole of humanity might live. John wrote, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We need to believe in Jesus to receive eternal life.
But the death of Jesus was not the end. No other religions are like Christianity in this regard. The prophet Mohammed started Islam died, and was buried. Guru Nanak Dev Ji founded Sikhism, he has died. Siddhartha Gautama, founded Buddhism died and was buried. Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith, as the Bible tells us, has died. But for Christians, the death of Jesus Christ was not the end, and in many aspects, it was just the beginning. Even the Book of Acts calls Jesus’ death “his suffering,” as if this was just one small period in the life and ongoing life of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is completely unique.
The Gospel writer Luke continues that Jesus “showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. For completeness, the Gospels show that Jesus came face to face with Mary Magdalene at the graveside early on the first day of the week. He showed himself to two other women, another Mary and a woman called Salome at the empty tomb. Full of fear yet overjoyed, they ran to tell the other disciples. Jesus walked with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they had a meal together. He appeared to ten fearful disciples while they were together behind a locked door. However, Thomas wasn’t there, and we get a glimpse of his doubting character because of this. A week later, Jesus visited the disciples when Thomas was present, and he made the famous response, “My Lord and my God.” The disciples went to Galilee, and Jesus appeared to seven of them as they were fishing. With a remarkable parallel to the beginning of Jesus' ministry, Peter went fishing and caught nothing, but when Jesus told them to cast their net on the right side, the net became so full that they couldn’t haul in the catch. Having retrieved some of the fish, they had breakfast together. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus showed himself to a group of five hundred people, and then made an appearance to James. Finally, he appeared again to His disciples who had the unique benefit of seeing Jesus ascend into heaven. For forty days, Jesus appeared to many people, building up their faith. Death was not the end.
What does that mean for us? 2000 years after Jesus was on earth, what does Jesus' resurrection mean for us? Well, the Bible says in John 5: 28 & 29; “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth, “But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then when he comes, those who belong to him.” So, Jesus rose from the grave. But now we see that everyone who has already died will also rise from the grave. But critically, there is a division of people. Those who believe in Christ will rise and live, but those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ will be condemned. The Bible says that a Second Coming is at the end. Jesus Christ will return to earth from heaven and take us to God to be judged. We will all be judged. Those who believe in Jesus will remain with God forever, but those who don’t believe will be thrown out of God’s presence.
In conclusion, as Jesus died and rose again, we too, will rise at the second coming. The question is this? When you and I come face to face with God, what will happen? Will we be told “welcome” and stay with God? Or will you be told to get out of His presence? What will happen to your friends, family, and neighbours? Will they be ushered into God’s presence or thrown out? You can affect their eternal future by sharing the Good News of a resurrected Christ.
