1 Corinthians 15:1-11 1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The Easter Message Is Of Utmost Importance.
What is important in your life, and why? We all have priorities. They way we live our lives tells people what our priorities are. Our families are a high priority. We put a great deal of energy and effort into making sure our families are well-cared for. Our jobs are a high priority. We work toward promotions. We strive for recognition and advancement. We put a great deal of effort and energy into our jobs. Now, where does Jesus Christ fit in? Obviously, he must have some degree of importance, or you wouldn’t be here this morning. Is the Lord, your worship of him, and your attention to his gospel message--is that a high priority? The highest priority? When St. Paul visited the Greek city of Corinth, he proclaimed the resurrection of Christ to them. He recalled his visit when he wrote, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance." (1 Corinthians 15:3) What St. Paul proclaimed centuries ago is no less important today. The Easter message is of utmost importance. Scripture foretold it. Apostles witnessed it. Jesus fulfilled it. And we are saved by it.
I. Scripture Foretold It.
The main reason St. Paul wrote the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, often called the Resurrection Chapter, was to respond to a question that had sprung up in Corinth. Apparently, some people had some serious doubts about the resurrection of the dead, and concluded that the resurrection was not real. St. Paul pointed out that they should not doubt the resurrection, since Scripture had foretold it. First St. Paul said, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3)
Christ died. Scripture foretold it. The prophet Isaiah, 700 years before Christ, said, “Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 52:14;53:8,9) Scripture foretold it.
1,000 years before Christ, David wrote: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? ...You lay me in the dust of death." (Psalm 22:1,15) Even back in the Garden of Eden the Lord had foretold that the Christ would suffer and die.
But Scripture foretold more than the death of Christ. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)
Christ is risen! The Scriptures had foretold this too. After foretelling Christ’s death, Isaiah says, "He will ... prolong his days... He will see the light of life." (Isaiah 53:10,11) King David also wrote, "You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay." (Psalm 16:10) Scripture had foretold the death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus had told his disciples that these things would happen. Actually, he said, "They must happen." The death of Jesus was no surprise, not if you know the Scriptures. The resurrection of Jesus should have been expected, if you understand the Scriptures. God had laid all this out centuries in advance.
II. Apostles Witnessed It.
Even though Scripture foretold it, and even though Jesus talked about his death and resurrection openly with his apostles, they did not get it. Even on Easter Sunday, after Peter and John ran to inspect the empty tomb, they went away confused. St. John confessed for both of them, "They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead." (John 21:9)
Scripture foretold it--that should have been enough to convince them when they saw the empty tomb. Sadly, it wasn’t. But Jesus did not leave the apostles in doubt. Nor did St. Paul want anyone in Corinth to doubt. He went on to demonstrate that Easter message is of utmost importance, explaining that the apostles witnessed it.
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) The Easter message is of utmost importance. Apostles witnessed it, and Paul indicates to the Corinthians that there were hundreds of people who would gladly testify to it.
One big hang up that we have with the resurrection is that we have not seen it with our own eyes. We hear the Scripture accounts, and somehow that is not enough for us. However, it is enough for us in all other historical accounts. How do we know that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln? Witnesses told us. How do we know that Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg? Witnesses told us. How do we know that Cadillac rowed his boat between the straits of Michigan and Canada and named the plot of ground on west shore Detroit? Again, on the testimony of witnesses. Why should we believe that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead? The apostles witnessed it. They saw the risen Christ. They went all over the world to proclaim it. They have recorded what they have seen so that we would believe it. They willingly died rather than deny it. The Easter message surely was of utmost importance to them!
III. Jesus Fulfilled It.
Scripture foretold it. Apostles witnessed it. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! But why is this Easter message of the highest importance? Let’s consider what it means that Christ is risen. Jesus Christ was sent into the world to be the Savior of all mankind. He does not save us from poverty or disease, but from sin, death, and hell. You and I deserve death and hell because of our sin. God created a perfect world with holy people. That’s the way God expects it to be. But it is not. We are controlled by selfish, lustful, greedy, sinful desires. That’s a far cry from holy. For this, we stand guilty before God. The punishment for the guilty is eternal death in hell.
But the Lord says, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked." (Ezekiel 33:11) He backed his word by sending Jesus Christ to save us from our sin. The first thing Jesus needed to do to cover over our sin was to provide the holiness God demands from us. So he did. Jesus lived a perfect life--gladly doing everything God commands. Not even Jesus’ enemies could find him guilty of any wrong doing. That perfect life he took to the cross. He exchanged his perfection for our sin. He died on the cross, condemned by God for the sins of the world. His death has paid the penalty for our sin--all of our sin. The Bible says, "The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) Jesus fulfilled every prophecy that said he would suffer and die to pay for the sins of the world.
Of course, Scripture also foretold that it would not end there. Apostles witnessed that it did not end there. In order to be our Savior, Jesus had to fulfill all of the promises Scripture made. Jesus fulfilled them. The Bible records twelve times that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he rose from the dead. These were not just quick glimpses. It was not Peter thinking he saw Jesus out of the corner of his eye. It was not John and James squinting into the distance thinking, "in the right light, that looks like it might be Jesus." No. The Bible says, "Jesus himself stood among (the disciples).... They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you so troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’" (Luke 24:36-39) It was no mirage. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The Easter message is entirely true. Scripture foretold it. Jesus fulfilled it. Apostles witnessed it. The Easter message is of utmost importance.
IV. We Are Saved By It.
Up to this point, we could argue that this has all been a wonderful history lesson. We have been reminded what the Scriptures foretold. We have been reminded what the apostles saw. We have been reminded what Jesus has accomplished. But if it all stops there, we are left with a "So what?" St. Paul answers our "So what" in the first verses of the Resurrection Chapter of the Bible. He writes, "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:1,2) The Easter message is of utmost importance for this simple reason: We are saved by it.
What other solutions are there for our sin? Try harder? Do better? Try to be better than others? None of those achieves the holiness that God demands. No solution takes away the sins that we have already committed. Jesus Christ does. The Bible reminds us, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) Jesus Christ, who is true God, came to earth to receive the wages for us. He received the sentence for our sin. He endured the punishment for our sin. He died for our sin. Now, countless people have died throughout the history of the world. What makes us so sure that Jesus’ death is anything more than a statistic?
Jesus himself answered that question. "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." (Matthew 16:21) There was no question about Jesus’ words. He did not even suggest it might happen. He said it must happen. He must die and he must rise. The Bible says, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) In other words, he died to pay for sins. But he had to rise in order for his death to mean anything.
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, he is a fraud. Either he is risen from the dead or he is not. If he is not, we have no forgiveness from God and are on our way to hell. But Christ truly is risen. Our sins are forgiven. Death has no power over us. We too will rise from our graves to go to heaven. Eternal life is ours--won by Christ and given to us by his grace. The Easter message is of utmost importance. St. Paul makes it clear, "By this gospel you are saved." (1 Corinthians 15:2)
What is important in your life, and why? A paycheck that is gone by the end of the week? A job that you can be down-sized out of in a sluggish economy? Your children, who will eventually grow up, move away, and have children of their own? Priorities? Yes, but the highest? I hope not. Our eternal welfare is far more important than what happens this week. This week will be over and gone before we know it. Eternity has no end; nor does it offer parole. The Easter message gives us security for our eternity. It also gives us some perspective for the rest of this life. It helps to remind us what is truly important. And it certainly brings a joy that lasts longer than a paycheck. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! We are going to heaven! For we are forgiven indeed! Amen.
