Has He Risen?
While driving to church on Easter Sunday two years ago, I told my children the Easter story. "This is the day we celebrate Jesus coming back to life," I explained. Right away, my 3-year-old son, Kevin, piped up from the back seat, "Will He be in church today?"
„X Prayer
„X Scripture Text: Luke 24:1-12
„X Title of Sermon ¡§Has He Risen?¡¨
This title may strike you in an odd way¡K¡K¡K¡K¡KHas He Risen? While we are so accustomed to hearing He Has Risen.
The reason I bring this title with a question mark vs. an accustomed exclamation point is because some of us in the church do not show a risen Christ:
1. In our lives
2. In our circumstances
3. In our faith
4. In our affairs
5. In our Christian walk
„X You may be thinking or pondering this question, how can I be in a church, walk through life, and call myself a Christian, yet still not portray Christ? (vs. 3 & 4)
The two angels (appearing as ¡§men in clothes that gleamed like lightning¡¨) asked the women why they were looking in a tomb for someone who was alive. Often we run into people who are looking for God among the dead. They study the Bible as a mere historical document and go to church as if going to a memorial service. But Jesus is not among the dead¡Xhe lives! He reigns in the hearts of Christians, and he is the head of his church. Do you look for Jesus among the living? Do you expect him to be active in the world and in the church? Look for signs of his power¡Xthey are all around you.
„X You may be asking: why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ so important?
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the central fact of Christian history. On it, the church is built; without it, there would be no Christian church today. Jesus¡¦ resurrection is unique. Other religions have strong ethical systems, concepts about paradise and afterlife, and various Holy Scriptures. Only Christianity has a God who became human, literally died for his people, and was raised again in power and glory to rule his church forever.
Why is the resurrection so important?
(1) Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has broken into earth¡¦s history. Our world is now headed for redemption, not disaster. God¡¦s mighty power is at work destroying sin, creating new lives, and preparing us for Jesus¡¦ second coming.
(2) Because of the resurrection, we know that death has been conquered, and we too will be raised from the dead to live forever with Christ.
(3) The resurrection gives authority to the church¡¦s witness in the world. Look at the early evangelistic sermons in the book of Acts: the apostles¡¦ most important message was the proclamation that Jesus Christ had been raised from the dead!
(4) The resurrection gives meaning to the church¡¦s regular feast, the Lord¡¦s Supper. Like the disciples on the Emmaus Road, we break bread with our risen Lord, who comes in power to save us.
(5) The resurrection helps us find meaning even in great tragedy. No matter what happens to us as we walk with the Lord, the resurrection gives us hope for the future.
(6) The resurrection assures us that Christ is alive and ruling his kingdom. He is not legend; he is alive and real.
(7) God¡¦s power that brought Jesus back from the dead is available to us so that we can live for him in an evil world.
Christians can look very different from one another, and they can hold widely varying beliefs about politics, life-style, and even theology. But one central belief unites and inspires all true Christians¡XJesus Christ rose from the dead!
„X Text: Luke 24:13-34
„X You may be wondering: can doubt really be that detrimental in a Christian¡¦s life? (vs. 19-21)
The disciples from Emmaus were counting on Jesus to redeem Israel¡Xthat is, to rescue the nation from its enemies. Most Jews believed that the Old Testament prophecies pointed to a military and political Messiah; they didn¡¦t realize that the Messiah had come to redeem people from slavery to sin. When Jesus died, therefore, they lost all hope. They didn¡¦t understand that Jesus¡¦ death offered the greatest hope possible.
„X One may ask, is doubt and fear of Satan? Yes!!!
We cannot give in to the devil’s principal, deceitful tactic which makes so many Christians satisfied with an "Easter celebration" instead of experiencing the power of Christ’s resurrection. It is the devil’s business to keep Christians mourning and weeping with pity beside the cross instead of demonstrating that Jesus Christ is risen, indeed.
„X Even scientists are stumped by there own response to what is infallible proof¡K¡K
Science says if there is any such thing as infallible proof, it is the repetition of the same experiment.
Jesus rose from the dead, and Mary Magdalene encountered him¡Xexperiment one. The women encountered him¡Xexperiment two. The disciples encountered him¡Xexperiment three. The apostles encountered him¡Xexperiment four. Five hundred people saw him after the Resurrection¡Xexperiment five.
Each one of these is the repetition of the same experiment. They all encountered the same phenomenon. What was it? He was alive! That’s what changed the history of the world.
„X Is He alive today:
In your lives?
In your circumstances?
In your faith?
In your affairs?
In your Christian walk?
„X Luke 24:35-53
Jesus¡¦ body wasn¡¦t just a figment of the imagination or the appearance of a ghost¡Xthe disciples touched him, and he ate food. On the other hand, his body wasn¡¦t merely a restored human body like Lazarus¡¦s (John 11)¡Xhe was able to appear and disappear. Jesus¡¦ resurrected body was immortal. This is the kind of body we will be given at the resurrection of the dead (see 1 Cor. 15:42-50).
„X So how relevant does this make Jesus in our lives?
Luke¡¦s Gospel portrays Jesus as the perfect example of a life lived according to God¡¦s plan¡Xas a child living in obedience to his parents and yet amazing the religious leaders in the temple, as an adult serving God and others through preaching and healing, and finally as a condemned man suffering without complaint. This emphasis was well suited to Luke¡¦s Greek audience, who placed high value on being an example and improving oneself, and who often discussed the meaning of perfection. The Greeks, however, had a difficult time understanding the spiritual importance of the physical world. To them, the spiritual was always more important than the physical. To help them understand the God-man who united the spiritual and the physical, Luke emphasized that Jesus was not a phantom human but a real human being who healed people and fed them because he was concerned with their physical health as well as the state of their souls.
As believers living according to God¡¦s plan, we too should obey our Lord in every detail as we seek to restore people¡¦s bodies and souls to the health and salvation God has in store for them. If we want to know how to live a perfect life, we can look to Jesus as our example.
„X So why again does the resurrection matter?
The resurrection means Jesus is who he claimed to be.
The resurrection means Jesus has the power he claimed to have.
The resurrection means Jesus did what he promised to do.
The resurrection matters because my past can be forgiven.
The resurrection matters because my present problems can be managed.
The resurrection matters because my future can be secure.
You could speak of Jesus’ rising as the most hopeful (hope-full) thing that has ever happened--and you would be right!
Easter is the New Year’s Day of the soul.
Something happened on Easter Day which made Christ more alive on the streets of Jerusalem forty days after his crucifixion than on the day of His Triumphal Entry. A false report might last forty days but the church which was founded on a Risen Christ has lasted for nineteen centuries, producing generations of the race’s finest characters.
