My favorite account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is in Matthew’s

Gospel. Matthew 27:57-66 reads, “When evening had come, there came a

rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a

disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had

taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new

tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone

against the door of the tomb and departed. And Mary Magdalene was

there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.”

“On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests

and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember,

while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will

rise.’ Therefore, command that the tomb be made secure until the third day,

lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people,

‘He has risen from the dead.’ So, the last deception will be worse than the

first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as

secure as you know how.” So, they went and made the tomb secure, sealing

the stone and setting the guard.”

Matthew 28:1-8, “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began

to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And

behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended

from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on

it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the

angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that

you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He

said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His

disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you

into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”  So, they

went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring

His disciples word.”

The resurrection was more than an event, even an important event, even

the most important event! I mean overcoming death!? The ultimate

problem! Every man’s enemy! Without a doubt the resurrection of Jesus

Christ was definitely the most important historical event for all of mankind.

But it was more than an event. The resurrection is a Person. Let me

explain.

Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life! He who

believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live!” Jesus claimed that He

Himself was eternal life, resurrection, life from death! Mind boggling!

The thing about Jesus though, is that because of who He is, who He was,

who He became…, His statement is uniquely reasonable. Jesus was fully

man and fully God. I know you’ve probably heard that and there’s a bit of

hmmmm in that statement because how can you be both? Well, think of it

this way. Jesus is the divine. Stepped off the throne of heaven (fully

divine), came in the smallest most humble way possible, born of a virgin,

in a barn, into the poverty of not only His earthly family but also born into

the poverty of humanity (fully man).

He was born under the law. God and man were perfect for each other. Man

was made for God. By God, through God…, and when sin entered the

human race, an impassable barrier was set in place. All of a sudden, we

weren’t perfect for each other anymore. Fellowship broken. Because God

retained His perfection, we did not. So, man was forced to depart the

presence of God. Not because God wanted it that way, but because it

simply was that way. Habakkuk 1:13 says, “You are of purer eyes than to

behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”

But God so loved the world, so loved the first man and the first woman that

He placed a lean on perfection, a debt owed, instituted and put on display

through the Old Testament sacrificial system that the wages of sin is

death…, so fellowship with God continued with this lean in place. Debt in

place. The law comes forth to describe it, the contract of sorts, the Ten

Commandments, the terms of the lean of perfection against humanity.

The core issue is however everyone is born into sin. Original sin from the

moment of birth. Every man, every woman inheriting their sin nature from

their common father Adam. Except one Man. Jesus’ father was not Adam.

His Father is God, and not even in an offspring type of way but rather in a

honor type of way, a reverence. Jesus has no birth father; He was born of a

virgin. So, He is unique among all humanity, born without a sin nature, in

pure perfection and perfect fellowship with the Father as was in the

beginning.

Born under the law. Able to fulfill the law. Sign and satisfy the contract, the

lean of perfection placed on humanity to restore eternal life and

perfection, lost by one all the way back at the beginning. So, Jesus is the

resurrection Himself. Because of what He did, who He was, fulfilling the

law in my place and ultimately breaking the righteous hold of death on all

of us through the process He completed that no one else could!

SO, Jesus IS the resurrection, just as He told Mary! And the fact that He

did resurrect from the dead is essential, critical, for all of us. Because

without it, without Jesus breaking the hold of death, there is no hope! Like

literally, no hope for us!

So let me go one more step. Christianity is Jesus. Simply put. Saved by

grace through faith. Faith in what? Jesus! So, Christianity IS Jesus and

Jesus IS the resurrection. So, I don’t know how else to say this…,

Christianity is Resurrection! That’s what it’s all about. Following Jesus,

coming to Jesus, going to Jesus, giving it to Jesus, trusting in Jesus, IS

restoration! Bringing life where life expired. Bringing life where there is

loss!! Where there is death. Bringing life and even better, eternal life, into

the equation for even sinful people! That IS Christianity! And its’s all

wrapped up and all about Jesus!

Exactly why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17-18, “If Christ is not risen,

your faith is futile, you are still in your sins! Then also those who have

fallen asleep in Christ have perished!”

Now, resurrection is intriguing. Check out this definition. Resurrection is

the action or fact of restoring a dead person to life, or of being restored to

life. The revitalization or revival of something. With the resurrection, Jesus

gave us eternal life…, and I think we are only barely understanding what

that means. What all comes along with that! Check this out, John 20:17,

“Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My

Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My

Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” That is a

statement of pure reconciliation, pure personal connection restored between

myself and God, me and my Creator. And in that, I mean, what all comes

with that! Sheesh!!

The resurrection gave us eternal life, it gave us reconnection with the

Father, righteous, lawful, lean satisfied and perfection restored fellowship

with God through and all because of Jesus Christ. And simply accepting

Him by faith gives me the RIGHT to become a son of God like God always

intended! Incredible!

The resurrection Himself has restored what was dead, to eternal life.

Revitalization. Jesus is revitalization Himself! We deal with so much death

and loss and devitalization in life. Not just the grave but relationships, our

personal identities, our personal sense of purpose, our motivation to love

our spouse, to not give up on a child, to keep going to work, to do the hard

things… Folks give up on their dreams and start to see others and say, I

can’t do that, I could never be that….

Here’s what Easter tells us…, the resurrection reminds in us! Jesus, who is

Himself resurrection, specializes in bringing life to what seems lost. You

may feel like nothing can grow where you are. But with Him, even the

smallest seeds of faith, forgiveness, or hope can flourish into new life.

There’s an element of the supernatural that we often forget when it comes

to walking with the Lord. When it comes to faith. That as we trust in the

Lord and follow Him, He works things together that we could never have

done without Him. Why? Supernatural! The cure, reasonable cure for any

devitalization in your life, hold up, the reasonable cure for DEATH in the

entirety of all religious offerings, is to go to Jesus! And, AND, remember,

faith is an element of the supernatural! That as you persist and don’t lose

heart and press into the Lord, there are things coming together that are not

yet revealed.

In 1722, a Dutch explorer named Jacob Roggeveen had been sailing for

months across the vast, empty Pacific Ocean. His crew was tired. Supplies

were running low. Spirits were even lower. They had no clear idea what

they would find—only uncertainty and miles of open water.

Then, on Easter Sunday morning 1722, something appeared on the horizon.

Land. After weeks of nothing but sea, they stepped onto a mysterious

island filled with towering stone figures! Massive, silent statues staring out

across the land. It must have felt surreal… almost sacred.

In honor of the day they discovered it, Roggeveen named it Easter Island.

Here’s the thing, they didn’t find the island because they knew exactly

where they were going. They found it because they kept going, even when

they felt lost.

Jesus IS the resurrection. Thank God He did rise from the grave! Proving

in Him is eternal life. Power over the grave itself. And yet, just barely

understanding what that day actually means, that in Him, by Him, through

Him and with Him, (statement of reality that I’m asking you to consider by

faith), He brings life where life has been lost. I’m going to say it this way,

He can’t help Himself. It’s just what He does. If you would give it to Him,

prioritize Him over the problem, He can’t help but vitalize.

It's like light. 1 John 1:5 says, “This is the message which we have heard

from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at

all!” We have recently installed black-out shades in our master bathroom.

You know, the type at the hotel that when you wake up you’re like, “What

month is it?!” HA! Well, it’s amazing, the light from the hallway as our

door is open still seems to fill the room! How is that possible! There’s no

sun in our house! There’s nothing shining in our room!? But light is like

that. If it’s in this room and there is an opportunity, somehow it flows and

fills! My encouragement in going through all of this today is to ask you to

say yes to Jesus, and give Him an opportunity to fill your life with His

resurrection, revitalizing, bringing life to where there is loss, LIGHT!

Jesus resurrected proves that no tomb is too sealed, no life too lost, and no

thing too dead for Jesus to bring new life! In Jesus, whatever it is, you can

say of it, “It’s a new day!”

One more thing about this kind of hope. This reality grounded in fact! (As

Paul once said, “Hope in Jesus does not disappoint,” Romans 5:5), think

on and consider for just a moment the difficulty, multiplied difficulties that

Jesus went through in His earthly ministry. Surrounded by things every day

that would frustrate me to no end. Don’t you get frustrated when you see

people doing stupid things!? Well, if Jesus is perfect, then isn’t everything

that anyone does around Him stupid!? Yet, He endured with grace. Serving,

and healing, and feeding, and loving…

And then there was the process of His crucifixion. The abuse, the betrayal,

and ultimately the horror of what He endured. Yet He endured. And a piece

of that endurance is attributable to the resurrection. He KNEW, He KNEW

revitalization, resurrection, permanency of it all, assuredness of it all, He

knew that! To know something is ahead and act today as if it is sure, that is

faith by definition.

When we give our lives to Jesus and begin to experience the resurrection

that is found in Him because it IS Him, the strength it brings forth in you is

nothing less than supernatural. Able to endure. Able to persevere. And not

just, “make it.” Jesus lived a full life full of joy and love and rejoicing…,

so not just making it like so many do but actually living! This is the power

of the fact of the resurrection. The power of the hope that stands firm and

foundationed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Founded in fact. Founded in reasonableness and rationality as Jesus was

unique in all people…, founded in the fact that Jesus is light, founded in

the fact that Jesus Himself is the resurrection and the life. Founded solidly

in all that, but activated entirely by faith. Will you today take your faith out

of whatever it is that has been ripping you off, underdelivering and perhaps

even failing you, will you take your faith away from the unworthy person

or thing its in today and place it solely in Jesus? Activate all that we have

been given today through faith? God is so good, He wants nothing more

than for you to say yes to Him so that He can flood your life, every little

room, with the light of life!