Easter Sunday
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the defining moment in history for Christianity.
Christians believe that the Old Testament points to Christ and his resurrection. The first Christians, who experienced the resurrection, went back and read through their Scriptures and saw Christ everywhere. They looked at the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12 where we read God say,
"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3, see also 28:14).
They saw one of Abraham’s descendants defeat sin and death through the cross and resurrection and offer the fruits of that victory to all of humanity who wanted to receive it.
Those first Christians looked back at Genesis 22 and saw the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham and saw another Son who carried the wood for the sacrifice on his back as he walked to the hill of Golgotha. … In the Temple sacrifices, they saw a prefiguring of Christ, the Lamb of God, offering himself in sacrifice to heal the sin of the world.
They looked back to Genesis 37 and saw the favoured son, Joseph, betrayed and sold by his bothers for pieces of silver. But it was through their rejection of him, and through his suffering, that Joseph ended up being in a position to save many people- By interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, correctly predicting seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, he was able to save the lives of many people. … In Christ they saw another favoured Son sold for pieces of silver, whose rejection and suffering was used to save even those who rejected him.
They looked back at Exodus 12 and they read about the blood of the Passover Lamb painted on the doors of their houses that protected them from death, and they saw the blood of Christ shed on the cross that protects them from everlasting death (1 Cor 5:7).
They read that God said to King David,
Those first Christians looked back at Genesis 22 and saw the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham and saw another Son who carried the wood for the sacrifice on his back as he walked to the hill of Golgotha. … In the Temple sacrifices, they saw a prefiguring of Christ, the Lamb of God, offering himself in sacrifice to heal the sin of the world.
They looked back to Genesis 37 and saw the favoured son, Joseph, betrayed and sold by his bothers for pieces of silver. But it was through their rejection of him, and through his suffering, that Joseph ended up being in a position to save many people- By interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, correctly predicting seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, he was able to save the lives of many people. … In Christ they saw another favoured Son sold for pieces of silver, whose rejection and suffering was used to save even those who rejected him.
They looked back at Exodus 12 and they read about the blood of the Passover Lamb painted on the doors of their houses that protected them from death, and they saw the blood of Christ shed on the cross that protects them from everlasting death (1 Cor 5:7).
They read that God said to King David,
"When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:12–13).
From the perspective of those Christians who witnessed the resurrection, they saw that Solomon built an earthly temple for God, but his kingdom was soon divided and David’s line was no longer on the throne. But they remembered that Jesus, called the son of David, said (speaking about his body), “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19). Having defeated death to never die again, he would remain on the throne of the kingdom of God forever.
From the point of view of the resurrection, they read about the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 and saw Christ,
From the point of view of the resurrection, they read about the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 and saw Christ,
“He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” (Is 53:3-5).
They looked back and saw the prophets rejected and killed by the people who didn’t want to hear their message, and they saw Christ as the definitive prophet, who was likewise rejected and killed. They looked back and read in Isaiah 8,
"He will be a holy place; … he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. …" (Isaiah 8:14).
And they remembered Christ, who was rejected by those in power, and unjustly killed. As the leaders stumbled over him, trying to hold onto their power, they were exposed in their corruption.
Over and over and over, as they read through the Scriptures, from the perspective of the resurrection, they saw these words pointing to Christ, and his death and resurrection.
These same Christians also saw their future in light of the resurrection of Christ. The apostles taught these young Christian communities to live now, with an eye on the resurrection of Christ, which they believed to be the first of many resurrections- his resurrection is the first fruit, like the first ripe apple on an apple tree. As Paul says in our epistle reading,
Over and over and over, as they read through the Scriptures, from the perspective of the resurrection, they saw these words pointing to Christ, and his death and resurrection.
These same Christians also saw their future in light of the resurrection of Christ. The apostles taught these young Christian communities to live now, with an eye on the resurrection of Christ, which they believed to be the first of many resurrections- his resurrection is the first fruit, like the first ripe apple on an apple tree. As Paul says in our epistle reading,
“… in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. … But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23).
… Those first witnesses to the resurrection taught us to live now knowing that you will live forever. Set you priorities now, knowing that this life is a few drops of water of an ocean of eternal life awaiting you in God. That is what allowed those early Christians to stand against the cruel persecutions of the Roman Emperors and mobs, even praying for their enemies, rather than retaliating with violence. That is what allowed them to remain in plague-ridden cities to serve the sick and suffering, even though this sometimes meant that they didn’t survive.[1] … The belief that their actions would have eternal effects challenged them to act to bring justice to the world that God loved. Their belief that they would live forever meant that their personal decisions shaped their soul, so they were challenged to be personally transformed more and more to reflect the image of Christ into the world.
In Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and in the promise of life that never ends, they found the strength to love their enemies. This belief is what motivated the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to preach these words-
In Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and in the promise of life that never ends, they found the strength to love their enemies. This belief is what motivated the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to preach these words-
“To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘we shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. … We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws, because non co-operation with evil is … a moral obligation. … Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.” (Strength to Love, p 40).
These amazingly beautiful words would have been impossible without the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. …
We are called to see our lives centered on the resurrection of Jesus, as well. … We look back through our lives and we see those moments we aren’t proud of- things we said and didn’t say, things we did and didn’t do- our lack our courage, our lack of generosity, our pride, our unwillingness to be uncomfortable to do good- and we see it all through the cross. We send it all to the cross, to Jesus, who is able and willing to disarm the power of those sins from having to weigh us down with guilt and shame. …. And we look to his resurrection to re-center our lives. He offers transformation to us. He offers us life that never ends, and challenges us to live now assured of that future. He challenges us to not be satisfied with living with an eye just to retirement, but to live looking towards life that never ends. …
I heard an interesting illustration from pastor Timothy Keller on this topic- Imagine two women who work exactly the same job. They are both labourers. They do the same tasks. But one woman is promised $15,000 for her 15 years of work. The other is promised $15 million for her 15 years of work. Those two women will approach their jobs very differently. Their understanding of their present circumstances will be altered by their understanding of their future. The one who is promised $15million at the end of her 15 years of work will see her present circumstances in light of that future promise. … That is similar to our situation. We are encouraged to approach our lives now, on the basis of a future promise. We will still deal with the same circumstances other human beings deal with, but they don’t have to define us. Our promised future can define how we approach our present circumstances. … “…Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died”, and that has the power to change everything for us, if we can truly grasp what that means for us. AMEN
We are called to see our lives centered on the resurrection of Jesus, as well. … We look back through our lives and we see those moments we aren’t proud of- things we said and didn’t say, things we did and didn’t do- our lack our courage, our lack of generosity, our pride, our unwillingness to be uncomfortable to do good- and we see it all through the cross. We send it all to the cross, to Jesus, who is able and willing to disarm the power of those sins from having to weigh us down with guilt and shame. …. And we look to his resurrection to re-center our lives. He offers transformation to us. He offers us life that never ends, and challenges us to live now assured of that future. He challenges us to not be satisfied with living with an eye just to retirement, but to live looking towards life that never ends. …
I heard an interesting illustration from pastor Timothy Keller on this topic- Imagine two women who work exactly the same job. They are both labourers. They do the same tasks. But one woman is promised $15,000 for her 15 years of work. The other is promised $15 million for her 15 years of work. Those two women will approach their jobs very differently. Their understanding of their present circumstances will be altered by their understanding of their future. The one who is promised $15million at the end of her 15 years of work will see her present circumstances in light of that future promise. … That is similar to our situation. We are encouraged to approach our lives now, on the basis of a future promise. We will still deal with the same circumstances other human beings deal with, but they don’t have to define us. Our promised future can define how we approach our present circumstances. … “…Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died”, and that has the power to change everything for us, if we can truly grasp what that means for us. AMEN
[1]
See Rodney Stark’s “The Rise of Christianity”
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