This week, we take time to reflect on the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, for this is the very foundation of our faith. Saints, Christianity is not only centred on the death of Jesus, but on His resurrection. His death paid the price for sin, but His resurrection brought newness of life – the life we now partake in as believers. Apostle Paul emphasizes this in 1 Corinthians 15, explaining that if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless and our faith is futile (vs.12-16). In other words, without the resurrection, there is no gospel. That is why Romans 10:9 declares that salvation comes when we “confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe it in our heart that God raised him from the dead.” This belief is not optional – it is central to what it means to be born again. When Christ rose, He ushered in a new life, and through faith, we are identified with that resurrection life and all the realities it carries.
As we reflect on the resurrection, it is important to understand that Jesus’ death was not forced upon Him – it was voluntary. In John 10:18, Jesus says, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” Jesus was not a victim; He was a willing sacrifice. When people tried to seize Him before His time, they could not, because His life was fully under His authority. Even on the cross, He remained in complete control. Luke 23:46 tells us that He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit,” and then breathed His last. Matthew’s rendition of events records that at the moment of Jesus’ death, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51a). This veil had separated humanity from the presence of God, but through Jesus’ sacrifice, access was opened. No longer bound by the law, we can now come boldly into God’s presence (Hebrews 4:16). Creation itself responded – “The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life” (Matthew 27:51b-52) – because this was no ordinary death; it was a divine moment that shifted everything.
But the story does not end at the Cross. Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and influential man and a disciple of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for His body (Matthew 27:57–58 & Luke 23:50–52). He wrapped Jesus’ body in clean linen, laid Him in a new tomb, then rolled a large stone at the entrance to the tomb (Matthew 27:59 & Luke 23:53). But the following day, remembering Jesus’ words about rising on the third day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate and said, “Command that the tomb be made secure right 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 that so the last deception will be worse than the first” (Matthew 27:63-64). Pilate granted them a guard, and they sealed the stone in place and set a watch (vs.65-66). Yet, on the third day, the greatest miracle in history took place. When the women came to the tomb, they found the stone rolled away, and the angel of the Lord said to them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said” (Matthew 28:5-6). The very tomb that had been sealed and guarded became the evidence of resurrection; those assigned to silence the truth became witnesses to it, reminding us that no plan of man can stop the purposes of God. Even so, there were still attempts to distort the truth. The guards reported what had happened, but the chief priests bribed them to spread a false story that Jesus’ body had been stolen (Matthew 28:11-15), because from the very beginning, there has been resistance to the truth of the resurrection. Yet, no amount of opposition can undo what God has done. Hallelujah!
Saints, the resurrection is not just an event we celebrate – it is a reality we live in. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us (Romans 8:11). Therefore, let us walk as those who have been raised with Christ, living in the fullness of the new life He has given us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the resurrection of Christ Jesus, the foundation of our faith and source of our new life. Help us to walk boldly in this truth, and may our lives be a testimony of Your victory over sin and death. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
