4/4 Crumbs from the Master's Table

Resurrection Day/EASTER

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. (1 Cor. 15:13-15)

Yes, there is a resurrection, both of Christ, and of us too. As He is, so are we in spirit, and as He does, so do we. The resurrection of Christ is the completion of the Gospel. Without the resurrection, Christ is dead, and just another great leader in history as far as the world is concerned; but the resurrection proves Him to be the very Son of God that He claimed to be, and more. The Gospel would have died were it not for the resurrection; the importance of this doctrine cannot be fathomed by man.

We make much more out of Christmas than we do Easter, and it ought to be the other way around. Both days deserve our attention and our honor, but the resurrection ought to supercede the birth, because Jesus was born for that very purpose, to die, and rise again. Yes, He was born to die, but more specifically, He was born to live again, for us. Because He lives, we also shall live; in His victory, we also have victory. Thank God for His victory over the grave and death; thank Him that through that victory, we have hope of the same, and we too shall rise up from the grave, but let us remember that Easter is the climax of the Gospel, it is the finish of it. Without Easter, the Gospel would be incomplete, and we would all perish in our graves; Calvary would have no real meaning because it was not yet finished. Oh, Jesus said “it is finished” from the cross, and that part of it was, but the blood had not yet been offered before the Mercy Seat, and the throne of the Father. It had not yet been accepted as “paid in full”. Though His earthly ministry was finished, and the immediate mission was accomplished, there was yet a resurrection to come, a new life for all of us, already obtained for us in the fleshly sense, but unfulfilled at Calvary in the Spirit; unfulfilled, indeed, until Jesus rose from the dead and sealed the matter with God the Father.

Without Easter, the preaching of the cross is vain. Paul makes it clear that Easter is very important. There are some who would destroy the meaning of Easter, and seek to ruin the joy of it by questioning its beginning and tradition, but let us all who know the truth, and the Lord rejoice in the “Easter” of Christ. Incidentally, it is thought that this was the same time as the Passover of Israel, and that too would be a great time of celebration, and a reason to rejoice in a holiday time. Where would we be today without Easter?