He is Risen!

28 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. ² And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. ³ And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷ Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

⁸ And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹ Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³ and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 He is not here, for He has risen. The word of God is so amazing and powerful in revealing life changing truth to us. I find myself frequently saying this verse or this text is foundational to our Christian faith. Perhaps it is because of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which says: ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.   Surely though, our knowledge of and belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave is vital to our faith. Many people in the world and even in some  churches believe the Bible is merely a collection of stories and teachings. I wonder if you asked people you encounter today if they truly believed Jesus was dead and burried and rose from  death to present Himself fully alive again to His disciples, would they believe the resurrection or would they believe there was possibly some other explanation? I hope as a reader of this type of devotion you can say I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He suffered and died on the cross for my sins and was laid in a tomb. He rose again, having conquered both sin and death.

The resurrection is vital to our faith because it is what separates Jesus from every other religeous leader the world has known. Jesus alone was both man and God. Jesus alone still lives today. The resurrection also is the validation of everything Jesus said about Himself, His reason for coming and the kingdom He declared had arrived. Jesus said that He came to bring a new covenant. Under the old covenant man was bound by the law to attempt to make our relationship with God right. In the new covenant, Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and so through Him our relationship to God is restored. A covenant is like a contract. It is a binding legal agreement. If I were to agree to give or sell you my property we could sign a contract but it would not be valid until it was witnessed and registered in the courthouse. The legal authority would validate the contract and put their official seal on it. Then the agreement and promises made within the contract would become binding. The resurrection is the Father's seal on the covenant Jesus came to initiate. The resurrection validates and makes binding everything Jesus said and promised.

If we do not believe in the resurrection how can we believe in anything else Jesus said? If we do believe in the resurrection then all that Jesus said is ours. All that He came to do for us and give us is validated in the resurrection. It is legal and binding. Look at what it says in verses 16-17, ¹⁶ But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.    They saw Jesus, they worshiped Him, yet some were doubtful.    My dear friends I urge you today if you stand  in the presence of Jesus, if you worship Him, yet their is some level of doubt in your heart that the resurrection and all the promises that it validates are true and for you, don't leave His presence without the assurance that He has done all that He said He would. 

Luke 11:9-13 says:  I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹ Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹² Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”  

Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit in John 15: 26"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 

If you have any doubt, the Holy Spirit will testify about Jesus. He will confirm to you that He indeed is risen and that through the resurrection you have all the promises of the new covenant in Christ. When you believe and have received that confirmation and that revelation then you must respond to Jesus commission. 

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

He is risen! Go therefore!