The resurrection of Jesus is the key issue of the New Testament. It was a subject that the apostles constantly made mention of in their preaching (Acts 2:22-24; 3:14-15; 10:38-41; 13:26-31; 17:1-3, 30-31).
Why is the resurrection such an important issue?
It validates the claims of Jesus.
- Jesus made some extraordinary claims in His life. He claimed to be the Son of God and to be worthy of worship (Matthew 26:63-64; 14:34). He claimed to possess the power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:2). He claimed to be “the Bread of life,” and “the Light of the world,” and to have existed even before Abraham (John 6:35; 8:12, 58). He also claimed to be “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
- Why should we believe the claims of Jesus? Anyone can claim to be “the Son of God” (many have throughout history).
- Ultimately, we should believe the claims of Jesus because of His resurrection. The resurrection validates everything Jesus claimed and taught (Acts 2:22-24; Romans 1:4).
It validates the preaching of the apostles.
- The apostles preaching about Jesus would be worthless (1 Corinthians 15:12-15; Acts 4:12).
- Their teaching about morality and salvation would also be empty (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Peter 3:21).
- Why would the apostles lie about seeing a risen Jesus? They had nothing to gain (in an earthly sense) from lying about this event (Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 11:23-29).
- No reasonable person would suffer persecution and die for a message that they knew was a lie!
It validates our faith.
- Our faith is vain is Jesus was not raised (1 Corinthians 15:14, 16-19). If it did not occur, Jesus is proven to be a liar and deceiver. The apostles are also proven to be false witnesses.
- Since Jesus was raised, everything about our faith is validated. Everything we believe about the Bible is proven to be the truth. Everything we have done to become Christians is proven to be the divine will of God.
- The resurrection of Jesus is the main foundation stone for our faith.
Conclusion:
Praise God that His Son rose!
