True Holiday

The traditional greeting on Easter is, “He is Risen,” to which the proper response is, “He is risen indeed.” Most Christians (probably most of you reading this article) firmly believe this to be true and have not questioned it in a long time if ever. But what if someone were to ask you, “Is He risen?” How would you answer? Do we even need to answer? In our world of individual “truths” does it matter whether Jesus rose bodily from the dead? 

Well here is what the apostle Paul said about the importance of the resurrection, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). In other words, the bodily resurrection of Jesus is so important that if it didn't happen, we aren't saved from our sins. Death is not defeated, and we won't have eternal life. So yes, the truth of the bodily resurrection is pretty important.

How can we know it's true though? Well, we know it's true because it's the best explanation for the evidence that we have. Let's examine some of the evidence.

First, Jesus actually died on the cross.The Romans knew how to kill people and they were very efficient at it. In fact, the soldiers responsible for their crucifixion would have been under a death sentence themselves if they didn't make sure that their prisoners were actually dead. That's one of the reasons that they either broke the legs of people still alive to kill them from suffocation or, as in the case of Jesus, stab them in the side to make sure that the heart-lung sack was punctured. 

Second, there's the empty tomb. No historian worth their salt actually questions that the tomb was empty. Otherwise, the Jewish authorities or Roman authorities simply would have produced Jesus' body to squash the growing conspiracy. 

Third, many people claimed to have seen Jesus alive. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that over 500 people saw Jesus alive, and this was written within 25 years of the event, so he encouraged those who did not believe to go talk to some of those people who were still alive. This wasn't just the illusion of one or even a few people at one time. He was seen many times over a 40-day period by many different people. He even ate with some of them and encourage them to examine his scars.

Fourth, many of those people were persecuted and killed because they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. Lots of people might die for something they believe to be true. But in this case, the claim is that the disciples would have had to make up the story and would have known it was false. Who dies for a lie? Chuck Colson, a lawyer in Nixon's White House during Watergate, said he saw people giving up on the lie after three weeks of possible prosecution, so he couldn't believe the disciples would be telling a lie and endure a lifetime of persecution and then execution unless they really believed in Christ's resurrection.

A final evidence is that the church took off after the resurrection of Jesus, growing to thousands within a few weeks. The disciples recount how they were locked away and scared after the crucifixion. But once Christ rose, they became bold and right away were willing to put themselves at risk and to proclaim the good news about Jesus.

Put together, the best explanation for this evidence is that Jesus really did rise from the dead. If that's the case, and I believe it is, then his resurrection verifies the work of the crucifixion and his teachings about himself. He really is the Messiah. He really did die to take away the sins of those who call on him for forgiveness. He really will come back and restore all things. He is the reason for this season.

He has risen!!

What are the treasures in heaven?

Luke 18:29-30 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

So what is this reward in heaven? Is it stuff? I mean heaven is still a physical place and the stuff will be great. We are told about a feast and a place with many rooms, but I am convinced that is not the primary treasure we receive. I think the primary treasure will be the close and clear relationship with the giver of all good things, namely Jesus. 1 Corinthians 13 says, "now we see as through a mirror darkly, then we shall see face to face, now we know in part, then we shall know fully even as we are fully known." It is this clear intimate relationship with our Lord that is the main treasure that I look forward to. Nothing separating us from God, like Adam and Eve in the garden again. No shame, no guilt, and no distance.

This also leads to the treasure of similar relationships with other Christ followers. I met a guy in Panera the other day, and on his name tag it said his passion was, "The gospel of Jesus Christ." I commented on it and told him that was my passion to. We had no time to get to know one another, but I look forward to hearing his story of getting to know Jesus when we get to heaven.

The treasures in heaven are not primarily stuff, but rather Jesus and His followers and those relationships will keep getting better and better.