The Hope of the Resurrection

This is holy week.  This is the time when followers of Jesus remember and celebrate the events leading up to His death and resurrection.  This coming Sunday, churches around the world will gather to worship the risen Savior, knowing that He is our hope.

This is also a week that holds difficult memories for me.  Sixteen years ago this Friday I held my mom’s hand as she took her last breath on this earth.  She was only 67. 

So, why would I bring this up at this time?  Quite frankly, the two events speak clearly and deeply to our life situation today. 

Christians believe and teach that Jesus is alive. He truly died on the cross on that Friday long ago, but on Sunday morning He walked out of the grave, very much alive. This was not some “spiritual resurrection.”  Jesus was literally and physically raised from the dead. All of the Christian faith hangs on that fact.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” And then He declared, “If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”  In other words, if the resurrection is not real, then nothing about Christianity is true. 

I believe in the resurrection.  I am convinced that it is true. I believe this so much, that sixteen years ago this Sunday I stood before the congregation gathered at my mom’s funeral and declared, “She is more alive today than she has ever been before.” I still believe that is true.

Because Jesus is alive, we can live forever. That is the good news of the gospel. That is the good news of the resurrection. Jesus is alive!  As Paul wrote later in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, “Thanks be to God!”  We have hope for now and for all eternity because Jesus is alive.