Text: Matthew 28
Ciara Lilly is a Charlotte-area writer.  Her faith-based column, Fishers of Men, is published here each Monday. Opinions expressed are solely her own. |
As a child, I remember Easter being a holiday synonymous with candy, new clothes and fun egg hunts. I, like many, did not understand the full meaning of Easter. As I grew older, I moved from celebrating how many eggs I found to celebrating the true meaning of the holiday — Jesus’ resurrection! But what exactly did the Resurrection accomplish?
If you read Matthew’s account of the resurrection of Christ, it describes how Mary of Magdalena and the other Mary went to visit Jesus’ tomb after the Sabbath, only to find an angel of the Lord who revealed that Jesus had risen from His tomb. Now, imagine their faces. In our modern-day interpretation of this scripture, we can envision Mary saying, “Where’s Ashton? Am I being Punk’d?” Only there was no prank associated with this. It was a part of God’s divine plan.
So as we partake in our Easter festivities, take a minute to meditate on just what Jesus’ resurrection signified. Here’s a list to help us out:
1. The Resurrection proved that Jesus was the Son of God — While the Pharisees spent all of their time disproving Jesus’ ministry, Jesus continued His mission. When He died on the cross and rose again, every naysayer was proven wrong. They had, in fact, killed the Son of God. Well, for three days.
Romans 1:4 (AMP) states, “And [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of Holiness was openly designated the Son of God in power [in striking, triumphant and miraculous manner] by His resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ Our Lord (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”
2. The Resurrection provided eternal forgiveness for our sins — When Jesus rose on the third day, every yoke of sin around our necks was broken. And in exchange for our sins, He gave us the gift of eternal life through salvation! What an amazing exchange!
1 Corinthians 15:17 (AMP) states, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin]
3. The Resurrection defeated Satan’s army- Satan had to think that he had won as Jesus lie dead on the cross. He was able to tempt Eve. He was able to deceive God’s people. And now he had Jesus’ lifeless body as a reward. Right? Wrong! When Jesus Christ arose, He rose with all power over the enemy. Think of it this way, Jesus woke up singing, “You can’t touch this!”, because His Resurrection shattered the power of sin and death forever! It demolished the enemy’s authority over God or His children!
Matthew 28:18 (AMP) states, “Jesus approached and breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
4. The Resurrection freed us from death’s grip — God created His children to have eternal life; death was not a part of His plan. After the fall of man, death entered the world by way of Satan. But, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He disarmed death’s ability to affect us. Now, as evidenced in Ephesians 2:6, we can look forward to life and more life.
Ephesians 2:6 (AMP) states, “And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”
Now, let’s celebrate this Easter understanding and appropriating all that Jesus died and rose again to give us!
