But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He has risen, as He said. Come see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead..."

Matthew 28:5-7, RSV

There it is! In a few short sentences we have the basis for the hope that all Christians have. We later read in Romans chapter six that all who have entered those soul-cleansing waters of baptism and have risen up from that watery grave will surely take part with Jesus in the resurrection that is promised to those who are faithful. The resurrection of Christ is perhaps the most important part of the Gospel and yet most people will rarely even think about it. But we do need to remember, for the resurrection of the dead is the key to our faith.

So let us take a moment or two to do just that:

We are told that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the Gospel of John it is further revealed that Christ took part in that creation. This explains Who was with God in Genesis 1:26 when God said. "let Us make man in Our image". Later, when the time had fully come, God sent His Son again, this time in the physical form of a man, born of a virgin. Jesus then grew up as the perfect son, obedient to His earthly parents and always aware of His duty to be about the business of His Heavenly Father. 

When He revealed Himself it was through the power of miracles. The nature of these miracles revealed His great love for all men, for they were used to help, to heal, to feed, and to give testimony that He was indeed the very Son of God that the world had been waiting for. But wicked leaders soon revealed their true nature, for instead of rejoicing at His coming, they hated Him and immediately plotted His death. It seems that Satan spared no effort in this for wicked men from the Jews and the Gentiles all played their role.

And they took this gentle man, this Holy Son of God, and they lied about Him and had Him arrested. He was brought before the "religious" leaders of the Jews who spat upon Him and slapped Him in the face and beat Him. Then they turned our precious Savior over to the proper governing authorities who also spat upon Him and then beat him twice: Once by the formal scourging process, and then again just for meanness by the soldiers entrusted with His care. 

Then the people, the very people whom He had fed and healed, called for Him to be crucified. Then they came to the crucifixion and witnessed Him being stripped and nailed to that rough cross. Then many took that opportunity to show their final disdain for the Lord by parading past the cross in order to mock and curse Him. After three full hours of this wicked abuse, God caused a darkness to come over the land for three more hours to put an end to this terrible spectacle. At the end of those those three hours Jesus said, "it is finished" and gave up His spirit.

I wonder if at that time Satan had any inkling of what was to come. At the height of the evil one's victory, the death knell was sounding for all who would oppose God and Christ. For once Jesus's body was laid in the tomb, He began the process of taking away Satan's power of death over righteous men for all time. This was proved within three days when Jesus rose from the dead! You see, it was not just the shedding of our Lord's precious blood as a sacrifice that would remove the sins of all His disciples that was accomplished that day. It was also the beginning of the process that would culminate in His resurrection from the dead three days later.

Christ had indeed been raised from the dead by the power of God! And it is because He arose that we, too, have the opportunity to take part in the great resurrection someday. But I think we should all take caution in this fact: This resurrection was never intended for those who would merely observe this day with a brief memorial service followed by feasting and "easter" egg hunts. This resurrection is only for those who are willing to take up their crosses daily, and follow Him.

Are we willing to do that? It is a tall order indeed, but for those who are willing to take up their own crosses and live a life of sacrifice for Him, there will be a day when the dead in Christ arise and His disciples will live with Him forever. This is what we are here for. This is the true meaning of the season that we have before us now. He arose! And someday, the faithful in Christ will rise with Him!

He is risen!