3 Reasons why the Resurrection of Jesus is so Important

Back in the 1990’s, a group of scholars assembled to evaluate whether, in their opinion, Jesus said the things attributed to him by the Gospel writers and whether the events described by them really happened. This group became known as the Jesus Seminar. Although they used very subjective criteria in their assessments, tragically they were widely quoted by the media as “authorities on the Christian faith.” I was disappointed and saddened to read that Marcus Borg, one of the Jesus Seminar leaders, said this of Christ’s resurrection: “As a child, I took it for granted that Easter meant that Jesus literally rose from the dead. I now see Easter very differently. For me, it is irrelevant whether or not the tomb was empty. Whether Easter involved something remarkable happening to the physical body of Jesus is irrelevant.” (Marcus J. Borg and N. T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), 129-31.)

Borg couldn’t be more wrong!!!!! What Borg calls irrelevant—the physical resurrection of Christ’s body—the apostle Paul considered absolutely essential to the Christian faith. This is what the apostle Paul said about the resurrection of Jesus.
 
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 – “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins … [and] we are of all people most to be pitied.”
 
Without the resurrection, and what it means, there is no Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus is extremely relevant not only to Christians but to all humanity because of its implications. 

Let me share 3 reasons why the resurrection of Jesus is so important to everyone.
 
1.  The Resurrection proves that we can trust everything Jesus said
Many times during his earthly ministry, Jesus predicted that he would be crucified, buried, and then come alive after three days. For example, in John 2:19–22 he said that he would be raised in three days, although the disciples did not understand it at the time.  Then, in John 10:17–18 he plainly said he had the power to lay down his own life and then to take it back up again. It also says in Matthew 16:21 – “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Clearly, Jesus predicted his own resurrection. So, if Jesus had not come out of the grave alive after three days as he said he would, then everything else that he said couldn’t be trusted either.  It’s a bit like when you know someone hasn’t been truthful about some thing, it’s hard to trust them about another thing. That’s the same kind of logic here, only in reverse. If the words of Jesus can be trusted when it comes to the resurrection (the greatest prediction!!), then the words of Jesus can be trusted in every other area of his teaching (about life, death, heaven, hell, etc.)

The second reason why the resurrection is so important is because:
2. The Resurrection proves that Christ’s death successfully paid the penalty for our sins
The Bible teaches that when Christ died on the cross he was paying the penalty for our sins by the sacrifice of his own body.
But, if Jesus never came back from the dead, how could we be certain that his sacrifice was successful?
Romans 4:25 – “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
This verse tells us that the resurrection is God’s confirmation that the work Christ accomplished at the cross is 100% successful. 
When Jesus was on the cross, before he died, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
In the original Greek text, those three words are a translation of one word: Tetelestai which means “Paid in full.”  Archeologists have found this word on financial receipts from the first century to show that a bill has been paid in full. It reminds us that through Christ’s death, the debt of our sins has been paid in full, and the resurrection is like God’s official receipt showing us that the bill has been paid successfully.
 
A third reason why Easter matters so much is that:
3. The Resurrection guarantees Christ’s promise of eternal life
The resurrection of Jesus means that God has overcome death and he promises eternal life to all who believe in him.
Jesus said in John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
Since Jesus has power over death, he will bring about our resurrection. He promises that all who believe in him will receive eternal life. That brings us hope.  We don’t need to fear death because Jesus has conquered it! That’s ultimately why Easter is so important.