Mark 16:9-20
Jesus Rose Early on the First Day
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
1 Corinthians 15:12-28
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
John 11:23-27
Jesus Says He is the Resurrection and the Life
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Resurrection Day is Easter...Easter is the hope in life after death...It is the hope of a heaven, when we will be with God and His Son...It is a day that shows us that death can be overcome...And it is like that Easter was bound for Jesus...His death was bound to happen...The day Jesus rose from His death is our first Easter Sunday...The gospel writers tell us that Jesus rose after His death, and that He was alive again...I might also say, He is still alive today...And that He lives today...When He rose, the Disciples and others saw Him...He was not a ghost...He is alive...Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene...Mary went and told those who had been with Him and they were still mourning and weeping over what had happened to Him...They were still grieving from their Master's death on the cross...Jesus had been treated as a criminal by the Jewish officials, Pilate, and the Roman soldiers who hung Him from a cross...Mary Magdalene went to His Disciples to tell them that His tomb was empty...Jesus' Disciples heard this empty tomb story from Mary Magdalene but did not believe her...They would have to see Him themselves, before they would believe in His resurrection...Jesus appears a short time later to the Eleven disciples as they were eating...Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith...He also rebuked them for not believing Mary Magdalene and the others who said that He had risen, and that He was alive...After all He had told them several times that the Sign of Jonah would prove to those who did not believe in Him, and that He was the One to come...He is the Messiah...He told them earlier He would rise on the third day...And He did...He told Lazarus' sister Martha earlier that He is the Resurrection and the Life...And He proved just that on the First Easter...He proved that He would resurrect from death...So on Easter we come face to face with the Truth...The Truth about His resurrection...
After His resurrection, He was hard to recognize at first...In fact, St. Mark says afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them that were walking in the country..Even though He had a body and form, somehow He is different...And even though He was not a spirit, and is in the form and shape of a man, He is not in an appearance where He is recognized as Himself...Something about Him after His resurrection is different...His appearance is somehow and in someway a little bit different, and is hard to explain (what that difference is)...
Jesus comes back on and off to earth, it seems, and further teaches His Disciples...We do not know where He goes when He is away from His Disciples on earth (and the others He meets and sees on earth)...After His death, He gives the Eleven the Great Commission in Galilee...The Eleven are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation...Whoever believes what you say and is baptized will be saved...But whoever does not believe will be condemned...Jesus gave the Eleven the power to drive out demons, the power to speak in different languages, the power to pick up poisonous snakes and not be hurt...Jesus also gave the power to His Disciples to heal sick people with their hands...Each of these acts that St. Mark writes about are done and confirmed in the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke...
After Jesus gave His disciples this authority, He later was taken up into and ascended into heaven...There He sits at the right hand of God...Then the disciples and His other followers went out and preached everywhere and the LORD worked with them to help spread His Word, by giving them signs and miracles to confirm His Word, so new followers would believe...The Holy Spirit was with His apostles...
The resurrection is very important...So much of the Christian faith centers on the resurrection, and in believing in God and Jesus...St. Paul goes into detail for us about the importance of Jesus raising from the dead...If there is no resurrection of the dead, then we do not live, after we die...If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then neither can we...When we die, there is nothing else...If there is no resurrection the writings and preachings of St. Paul and the Eleven are useless and so is our faith...The New Testament writings are then also useless, because they include lies, and are not the truth...If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we still have our sins, and we have no salvation from our sins...Those who have died in Christ are also lost...And since those who write about Jesus, preach about Him, and those that teach about Him are lost and the most to be pitied, because some will spend much, if not all of their lives preaching about Jesus and His resurrection, when it never really happened...
But St. Paul, who has seen and talked to Jesus after His death, on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-6)...Jesus, after His death and His meeting with Saul on the road to Damascus, gave Paul a life time job to do, and that is to spread the Good News to the Gentiles...So Paul was an apostle and believer in the resurrection, as were five hundred others who saw Jesus, after His death (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)...
The physical resurrection is the center point of believing in Jesus...The resurrection is the most important fact in our history...If we believe in the four Gospels and believe these books are true, as well as all the books of the New Testament, then we have hope...And we believe and have hope in the resurrection of life after our death...For those who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, they have to change the Bible...If the New Testament Books are changed to omit the resurrection, then we have changed or altered the Bible, specifically the New Testament...If one would have the ability to gather and change ALL the New Testaments and alter every single Bible in the world printed and online, and in all other forms of Bible media books, then the Bible would not be the Bible and the Good Book would be changed...But who dare change the Bible...The New Testament does include the arrest, the crucifixion, death, and the the most important fact -THE RESURRECTION, OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST...The Bible cannot be changed, because that would be changing the Word of God...We get God's Word from the Bible...God's Word is Truth (John 17:17)...One would be changing this Truth...So for those who do not believe in the resurrection, they have to somehow change the Bible by ignoring the resurrection text, or whiting it out or by changing the Scripture and all the Bibles...For those who believe, the resurrection, it give us hope...Hope of an after life...A hope of living without sin, day in and day out...A better way...A way back to the Garden...Hope of living with Jesus forever...Hope of living with our Creator, our Maker, eternally...
Jesus' resurrection gives me hope, and that will not change...His resurrection stands out against all other religions and all other earthly events...The resurrection is one of the Truths, and maybe the single most important of our Truths...The nature of His resurrection is a mystery to the way man thinks, yet it is something all believers hang onto in the hope of both life and death -because the resurrection is both...The Resurrection shows that He is Full of Grace...And it is like Jesus was bound to resurrect and Rise Again...