by Mr. Francis D'Souza
The feast of Easter is the greatest feast of the Church. All that happened to Jesus, from his birth to his death and even his resurrection took place as recorded in the scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, NIV
His suffering and death was foretold by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before it happened and this is recorded in the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah.
His resurrection was not a later addition but was foretold in the book of Psalms 16:10…. because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. NIV
Also refer Act 2:27,31 and Act 13:34,35,37
At the feast of Easter we celebrate THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS (which is otherwise remembered for the Easter eggs, bunnies, lilies, ball by certain people). This event is the cornerstone of our faith. Take it away and Christianity crumbles in the dust. For this reason from the time it happened itself the resurrection of Jesus has been under attack.
Matthew 28:12-15
12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. NIV
No matter what they do they have not succeeded in disproving (show to be false, negate, refute, invalidate, contradict) the resurrection of Jesus.
But the sad thing is that what could not be disproved by the forces/powers/authorities that be, we, who claim to be followers of Jesus ourselves do by the kind of lives we live. We, by living in the old ways of sin are in effect saying that there is no resurrection of the dead and if that is the case Paul says Christ has not risen from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:12)
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?
There is power in the resurrection and it is Paul’s passion, desire, wish, obsession, zeal, longing to experience this power.
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection… Phil 3:10
If Paul – the onetime Saul, persecutor is saying this certainly there is something unique about it.
‘The resurrection of Jesus is one of the best-attested facts of history’- Konrad Adenauer, former chancellor of West Germany. Although it is a historical fact we are going to look at the ‘power-filled’ aspect of it.
THE EFFECT OF THE RESURRECTION
Turnaround power: The two disciples of Jesus were disappointed, shattered, depressed, embarrassed, full of fear, guilty. They were returning to their hometown and to their old ways of living they had left behind. Jesus meets them in their need on the way. He opens their eyes to the scriptures. The disciples in turn offer hospitality and in the fellowship meal that followed they recognized him. Their excitement was so much that they forgot their own advice and rushed back to Jerusalem at that same hour to proclaim that Jesus is alive. Because of the encounter they had with Jesus they were healed of every thing.
Other effects of the resurrection:
• People were so convinced that they have laid down their lives to defend it.
• They even suffered untold torture and persecutions to uphold it.
• Many lives were changed because of it.
• The day of worship too was changed because of it.
IF JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS AND IF WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD TO SIN WHY ARE WE ROLLING IN THE SAME SINS AND WEAKNESSES?
A monk who had a terrible temper after doing a good retreat buried a picture of himself saying here lies the ‘old man’ so and so. He even went on to pray for the eternal repose of the ‘old man’. Things went well for many days until one day things started going wrong one after the other and at this he could not control himself and lost his temper. That evening when he went to the grave he found these words “He is not here he has risen”
Even in our lives we seem to be reporting the same weaknesses again and again. How can this be when we are supposed to be dead to sin? Lets look for some victory steps. But first that strict warning from the book of Hebrews:
Heb 10:26-27 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. NIV
We are to be dead to sin says St. Paul in his letter to the Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
SECRETS
1. The story is told of a man who was addicted to a vice and his life was miserable. He would go to church and pray for days on end thus “Lord please take away the cobweb from my life”. The pastor who was listening to the prayer got a little fed up and so one day he knelt beside him and prayed “Lord, kill the spider.” Weeding out must be followed by feeding if we are going to have a victorious life. Paul says something to this effect in Colossians 3:5 ‘put to death what is earthly in you……’ The positive actions are to confess the sins, determine not to repeat the failures, announce the decision so that you can be accountable, feed the mind with God’s word, stay away from places and people who tempt us to sin – that is what Jesus meant when he said if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. Read other areas from Col 3 (sexual sins, gossip, slander, lying, anger, malice, unforgiveness). He also talks about the positives to be fed in.
2. In the gospel of John 5:6) Jesus asks the invalid lying there for 38 years, do you want to be healed. This reminds me of a lady who was constantly asking for prayers to be rid of her smoking habit. One day when she approached the visiting evangelist with the same request he asked her do you want to quit smoking. She could not answer in the affirmative for a while and so he prayed that God would give her the desire to quit smoking. If I am a victim of the same weakness I must ask myself the same question and then ask God to give me the desire the quit whatever I am doing in my life. God will surely answer our prayer and while he does his part let us do our part.
3. In Col 3:1-3 Paul tells us to set our sight on the heights by focusing on Jesus who is seated on the right hand side of God.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God NIV
Paul is saying in effect that we will become like the person we concentrate on. If we look at Christ we will become like Christ free from all the wrong things of the flesh and along with that we will be putting the nature and mind of Christ.
We too can experience the power of the resurrection of Jesus:
1. By encountering him daily in our prayer time.
2. By listening to his word
3. By showing kindness to others
4. By proclaiming the resurrection in word and deed
Remember:
Easter lived is Easter believed
We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song