Date of Celebration : Western - March 23, 2008 // Eastern - April 27, 2008
Jesus Christ came
into this world to die as our substitute for our sins. The
sinless Son of God came to give his life as a ransom for many
(Matt. 20:28). On that first Good Friday, Jesus was crucified.
We know he died because one of the Roman soldiers pierced Jesus'
side with a spear to ensure his death. Some of his disciples
then buried his body in a new tomb (John 19:30-42). While Jesus
was alive, he had predicted that he would rise from the dead. He
challenged his enemies: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise
it again in three days." He was speaking about his body (John
2:19-22). Jesus also told his disciples many times that he would
be killed by the leaders in Jerusalem, but be raised to life on
the third day. The leaders who killed Jesus were aware of this
prediction that he would rise from the dead. Although they did
not believe it, they wanted to ensure that it would not happen,
so they set a guard around the tomb. In Matthew 27:62-66 we
read, "The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief
priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 'Sir,' they said, 'we
remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said,
"After three days I will rise again." So give the order for the
tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his
disciples may come and steal the body, and tell the people that
he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be
worse than the first.' 'Take a guard,' Pilate answered. 'Go,
make the tomb as secure as you know how.' So they went and made
the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the
guard."
Did the strategy of the chief priests and Pharisees succeed? No! Despite
their efforts, Jesus rose from the dead. Remember how Jesus had said to
Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life"? During his ministry on
earth, Jesus brought a number of people to life from the dead, including
Martha's brother Lazarus, who had been dead for four days (John 11). But
the resurrection of Jesus Christ was different. It was not just
resuscitation, as was the case with Lazarus, who later died again. On
the third day Jesus was raised from the dead with a transformed body
that was clothed with immortality and glory. His resurrection body could
appear and disappear, go through material objects, and ascend to and
descend from heaven. On Easter morning some women and apostles went to
Jesus' tomb, expecting to find his body. But the tomb was empty, and the
angel at the tomb told them, "He is not here; he has risen!"
Later they saw their risen Lord face to face. The gospels record these
events, but the earliest written report concerning the resurrection of
Jesus Christ was written by St. Paul within twenty-five years of
Christ's death in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8: "For what I received I passed on
to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then
to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the
brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some
have fallen asleep." Later St. Luke the historian wrote in his
introduction to the book of Acts, "After [Jesus'] suffering, he showed
himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.
He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the
kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).
Because of the miracle of Christ's resurrection, Jesus' depressed and
disappointed disciples were instantly transformed. They began to preach
the gospel with power, and the resurrection of Jesus was at the heart of
their preaching. Why? Without the resurrection, there is no
Christianity. These disciples of Jesus willingly suffered martyrdom for
their faith. The enemies of the gospel were totally unable to refute
this central claim of the gospel. They could not produce the body of
Jesus Christ and put a stop to Christianity. The Jewish believers,
meanwhile, were so impressed by this miracle that they began to worship
on the day of Christ's resurrection, Sunday, rather than on Saturday, as
their custom had been.
The feast of Christ’s resurrection popularly is called—Easter, a name
believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word "eastre," meaning the
spring. More recently, however, the experts point to the Old German word
for dawn "eostarun" (since Christ had risen at dawn) from which they
deduce the German name for the feast— Ostern, and its English
equivalent—Easter. The ancient term, The Pasch, which has become more
and more popular since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, is derived
from the Hebrew "pesach," meaning the pass-over.
