EASTER SUNDAY

Jesus as Savior: "The Risen Lord"

Posted by: CDFWarrington on Sunday, April 20, 2025 at 12:37AM

"He is Risen!"

Sacred Snapshot:

The empty tomb stands as history's great reversal—the moment when death's apparent victory was revealed as ultimate defeat. On Easter morning, we celebrate not merely a spiritual metaphor but a world-altering historical reality: Jesus Christ bodily rose from the dead. This resurrection changes everything, validating Christ's claims, vindicating His sacrifice, and inaugurating a new creation reality where death no longer has the final word. The women who discovered the empty tomb experienced not just relief but revolution—a completely new understanding of what God was doing in the world. Today, we stand with them in joyful wonder before the reality that changes everything: He is risen indeed!

What's Inside:

The historical reality of the resurrection and its eyewitnesses
How resurrection transforms our understanding of death, suffering, and hope
Living as resurrection people in a world still marked by death
Embracing the mission of sharing resurrection hope with others

Scripture Reading

John 20:1-18 (NASB95): ¹ Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. ² So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." ³ So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; ⁵ and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. ⁶ And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ So the disciples went away again to their own homes. ¹¹ But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her.

1 Corinthians 15:17-22 (NASB95): ¹⁷ and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. ²¹ For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Historical Context: The First Witnesses

In the ancient world, women's testimony was not considered reliable in legal proceedings. Yet all four Gospels record women as the first witnesses to the resurrection. This unexpected detail underscores the historical reliability of the accounts—if early Christians were fabricating the story, they would have named male disciples as the discoverers of the empty tomb to make their claims more credible by first-century standards.

Mary Magdalene and the other women came to the tomb expecting to perform burial rituals on a dead body. Instead, they encountered a reality that would transform them into the first evangelists of the resurrection. Their journey from grief to disbelief to world-changing joy mirrors the journey we're all invited to take.

The Gospel accounts include careful details that ring true to eyewitness testimony—the folded grave clothes, the conversations, the initial confusion. These are the marks of remembered experience, not crafted legend. The risen Jesus appeared not just once or to one person, but multiple times to various individuals and groups over forty days, including to over 500 people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). Many of these witnesses would later give their lives rather than deny what they had seen.

The resurrection took place in real history, in a specific garden outside Jerusalem, leaving an empty tomb that could have been easily visited and verified by skeptics. This historical grounding distinguishes Christianity from spiritual philosophies—our faith stands or falls on the bodily resurrection as actual event.

Theological Reflection: Death Defeated Forever

The resurrection of Jesus is not merely the restoration of a dead man to physical life (like Lazarus, who would die again). Rather, it is the inauguration of a new kind of human existence—life that has passed through death and emerged transformed, no longer subject to death's power. In Jesus's resurrection body, we see the prototype of what awaits all who are united with Him.

The resurrection confirms several world-changing truths:

1. Jesus's claims are validated. His declaration to be the Son of God with authority to forgive sins is vindicated by God raising Him from the dead. As Paul says, Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).

2. Sin and death are defeated. The resurrection demonstrates that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient and accepted. The debt has been paid, the enemy vanquished. Death, the great human inevitability, has been transformed from a wall into a doorway.

3. New creation has begun. Jesus's resurrection is not just about individual salvation but the beginning of cosmic renewal. He is the "firstfruits" (1 Corinthians 15:20)—the initial harvest that guarantees more is coming. The resurrection is the beachhead of new creation breaking into the present world.

4. Our future is secured. Because Christ has been raised, we know with certainty that those united with Him will share in His resurrection life. The resurrection transforms hope from wishful thinking into confident expectation based on historical reality.

The empty tomb announces that death—our great enemy—has been defeated. But it does more than that. It declares that the new world God has promised has already begun. Easter isn't simply about souls going to heaven when we die; it's about God's new creation power breaking into the present world. It is the first day of the new creation, the dawn of a restored world where heaven and earth will eventually be fully reunited.

What happened to Jesus's body on Easter morning is God's promise of what will happen to all creation. Just as Christ's physical body was raised, so too the physical world itself will be transformed and renewed, not abandoned. This is why Christians have always been concerned not just with souls but with bodies, not just with spiritual realities but with material needs, not just with heaven but with earth's renewal.

Personal Connection: Living as Resurrection People

The resurrection isn't just a past event or future hope—it's a present power that transforms how we live now:

1. Fear to Boldness: The disciples moved from hiding behind locked doors to proclaiming Christ publicly. Resurrection faith gives courage to face life's challenges, knowing the worst thing is never the last thing.

2. Despair to Hope: The women came to the tomb in grief but left with joy. Resurrection hope doesn't deny life's sorrows but places them in a larger context where joy has the final word.

3. Self-Focus to Mission: The disciples moved from concern for their own safety to passion for others' salvation. Resurrection purpose calls us beyond self-protection to self-giving love.

4. Death-Defined to Life-Defined: In a world organized around death-avoidance, resurrection people organize around life-affirmation. We're freed from the tyranny of self-preservation to live generously and sacrificially.

What difference does resurrection make in daily life? It means:

Every act of love endures beyond the moment
No service for Christ's kingdom is wasted
Forgiveness is always possible
Broken relationships can be restored
Justice will ultimately prevail
Death has lost its finality and sting

Resurrection transforms not just our eternal destination but our daily orientation. We live as citizens of a reality where death has been defeated and new creation has begun. We become signposts of that reality in a world that desperately needs hope.

Prayer of Resurrection Joy

Living Lord Jesus,

Today we stand with Mary at the empty tomb, hearing you call our names. We stand with Thomas, touching your wounds and declaring, "My Lord and my God!" We stand with the disciples on the shore, sharing breakfast with our risen Savior. We join our voices with Christians across time and space to proclaim with joy: "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!"

Thank you for the historical reality of your resurrection that transforms our present and future. Thank you that death has been defeated. Thank you that your new creation has already begun and will one day be completed.

Shape us into true resurrection people. Give us courage that overcomes fear, hope that defeats despair, purpose that replaces aimlessness, and love that conquers death. In a world still marked by Good Friday realities, help us live as Easter Sunday witnesses.

Use us to share resurrection hope with others—through our words, our actions, our forgiveness, our justice-seeking, our community-building, and our creation-caring. May we live as compelling evidence that you are indeed alive and at work in our world.

We pray this in the name of our crucified, risen, and returning Lord, who makes all things new.
Amen.

Reflection Questions

What aspect of the resurrection story most captures your imagination or touches your heart? Why?
Where in your life do you need resurrection power today—an area where death, disappointment, or defeat seems to have the upper hand?
How might you live differently today if you truly embraced the reality that death has been defeated and new creation has begun?
Who in your life needs to hear the good news of resurrection hope? How might you share it with them in word or action?
The first witnesses to the resurrection were transformed from fearful followers to bold proclaimers. What fears might the resurrection help you overcome?

🎵 Harmony of Faith:

Traditional: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" (Charles Wesley)
Contemporary: "Living Hope" (Phil Wickham)

These songs joyfully proclaim both the historical reality of Christ's resurrection and its transformative power in our lives today.

Because Christ is risen, death has lost its sting.

Because Christ is risen, new creation has begun.

Because Christ is risen, we can face tomorrow with hope.

Going Deeper

For Further Reading:

Note: These are referral links. Any purchases made through these links help support our site and ministry.

For Group Discussion:

Consider how resurrection hope might transform your approach to current challenges facing our world. What would it mean to bring "Easter solutions" to "Good Friday problems"?

For Personal Reflection:

Write a personal "resurrection manifesto"—specific ways you want to live differently because Christ is risen. Review it regularly as a reminder of your resurrection identity.

Easter 2025

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