Thoughts on the Resurrection

Last night, the guest speaker at church really got me thinking. He pointed out how good it is that we cannot take pilgrimages to Jesus’ grave, because our God does not lie in a grave somewhere.

Now, of course, I have always believed in and appreciated the resurrection. But for some reason, it really struck me harder last night. Can you imagine what our world would be like if He still lay in the garden tomb, if He had not risen again? The preacher is right: we would all be taking pilgrimages to Israel to visit His grave, focusing on the grave rather than on the Person. Think of all the scientific research that would probably be done, desecrating His body. Think of the wars that would be fought in Israel because of the presence of this sacred site: as Islam moved in, they would fight over the control of the grave; and throughout history, the grave would have been a hotspot of aggression toward Christians and Jews.

Or would it? No, I suppose none of these problems would exist if He were still in the tomb. Why? Because if Jesus had not risen again, then nobody would believe, nobody would care. The Romans and the unbelieving Jews would have been victorious, believing that the body in the tomb really did belong to an imposter. For if He were still in the tomb, if He had not triumphed over death, then we would not know that He truly was our Savior; for only God can conquer the grave. If the resurrection had never happened, then we would have nothing to believe in.

I Corinthians 15:14-19 explains it like this:

14: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15: Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16: For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18: Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But verse 20 makes all the difference in our lives and in the history of the world:

20: But now is Christ risen from the dead.

Praise the Lord! He has conquered death, making it possible for all of us to join Him in Heaven if we accept Him. Thank You, Lord, that His body does not remain on the earth. He is not here: He is risen!