Easter Sunday – Born Again – 1 Peter 1:3-5
1 Peter 1:3-5 (esv)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
He is risen!
The victory was won with Jesus death. When Jesus died on the cross, He had already taken on our sins, received the Fathers punishment for them, and delivered to us His righteousness – that we might be right before God.
And yet, there was one more thing that was to be done. Jesus was to become the firstborn of those of us who will be raised from the dead in the last days. But by rising from the dead when He did, the whole Christian church was set in motion.
First, Jesus had promised on multiple occasions that He would rise from the dead.
Second, it had been prophesied multiple times that the Messiah would rise from the dead.
Third, everyone was watching. The Jewish world at the time had heard Jesus preach and teach. They had seen his miracles. Because he was crucified during the important Passover feast, Jerusalem would have been full of people not just from the local surrounds, but Jewish people from around the ancient world, come for the annual feast that first defined them as a nation.
Not only was Jerusalem full of tourists and worshipers, but the religious leaders of the day also knew that Jesus had said He would rise from the dead. Concerned about this, they took action.
Matthew 27:62-66 (esv)
The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
Even despite the teaching of Jesus that He would rise from the dead, the leaders were not in the least concerned about it – because they knew He was dead! People don’t rise from the dead! But just in case his disciples decided to steal the body, they made sure that at least couldn’t happen.
And yet, in the end, He did rise from the dead. Just as both Jesus and the Prophets had spoken.
He is risen!
The deception didn’t take place. Instead, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared, physically (including eating and drinking to prove he was real, as even the disciples were still struggling with the resurrection) in front of many people, including the 11 disciples, the women, and at least 500 other followers in the coming days (1 Corinthians 15:6)
Lets just be skeptical for a moment. We know Jesus had died. Apart from a few writings at the end of the Gospels, how do we know he did in fact rise from the dead? For me, they key is this – those who wrote that He rose from the dead went on to proclaim it until their deaths. And not easy deaths! We know that many were imprisoned, beaten, stoned to death, beheaded and crucified. They all went to their graves believing and proclaiming not only the death of Jesus – but also his bodily resurrection.
I know that if I was making up a story, I sure wouldn’t have gone through torture and death to perpetuate a lie! And it is not like 1 or 2 proclaimed it and suffered – they all did. The died with the knowledge that Jesus had risen.
We know Jesus died on the cross. We know He rose from the grave, and ascended to heaven.
He is Risen! Hallelujah!
1 Peter 1:3-5 (esv)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The victory was won when Jesus died on the cross, but He was risen for us, as a final proof of what He had done, not only for the disciples then, but also for us now. The resurrection and public appearances of Jesus after that day remain for us as a proof of not only what Jesus has done for us, but to give us hope for the future, where we will also be resurrected into eternity, to ‘an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you’.
Thank you Lord for what you did for us that Passover, almost 2000 years ago. Thank you that through your great mercy and love, you made us right with you again. Help us to grasp in some way the work that you did, that we might be truly thankful, that we might praise you as we should, and that we might follow you and honor you for the rest of our time here on this earth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.