He is Risen Indeed!

It has become customary at our church on Resurrection Sunday (Easter) for someone to say, “He is risen.” To that, everyone responds, “He is risen indeed!" For believers, every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. Ever since Jesus rose from the dead, Christians have been meeting to worship on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:2) to celebrate our new life in him (John 14:19). We gather on Sundays to worship our risen Lord. As we prepare for Resurrection Sunday, we should remember that believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is part of the gospel. “For delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). 

Notice that Jesus' death for our sins, burial, and resurrection are of equal importance. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The apostles preached tirelessly of the resurrection. Some examples are Acts 2:2 & 22-24, 4:1-2, 13:26-33, 17:30-31 and 23:6. On several occasions, Jesus claimed that he would die and in three days rise from the dead (Matthew 20:17-18, 17:22-23, 16:21 and Mark 10:32-34, 9:31). There was no mistake about what he said. Mark 8:31-32 says, “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly.” There was no mystery to what he said. He was very clear: he claimed that he would die and rise from the dead! Even his enemies knew that he claimed he would rise from the dead (Mathew 27:62-64). If Jesus knew he could not do this but was intentionally deceptive, that makes him a liar. If Jesus believed he could rise from the dead but could not, then he was delusional and a lunatic. But if Jesus did what he said he would do and rose from the dead, then that makes him Lord! Jesus did not merely say with empty words that he would rise, but he actually did rise from the dead! 

The power of the resurrection is further displayed in the lives of his cowardly apostles who initially fled at his arrest but later became bold preachers of the resurrection. Most of them suffered a martyr's death because of their faithfulness to the gospel. With them we can proclaim that Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Hallelujah! The confidence we have that God has accepted Christ's atoning sacrifice on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins is that He is risen! So when you hear “He is risen," please join in a rousing response and proclaim, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”