The Resurrection is a Really, Really Big Deal (Part 3)

The purpose of this series is not simply to declare that the bodily Resurrection of Jesus is vital to our faith, but to explain why it is so. Yesterday, I wrote that the Resurrection is a really, really big deal because it proves that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Today, here's another reason why Jesus's emergence from that grave is so important: it tells the world that God's Kingdom is ruled by a living leader.

Are you up for a brief history lesson? N.T. Wright reminds us that there were several other Jewish movements--some were messianic movements and others, prophetic movements--during the one or two centuries on either side of Jesus's ministry. Most of them ended with the violent death of the central figure. And members of the movement (assuming they lived through it) then faced a choice: either abandon the struggle or find a new Messiah. Now, to an outside observer, the Jesus story looks a lot like these accounts. Along with these other leaders, Jesus was killed. But there's one notable exception: Jesus didn't stay dead. And therefore, his disciples neither had to abandon the cause nor find a new Messiah. Theirs was still alive! This is why Christianity has far outlasted these other long-forgotten movements--its leader rose from the dead and appeared to hundreds of his disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6), verifying that He was alive and well. The fact that the Christian faith is still around is a testament to the Resurrection of Jesus.

Every other "spiritual leader" in history has died: Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, leaders of various cults, and the list could go on. Their bones lie dormant in their graves. But the One who kick-started the movement to bring God's Kingdom to earth is alive. Paul says, "Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God" (Romans 8:34). The gospel is this: Jesus died; Jesus conquered death; and Jesus is alive, this very moment, sitting at God's right hand.

Let us hear, and believe, the words that King Jesus spoke to the apostle John. (And keep in mind, this was during an appearance around 60 years after his death and resurrection.) "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:17-18). May the whole world know that the Resurrection gives assurance that the Leader of God's Kingdom is alive!

*N.T. Wright material comes from Surprised By Hope (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 48.