If a person dies, will he live again?” That was the question Job asked many years ago. It is a question that many have asked and pondered since then. It is as question that remains to this day.
For many, if not most, it is a difficult question, but for the Christian, the answer is easy because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occupies a central place in the New Testament and which, according to one source, is mentioned directly over one hundred times.
One reason for the many references is that the resurrection was central to the preaching and teaching of the Apostles. According to Peter, God made Jesus, who had been crucified, “both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36). According to Paul, God “has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) The leaders of the Jews were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming the resurrection of the dead in Jesus. (Acts 4:2) The essence of the preaching of the early church was the resurrection of Christ.
As we read the many references to the resurrection, it becomes obvious that the message of the early Christians, and the focal point of the New Testament, was the fact that Jesus was risen from the dead. (2 Timothy 2:8). The importance of the resurrection cannot be overemphasized. It is one of the pillars of the Christian faith. Without it, there is no Christianity.
Why was the resurrection of Jesus so important to the Apostles?
First, it witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, He has power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not a God worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the grave’s (1 Cor.15:54-55). In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death.
Second, the resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a founder who transcends death and who promises that His followers will do the same. All other religions were founded by men and prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we take comfort in the fact that our God became man, died for our sins, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives, and He sits today at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven.
The inspired Word of God guarantees the believer’s resurrection at the coming of Jesus Christ for His Body (the Church) at the Rapture. Such hope and assurance results in a great song of triumph as Paul writes in 1Corinthians 15:55, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Third, the resurrection of Jesus Christ important to salvation It demonstrated that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It proves that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that those who believe in Christ
will not remain dead, but will be resurrected unto eternal life. That is our
blessed hope!
The resurrection was the reason many Jews accepted Jesus as Messiah
Many Jews rejected Jesus because He died on the cross, given that the Old Testament says, “You must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” (Deuteronomy 21:33)
Despite that, however, there were many Jews who accepted Jesus. According to Acts 2:41, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41). This includes a number of priests who believed in Jesus. In addition, the word of God kept on
spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in
Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith
(Acts 6:7).
The only explanation for so many Jews accepting Jesus as their Messiah was His resurrection.