“Oh Yes, He Did Rise!”

 

            A devout bishop was preaching his Easter sermon.  He began by saying, “In our repeating the Apostles’ Creed we say, ‘The third day He rose again from the dead,’ but do we know that He really did?”  There was, of course, no doubt in the good bishop’s mind that the Resurrection was true, but he wanted to ask the question in an attention-compelling way.  He succeeded.

            Instantly a little boy arose in the congregation and cried out, “Oh yes, sir, He did rise from the dead!”

            So, Easter is a day of faith and of assurance.  The death of Jesus was not God’s final word.  The final, conclusive, ever-new word is that Jesus Christ truly rose from the dead by the mighty power of God!

On Easter morning the tomb was found to be empty.  The friends of Jesus could not have stolen His body, for they were too weak and discouraged, many of them having fled.  The enemies of Jesus had no reason to remove His body.  For them, a trouble-maker was out of the way.  His body was where they wanted it to be, safe and secure, away from any more interference.   For Pilate, a potential rabble-rouser was silenced.  For the Jewish authorities, a “blasphemer” was properly punished.

            There were at least a dozen post-Resurrection appearances of the Risen Christ, both to groups and to individuals.

            The inescapable conclusion is that Christ arose.  He lives today in our hearts and in the world.

            My Church lives because its origin is Divinely blessed.  By my Lenten and Easter Offering, and in other ways, I shall show my living loyalty.