This blog post was written by Pastor Ray Schroeder at St. George Community Church. He is one of our guest writers here at Senseless Ramblings of the Mindless.  

THE COMMUNICATOR

APRIL 2018

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Christ is Risen!” “He is Risen, Indeed!”

This is the joyful shout and response of Easter morning. Interestingly, this year Easter falls on April Fool’s Day. However, the resurrection is no joke. It is the absolute truth. The resurrection of Jesus Christ in a physical body is so important that the Bible says without it our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. We must constantly and committedly lift up the truth of Jesus’ resurrection to a world that thinks it is of no consequence or ignores it completely.

There are two factors that constitute the truth of the resurrection: the empty grave and the appearances of Jesus after his death. We know that Jesus was completely and totally dead on the cross. After the initial whippings and physical torture he endured he was then nailed to a cross and a soldier punctured his side with a spear. Blood and water rushed out which is a sign of cardiac failure. Let no one tell you that Jesus was not completely and totally dead on the cross. He was dead.

Then Jesus was buried for three days before arising from the tomb. No one was present at the actually moment of his resurrection but when the women arrived at the tomb on Sunday morning it was empty. Romans and Pharisees tried to spread the story that His body had been stolen but no dead body was ever found.

Then Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and to the other Apostles and finally to more than 500 believers at one time (1 Cor. 15:6). Many of whom were still alive at the time of the writing of the books of the New Testament and who could have verified to anyone that they saw the risen Lord Jesus. He told his disciples that he was not a ghost and to touch him and see, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).

No rebuttal to the resurrection has ever been proven. The body was not stolen or hidden. The tomb was empty. Jesus appeared physically to his disciples and it was not simply a vision or a spirit. This is the great good news of Jesus’ resurrection. It’s true! And because of Christ’s resurrection we know our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life. Our great and blessed hope is that we, too, shall be resurrected and we shall be changed to be like him.

Also, because of the resurrection we can be assured that every Word of Jesus is true and every word of the Bible is true. Jesus believed all of the Bible and He believed it in a literal fashion. Because Jesus rose from the grave I believe the earth was created in six days. I believe Jesus was born of a virgin. I believe that Christ ascended to heaven in the same resurrection body and that He is coming again in that same body. Praise God for the resurrection! Let’s spread the Good News reminding everyone that this is no April Fool’s joke. This is the glorious truth!

My love be with you all in Christ,

Pastor Ray