- A woman recently shocked her husband by turning up at her own memorial service. This was just days after the husband had instructed hit-men to kill her. The Australian woman had flown to Barundi for a family event. On going outside for fresh air at the suggestion of her husband, she was kidnapped and taken to a derelict building. The husband at the end of a phone ordered her death and she heard the words. But he hit-men let her go. Once back in Melbourne she arrived in time to see mourners leaving her home. Her husband put his hands on his head and said: “Is it my eyes? Is it a ghost?” She replied: “Surprise, I’m alive!”
Many treat with skepticism the Easter story of Jesus’ resurrection. Was it a hoax that gullible people believed? Perhaps he never really died, but fainted and then revived in the cool of his cave? Maybe it was all in the mind, dreams by his friends who couldn’t life without him?
The Bible provides historical proof of the resurrection. Jesus died by crucifixion at the time of the Passover, which we call ‘Good Friday.’ Jesus was then seen alive three days later on ‘Easter Sunday’. The Apostle Paul reminds us of the evidence: ‘For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time’ (1 Cor 15v3-6). Jesus’ death was for our sin so as to secure our forgiveness; he was buried because he was dead; he rose to new life, which showed his power over death. Many saw him alive, including several individuals who talked and ate with him. He later appeared to Saul, the chief persecutor of Christians, who then became the chief preacher of the risen Jesus! A huge number of people have died ever since for believing in the risen Jesus.
This is the basis of Christian hope. The Bible proves it. It’s time to believe it.
It is this that makes it a happy Easter.
Paul Kingman