WHY HE LIVES
1 Corinthians 15:3-8; 20-23 NET.
3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received — that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when Christ comes, those who belong to him.
When we discovered he lives
The events I want to describe to you this morning are those that took place on that first Easter morning, when Jesus woke from the dead. The story is taken from the Gospels: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20.
Before dawn on the first day of the week, a small group of women set out toward the tomb where Jesus had been laid. Mary Magdalene led the way, joined by Mary, the mother of James, Salome, and others who had prepared spices to complete the burial. The sky was still dim, and their conversation circled one anxious question: “Who will roll away the stone for us?”
As they approached, the ground had already shaken from an earlier earthquake. An angel of the Lord had descended, rolled back the massive stone, and left the guards trembling and paralyzed with fear. By the time the women arrived, the soldiers had fled, and the stone stood open.
Mary Magdalene, seeing the empty entrance but not yet seeing angels, panicked. She assumed the worst—that someone had taken Jesus’ body. Without waiting for the others, she turned and ran back toward the city to find Peter and John.
The remaining women stepped closer. Inside the tomb, they encountered heavenly messengers—one described by Matthew and Mark, two described by Luke—radiant, calm, and utterly unearthly. The angels spoke words that would echo through history:
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen.”
They reminded the women of Jesus’ own promises, and the women, trembling with fear and joy, hurried away to tell the disciples.
Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene reached Peter and John breathless and distraught:
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid Him!”
The two men sprinted toward the garden. John arrived first but hesitated at the entrance. Peter, true to form, charged straight in. The linen cloths lay there, undisturbed. The face cloth was folded separately. Something had happened—but not theft. John entered, saw, and believed, though neither yet understood the full meaning of the Scriptures. They left in stunned silence.
Mary Magdalene, having followed them back, remained at the tomb weeping. When she finally looked inside, she saw two angels seated where Jesus’ body had been. They asked her why she was crying, but before she could process their words, she turned and saw a man standing behind her. She did not recognize Him—grief has a way of blurring the obvious.
He spoke gently:
“Mary.”
At the sound of her name, everything became clear. She fell before Him, overwhelmed. Jesus sent her to tell the disciples that He was ascending to His Father and their Father.
While Mary was carrying this message, the other women were still on their way to the disciples when Jesus Himself met them. They fell at His feet, worshiping Him, and He told them not to be afraid but to go and tell His brothers to meet Him in Galilee.
Back in the city, the guards who had witnessed the angel’s descent reported everything to the chief priests. A bribe was arranged, and a false story was circulated: the disciples had stolen the body while the guards slept.
But the truth was already spreading.
The tomb was empty.
The angels had spoken.
Jesus had appeared.
And the world had begun to change.
This is the story of the beginning of the great miracle we celebrate every Easter. But there is more to the story. Last Sunday, I asked and answered the question, “Why did Jesus have to die on Calvary’s cross? Today I want to address another question.
Why did Jesus wake from the dead?
After all, when we share the gospel with our friends and neighbors, we tell them that Jesus died for their sins, that because of his death, we are now free from the consequences of our sins – the second death in hell. But if we tell people that, we are not telling them the whole gospel. The death of Christ indeed atoned for our sins. But that is not all we need. We need a living Christ.
This morning’s text explains why Jesus lives.
Jesus had to wake from the dead because the same Scriptures that predicted his sacrificial death also predicted his resurrection.
Jesus himself had noted that the prophet Jonah’s experience of being in the great fish for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) was a prophetic sign of his own resurrection. He said, “For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40).
The early Christians also often quoted Hosea 6:2, which says, “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us, that we may live before Him.”
Peter and Paul both quote Psalm 16:10, in which David writes, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let Your Holy One see decay.” Sheol is the Hebrew word for the state of being dead. The apostles understood that Jesus’ resurrection was proof that he was God’s chosen savior.
Psalm 22 speaks of the suffering servant who cried out for help, and God responded. It says that many who are descending to their graves will tell future generations about what God did for the Messiah. We now know what God did: he raised Jesus from the dead.
Isaiah 53 predicted the crucifixion of Jesus in vivid detail. But it also says that after suffering and death, the Servant “will see His offspring,” “prolong His days,” and be vindicated.
In addition to these Old Testament predictions, there are nine specific references in the Gospels in which Jesus predicted his own resurrection on the third day after his crucifixion.[1]
That explains why Paul summarized the gospel message in today’s text: “…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
But Paul goes on to tell us that there is another reason why Jesus had to be awakened from the dead. He said that Christ is the firstfruits. His resurrection is the first part of God’s great harvest. He is the firstfruits, the first, best portion of the harvest, offered to God, guaranteeing the full harvest to come. He is the firstfruits of the resurrection, guaranteeing that all who belong to Him will be raised in the same way.
Firstfruits teaches that Jesus is the first to receive immortal resurrection life. No one else has it yet. His resurrection guarantees that God will give His people the same miraculous, permanent life at the final harvest. That will happen when he returns. Paul teaches this explicitly in verse 23: “But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him.”
As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ this morning, we also anticipate the glorious new life that we will experience when the rest of the harvest happens. Happy Easter.
[1] Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22–23; Matthew 20:17–19; Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:34; Luke 9:22; Luke 18:33; John 2:19–22.
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