Today is Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate the most significant event that gives meaning to the Christian faith. Someone once asked me what is the significance of the Resurrection? What difference does it make if Christ did not rise again?
This is why today, I feel inspired to preach on the significance of the resurrection. Today’s homily is more of a catechesis on the resurrection.
St Paul tells us that if Christ has not risen from the dead, it means vain is our hope, our faith, our preaching (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Let us reflect today on five significances of the resurrection.
- The resurrection of Jesus is a confirmation of all His claims, teachings and works.
Jesus made many claims about Himself and God. His greatest claim was that He would rise again after His death. The resurrection is the final, indisputable confirmation that Jesus is who says He is, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God, the judge of the world, the way, the truth, and the life.
If Jesus didn’t rise again, He would have been a charlatan who should not be trusted, believed, or followed.
Herein lies the uniqueness of the Christian faith. Jesus is not to be compared with founders of other religions, none of them rose again after death, and so Christianity should never be placed on a par with other religions. This is what some of our children are wrongly taught by some of their Religious education teachers in schools.
- The Resurrection is an indication that His sacrifice for us has been accepted.
We are now reconciled with God, our sins have been washed away. His death was the payment for our sins, He said, “it is finished” meaning “I have paid in full,” the resurrection is the receipt of that transaction. If Christ has not risen, it means we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:16). Hence, because of the resurrection, we have and can obtain forgiveness for any sin no matter the immensity. Jesus paid for all our sins, past, present, and future.
III. The resurrection is a defeat of death and the devil.
The devil attacked Jesus on Good Friday. He thought it was over until Easter Sunday. The emblem of victory is the empty tomb. This means all of us who believe in Christ are conquerors. We are victors, not victims. Anything that may rise against us present or future, we shall overcome through the victory of Christ (Romans 8:37).
- The Resurrection removed the stings of death and changed its meaning.
Before, death meant an end to life, a final separation from our loved ones but with the resurrection of Christ, there is now new life after death (1 Corinthians 15:12), and death is no longer the cessation of life but a change of state. Our loved ones are therefore not lost but alive in Christ and we shall see them again and be happy forever. This hope has dispelled the fear of death; St Paul says “Where O death is your sting, where O death is your victory” (1Cor 15:55).
- The Resurrection confirms that we are not serving a dead God.
We are serving a living God alleluia. Jesus is alive. Alleluia. Six years after the resurrection, John received a revelation in the Island of Patmos in which Christ revealed Himself to John saying:
“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Rev 1:18).
May the resurrection of Christ give us new power, new strength, new life, new hope, a new reason to live, a new understanding of life, and a new reason to be happy.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021.
Scriptural references: Acts 10:34.37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9.