In general people accept the death
and burial of Christ but not His resurrection. Despite the fact of having
witnessed many miracles of Jesus for three and a half years, the disciples themselves
failed to comprehend His resurrection. Jesus reiterated the nature of His death
and resurrection to them many times, yet they couldn’t quite grasp it. They
can’t be blamed as an extraordinary event such as the resurrection is beyond
laws of human nature, thus hard to believe.
A group of people ensured that His
body is safely buried. According to Biblical records, a man named Joseph, a
Jewish leader claimed Jesus’s body and placed it in a new tomb cut into a rock.
The women prepared spices and perfumes to anoint the body according to the
Jewish customs of the burial ritual. They waited as it was a rest day as per Jewish
tradition. With all these preparations, no one anticipated the event of
resurrection. Therefore, we see the different reactions of people when they
faced the reality of the same. Let’s look at the crucial players in this
historic event.
Pilate, the governor who was instrumental
in crucifying Jesus Christ, did not expect Him to die at all. The Bible states
that he was surprised that Jesus was already dead because he heard so much
about Jesus’s miracles, including raising people from the dead. So he thought
Jesus could save Himself from death.
The Roman Centurion witnessed Jesus
giving up His spirit, felt the earth quake, saw the rocks split open and the
bodies of saints rising from the tombs. They came out after resurrection,
entered the holy city and appeared to many. When he witnessed these supernatural
events he was fully convinced that, “surely this man was the son of God.”.
The Pharisees (Jewish spiritual
leaders) who approached Pilate said, “Sir, we remember that while this
deceiver (they meant Jesus) was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will
rise again.’ They were worried that the disciples will deceptively steal
the body and claim Jesus’s resurrection. They made sure with Pilate’s help to
heavily guard the tomb. Somewhere deep down, they were sure that Jesus would
resurrect as He claimed.
What the Pharisees (Jewish spiritual
leaders) anticipated happened. Jesus did rise from the dead, lived for 40 days,
had fellowship with His disciples, appeared to 500 more people in different
occasions and finally ascended to heaven. The Bible records suddenly two men
appeared and said, “men of Galilee why do stand looking upto heaven? This
same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way
that you have seen him going to heaven.” The Bible records Jesus’s words as, “Do not
let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe in me.. I am going to
prepare a place for you… I will come again and take you to myself so that where
I am you may be also.”.
This my friends is the essence of
Easter. Because He lives we will live also. This is the hope we all have to
trust Him and accept His forgiveness for our sins. When we invite Him into our
hearts, we receive a sense of purpose in life and hope for eternity. Make a
personal commitment today to follow Him. Get to know about Him by getting hold
of a New Testament Bible in your preferred language.
There are also other secular sources like
the records of Cornelius Tacitus the greatest Roman Historian or Pliny
the Younger who held many different offices in Roman offices and became
governor of Bithynia and Pontus, a region in northwest Turkey. And finally, Flavius
Josephus Our third non-Christian writer is the Jewish historian. He was
born around the year AD 37 or 38 and died sometime after AD 100. Josephus was
commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee during their initial rebellion
against Rome in AD 66. Every information in the Bible is verifiable and true.
May this Easter transform you with hope and blessings.
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