When it came to bodies, Jewish mourning customs dictated that a body must remain in its grave for three full days before it could be declared officially dead. Deceased, passed on, “dead as a doornail” as Dickens once said. That’s exactly where Jesus was after the cross. Lifeless, wrapped in strips of cloth, and lying in a tomb—the antithesis of his manger.

Then came Sunday…

Matthew 28:1-7 (niv)

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

I love it when we sing songs like “Living Hope”, “In Christ Alone”, “Forever”, and “Ain’t No Grave” for worship at Vineyard. All of those songs contain lyrics that encapsulate Jesus rising up from the grave in a way that ignites our congregation. We can’t help but to clap, shout, sing louder, or be covered in goosebumps. 

Perhaps the reason we have this reaction is that the Holy Spirit in us really recognizes these lyrics as truth so that we may treasure it deeply inside us.

Jesus dying for our sins and then rising again is the cornerstone of the Gospel.

We often focus on the first part of that foundation, and for obvious reasons. For us to be redeemed back to God, we needed a perfect person to die for our sins. Jesus accomplished that when he died on the cross and rose again. He did it because he loves us.

If Adam’s sin brought death, then Jesus’s sacrifice needed to bring life, and that wouldn’t have happened if he had stayed in that tomb.

The devil thought he had won, but Jesus defeated the one thing Satan thought he had, which is death. And if Jesus’s death could end in resurrection, then that means we too can be resurrected from our spiritual deaths.

This is our hope: Jesus’s death brings us redemption and his resurrection brings us new life.

Romans 6:22 (niv)

But now that you have been free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Take note on two things:

We are free from sin. 

Jesus lifted the curse of sin off of us. Yes, we still have sinful natures and struggle with vices, but we have the power through Jesus to not let it rule us anymore. We don’t have to stay in bondage of fear, shame, anger, lies, or anything else. Imagine living a life truly free from the burden of this world.

We are being transformed into holiness. 

Upon salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit as a helper to us. Because of him, we can be transformed more and more into the likeness of Jesus. We learn his heart, his behavior, and how he wants to love others and bring them closer to him. Our personal relationships with Jesus brings us away from sinfulness into holiness.

And our hope doesn’t stop there.

Matthew 25:31 (niv)

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

Jesus is coming again. And when he does return, it will be to rule a new kingdom that we as believers will get to live in for all eternity. Until that day comes, we must press on and prepare the world to meet its king.

Jesus is our hope, and his death and resurrection are the reasons why we celebrate Easter.

Through the remainder of this week, you can find reflections here at vineyardrichmond.com. Use them to prompt yourself to focus on your faith in a fresh way. If what you are learning is meaningful to you, click one of the share buttons at the top of these posts to share it with your friends. Let this be a time of personal reflection and careful examination of our own hearts and minds.