Easter is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, proving His divinity and defeating sin and death once and for all. As we prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter, it’s important that we spend time reading and reflecting on what God’s Word says about this momentous event.
On day 10 of our Easter reading plan, we’ll explore two key passages related to the resurrection. The first is John 20:1-18, which records the very first Easter morning. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and finds that the stone has been rolled away and Jesus’ body is no longer there. She runs to tell the disciples, who come to see the empty tomb for themselves. Jesus then appears to Mary and commissions her as the first witness to His resurrection.
This passage underscores the reality of the resurrection – Jesus’ body was gone because He had conquered death, just as He said He would. His appearance to Mary also shows that He was truly alive again in bodily form. As the first to see the risen Lord, Mary received a special calling to share the good news with others.
The second passage for today is 1 Corinthians 15:12-28. This comes from a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. Some false teachers had infiltrated the church and were denying the future resurrection of believers. Paul powerfully refutes this heresy by pointing to Christ’s own resurrection as proof that one day all who belong to Him will also be raised.
Paul argues that if Christ was not raised, then Christian preaching and faith are meaningless. But because Christ did rise, His resurrection guarantees the future resurrection of all who are united to Him. One day, when He returns, He will destroy the last enemy – death itself. All who are in Christ will be made alive in incorruptible bodies prepared for eternal life with God.
As we reflect on these passages, we gain insight into the significance of Easter. It marks the dawn of a new creation in which death has lost its sting. The resurrection assures us that the evils of this world will not have the final say. Sin and suffering are temporary, but joy in Christ is eternal. This Easter season, may God open our eyes to the resurrection power available to all who put their faith in Jesus.
John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
1 Corinthians 15:12-28
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.