Christians focus special attention on Jesus’ resurrection every Easter, and rightly so. Easter marks the anniversary of the Sunday that Jesus began the day in his tomb, having been laid there on Friday after dying on a Roman cross. Jesus started that Sunday in his tomb, but he did not finish it there.
Early that glorious Sunday morning, Jesus left his tomb, never to return. God raised him up! He is alive forever! Jesus’ resurrection proves that God can and will exercise power even over death. Death itself must submit to God’s astonishing supremacy.
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead would be impressive if it were an isolated event, unconnected to any other happenings. The fact that Jesus was dead and buried, yet he walked away from his tomb alive is worth celebrating by itself. But there is much more.
Jesus’ resurrection is of greatest importance because of its connections to certain events before and after. Jesus’ resurrection is connected to his crucifixion. He died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus is not a random guy defeating death. He is the promised Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus’ resurrection is also important for what happened next. After forty days of meeting with his disciples, giving them proof of his bodily resurrection, and teaching them about God’s kingdom, Jesus then returned to God the Father in heaven. He was exalted to the right hand of God, the ultimate position of highest honor and cosmic authority.
Jesus had promised his disciples that once he returned to heaven, he would send the Spirit of truth who goes out from God the Father, the Holy Spirit. Once Jesus was raised up from the dead and raised up to the right hand of God, the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to indwell and empower all of Jesus’ followers.
Jesus was able to fulfill his promise to send God’s Spirit because he was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of God. Now, every believer has God’s Spirit living inside, transforming us into the image of Christ, empowering us to serve God’s kingdom, and blessing us with the very presence of God in our lives.
Now that he is exalted to the right hand of God, Jesus is the Advocate for all who are disciples of Jesus Christ. We have a representative in heaven who mediates for us. He is our eternal assurance that all our sin will be forgiven. Our sin will never threaten our place in heaven with God. We need not worry that God will suddenly stop granting us forgiveness. Why? Because Jesus is alive and exalted forever, serving as our Advocate night and day.
Jesus also intercedes for us. More than assuring our forgiveness, he appeals to God on our behalf. We should not misunderstand this word “intercede.” It is not meant to imply that Jesus must coerce or convince God to bless us and show us his great favor. Instead, we should think of the word intercede as a collaboration between Jesus and God.
Finally, because Jesus is resurrected and exalted, we can look forward with confidence to his Second Coming. Jesus promised to return for those who belong to him. He will come and take us to be with him in God’s presence forever.
We rejoice that Jesus is raised up from the dead and lifted up to the right hand of God!
May the resurrected and exalted Jesus Christ be Lord of all,
Brother Richard
brotherrichardsblog.com 