Mark 16:6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
The discovery of the empty tomb was recorded for us in Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-7, Luke 24:1-8 and John 20:1-10. Matthew, Mark and Luke all declared that “He has risen! He is not here.”
The cross and the empty tomb are linked together. Without the latter the former is a tragedy, a failure, a defeat and the Christian faith a big hoax.
If there is ever an epitah on the entrance to the empty tomb, wherever it is or supposed to be in Jerusalem, these would likely be the words on it “He has risen! He is not here.”
The Apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.… If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17).
The death and resurrection of Jesus have to be the two most important events in human history and destiny. The cross and the empty tomb are linked together. Without the latter the former is a tragedy, a failure, a defeat and the Christian faith a big hoax.
So what does it really mean for us as believers?
I could think of four implications:
1. Salvation
The resurrection demonstrates that Jesus’ blood saves people from their sins and that they are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Those who put their trust in Jesus, will be saved. John 1:12, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—”
2. Eternal life
The resurrection opens the possibility of eternal life with God for all people. Christ triumphed over sin and death by being physically resurrected, so that all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come. John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” It is not just life after death, it is life right now.
Our Savior is not dead. He is alive. “He has risen! He is not here.”
3. God’s power available
The resurrection is a sign of God’s great power and that nothing is too great for him to achieve. Matthew 19:26, ““With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
We are given God’s power to serve, to love and to change. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
4. A living hope
The resurrection means that Jesus is alive and that his hope is living, breathing, and sustaining.
1 Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
Our Savior is not dead. He is alive. “He has risen! He is not here.”
Reflection Question
Read Romans 8, in spite of the difficulty, situation, crisis or challenge you are facing now, how would the fact that Jesus has conquered death help you?
Prayer
“Lord, help us remember that you have risen! From the dead conquering death. Alive and now present in God’s presence interceding for us. Coming back one day to take us home. Thank you for our Living Hope.”
Rev Alvin Ngo has retired after 36 years of full-time pastoral ministry to be fulltime caregiver to his wife who has dementia. In his spare time, he reads, writes and preaches at least once a month, counsels and mentors others. He is married to Wai Leng and they have three children, Isaac, Ivan and Isabel.
