52 Easter Sundays

Tomorrow is known around the world as Easter Sunday, or in many churches, Resurrection Sunday. I remember as a child coloring eggs, hunting them, and receiving Easter baskets from my parents and other family members. Usually, in the churches I grew up in, there was a special emphasis in the sermon on the resurrection of Christ, and the sermon was geared to unbelievers, especially since many of those unbelievers only showed up at church because of Easter Sunday.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong in all of this. But why do we only focus our attention on Christ's resurrection one Sunday out of the year? I hadn't really given this much thought before, but within the last few years my thinking about Christ's resurrection has been biblically challenged. There is a plethora of Scripture one could cite to prove the importance of the resurrection to the Christian faith. I think one of the most well known is from 1 Corinthians 15. In verses 12-19, Paul address those in the church at Corinth who deny the resurrection of the dead, and therefore the resurrection of Jesus. Paul writes:

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (Emphasis added)

Essentially, what Paul is saying here is that if Christ is not risen from the dead, then the Christian's faith is useless and he is still dead in his sins and trespasses. This would make Christians the most hopeless people on the face of the earth. Because of this passage and many others in Scripture, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in all of human history. It is what our hope is based upon. That is why we can go from spiritual death to spiritual life, because Jesus triumphed over death.

So, all of that being said, Christ's resurrection deserves more than a once-a-year observation. The reason I can have solid faith in Jesus Christ is because He is risen. The reason I have been freed from the death of sin is because Jesus was freed from death. And I will celebrate this each and every Sunday...because He is risen!