Understanding the Importance of Easter in New Ways

Easter is Sunday.

For many, this holiday doesn’t mean much – except mountains of chocolate and cute bunny rabbits. But for the sick, the poor, the brokenhearted, and those who realize they’re captive to sin (Isaiah 61:1), Easter is about so much more. It’s about the good news that death and sin have been conquered through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The empty tomb is the foundation upon which all of Christianity rests. In 1 Corinthians 15:17, the Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”

For centuries, skeptics have argued that faith in Christ’s resurrection is nothing more than a blind step into thin air. Author Lee Strobel, on the other hand, says the evidence for Christ’s resurrection is strong, persuasive, powerful, and based on a solid foundation of historical truth.

Lee didn’t come to that conclusion easily. He was an atheist. He was also an investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune. So when his wife, Leslie, became a Christian, Lee set out to investigate the Bible’s claims. His goal was to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ over a weekend. A year and nine months later, he reached a very different conclusion.

He summarizes his findings in the “Four E’s”:

• TheExecutionof Jesus. Jesus was truly dead after His crucifixion, not merely passed out or “swooned.” The peer-reviewed, secular Journal of the American Medical Association said, “Clearly, based on the medical and historical evidence, Jesus was dead even before the wound to His side was inflicted.”
• TheEarlyaccounts of Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection is not legend, make-believe, or mythology. The earliest Christian creeds proclaim Christ’s resurrection date to within months of the events of Passion week.
• TheEmptytomb. Even Jesus’ opponents admitted the tomb was empty. Their excuses were an attempt to explain howit got empty.
• Eyewitnesses. Ancient sources inside and outside of the New Testament corroborate the conviction of the disciples and others that they encountered the resurrected Jesus. In terms of ancient literature, there is an avalanche of historic data.

Lee Strobel’s book, The Case for Christ, was a bestseller and the basis for a movie of the same name about Lee’s search for the truth. Lee is teaching pastor at Woodland Church and has written more than 20 books exploring the reality of faith and Christ’s impact on our lives.

Let us put The Case for Christinto your hands. We’d like to do that for a gift of any amount. Give us a call at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459). If you can’t afford it, we’ll find a way to get it to you. For more information, visit our website.

Lee is joining us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast, “Understanding the Importance of Easter in New Ways.” If you’re skeptical about the death and resurrection, I encourage you to join us as we examine the facts.

Tune in on your local radio stationor listenanytime online or via our free, downloadable mobile phone app, or watch the full program on our YouTubechannel.

You may also be interested in a free online booklet we’ve written called, “Coming Home: An Invitation to Join God’s Family.” Many, many people have read it and discovered salvation in Christ.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, easter, faith April 18, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura