Celebrating Easter's Significance - John 20:1-18 and I Corinthians 15:1-28

Every time spring follows the cold winter days, trees start budding and the Jonquils are in bloom we know that Easter is just ahead. It has come very early this year, and the weather is not as warm as it usually is, but the opening buds always remind me of the open tomb in the Holly Land. My days of travel have come and gone leaving me with one desire unfulfilled. I have always wanted to make a trip to the land where Jesus was born, lived, died and was buried; but most of all I would enjoy walking from the open tomb to the mount from which He ascended. I have faith to believe that just as the apostles watched him go up into Heaven so I might be there at the moment of fulfillment of his prophesy. “So as you see me go, I will come again.”

I want you to look specifically at the seventh verse of John 20, and read it carefully examining each word and thought. Read also the corresponding passages in the other gospels. Christ moved out of his burial clothing, leaving them uncluttered as further witness that some outsider did not remove the body. A thief would probably have taken the clothing along with the body. But if the thief had removed the body, he would not have taken the time to replace the garments to their exact position.

In a movie based on the series of books “Left Behind” there is a scene on a plane that shows clothing from those who were “taken up into heaven” left on the seat of the plane in the position that indicated that the person wearing the clothing had evaporated from the scene and left all the clothing as it would appear un-touched. The shoes were there on the floor, in them were the socks, and then the pant legs dangling from the seat above, with the belt still hooked in the pant loops, and the shirt tail on top of the pants with the neck up and the shirt still buttoned. The scene indicated that the person became a spirit and moved out of the clothing leaving nothing disturbed. I believe this to be a man-made picture of how Christ’s burial clothing appeared Peter and the other apostle first looked in the open tomb. However, but…

There was one thing different. The napkin had been folded and lay conspicuously to one side. Why? According to Jewish history, all of the high archery, especially kings and lords of great honor all lived in luxury and enjoyed the service of maids and servants. It was their custom to eat in privacy and when they left the table they used their napkin as a signal to the servants. First, if the king had finished his meal with no intention of returning to the table he simply wadded the napkin and left it on his plate. But if he was not finished, and if he planned to RETURN to the table to complete his meal, he FOLDED the napkin and placed it at the side of his plate. The folded napkin was a message plain and clear to the servants; BE ALERT AND AWARE…FOR I WILL RETURN to the table.

Why did Jesus fold his burial napkin? [Only the napkin was folded and not the grave clothes.] Christ had left one more sign, one more proof, that told his disciples not to worry because he WOULD RETURN TO THEM. He did return to them as he walked in unannounced and through the walls…he needed no door. The eleven apostles and Paul the twelfth apostle saw him, touched him, talked and ate with him, and the Bible says that there were at least five hundred eyewitnesses that attested to his return.

We all realize the importance of the cross and the blood shed thereon, because without the shedding of blood there is no salvation—there is no remission of sin. After salvation, obedience is just as important because it proves that we LOVE our master. He told us that “If you LOVE me you will keep my commandments” and that simply means ‘you will obey me.’

I also submit to you the fact that the resurrection is just as important to all who are born again as was the crucifixion because it established the fact that we have life after death. Christians die and are buried and we would spend eternity in that grave if Christ had not been resurrected. It is because he was resurrected and returned to heaven, that we too will be resurrected and will ascend into heaven.

I grieve with passion when anyone indicates that they do not believe in the resurrection of our Lord—but would never condemn them. They are human just as Peter and John, who had walked with Him, talked and broke bread with him, and had heard him say that he would die and be resurrected, I am amazed that neither of these men really believed in the resurrection until they saw the empty tomb and the conditions of his clothing. John says that they finally believed—as they remembered what he had told them would happen.

Dear friends, when you are able to accept the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—then, and only then, have you found the key to Christian faith. He arose as he promised he would, and this is our proof that he will keep every single promise that he has made regarding our life, death, resurrection and ascendance. His resurrection proves that he was not a false profit. No other of the many gods worshipped my man has accomplished this fete. Ours is a LIVING SAVIOR; still at work and carrying out the plan of His Father our God.

This account tells us that Mary tarried at the tomb and that Christ appeared to her yet she did not recognize him. There may be more reasons than the two that I will mention here. She was a woman in sorrow and shedding tears at the time. Tears are blinding and could have prevented her immediate recognition. However, the one that seems more likely is that she was looking in the door of an empty grave. She was looking in the wrong place. He was not in the tomb. This explanation reminds me of sinful man who for all time have looked in the wrong places to find Him. He is always where you do not expect him to be.

Now we will go to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians 15: 1-28 where we will find that his followers were having trouble believing in the resurrection. Paul was not one of the original twelve chosen apostles and was not involved in the event that took place over this three day week-end. However, Paul places a heavy emphasis on the fact that he met God face to face and experienced a very special kind of conversion that caused him to dedicate his life more completely than any other disciple and compelled him to work harder than any of the others to advance the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Let us stop and start again right here; if you refuse to believe that the Holy Bible is the word of God, written by inspired authors, that contains truth and nothing but the truth—then there is no way that any number of witnesses can convince you that Christ arose and that you also will arise to meet your judgment. If you truly believe God’s word, then the more witnesses you have who are authorities regarding his word, the easier it is to totally believe. There is no greater witness in this Bible than Paul the Apostle.

Next to Christ, Paul was the greatest teacher, he was the most outstanding evangelist and he worked with more people, and in more churches than any other man. His audience was made up primarily of Jews and Gentiles, and the Greek people had their own philosophy which they were always trying to impose on anyone connected to his missionary work. According to the Greek philosophers—the soul was the real person—and the soul was imprisoned in a physical body—and at death the soul was released from the body. They did not believe in the immorality of the body and only the soul would enter into an eternal state. This part of the letter to Corinth was to combat the Greek philosophy, and in so doing it confirms the resurrection story. Christianity, by contrast, teaches that the body and soul will be united after the resurrection and that both the soul and body will be caught up to meet Christ in the sky.

The Christian church at Corinth was located in the center of this Greek culture. Converted Greek people had a difficult time believing in a bodily resurrection. Paul wrote this part of this letter to clear up the confusion that had arisen. However, his writing pertains just as much to Christians in the 21st century and we are using it today as solid proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that the resurrection of Christ is the center of Christian faith. Christ arose as he had promised. Because he arose we know that he is God, and we know that he represents each one of us to his Father.

Paul is so emphatic in his belief and teaching that he told them and us that if Christ did not arise from the dead, then all of his preaching was in vain, and that men were still in their sin, and that there is no other way out. All that we claim from the promises of God hinges on this one fact. To nail it down hard and fast, Paul told us that if Christians will not arise from the grave—then God did not raise his Son from the dead. How then, can there be any doubt in our minds when we are compassed about over five hundred eye-witnesses that have proclaimed this mortal truth.

Unbelieving archeologist will continue to scratch, dig and search for the bones of Christ in some undiscovered tomb somewhere around the Holy City…but they will not succeed! Some body needs to tell them that HE AROSE! AND BECAUSE HE DID—WE WILL.

Look at the title of this lesson again. Why should we CELEBRATE EASTERS SIGNIFICANCE? Because it simply tells us that one day soon we will conquer death, hell and the grave and enjoy the rest of all life [eternity] in heaven.