He is risen; he is not here

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is fundamental to Christianity, for ‘if Christ be not raised, [our] faith is vain; [we] are yet in [our] sins . . . But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept’, 1 Cor. 15. 17, 20. For three days His body lay in ‘the place where they laid him’, Mark 16. 6. During that time His body, which was entirely free from sin, did not decompose, Ps. 16. 10. And as soon as three days had passed, Matt. 12. 40, He rose from the dead; death could not hold Him, Acts 2. 24. By the time the women came to the sepulchre ‘very early in the morning the first day of the week’, Mark 16. 2, He had risen.

Christ’s resurrection took His followers by surprise. The women did not expect it. Full of devotion to the Lord Jesus they determined to ‘anoint him’, v. 1. It was only as they approached the tomb that they queried ‘Who shall roll us away the stone?’ The women ‘trembled and were amazed’ at the words of the angel, ‘He is risen; he is not here’, v. 6. Neither did the disciples expect Christ to rise from the dead. Despite the clear reports from Mary Magdalene and the two that ‘went into the country’ they refused to believe that ‘he was alive’, vv. 9-13. When the Saviour finally ‘appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, [he] upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart’, v. 14. During His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus had repeatedly told His disciples that He would suffer and die and ‘after three days rise again’, 8. 31; 9. 31; 10. 34; 16. 7. But they had failed to understand His words.

An angel had heralded the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 2. 10-12. Appearing as ‘a young man’, an angel now declared His resurrection, Mark 16. 5, 6. The angel had not rolled the stone away to allow Christ out, but to let others in to see that the tomb had been vacated. It was not totally empty because the linen clothes ‘and the napkin, that was about his head’ remained, John 20. 6, 7.

The absence of a body, the post-resurrection appearances, and the courageous preaching of the disciples - backed up by miracles - all confirmed that the Lord Jesus had truly risen.