There is one distinctive difference between Christianity and other religions. Our Bible Journaling Scripture tells us, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:6 KJV) J. Vernon McGee, in his commentary on Matthew, says, “The unique fact of the gospel is the Resurrection. All other religions record the death of their leader. Only the Christian faith records the Resurrection of its Founder. All other religious leaders are dead. Only Jesus is alive. This is important and imperative to know.”
Why is this so important? Because we serve a RISEN Savior! He took the punishment for our sins by dying, willingly, on the Cross for our sins, and then He was buried. But the story doesn’t end there. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb? Because He knew He wasn’t going to be there for long. Jesus conquered sin, Hell, death, and the grave with His resurrection. This gives us hope! Other religions can go to the grave of their founder and leader, we go to an empty grave!
Because Jesus resurrected from the dead, our hope lies in the fact that we can look forward to eternal life with Him. There’s an old Gospel hymn that says, “This world is not my home I’m just a-passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home In this world anymore. Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you, If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home In this world anymore.” That is our hope, which is why we rejoice, not only in our salvation but also in what we have to look forward to.
The Bible tells us that on the third day, an earthquake shook the place where Jesus lay, and the stone across the entrance to His grave was rolled away. Jesus was not in the tomb…He had left before the stone was rolled away. (Matthew 28:1-5) The soldiers who were guarding the tomb got scared and ran away, and an angel appeared before the women who had come to lay spices on Jesus’ body and told them that Jesus was not there.
The Bible says because Jesus conquered death and the grave, when He resurrected, others who had been dead and buried were resurrected also. “and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” (Matthew 27:52-53 NIV) Can you imagine seeing someone who had died and was buried, now alive, and walking around? That must have caused quite a stir!
If we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we can have no fear of death because we know what awaits us. He paved the pathway for us. He holds the keys to sin, death, the grave, and Hades! We have a future in Heaven waiting for us. We don’t have to be afraid of death because Jesus went ahead of us and prepared the way. Psalm 23:4 tells us that He will walk through “the valley of the shadow of death” with us. Notice it says through. We don’t stay in that valley…we walk through it, and He will be with us each step of the way because His resurrection has cleared the way for us. Jesus rose from the dead and that is our hope. It is also a distinction from other religions that bears noting. Other religions cannot offer this hope, their leaders are dead and buried, but ours is risen and alive, and waiting to come get us to take us Home.
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