Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 27:62–66; John 10:17,

18; Matt. 27:51–53; John 20:11–29; 1 Cor. 15:5–8.

Memory Text: “When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead

man. He put his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am

the First and the Last. I am the One who lives; I was dead, but look,

I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and to the

place of the dead’ ” (Rev. 1:17, 18, NCV).

Central to the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus. Paul

made this point very powerfully when he wrote: “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” (1 Cor. 15:16–18, NKJV). We

will look at this in more detail next week.

Thus, no matter all the emphasis Paul put on Christ’s death, and how

important it was—“For I determined not to know anything among you

except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2, NKJV)—it really

does us no good apart from His resurrection. That’s how crucial the

resurrection of Jesus is to the entire Christian faith and the plan of

salvation.

However, it’s hard to understand why the resurrection of Christ and

with it our resurrection are so important if, as many believe, the dead

in Christ are already enjoying the bliss of heaven as they have “gone

home to be with the Lord.”

All that aside, this week we will look at Christ’s resurrection and all

the convincing evidence He gave us to believe in it.