Why Easter?! (Youth Edition)Sample

Why Does It Matter That Jesus Rose From the Dead?

Now, we all know that dead people aren’t meant to come back to life! But at Easter we remember and celebrate the one who actually did rise from the grave; Jesus!

When we read through the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ life we learn that the Easter story doesn’t end with Jesus’ body in a grave. It doesn’t end with Jesus’ death on Good Friday. The Easter story actually ends on Easter Sunday, with Jesus rising to new life.

But while it’s pretty impressive that Jesus rose from the dead, what difference does it actually make to our lives? How does it affect us today that Jesus was resurrected from the grave?

Through his rising from the dead Jesus demonstrated that he was more powerful than death. He proved that death could not hold him down.

You see, when Jesus rose from the dead he showed us that death does not have the final say. By rising to new life we can know that Jesus lives forever, and we can be confident that God is victorious over everything, even death itself!

In today’s verse we read of Jesus saying ‘The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’ One of the amazing things about the Easter story is that we are invited into the victory that Jesus won! What an amazing promise, that by believing in Jesus - in his death and resurrection - not only can we be assured that we will live forever with God but we also get to experience life on Earth with His Spirit within us! His joy can become our joy, his peace can become our peace, and his love can become our love.

Through Jesus’ resurrection we can be confident that even though we will physically die, we are offered eternal life with him. We can know that death no longer has a hold over us, and that we too have been resurrected to new life. And so, it really does matter that Jesus rose from the dead, because it is our open door to an eternal life in relationship with God.

Action:

- Read through Luke 23:26-24:12. What do you notice from this passage, and what difference does it make to your life that Jesus rose from the dead?