We Don’t Celebrate Easter Because of the Bible
Why do we celebrate Easter? Why do Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead? A lot of people might think that it’s just because the Bible says so. That there’s really no other reason to believe it, but the Bible says so and Christians just believe what the Bible says. Therefore, if you don’t think that the Bible is the authoritative source of truth that should be accepted without question, you might not think that there’s much to consider about the historical resurrection of Jesus. Think again.
I’d like to remind us that the Christian church came into existence and began celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead well before the Bible as we know it came to be. There were the Jewish scriptures, the Old Testament, but the church started, based on the belief in the resurrected Jesus, before the New Testament was written. What’s more, the church was already changing the world before the New Testament writings were gathered together.
There isn’t a Christian church that believes in the resurrection because of the Bible. There’s a Bible because eye witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection started the Christian church in the first half of the first century and later wrote the New Testament. The very early church didn’t believe in the resurrection because of the Bible, they wrote the Bible because of the resurrection. The disciples were convinced that they saw the risen Jesus with their own eyes. Their lives were transformed because of that fact and the world was changed because of the testimony they shared and gave their lives for.
I encourage you to check out the evidence for the resurrection here on the blog. You might also want to check out Andy Stanley’s message here.
I want to wish you a Happy Easter because I believe that Jesus really rose from the dead and we have great hope in him!
