Opinion | Why It Matters That Jesus Really Did Rise From the Dead

It is one thing to understand the sentence “The dead shall be raised”; it is quite another to feel what it must be like if it is true that “he is risen!” But this is a conviction that happens on the register of the imagination.

Second, it does so within an essentially simple framework, which places Jesus credibly within the turbulent world of first-century Judaism. I can imagine people disliking this picture of Jesus; I cannot imagine someone arguing coherently that it could not be historical.

But most importantly, my reality is that God is real. Jesus is real. Jesus lived, died, and rose again. His promises are absolutely true. They’re real. Therefore when I fall, by His grace I can rise. When I’m doubled over in pain, by His grace I can rise. When I’m crippled with fear and anxiety and depression, by His grace I can rise.

questions such as “Was the stone rolled back?” “Was the tomb empty?” “Are the Easter appearances to be taken literally?” become secondary. Whatever really happened, what is most important, is that the Christ-Spirit is really alive and well and continuing “to do his thing” in the lives and bodies of his followers.