WHY EASTER IS SO SPECIAL

Easter, April 17, 2022
Intro: Why Easter is special: It affirms Christianity
Some time before His crucifixion, Jesus said:
Mark 9:31 (NIV2011)
31  “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV2011)
…what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
Efforts to Explain Easter Away
Efforts to Explain Easter Away
Easter was a hoax pulled off by the disciples
Acts 2:32 (NIV2011)
32  God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Example: Dying for a lie
Efforts to Explain Easter Away 
Easter was a hoax pulled off by the disciples
Jesus didn’t really die
John 20:19-20 (NIV2011) 

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:5-6 (NIV2011)
5 …he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time…
Does Easter Really Matter?
Jesus’ extraordinary claim:
John 11:25-26 (NIV2011)
25 “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Does Easter Really Matter?
Life is a means to a greater end
Example: College is not final
1 Corinthians 15:32 (NIV2011)
If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Jesus extraordinary claim: (Context: Jesus telling disciples about heaven)
John 14:5-6 (NIV2011)
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Does Easter Really Matter?
Life is a means to a greater end
No one gets to God except through Jesus
Example: Squirrel in my attic
John 3:16 (NIV2011)
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.