The Good News of Easter
The significance of the resurrection is only comprehended in the context of the world we live in being God’s own “good” creation, to which God has been committed to redeeming and reclaiming as His own. This is, in fact, what the Bible is all about from Genesis to Revelation. Hence, the declaration in Revelation 11:15 “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”  Thus the ultimate end, according to the Revelation of John, is the world being made right again after so much sorrow. Popular American eschatology today says that what Jesus plans to do with the “kingdom of the world” which He has freshly been granted, is to burn it with fire! Thankfully, the scriptures say something different. The scripture above says that He will reign forever and ever. If your world-view does not include a “good” creation being redeemed by the creator God, then the resurrection is just going to be another, if not the ultimate, “miracle” that supposedly proves that there is a supernatural world, that Jesus is God, and which assures us that there is life after death (the first and the last points have actually been believed by a wide variety of cultures with a wide variety of world-views throughout human history, both B.C. and A.D. These would not be new claims being made in the world. They would hardly be considered “news”.)
So what are the Biblical authors claiming about Easter and why does it matter to us?
The resurrection is not a new event that was or is separate from the rest of the gospels. We tend to think of the early part of the gospels as largely being about the ethical and moral teachings of Jesus, while the resurrection is the ultimate proof of Jesus’ divinity, assures us of life after death, and provides the blood sacrifice required to appease God’s wrath and forgive our sins. But the writers of the gospels do not see things this way and neither does Jesus. Rather, resurrection for Jesus was the confirmation and vindication of all that Jesus did and said concerning the Kingdom of God. The arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven is what the “good news” actually is, after all. One of the things that the resurrection should do for us is to cause us to return to all that Jesus did and taught concerning the Kingdom of God and to examine ourselves in light of what we find there.
When the disciples were confronted with Jesus’ resurrection, it was not a matter of easy deduction as to what it all meant. Rather, the resurrection was the catalyst for a reevaluating and reworking of their entire world-view. But it was not all work. It was also simply reality. The fact of Jesus’ resurrection is a reality that has truly changed the world and many individuals within it forever. It this is still true today.
In Luke’s gospel, we find two of the disciples on their way home from Jerusalem after the horrible events of the crucifixion of Jesus. They are confused and depressed as they are talking to each other about all the things concerning Jesus, His work, and His crucifixion. As they are walking and talking, the risen Jesus Himself approaches them and begins to walk along with them, though they do not recognize Him. Jesus asks them what they are talking about and they answer:
“Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.”   Luke 24:19-24.
It was not an easy conclusion for the disciples to go from hearing