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1 Corinthians 15:1-19
By Rev. Dale Tedder
Peter had been a faithful follower of Jesus while the going was good. But when things turned to the worse, the disciples all left except for Peter. Peter stayed around to see what was going to happen. But then, he was accused three different times of being a follower of Jesus. And three times, Peter denied knowing Jesus. And after this, Peter, like the other disciples, went back to his old ways of life again. But several days later, this teacher whom Peter loved appeared to him on the shore of Galilee. Peter spoke with him and ate with him, and committed his life to him. Peter was transformed from a timid lamb into a great lion of the faith. It was Peter who proclaimed the risen Christ at Pentecost. And like Paul, Peter was later crucified for his belief in, and preaching of the risen Savior.
Now maybe today, we can't imagine how devastating Christ's death would have been for the disciples. They had placed all their trust and hope in him, and now he was dead. But God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead. It showed that death was not the winner, but part of the plan. It was this very belief in the resurrection that enabled the disciples to proclaim their crucified master as God's Messiah. It was the faith in the risen Savior that enabled them to turn the world upside-down with the Gospel. If the disciples didn't truly believe that Christ was raised, (raised bodily), the Christian faith would be, according to one historian, "a dead folk-religion of the first-century." But he lives. And just and the disciples believed, and just as the hymn proclaims,
"We serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today."
So what does this mean to us nearly 2,000 years later? Well, the resurrection makes possible a relationship with Jesus today. It means that he is not dead - he's alive! The same risen Christ who transformed Paul and Peter can transform us today, and give us hope in the midst of sorrow and despair. The resurrection isn't simply some event that happened 2,000 years ago, but it touches us today. It's the resurrection of our Lord and Savior which energizes us as the body of Christ today.
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