The Greatest Question Of All Time …

Here it is, Easter of 2015, or Resurrection Sunday.  Many cultures around the world celebrate Easter.  Here in the U.S.A. Easter egg hunts, as well as chocolate bunnies are a great tradition.

Over the years (especially the last five or six), I’ve had various Theists (specifically those of the Christian persuasion) come to me and inquire as to whether or not I thought Easter Egg hunts were a good idea.  And I would always ask “Why wouldn’t they be?”  They are children, hunting colorful eggs, some hidden in plain sight, and filling baskets with joy and laughter.  What could possibly be wrong with that?

It is amazing to me the number of Christians that don’t have a problem with Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, but the Easter Bunny is of a questionable nature for some reason.  I suppose if you wanted to separate the Easter Egg Hunts from the Church (that is not hold them on Church property), that would be OK.  But I’ve known many churches that have all kinds of secular programs from bingo, to a 1950’s Ice Cream parlor, to even a Halloween Haunted House held on Church grounds.  I am reminded that on a couple of occasions, two great men of God told me that (1) Not everyone is called to be a Saint Francis of Assisi, and (2) God never intended for Christians NOT to have fun.

Saint Francis of Assisi believed that in order to get close to God he needed to be devoid of all worldly possessions and wait on God to provide for him. But my mentor was saying God hasn’t called everyone to take all their worldly possessions and give them to the poor.  You need look no further than Job to understand that God desires to bless his children greatly.  God also created us to have fun.  He never intended for life to be dull and boring.  And somehow I think that the laughter of little children as they inquisitively run around looking for colorful eggs, warms the heart of God.

My point here is that we spend all of our time worrying about the less important questions rather than THE important question.  We can have all the holier-than-thou discussions in the world, (i.e. I am holier than you are because I don’t taint Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, with Santa Claus) but unless we have dealt with the MOST IMPORTANT question, we’ve become sidetracked and done ourselves a great disservice.

And what is the MOST IMPORTANT question you will ever deal with in your life?  It is “Who is the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to you?”

Because if he is who he said he was, and if he did what history has recorded he did, and if the eye-witness accounts are correct, he could make the greatest difference to you for all of eternity.

And of all the claims, of all the acts, of all the accounts recorded of Jesus Christ, the most important one to consider is of him having DIED on the Cross and then having Risen from the dead on the third day.

Why?  Because surly only God has the authority over life and death, and if he demonstrated such, then the claims he made must be true and real and that would indeed have the greatest impact on all people who ever have lived, who are alive today, and who ever will live.

The Bible claims that Jesus Christ died on the Cross (John 19:33-35).  The record clearly states that the Roman Soldiers found Jesus Christ to have been dead upon the Cross.  Their JOB was to see that the prisoners were executed.  No Roman Soldier would have risked their own life and reputation by not carrying out their duty.  Roman Soldiers carried out their duties loyally and upon pain of death.  There were witnesses standing around.  John himself records the fact that he was one of those witnesses.  There could have been no chance whatsoever of a cover up or a conspiracy.  The Roman Soldiers came to the Cross containing the body of Jesus Christ and found him to be dead.  And to confirm that fact to themselves, one of them took a spear and ran him through the side.  Blood and water came out, which most medical professionals acknowledge as a clear sign of death.  So the Roman Soldiers found him to be dead, and pierced his side with a spear to confirm that fact, which resulted in an observation that did confirm that fact for them, and the witnesses who saw this also agreed that Jesus Christ was indeed dead upon the Cross.

Now I realize there are those today who have analyzed this scenario to the extreme.  They have theories that Jesus Christ was not really dead, just near dead.  That he awoke within the tomb and that he was nurtured back to health and that he died later in life.  But all of those theories have one problem, they don’t match the historical record.  They are just theories that are grounded in what people want to believe and not what the facts and the eye witness accounts have to say.  If we are to go with what the historical record says, and what we know to be the facts, we are left to conclude unequivocally that Jesus Christ did indeed die on the Cross and that he was buried within the tomb.

But did Jesus Christ actually leave the tomb, of his own free will, alive and well?  Dr. Lon Solomon, Senior Pastor at McLean Bible Church in McLean, Virginia has taught somewhat extensively on this subject.  And in this sermon he examines the facts as determined from the historical record.  One is left to conclude that either YES, Jesus Christ did rise from the dead and leave the tomb as the historical account relates, or else the story is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon the human race.

The facts in the case are that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead.  He did fulfil prophesies that were statistically impossible to fulfil, and his claims of being the Son of God were, and are, true and accurate.  Jesus Christ is indeed, God in the flesh and the Savior to all mankind.

So we can sit around and argue about who is holier than whom on this Easter Sunday, debating on whether or not we should or should not allow our children to enjoy a few colorful eggs and some chocolate bunnies, OR we can deal with the Greatest Question of All Time – Who is Jesus Christ to Me?

My answer is: He is the Son of God, My Lord and my Savior, the most pivotal figure in all of history.  But you will have to answer that question for yourself.  I only pray that you give it the due consideration that it deserves.