Eight Quotes on the Resurrection
Minister’s Letter – 21 April 2022
The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection
Eugène Burnand, 1898, Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Friends, here are eight quotes on the resurrection following Easter!
John Stott:
“We live and die; Christ died and lived!”
Peter Kreeft:
“Why would the apostles lie? Liars always lie for selfish reasons. If they lied, what was their motive, what did they get out of it? What they got out of it was misunderstanding, rejection, persecution, torture, and martyrdom. Hardly a list of perks!”
Joni Eareckson Tada (over 50 years a quadriplegic):
"The best part of the story of Jesus, you gotta agree, is the resurrection. Because up until the resurrection, everything’s hard; for Jesus, there was misunderstanding and betrayal; disappointments and pain and suffering. So much rejection and doubt. People just didn’t understand Him; they didn’t get it, even when He was impaled on a cross. No one understood the story of Jesus until after the resurrection. Then, the light that had dawned, dazzled with hope and joy. You can be happy because of the resurrection. You can have hope, because of it too."
Martin Luther:
“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”
J.C. Ryle:
“The resurrection of Christ is one of the foundation-stones of Christianity. It was the seal of the great work that He came on earth to do. It was the crowning proof that the ransom He paid for sinners was accepted, the atonement for sin accomplished, the head of him who had the power of death bruised, and the victory won.”
Tim Keller:
“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”
J.I. Packer:
“Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God’s own commitment, that the best is yet to come.”
C.S. Lewis:
“The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits,’ the pioneer of life,’ He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so.”
In Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney
(with thanks to Steve Kryger at CommunicateJesus for the idea.)