IF YOU BELIEVE THAT CHRIST DIED, YOU BELIEVE IN HIS RESURRECTION

The Christian life is meaningless unless you believe in the reason for Jesus dying on the Cross. We hear people say “Christ is my Savior,” “Christ died for us,” etc. But the question is, do we really believe it? Do we understand what this means?

St. Paul became a great Apostle, although he did not believe in Jesus at first, when he had his encounter with Him at which point his life was completely transformed. And from then on, St. Paul spread the Faith among the gentiles, people other than the Jews. St. Paul was a great teacher of the Jewish law, but when he understood why Jesus died and Resurrected, he made the decision to give his own life for the Love of Jesus.

In the first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reveals something extremely powerful. For in this passage, we find the treasure that contains the Truth of the Word, “for I handed on to you what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that He was buried and He raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4).

Here, St. Paul describes the importance of what the Holy Scriptures proclaim. Even in the early days of the Christian communities, some doubted the Resurrection; So, St. Paul encouraged them in a totally clear way, ”now if we claim that Jesus is raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no Resurrection of the dead? If there is no Resurrection of the dead, then Christ did not raise; and if Christ did not raise, our proclamation is empty and your Faith is also empty. We are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your Faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Now, Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the Resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man. (1 Cor 15: 12-21)

From the above text, we see that some did not believe in the Resurrection of the dead and without the Resurrection, our Faith is in vain. For me, these words confirmed the reason why Jesus came into the world and performed His mission. Jesus agreed to Sacrifice His life out of Love for sinners, so that they might be Forgiven through His shed Blood; in the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were offered to ask God for forgiveness. These animals were the victims, because it was the sinners who really deserved to die. But this was part of the rite of the Jewish law that Jesus fulfilled for us.

When Jesus met John the Baptist, He exclaimed “behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). And so, it was announced that Jesus would be the offering to God for the Forgiveness of our sins. No animal would be sacrificed but the Son of God Himself, the Divine Lamb instead. So, Jesus’ Death is the supreme act of Love and Mercy of God, who opens the Gates of Heaven to us by His Death conditioned upon our acceptance and repentance; these are the treasured Truths that St. Paul describes to us in Corinthians.

The Resurrection of Jesus is the paramount demonstration of God’s Love for humanity that death is not the end of the human being, but a step towards another Life. In the end, we will get to one of two places, Heaven or hell. The Sacred Scripture tells us “for God so Loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have Eternal Life.” (Jn 3:16) This is the reason Jesus came so that you and I do not end up in hell but Resurrect like Christ and live with Him forever.

The Resurrection of Jesus was paramount for even for the Apostles who were amazed when Jesus conquered death. Once they understood this truth, they gave their lives completely to Jesus’ Mission. St. Paul was never afraid to die, because he knew that death was not the end. Thus, his earthly life ended but he reached Heaven through his Faith and Love of Jesus. Therefore, as Catholics, we must know the Holy Scriptures in order to understand Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. St. Paul is the only one who mentions that, after rising from the dead, Jesus was seen by more than 500 people; not only the Apostles but many ordinary persons like you and I, which is clear proof that He conquered Death. St. Peter tells us “for you have been called to Freedom, brothers. But do not use this Freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through Love. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. But through Love you must limit your desires for the flesh, so that you have not in practice sin against the flesh. For whoever does not Love his brother whom he has seen, cannot Love God whom he has not seen. (1 Peter 1:18-19) Those who understand this mindset are prepared to experience more deeply the events of Holy Week and the great celebration of Easter Sunday, the triumphant Resurrection of Christ, our Lord and Savior. Before dying, Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though He dies, yet shall he Live.” (Jn 11:25) For this reason, I have dedicated my life to proclaiming the Good News of the Resurrection, so that no soul is lost but rather all are saved. This is ESNE’s mission and the reason we are here.

This month we celebrate the 41st anniversary of El Sembrador. We are deeply grateful to God for all that we have received through the Church and each of you who have placed your trust in the proclamation of Jesus’ Mission over the years; seeing ESNE as a Work of God. Thank you for your continued support.

In gratitude for your support I invite you to Consecrate yourselves to Jesus through the I Am the 73rd Project, a unique 33-day experience of encountering Jesus through the Holy Scriptures and becoming His 73rd disciple. For more information, please contact us in the USA at: (818) 912-5842. By email: info@iam73.net and one of our brothers and sister will assist and guide you on this unique path of discipleship.

I entrust each of you and your loved ones to the maternal care of Mary Most Holy, and I ask her Son Jesus Christ to always sustain us in His Grace so that we may attain the Crown of Salvation available to each one of you.

Your friend in Christ,