Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Impacts the World

Each January, there is a little giggle that comes over my catechism class when we get to Chapter 20 of Luther’s Small Catechism. In this chapter, which talks about the Exaltation of Christ, we come to the passage from 1 Corinthians 15:17, which says, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
My youth love to say the word “futile,” maybe because the word can be pronounced in two different ways. Futile means useless, ineffective, or incapable of producing any result. Paul uses this strong word to describe the circumstance of our faith without Christ’s resurrection—futile, worthless, even frivolous. No matter how you pronounce it, having a faith that is “futile” should stop you in your tracks and cause you to reflect on why Christ’s perfect life and innocent death are not enough. He also had to rise from the dead.
Jesus’ death and resurrection is the dividing point that impacts everyone in the world. Either a person believes in Jesus’ death and resurrection and one day will hear the words, “Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Or a person rejects Jesus’ death and resurrection and thinks that it is “futile” and will hear the words, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
At this point someone might ask, “Did Jesus really need to die?” The answer is, “Yes!” By His death, Jesus has suffered the punishment for my sins. Someone might also ask, “Was it really necessary for Jesus to rise from the dead?” Again the answer is “Yes!” The resurrection of Jesus assures me that He is the true Son of God who has fully atoned for my sins, that God has accepted this payment, and that He has declared me to be forgiven of my sins. Both actions, His death/sacrifice and His resurrection from the dead, are needed to ensure our salvation.
Recall how Jesus’ death impacted one of the centurions, who stood at the foot of the cross: “When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’” (Matthew 27:54).
Recall how Jesus’ death and resurrection impacted Saul. After he was baptized in the city of Damascus and began to believe in Jesus as his Savior, Scripture tells us, “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20).
Recall again today how Jesus’ death and resurrection has impacted you. If Jesus did not die, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, your sins have not been forgiven, and you are eternally condemned. But praise God that your faith is not “futile” and that Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!
Although He had told His disciples and even His enemies it would happen, Christ’s death and resurrection was perhaps the most startling event in history. Over two thousand years after it happened, it still provides comfort, hope, and joy to Christians.
Bernt Tweit is co-pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin.