President Prevo’s Post: He is risen indeed!

As president of Liberty University, I am always thinking as a pastor about our students and the gospel, which is our first priority. This week is one of the most important weeks in all the world. It is the week that we celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most significant event in all history and the grounds of the Christian faith.

On that fateful Friday afternoon over 2,000 years ago, the sky darkened, the ground shook and the temple veil ripped in two. The Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross and cried out, “It is finished,” and breathed his last. Was this the end of Jesus of Nazareth?

The Word made flesh – slain. The promised Messiah — crucified. Had His entire ministry, preaching and miracles been for nothing?

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came to collect Jesus’ body. They wrapped him in clothes fit for a grave and laid him in a borrowed tomb. And as a stone was rolled across the entrance, the body of Jesus lay alone in total darkness. The disciples certainly must have felt that same darkness in their hearts. Had “the true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:9) been extinguished? Has death had its victory?

Lee Strobel wrote, “At first glance, Good Friday seems like the ultimate misnomer. If Jesus suffered and died on this day, then why is it called Good Friday?”

I’ll tell you why, and it is for two reasons.

First, we know that Jesus Christ was paying the penalty for our sins. Isaiah 53:5-6 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities,” and “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The wages of sin, after all, is death. Jesus died so that all who believe may have new life — and eternal life.

But if the story stopped on Friday, it wouldn’t be good.

And here is the second reason that we call it Good Friday. It is because Sunday came. And on Sunday, there was a glorious and victorious resurrection. That is Easter Day.

Paul reminds us how the twin pillars of the good news, the death and resurrection of Jesus, must always go together (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). He wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Jesus’ resurrection proved that all of his promises and all of his words were absolutely true. That includes everything he has ever said about himself and everything that he has ever said about us. He was the long-awaited Messiah who came to set his people free from sin. He is the Son of God and the risen Savior of the world. Because of this confidence in Jesus Christ, I know that all who trust in him will never be put to shame (Romans 10:11).

We can confidently proclaim that Friday is good because we know how the story ends. He is risen, indeed.

To the skeptic, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead might sound too good to be true. Even Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, did not believe it at first. But doubting Thomas saw Jesus’ hands and put his finger into his pierced side and exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). You can have confidence today that the grave is empty and that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

Josh McDowell, the author of “More Than a Carpenter,” reminds us, “Christ’s resurrection is as relevant today as it was in the first century – our present and eternal lives depend upon it. Easter happened. The resurrection is a historical and living reality that empowers us to live life full of meaning and purpose.”

My hope and prayer for Liberty students, faculty and staff is that we would go forth confidently with bold assurance that Jesus Christ, our first champion, had victory over sin and death; He conquered the grave. He is risen. He gives us eternal life. Anyone who will call upon the name of the Lord, who will turn away from their sin, will be saved for all eternity.

Have you made your decision for Christ? Reach out to a pastor, an LU shepherd or a Bible study leader and do it today.

Prevo is the President of Liberty University.