What Does the Resurrection Mean to Me?

I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.
—John 14:6

Another piece of evidence for the resurrection is the empty tomb.

This month, we have been answering some of the most important questions people have about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And perhaps the most important question of all about the resurrection is this: What does the resurrection mean to me? What does the resurrection really mean to you and to me today?

Not long ago, I was on a national cable news show. They asked me to share with their worldwide audience about the real meaning of Easter. It was funny, though. They had told me we were going to talk about Easter—but when I got there I heard them say in my earpiece, “Coming up, Dr. Robert Jeffress is going to do an analysis of the pope’s speech today in the Vatican.” They wanted to talk about the pope’s speech, but I wanted to talk about Easter. So no matter how much they tried to insert the pope into that interview, I kept talking about the real meaning of Easter. I realized that there were going to be people at home on Easter Sunday morning, and many of them are not believers. I had only a couple of minutes to share with this audience the meaning of Easter, so I tried to boil it down in a succinct way.

First of all, the empty tomb authenticates the truth of the Bible. It means what the Bible says is true.

Second, the empty tomb authenticates Jesus’ claims that He was who He said he was. Romans 1:4 says, “He was declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead.” You see, anybody can go around saying, “Oh, I’m the Son of God.” In fact, lots of people did that in Jesus’ day. They claimed to be the Messiah. Anybody can walk around saying, “Look at me! I’m the Son of God.” But the way we know Jesus actually was the Son of God was by His resurrection from the dead. Because Jesus truly is the Son of God it means we can, we must believe everything else He said.

Third, because Jesus is who He said He was—the Son of God—then that means He was telling the truth when He said there is a heaven but there is also a hell where there will be weeping and a gnashing of teeth. It means He was telling the truth when He said, “Whosoever believes in [Me] will not perish but will have eternal life” (John 3:16). The resurrection means that Jesus was telling the truth when He said there is only one way to God. There are not many religions that all lead to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).

The resurrection authenticates the truth of the Bible, especially the claims of Jesus Christ.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Simple Answers to Sincere Questions,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.