Why Easter is Important to Christians

Contrary to what many people assume, belief in the Resurrection of Jesus is not based soley on faith. Instead, there are historical facts that support the belief that the Resurrection really occurred. Here are some that are generally accepted by historians as being true. The claim of Christianity is that the best explanation of these five facts is the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Many people consider Easter to simply be an annual holiday in March or April that marks the end of winter. Their celebration may include a long weekend off of work plus a few chocolate Easter eggs, but that's the extent of it. For others, though, Easter marks the most significant day in history and the basis of their faith.

Within Christianity, Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. While Christianity includes many teachings and practices, the central message is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, thus proving that he is God. Even within the pages of the Bible, the apostle Paul recognized that the Resurrection of Jesus is the core of Christianity. Paul went so far as to say that without the Resurrection, the Christian faith would be useless. (1 Corinthians 15.)

If it actually happened, the Resurrection of Jesus would be the fulfillment of prophecies written centuries earlier. It would also validate Jesus' own claims to divinity. And if Jesus truly is God, then he can do everything he claimed he could, including offering forgiveness for sins and granting eternal life to his followers.

Five primary facts lend credibility to a belief in the Resurrection. These historical facts, which are not statements of faith in themselves, are attested to by the majority of New Testament historians.

1. Jesus died by crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. The Romans employed professional executioners. There was no doubt that Jesus was indeed dead when his body was removed from the cross.
2. Jesus' body was buried in the tomb of a man known as Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus was not buried in an unmarked grave, the location of which could have been lost; he was buried at a specific location on property that belonged to someone who was well known.
3. Jesus' tomb was found to be empty by a group of his female followers. This is significant because the legal testimony of women at that time was not considered valid. The fact that the writers of Jesus' biographies included this fact supports its credibility. If it were not true, there would have been no motivation to attribute the discovery to women.
4. There were reports of appearances of Jesus following his execution. Hundreds of people reported seeing Jesus alive, both one-on-one and in groups. Their accounts described them talking with Jesus, eating with Jesus, and even touching him. This would rule out the possibilities of mistaken identity or hallucinations.
5. The witnesses defended the truthfulness of their accounts to the death. The ones who claimed to have seen Jesus alive were in a position to know whether their claim was the truth or a lie. It was not just a matter of faith; it was about what they had actually seen. It was a claim for which they willingly died and which resulted in the explosive growth of Christianity during the first century.

Christians maintain that the best explanation of these five historical facts is the Resurrection. While several other theories have attempted to explain individual facts, the Resurrection has the explanatory scope and explanatory power to explain all five facts fully and without contradiction.

Because of belief in the Resurrection and the facts upon which the belief is based, Christians do not consider Easter to be just another day. Instead, it is viewed as the day that Jesus rose from the dead and changed everything.