For some, Easter is painted eggs and candy and a rabbit. For Christians, it is something else entirely. Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ—the single most important event in His earthly ministry, and arguably the most important event in human history. Paul did not mince words in 1 Corinthians 15:17: “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity.
So let’s take a careful look at what actually happened on that first Easter morning.
The Days Leading Up
A week before, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the cries of a crowd that expected an earthly king. During that week, He taught, He confronted the Jewish leaders, and He sharpened their determination to kill Him. On Thursday, He ate the Passover with the Twelve and announced that one of them would betray Him. That night, after prayer in Gethsemane, Judas delivered Him to the mob. By Friday morning, the Jewish leadership had taken Him to Pilate. By Friday afternoon, He was hanging on a cross. By Friday evening, He was in a borrowed tomb.
The Burial
John 19 tells us that Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple and member of the Sanhedrin, asked Pilate for the body. Nicodemus—another high-ranking Jewish leader who had once come to Jesus by night—joined him, bringing about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes. They wrapped the body in linen with the spices, as was the Jewish custom, and laid Him in a new tomb in a nearby garden. It was a hurried burial. The Sabbath was beginning, and the women from Galilee who watched could tell the preparation was incomplete. They went home to prepare more spices for when the Sabbath was over.
A great stone was rolled across the entrance. Roman soldiers were stationed to guard it.
Sunday Morning: The Empty Tomb
Very early on the first day of the week, several women made their way toward the tomb with spices in hand. Mark 16 names Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke 24 adds Joanna and “others.” Mary Magdalene was the disciple out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons. Salome was the mother of James and John. Joanna was the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza. These were women who loved Him and who had supported His ministry with their substance.
On the way, they asked each other the obvious question: “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” It was massive. Immovable by hand. And yet when they arrived, the stone was already rolled away. Angels were there. And Jesus was gone.
The Witnesses
What follows in the Gospels is a rush of appearances and reactions:
- Mary Magdalene runs to tell Peter and John that the body has been taken.
- Peter and John race to the tomb and find the linen wrappings lying empty.
- Mary returns to the tomb and meets the risen Jesus, who first calls her by name.
- The other women encounter Jesus on their way back and worship Him.
- Two disciples on the road to Emmaus walk miles with Him before recognizing Him in the breaking of bread.
- The apostles see Him that evening, hidden behind locked doors.
By the end of Easter Sunday, the resurrection has been witnessed by women, fishermen, skeptics, and tax collectors alike. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. The Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled. The trail of blood that ran from Genesis to Calvary has ended—not in death, but in victory.
Why It Matters
The resurrection is the linchpin of our faith. It proves that Jesus is who He said He is. It proves that sin and death do not have the final word. It proves that the forgiveness He offers is real and the hope He gives is secure. Without Sunday morning, the cross is a tragedy. With it, the cross is a triumph.
A Call to Respond
If Jesus really walked out of that tomb, then everything He said is true—and everything He asks of us is worth giving. Have you responded to Him? Have you been baptized into His death and raised to walk in newness of life? The tomb is empty. The invitation is open. Come to the risen Savior.