We read in Scripture, how Jesus was to be betrayed, condemned to death, delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged, and crucified; but we note that all the gloom of that dreaded tragedy is removed by the few words with which our Lord ended the verse: "And the third day he shall rise again." Yes, the blaze of resurrection lights up the whole length of the Valley of the Shadow, doesn’t it. His death wears no dishonor on its brow, for his rising again has set a diadem thereon. We can celebrate Gethsemane and Calvary, and find no bitterness in all their grief, because death is swallowed up in the victory of resurrection. The whole earthly life of Jesus with its poverty, its slander, its sorrow, its scourging, its spitting, its crucifixion, is raised above all trace of dishonor by his glorious resurrection.

Jesus was "delivered for our offenses," but "he was raised again for our justification." In this we were vindicated, we were excused. He took away our sins and cleansed us with his own blood, and then presented us to God holy, without fault. Justification and acceptation are one. For without justification there is no acceptation. And seeing we are accepted in Christ, we are justified in Him. .In death he discharged our debt: in resurrection he exhibited the receipt of all our liabilities.

Our Lord has risen, and therefore we shall rise in the day of his next appearing. At the sound of the trump we shall be called up to meet him in the air, and there we shall forever be with our Lord. Yes, the Savior leads the way, and behind this mighty champion the whole company of his redeemed pass through the portals of the tomb in the power of his resurrection. The stone is rolled away for them as well as for him. They cannot be held by the bonds of death, for he could not be detained by it. What a glory there is in our Lord's resurrection, when we further remember that he ever lives to make intercession for us, and, therefore, he is able to save those to the uttermost who come unto God by him! The fullness of salvation comes to us because Christ has risen from the dead, and is now making intercession for transgressors. O my, O my, the resurrection of Jesus is bright as the sun with glory! Faith in it thrills our hearts. When we say one to another, "The Lord is risen", we feel like doing it with singing, don’t we, for now we know that our faith is not vain, we are not in our sins, and those who have fallen asleep have not perished, have they?