And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. –Matthew 28:5–6, KJV

Why do all four of the Gospel writers write about the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ with such clarity and completeness? The Old Testament sacrifices pointed to the coming of the Lamb of God. The prophets and Jesus Himself spoke about it often: Jesus, the Son of God, would come to satisfy the justice of God. Death was a necessity because the penalty for sin is death. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). A perfect and holy God took upon Him human flesh, the just for the unjust. “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again” (Matt. 20:18–19).

We see the heinousness of sin and the terrible price that needed to be paid. To die the death was not enough because the payment had to be approved and accepted. This required a resurrected Savior. Calvary’s cross is the place where sinners go to be cleansed from every sin. The empty tomb is the guarantee of His people’s eternal salvation. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3–5). All sorrow becomes joy as Jesus Christ has risen from the grave of sin for every one of His elect people. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:55–57).

This is the good news: Jesus is alive, and His word is to go into every part of the world bringing the tidings that sin has been put to death, and through His death He earned eternal life for the vilest sinner. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Have you sought this risen Savior and in your seeking been found of Him?

“The man who once has found abode within the secret place of God shall with Almighty God abide, and in His shadow safely hide”

(Psalter 248:1).

Mr. Cornelius VanKempen known as Case, has been married to Susan for fifty-eight blessed years. They attend and are members of Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, MI.