The Linchpin

"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." (1 Corinthians 15:14) Imagine a complicated machine held together by thousands of bolts and screws. You can remove a screw here or a bolt there, and the machine might rattle or shake, but it will still work.

But there is one specific pin—the Linchpin —that holds the main axle in place. If you pull that single pin out, the wheels fall off, the gears grind to a halt, and the entire machine collapses instantly.

For Christianity, the Resurrection of Jesus is the Linchpin. Christianity is not primarily a list of moral advice like "Be nice" or "Love your neighbor." If it were just advice, it wouldn't matter if Jesus were dead or alive.

Confucius is dead, Buddha is dead, and Muhammad is dead, yet their followers still read their books. But Christianity is different. It is a claim about a historical event. If Jesus stayed dead, He was a liar (because He promised to rise).

If He was a liar, He wasn't God. If He wasn't God, His death didn't pay for your sins. If your sins aren't paid for, you are still lost. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, if the Resurrection didn't happen, Christians are the most pathetic people on earth.

We are wasting our time. But if the Resurrection did happen, then everything changes. It means there is life after death. It means Jesus is who He claimed to be. It means God has invaded history. The entire faith stands or falls on the empty tomb.

(Tap to expand) Theologically, we don't believe in the Resurrection just because "the Bible tells me so." We believe it because it is the best explanation for the historical facts. Even skeptical historians agree on these "Minimal Facts" : Jesus died by crucifixion.

(This is historically undeniable). His disciples believed He rose. They were so convinced that they were willing to be tortured and killed for it. (Liars don't make good martyrs. People die for what they think is true, but nobody dies for what they know is a lie).

Paul (a skeptic) and James (a skeptic) converted. Paul was killing Christians; James (Jesus' brother) thought Jesus was crazy. Suddenly, they became leaders of the church. Why? They claimed to see the Risen Lord.

The Tomb was Empty. Even the enemies of Jesus admitted the body was gone (they accused the disciples of stealing it). If the Romans or Jews had the body, they would have just paraded it through the streets to kill the new religion immediately.

They didn't because they couldn't. Reflect on this: Be honest: Is your faith based on a warm feeling in your heart, or a fact in history? Feelings change; facts don't. How does it make you feel to know that your faith is built on evidence, not just wishful thinking?

👣 Take a Step You don't have to check your brain at the door to be a Christian. The Resurrection is a historical event with historical evidence. If the tomb is empty, the promise is full. Remind yourself today: "My Savior isn't a memory; He is a living Person."