The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead caught the world by surprise, even though Jesus Himself spoke of it specifically (Matthew 16:21).

The disciples of Jesus were huddled in fear after the crucifixion, and they responded in unbelief to the news of the resurrection: "They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (Luke 24:11). Jesus appeared to His followers and assured them that truly He was risen from the dead (Luke 24:36-40).

The Apostle Paul spoke of the importance of the resurrection to those who doubted the truth: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:17-20). Without the resurrection, Paul declared, your faith is futile.

The Jewish religious leaders of that day were Pharisees and Sadducees. They knew the law and the writings of the Old Testament. They were so zealous in their search for God that they imposed protective regulations that superseded the law of God just to keep people from breaking the law. Yet, in all of that, they missed Jesus. They rejected the resurrection.

All the piety and dedication of the Jewish religious leaders were useless in getting them one step closer to God, because the resurrection of Jesus Christ changed the approach to God. Before, it was the judicial, careful keeping of the law; but now it was through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection provided a big "shortcut" to God around all the religious ritual that had been dominant for so long.

Paul continued, "Those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost." Before he came to faith in Jesus Christ, Paul was Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of those who believed in Christ and the resurrection. He was instrumental in killing many Christians whose only guilt was standing for their belief in Christ.

Without the fact of the resurrection, Paul was saying those martyrs had died in vain. The resurrection power of Christ evident in the lives of those put to death in his presence for the sake of Christ (Acts 7:54-60) possibly convinced him that Jesus Christ truly was the Son of God and had been raised from the dead by the mighty power of God.

Paul closed his thought in 1 Corinthians 15:19 with this statement: "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

Jesus Christ was the Son of God and lived on the earth as the God-man, but in poverty and obscurity. He was largely rejected as being who He said He was. Jesus' followers copied His lifestyle of humble service. Following Christ brought persecution. Jews who followed Him were ostracized by their families and fellow Jews.

Paul was saying that if Christ died and stayed dead, then the ways of Christ would lead to nothing more than a life of privation and sacrifice, with nothing to show for it in the end.

Every other religious leader the world has known died and stayed dead. The followers of these other religions worship a burial shrine with the body of the leader still in the grave.

The followers of Christ worship One, Jesus, who is risen from the dead. His tomb is empty. He is not there.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. The followers of Christ worship the God who has the power to give them life after death, because Jesus Christ the Son of God was resurrected from the dead and lives forever (Revelation 1:18).