What gave the early church such power? There is only one answer: Their Lord, whom they had seen die on a Roman cross and be buried, was alive again, and they had seen Him. This gave them the power they needed to walk the earth with grace and fearlessness – even in the presence of death – to preach the Word of God in its purity.
No wonder the apostle Paul concluded his great resurrection chapter with these words, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (I Corinthians 15:58). Christ, whom the Roman authorities had crucified, was not dead! In fact, He was very much alive! And they were alive in Him! Alleluia!
Put yourself in the sandals of the disciples. Suppose you had spent three years traveling with the greatest teacher who ever lived. Suppose you had listened to His words, saw Him perform miracles, watched His every act, and knew Him intimately. This is how you would likely tell the story:
“Jesus tried to prepare us, but how could we be prepared for all that we have had to face? Then He was crucified. We saw Him on the cross. We saw the Roman Centurion drive the nails through His hands and feet and thrust the spear into His side. We saw His limp body taken down from the cross and buried in the sepulcher. We saw the stone rolled into place. With tears streaming down our faces we departed. He is gone forever! We will never see Him again!
“At this point we went into hiding. Under the same circumstances you would have done the same. It seems cowardly now, but don’t forget, the Jewish leaders were out to break up this new religious movement, and it was entirely possible that they would be looking for us next. That is why we hid. In our hiding place we cried and talked, each recalling some special occasion in the life of Him whom John the Baptist had called ‘The Lamb of God.’ The dawn that had seemed so bright had faded into the darkness of night.
“When Easter morning came with its startling news that His tomb was empty, we didn’t know what to think. Finding it hard to believe, we immediately went to see for ourselves. We saw that His grave clothes were neatly folded. Not knowing what this meant, we shook our heads in wonderment. We questioned the gardener and all others in the neighborhood. Finally, we looked at the women, and especially at Mary, and said, ‘It is too bad! Some prankster must have come to take His body away.’
“When the evening came we sat down to our meal. Our hearts were heavy and our minds were clouded by the dark grief that hung over us and filled us with indescribable sorrow. So many dreams had come crashing down between our feet. Then, suddenly, we heard a voice, ‘Peace be unto you,’ and there He was! Jesus was standing in our midst! Had you been there, you would not have slept very well that night. Like us, you would have asked yourself, ‘Did we really see Him? Or was it just a dream?’ No, it was not a dream! He was there! We touched the nail prints in His hand! After that He came again, and again and again – not just to us, but to many others as well.”
Having imagined ourselves there, let us go back to our initial question: “Why did the early church have such power?” And how can churches today have the power of God poured out upon them? An empty grave explains it all! Christ is alive! We serve a risen living Lord! One day He is coming again to earth to claim His bride, the church.
The Paper Pulpit 
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