Easter is about Jesus’ resurrection. But is it asking too much of people today to believe in his actual bodily resurrection? After all, seeing is believing, which explains Thomas’ doubt when the rest of the disciples claimed to have met Jesus after his death and burial. One week later Thomas had the same experience and Jesus responded: “You have seen, so now you believe. Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.” Too much?

I read this week that 25% of British Christians don't believe in the resurrection. As a young man I too had questions and was helped by a book entitled “Who Moved the Stone?” Still available on Amazon, the intro blurb reads: “The classic text on examining the evidence for the Resurrection. Convinced that the story wasn't true, Frank Morison started to write about Jesus' last days.” As he studied the evidence, it changed his life. The Amazon text surprisingly ends: “Will you let it change yours?”

The evidence certainly changed Charles Colson’s life. He of Watergate crime fame wrote: “I know the resurrection is a fact and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead. Then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one of them was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

In fact the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. It gives power beyond our own to live in the present and hope for the future. John Calvin declared “He has fully profited in the gospel, who has accustomed himself to continual meditation upon the blessed resurrection.” The resurrection is the place to begin to find a satisfying faith on which to build for life - and beyond.