Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Mark Driscoll: 6 Tips for a Powerful Easter Sermon

Mark Driscoll: 6 Tips for a Powerful Easter Sermon

* Genesis 22:13 and Hebrews 11:19 show how the story of Isaac is a type of the resurrection.
* 2 Samuel 7:7-16 contains the Davidic Covenant, which promises that Jesus will rule over an everlasting kingdom, and Romans 1:3-4 shows the fulfillment as God the Father anointed God the Son as Davidic king at his resurrection.
* Psalm 16:10 promises that Jesus would not be abandoned in the grave.
* Isaiah 26:19 promises that the dead will rise.
* Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the entire prophetic promise of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, with the resurrection emphasized in 53:10-12.
* Ezekiel 37:1-10 gives an illustration of the resurrection of the dead.
* Daniel 12:2 is one of the clearest Old Testament Scriptures on the bodily resurrection of believers and unbelievers.
* Hosea 13:14 speaks of resurrection victory over death and is quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.
* Jonah 1:17 and 2:10 and Matthew 12:40 speak of Jonah’s three days in the fish as a type of Jesus’ resurrection after three days in the grave.
* Matthew 9:18-26 records Jesus resuscitating a young girl from death (unlike resurrection, in which the risen never dies again, resuscitation is followed by a second physical death). This passage could be used to show how one day Jesus will also cause believers to rise from death, despite mockery from the world as Jesus experienced at that event.
* Matthew 11:1-6 records that, as evidence of his divinity for John the Baptizer, Jesus appealed to the fact that he could raise the dead.
* Matthew 12:38-40; Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34; and John 2:18-22 all reveal Jesus prophesying his resurrection in advance.
* Matthew 22:23; Luke 20:27; and Acts 23:8 all report that the Sadducees denied the resurrection in arguments with Jesus.
* Matthew 28:9 and John 20:17, 20-28 all report that Jesus rose physically from death, not just spiritually.
* Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all close with large sections reporting the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from death, and any of them, or portions from them, could make a good Easter sermon.
* Luke 14:12-14 is a parable Jesus told about the repayment that will come to the just at the resurrection.
* John 5:19-29 records Jesus teaching that we will stand before him for final judgment and rise for eternal life or eternal death.
* John 11:1-44 records the death of Lazarus and Jesus resuscitating him from death. Jesus also declares himself to be the resurrection and the life who can also raise us from death.
* Twelve of the twenty-eight chapters in the book of Acts report that the continual refrain of the preaching in the early church was that Jesus had risen from death, and all or some of these sermon snippets could make a good Easter sermon.
* Acts 9 reports the dramatic conversion of Saul—who had overseen the murder of the early church deacon Stephen—when he was confronted with the risen Jesus.
* Acts 17:32, 23:6, and 24:11-15 report how belief in the resurrection can result in mockery and persecution.
* Romans 4:25 connects Jesus’ resurrection and our justification.
* Romans 6:5 says that we are united with Jesus by his resurrection.
* Romans 8:1-11 speaks of the new power we have, through the Holy Spirit, to say no to sin and yes to God because of Jesus’ resurrection.
* Romans 8:11 and 2 Corinthians 5:15 say that believers have the same power as Jesus did for his resurrection through God the Holy Spirit.
* Romans 10:5-13 speaks of how to be saved through Jesus’ resurrection.
* Romans 14:8-12 describes how Jesus is Lord of the dead and the living because he was dead and is now alive.
* 1 Corinthians 15 is arguably the most comprehensive treatment of resurrection in all of Scripture. While one sermon on the entire chapter would likely be impossible, there are innumerable options that could be emphasized in an Easter sermon.
* 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 teaches about the state between death and resurrection as well as the kind of body we will have after resurrection.
* In Galatians 1:1-2, Paul declares that the resurrected Jesus Christ gave Paul his apostolic authority.
* Ephesians 2:1-10 explains how we are dead in sin but made alive in Christ through his resurrection.
* In Philippians 3:1-11, Paul teaches that the resurrection is infinitely better than religion.
* Colossians 1:15-20 speaks of the preeminence of the risen Jesus over every created thing.
* Colossians 2:6-15 and 3:1 say that we have been raised with Christ.
* 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 encourages Christians to wait patiently for the second coming of the risen Jesus.
* 1 Thessalonians 4:16 teaches us that at the second coming of Jesus Christ, the dead in Christ will rise like him to be with him.
* 2 Timothy 2:1-13 reveals Paul using the resurrection of Jesus Christ as motivation for a life of faithful ministry in the midst of suffering and trial.
* 2 Timothy 2:17-18 actually names false teachers who denied the resurrection, and Paul declares them to be heretics for doing so.
* Hebrews 6:1-2 lists the doctrine of the resurrection among the most elemental and essential of Christian truths to learn.
* Hebrews 13:20-21 reminds us that the same God who raised Jesus from death is faithful to keep his promises to his people as well.
* 1 Peter 1:3-9 speaks of the inheritance that Jesus has purchased for us through his resurrection and how our suffering in this life reminds us of him until we rise in his kingdom.
* 1 Peter 3:21-22 and Romans 6:5 explain how the Christian act of baptism shows us the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, which cleanses us from sin.
* 1 John 3:2 says that a Christian’s resurrection body will be like Jesus’ risen body.
* Revelation 1:17-18 reveals Jesus as the Alpha and Omega who was dead and is now alive.

Lastly, the ninth chapter of the book Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe may be of some help to those who preach or teach or simply want to study the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In that chapter, called “Resurrection: God Saves,” my co-author Dr. Gerry Breshears and I answer the following questions in an easy-to-read, succinct fashion:

* What Is Resurrection?
* What Were Ancient Non-Christian Views of the Afterlife?
* What Is the Biblical Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection?
* What Is the Circumstantial Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection?
* What Is the Historical Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection?
* What Are the Primary Ancient Objections to Jesus’ Resurrection?
* What Has the Resurrection Accomplished for Christians?