We know the Easter story – the empty tomb, the confused disciples, the resurrected Christ. It’s a story of triumph and joy. What we sometimes struggle to grasp is the significance of Jesus’ resurrection. How did Jesus understand His resurrection from the grave? What did the apostles say about it? And what does it mean for us today?
Here are five biblical texts that outline what the Easter story meant to Jesus and what it means for every believer in His resurrection. 
Luke 24:6-7: “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Jesus’ death and resurrection didn’t take Him by surprise. Rather, He willingly left heaven for this very purpose in order to secure salvation for His people. The women who had come to look for Him were surprised, though. They didn’t comprehend how their Messiah could die, and they certainly weren’t expecting Him to come back to life. Upon arriving at the tomb, the angels had to explain to them that He was no longer there.
But just a few chapters earlier, Jesus foretold of His death and resurrection as the fulfillment of the prophecies (Luke 18:31). His use of the word “must” tells us that Jesus viewed His death as absolutely essential. He knew beforehand that he would suffer, but He chose to proceed because He loved us. He knew He would die a horrendous death, but He accepted it for our sake. And He knew that He would rise from the dead to secure victory over sin. 
First Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The resurrection gives us living hope. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. As sinners, the just punishment we deserve is an eternity separated from God in hell. But God had great mercy on us. He chose not to give us what we deserved. Rather, He accepted the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. Jesus had taken all our sins upon Himself. He received the wrath of God in our place. And then He rose from the dead! 
Those of us who trust in Jesus’ sacrifice have been spiritually reborn. Our old ways no longer define us. But we have been made new. And this brings us immense hope because we now share in the resurrection promise. Lust and anger and deceit no longer have power over us. We are no longer bound by the chains of immorality. But rather, we get to take part in Jesus’ victory over sin. Because of the resurrection, we live in freedom!
Romans 8:34: Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Jesus cares for us in His resurrected state. He died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God in all of His glory. He is no longer lowly, for He has ascended to His throne. He has angels at His service, and He continues His work of sustaining the whole world. But even with all of this going on, He didn’t forget about us.
Jesus continually has us on His mind. He didn’t secure our salvation and then leave us to make it through life on our own. Rather, He continually intercedes for us to the Father. He is our perfect Mediator. He understands our struggles and temptations, and He knows that we are weak. Satan tries to accuse us, mock us, and drag us into hell with him. But Jesus pleads our case to the Father both constantly and perfectly. He is our great Advocate, and His resurrection power makes the accusations of the enemy null and void.
Romans 6:8-11: Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus’ resurrection made life with God possible. Without Jesus, we are dead in our sins and transgressions. We have no hope of living a life that is pleasing to God. But when we surrender our lives to Him, we become co-participants in His new life. We leave our sinful passions behind, and we pursue holiness. Jesus took our sins upon Himself at the cross. And His resurrection took away all of the power they had over us.
Now, we are able to say that our old sin natures have died, never to be resurrected again. We are no longer helplessly trapped in the snares of the devil. But we are free to battle against sin. We are alive in God because of the work that Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. And we have been given life in abundance for the glory of God. Jesus’ resurrection made restored relationship with the Father possible. 
First Corinthians 6:14: And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
We get to share in the resurrection. One day death will come knocking at our door. We dread it and try to prolong it, yet we know that it is inevitable. It doesn’t matter that everyone who has come before us has faced it. Death is unnatural and scary. But because of Jesus’ resurrection, we get to rest in the promise that we, too, will rise!
God will raise us just like He raised His Son. The resurrection is what makes the good news of the gospel so good. God will resurrect us into new life. And on that day, we will no longer have the stain of sin. No longer will there be any separation between God and us. No longer will we face any suffering or hardship. No longer will we shed any tears. But we will live in the presence of the Lord for all eternity.