There’s a line in Ecclesiastes that says, “God has set eternity in the human heart.” And we feel it.
“Not just Christian hearts - human hearts. We all carry a longing to persist, to continue, to really live.”
This is why death feels wrong. Why suffering shakes us. We were made for life.
But the radical claim of Easter is this: Jesus didn’t just die - He rose. And not metaphorically. Physically.
“Jesus’s bodily resurrection matters because it tells us that, for followers of Jesus, physical bodily resurrection is coming.”
Christianity doesn’t reject the body like ancient Gnosticism or Greek philosophy. It embraces it. Jesus showed Thomas His wounds. And Christians believe we too will rise - not as floating spirits, but in renewed physical bodies.
“My friend, who is dying of cancer, takes deep comfort in this. She knows resurrection is coming. She knows her broken body is not the end of the story.”
The resurrection isn’t just about individual hope. It’s cosmic. Creation itself is groaning, Paul writes. But Easter is the hinge point of history - the promise that one day, all things will be made new.
“That’s where the story is headed. Jesus rose so that God’s good new world could come to fruition.”
This is why I believe Jesus really rose. Because only resurrection makes sense of our longing. Only resurrection makes hope truly real.
Jay Y. Kim is the lead pastor at WestGate Church in San Jose, California, and author of Analog Church, Analog Christian and Listen, Listen, Speak.
Read more: Explore more reflections on faith, life, and eternity at Premier Unbelievable or listen to full episodes of Unapologetic wherever you get your podcasts
