Commentaries & Sermons
J.C. Ryle on the Resurrection
J.C. Ryle (1816–1900) was an English Anglican bishop, evangelical churchman, and one of the most prolific and widely read Christian authors of the nineteenth century. His Expository Thoughts on the Gospels remain among the most valued devotional commentaries in the Reformed tradition, prized for their clarity, doctrinal precision, and pastoral warmth. Ryle wrote for ordinary readers — his aim was always to make Scripture plain and its truths felt.
Lines used in the track
It is the seal and headstone of the great work of redemption, which he came to do.
The Lord Jesus really 'rose again for our justification' (Rom 4:25).
Who is there to condemn? It is Christ who died, yea rather who is risen again!
Ryle's exposition moves from the necessity of the resurrection to its certainty and its comfort. The track 'He Rose Again' takes its doctrinal weight from this passage — the resurrection not as a footnote, but as the crowning proof that the debt has been paid and the victory won.
Full text
We need not wonder that so much importance is attached to our Lord's resurrection: it is the seal and headstone of the great work of redemption, which he came to do; it is the crowning proof that he has paid the debt which he undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle which he fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our Surety and our Substitution by our Father in heaven.
Had he never come forth from the prison of the grave, how could we ever have been sure that our ransom had been fully paid? Had he never risen from his conflict with the last enemy, how could we have felt confident that he has overcome death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil?
But thanks be unto God, we are not left in doubt: the Lord Jesus really "rose again for our justification" (Rom 4:25). True Christians are "begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3); they may boldly say with Paul, "who is there to condemn? It is Christ who died, yea rather who is risen again!" (Rom 8:34).
J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew