Easter Sunday 2026: The Resurrection Is Not a Myth – It Is the Engine of Our Hope – Fr. Ajayi

Akahi News presents the Easter Sunday message of Rev. Fr. Patrick Kunle Ajayi of St. Mary Pro-Cathedral Church, Ilesa. The readings for this glorious day are clear: Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 1:1-4; and John 20:1-9. And Fr. Ajayi has a direct message for every believer: Easter is not a metaphor. It is not a feel-good story. It is a celebration of the Risen Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer.

The readings today are vivid accounts of the Resurrection. As the Church celebrates this great mystery, Fr. Ajayi insists that she is bearing convincing witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as a fact of history. Not a fabrication of imagination planted in time. Not a legend that grew in the telling. A fact. As real as the ground beneath your feet.

Why the yearly celebration matters

Akahi News gathered that Fr. Ajayi explained the essence of the annual Easter celebration. It is not mere ritual repetition. It is a proclamation of the great event. And it is done to remind every age—including this age, including Nigeria in 2026—that the Resurrection is REAL.

Why is this emphasis necessary? Because doubt creeps in. Suffering wears down conviction. The long silence of unanswered prayers can make even the faithful whisper: Did anything really happen in that tomb? Fr. Ajayi’s answer is uncompromising: Yes. It happened. And because it happened, everything changes.

The profound implications for your hope

The reality of the Resurrection for the Christian faith has profound implications for our hope in Jesus Christ. Fr. Ajayi breaks it down simply. It means the object of our faith in Jesus Christ, as the Lord of life, is real. And all the promises He gives will be fulfilled.

Remember, Fr. Ajayi says, Jesus declared: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” He spoke those words before raising Lazarus. A dead man. Four days in the tomb. Already smelling of decay. And Jesus called him out. If He did it for Lazarus, and replicated it in His own life, what does that mean for you?

It means He will do it for us. If we keep faith.

Dead issues will receive life

In a simple way, Fr. Ajayi explains, by keeping faith with Him, everything in us will receive life. All dead issues on all our temporal and eternal concerns will be removed. That marriage you thought was beyond repair? That business that refused to rise? That health report that read like a death sentence? That child who has wandered too far?

Dead issues. But the Resurrection is God’s specialty. He does not rehabilitate corpses. He raises them.

Akahi News had earlier reported that many Nigerians are facing situations that feel like Good Friday—finished, hopeless, buried. But Easter Sunday says something different. It says the stone is rolled away. It says death does not have the final word. It says the tomb is empty so your life does not have to be.

A prayer and a charge

“This is our faith and what we hope for,” Fr. Ajayi declares. “And so it shall be for you and all yours. Amen.”

Then he adds a command, not a suggestion: RECEIVE THE HOLY JOY OF EASTER!

Not manufacture it. Not pretend it. Receive it. Because joy that comes from the Risen Lord is not dependent on circumstances. It is dependent on a grave that could not hold Him. And if it could not hold Him, it cannot hold your destiny.

Happy Easter Sunday, Nigeria. He is risen. Truly, He is risen.

Fact summary box:
– Speaker: Rev. Fr. Patrick Kunle Ajayi
– Parish: St. Mary Pro-Cathedral Church, Ilesa
– Readings: Acts 10:34,37-43; Colossians 1:1-4; John 20:1-9
– Core message: The Resurrection is a historical fact, not a fabrication
– Key promise: All dead issues (temporal and eternal) will receive life through faith
– Biblical anchor: “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Lazarus story)
– Final charge: Receive the holy joy of Easter
– Closing: He is risen