what the resurrection means to me
The resurrection.
Like the first green shoots of spring, after a long winter.
Or maybe like the caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
No.
None of these.
Because that is what we expect.
After all, green shoots come every year.
The resurrection was unexpected.
Totally and utterly.
For that first small group of Jesus followers, Easter Saturday was the end.
Jesus was dead.
End of story.
Full stop.
Despair. Disillusion. Defeat.
The resurrection came as a shock.
Totally and utterly.
Terror and amazement.
Fear, and great joy.
Disbelieving, and still wondering.
But as the truth hit home – and as they encountered the risen Christ –
they were transformed.
Totally and utterly.
That’s what resurrection does.
“If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion
and you are still lost in your sins.”
But ....
“The truth is that Christ has been raised from death.”
Thus our faith is not a delusion.
We are a forgiven people.
“Because I live, you also will live” said Jesus.
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.”
The resurrection is not just about what happened to
the Crucified One then.
It’s also about what happens now to each person who places their trust
in the Risen One.
The resurrection is not simply an assurance that Jesus was
victorious over death.
It’s also a promise that we can share in that victory.
Today.
“Where, O Death, is your victory ?
Where, O death, is your sting ?”
The resurrection means life beyond the grave.
The resurrection also means life before the grave.
You see, it doesn’t only mean that Jesus was triumphant over evil.
It assures us that evil will not ultimately be triumphant in our own lives.
The resurrection means new hope.
The resurrection means new power.
The resurrection means transformed lives.
Then, and now.
The resurrection of the One who was dead means life.
Jean Vianney said this of that first Easter Day :
“Today one grave is open, and from it has risen a sun which will
never be obscured, which will never set.
A sun which bestows new life.”
Sydney Carter put it this way, in a song we know as Lord of the Dance :
“They cut me down and I leap up high
I am the life that’ll never, never die
I’ll live in you, as you live in me
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He.
Dance then, wherever you may be.
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He.
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He.
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