Part 3: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
You are at the graveside of a loved one; the casket is lowered into the ground; the grief is intense, and the sorrow is beyond words. Everything seems lost and hopeless, except for one thing – Jesus rose from the grave. And because He rose from the grave and is alive today, it gives us great hope. The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith.
We have just celebrated Easter a couple days ago, and it was a time of great joy and reflection on the One who brought such great hope to all of humanity. If you were able to celebrate, I trust you did so with a grateful heart and with the assurance that the Easter account is true; not just historically and theologically but because you have experienced it for yourself.
You see, we who were dead in our sins, were made alive through the risen Christ. And even though the primary design of the Gospels is for us to believe in this Messiah and to become His follower, we need to explore the Gospel accounts in order that we may not just believe, but gain greater understanding. So, during this Season, I encourage you to delve into the Scripture to gain a greater understanding of what Jesus has done for us.
As St. Augustine and others after him have rightly asserted, faith of necessity seeks greater understanding. He said; “Credo Ut Intelligam,” which means: “I believe that I might understand, and understand that I might believe.”
It must have been devastatingly dark for the disciples on Holy Saturday. Earlier, in the Garden of Gethsemane, “All the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matt. 26:56).
Each disciple was likely absorbed in his own grief, bewildered and afraid. It must have seemed like evil had won and that God was horrifyingly absent.
Jesus had warned them about these things many times, but the disciples hadn’t comprehended all His words. In their sorrow on that Saturday, did they remember the unchanging and faithful character of God? Probably not.
It is easy to lose sight of those things in the midst of grief. I know what it is to be absorbed in one’s own grief. Over a period of less than 2 years, one of my sisters died, then my brother (the last living brother) then came my brother-in-law, four months later.
In my sorrow, I felt utterly alone, not because I am the last surviving son; But because of grief. I had lost sight of what Jesus says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
I wanted to make sense of what God was doing, but I couldn’t. My story was still and is still unfolding. So is your story that God is still writing.
On Holy Saturday, the disciples were also in the middle of a story. On that day, everything looked hopelessly lost. They didn’t know or understand that the very next day, God would bring about the greatest, most spectacular event in history. Jesus would rise from the dead, just as He said.
The true message of Easter is that there is a world to come beyond death, where our greatest potential will be fulfilled and where we will be united with loved ones. Since we have entrusted our lives to the Christ, God will raise us one day from the dead. He will not only make us new, but He will also renew this earth.
I want you to consider this truth: No night, regardless of how dark, has never survived a sunrise. So, let the Son rise in your heart today! Happy Easter!
