Death is Swallowed Up in Victory

This morning my husband said that if Christ has not been raised than what we are doing (gathering on a Sunday morning for worship) is a big waste of our time. If Christ didn't rise from the dead we should all just go home and enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon, rather than rise early to be with God's people in worship. But as our other pastor so helpfully reminded us this morning, Christ did rise from the dead. He did exactly what he said he would do on that third day in the tomb. He got up, effectively conquering death once and for all.

I still remember the year that this really hit home for me. It was only two years ago. Even though I had been a believer for a number of years I had never faced an Easter where the hope of the resurrection carried so much power in my own life. My grandpa had passed away a couple of months earlier and I remember barely being able to get through "I Stand Amazed" without weeping. Prior to my grandpa's death the hope of the resurrection, while a crucial aspect of my faith in Christ, was only something I read about and talked about in general terms. This time it was real. It was my hope, that even though my grandpa died and was returning to dust, because of his trust in Christ I would see him again.

And then we lost our baby a few months later. In seven months time my understanding of the resurrection, and Jesus' conquering of death, went from paying lip service on Easter to a precious promise in dark moments of grief. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, than surely I (a grieving mom) should be most pitied. But he did rise. And the truth of his resurrection is the proof that my baby will one day rise as well. What a precious, precious promise.

As we've walked through more death, more sorrow, and more suffering in these past couple of years all that Jesus accomplished on the Cross and in his resurrection means more to me than ever. My tears, my loss, my pain, and most importantly, my sin will not have the last word in my life. Yes, Jesus overcame sin and death, but he also secured the hope of a brighter future. Colossians 1:18 says: "He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." His resurrection is the beginning of the new creation promised to us. By trusting in him, we are trusting that one day all will be made right. And oh, what a day that will be.

As we ate with friends this afternoon, I told everyone that I really think Easter Sunday should be our greatest time of feasting. For those of us in Christ, it's a celebration. It's an expectant anticipation that what we are celebrating now is only a glimpse of the glory that will one day be revealed. And I don't know about you, but I can't wait for that day. The resurrection is the stamp of certainty that all of God's promises are true, right, and good.

"Jesus has overcome, and the grave is overwhelmed. The victory is won. Christ is risen from the dead. And I will rise when he calls my name. No more sorrow. No more pain. I will rise on eagle's wings. Before my God, fall on my knees and rise!"

He is risen. He is risen, indeed. Hallelujah!

By His Wounds We Are Healed

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors. --Isaiah 53

This is all I can think about today. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. God laid on him the iniquity of us all. And by his wounds we are healed. It is a good Friday.

Resurrection Day Reflections

It’s easy on this side of the resurrection to look at the disbelief among those who followed Christ and think, “how could they miss it?” I mean, they had all they needed, Jesus, the very Son of God, told them that he was the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophesy. And yet, it took them a little while to come around.

In Luke 24:1-12, the two men who appeared to Mary the mother of James and Mary Magdalene had to remind them: “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of God and must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered his words.”

I find their delayed memory very comforting. How often do I, having heard the promises of God, live in unbelief that he will really do what he says he will. The women in this passage really aren’t that different than me. This was a serious trial for them. Their leader was dead. They watched him die. And in this moment, when he is suddenly not in his tomb, they needed a jolt in their memory.

We aren’t that different really. In the moment of trial and tragedy it is easy in our sorrow to forget that God has promised to always work for our good (Romans 8:28). That is one of the many things the resurrection accomplishes for us—to complete what was promised and provide hope for our futures.

One of the blessings of having God’s word is knowing that the struggles of believers back then are no different than the struggles we face today. The women outside Jesus’ tomb needed to be reminded of God’s promises, as we do today. But praise God that the faithfulness and reliability of God’s word is not contingent on whether I believe in those promises in every moment.

Let us believe and proclaim with our sisters who have come before us. He has risen! He has risen indeed. He has and will accomplish all that was promised. This is hopeful news.

Thoughts on Celebrating Easter

Earlier this week I mentioned to Daniel that I didn’t feel like I had prepared my heart to celebrate the Resurrection this coming Sunday. I realized that I had allowed all of the busyness of life to overshadow the coming celebration. But then I realized something even greater—I never let that happen with Christmas.

Christmas is a whole other story. I schedule Christmas preparation. I make sure I buy presents. I make sure I watch The Nativity Story. I make sure I read about the coming birth of our Christ. But with Easter, I just sort of let it surprise me.

Noel Piper has a really helpful explanation for why this often happens:

“Over the course of the Lenten and Easter season, we are remembering the lowest points of sin and the highest peaks of what God has done for us through Jesus. We have a way, the only way, to the Father through Jesus. That’s worth celebrating! And yet every year somehow it’s so easy for Easter to slip up on us, and suddenly we’re saying, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s Palm Sunday already!’ Although Easter is the highest celebration of the Christian year, it doesn’t have the fascination and thrill that surrounds Christmas. There’s a reason: The death of Jesus was a very somber and tragic event, and we had a part in causing it. But we mustn’t avoid preparation for Easter simply because the sober, contemplative season of Lent precedes it.”

(Treasuring Christ in Our Traditions, pg. 92 emphasis mine)

Maybe you aren’t thinking, “the fact that I caused Jesus’ death makes me not want to prepare for Easter,” but in a lot of ways it just seems harder to celebrate death, doesn’t it? We aren’t accustomed to it. We rejoice when a baby is born, but we mourn when a person dies. The beauty and glory of Jesus’ death is that it doesn’t end there. He rises! And the very fact that he died, bore our sin, and conquered death should make us celebrate in the greatest way. Christmas is meaningless if it doesn’t point forward to the greatest event of all—the event that gave us life. That is why we celebrate.

The fact that I wasn’t thinking about the celebration of Easter reveals a lot more about my own response toward what has been accomplished for me than it does about the event itself. I can sing “Hallelujah, What a Savior” tomorrow morning because he bore the wrath that was reserved for me. And the sad reality is that I don’t ponder that enough.

The days leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday are a call to ponder and reflect. We are so prone to forget. We need the reminders. My prayer for myself is that next year I would schedule Easter like I schedule Christmas—and spend more time meditating on what Christ has done for me.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”—Romans 5:8-9

Now that is something worth celebrating.