The Monday Through Saturday Resurrection

This Sunday, March 31, Christians throughout the Western world will celebrate Easter (Orthodox Christians will celebrate it on May 5 this year). Most American Christians will celebrate Easter with family, attending religious services (for many it is one of two times a year they do this), eating ham and chocolate bunnies, and hiding plastic eggs from the kids. But somewhere, in spite of the pagan name, there is a deeper purpose to Easter. It signifies the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and for those who believe, this one event changes everything about every other day of the year.

Why do I anchor my life around the teachings of Jesus? What is so great about him that I should want to hang on to every word he says? There are a lot of great moral philosophers and religious leaders.  I can find a lot of wisdom in the teachings of Confucius, Buddha, Solomon, and Kant. I can even piece together the best parts of all of them, leave out the parts I don't like and live very comfortably in that moral standard. If Jesus was just another great moral philosopher, I could do the same with him.  I could keep the warm fuzzy parts like, "neither do I condemn you" and "blessed are the peacemakers." Then I could throw out the parts I do not think should apply to me like "go and sell all you have and give it to the poor," and "deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me."  

The Resurrection says that trying to follow some of  Jesus teachings,even all of them is insufficient - missing the point. Resurrection begins in death. You can't fix dead. You can't improve upon it with moral teachings. The only cure for death is resurrection. It is not an easy thing to admit you are dead. It is not an easy thing to say you are helpless. This is the offense of the cross. If Jesus died for me, if I really need him, then I am not capable of making it on my own. But the Resurrection is useless to me unless I realize I am, in fact, dead.

When I look at myself and the world around me, I can not but help see the death we all live in. Death comes to us all, despite the goodness or badness of our lives. Without the Resurrection, death brings only more death. It's not just the final death I see. The world is full of death, of evil that can never be redeemed. The sins of the fathers do come back to haunt their children, and their children after them. None of us can escape it, we only pass it along. We kill each other daily, if not with guns and bombs, with words, with selfish decisions, with hate. 

The Resurrection says that dying can lead to life.  It did for a man 2000 years ago, and it can for us too. The Resurrection gives me the freedom to give up my life willingly, not to fear death, whether it is that final breath, or the death I die daily, as I deny myself to follow Jesus. The Resurrection promises life more abundant than anything I can give myself. The Resurrection frees me to pursue the life of following Jesus every day of the year.

While I believe the Resurrection of Jesus is a real historical event, the Resurrection is not a one-time thing. The Resurrection is the promise of a new life every day. It is real redemption. A real do-over. Because of the Resurrection I can put to death the ghosts of my ancestors, the ghosts of my years of rebellion and struggle, the ghosts of yesterday.  Today I can start anew. Today I can follow Jesus, the Resurrected. The Resurrection is both the motive and the power for me to even try to follow Jesus Monday through Saturday.

Because I live, you also will live. - John 14:19

What does the resurrection mean to you? Leave a comment and share how the Resurrection of Jesus impacts your everyday life.