The Resurrected Life
More than a Possibility
One of the oddest things about being a Christian is that we confess that we believe in the resurrection of the dead. That isn’t a confession that there is the possibility of the resurrection – but that Jesus Christ did it once already, and has, in fact, already raised you and I from the dead. The problem for us is that we often live as though we are still dead; we like the stink of our bandages, we’d often rather have the security of the grave then live in the promises of life everlasting.
The Power of Death
Jesus saw his friends’ tears of sorrow and, as our Bible puts it, was greatly “disturbed” (John 11:33). The true meaning of the Greek word used there is angered… Jesus got mad. The question is why was he mad? Was he mad that Lazarus died? Was he mad that Mary and Martha were demanding a miracle from him? Is he angered by the accusations of the those who said, “Surely he who opened the eyes of the blind man could have kept this man from dying”? Or was he angered by the hold that death and sin still had over those he loved… even his closest friends and followers? Look at the power we allow death to have over us, our culture, our country, and our world. All of the hurtful things that we do to each other is often done as a response to our fear of death and our bondage to sin.
Called out of our Tombs
But in the glorification of Jesus, the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection three days later, sin, and death were put to death. We are Lazarus… we have been called out of our tombs to live a resurrected life under the care and power of God forever. Oh sure, we will leave this place and go home and turn on the news and start to question that right away… is this world really under God’s power and care? The answer is yes. We are called to live a resurrected life… I wonder how the world would react to a people who truly understood that death does not have the final answer in their lives. Would our politics be quite as mean? Would the poor be left behind? Would people be dying so that we could feel secure?
Come out, my friends! We like our tombs and the stench of death, it is something we have come to know well. Believe it or not it is often more comfortable for us to rest in the world that we know. But a world free of prejudice and anxiety about the future depends on people marching to the beat of a different drummer.. You and I, we are being called to live the resurrected life by the One who even this day goes to the cross to secure that life for you, and for me, once and for all.
