Easter has come and gone. Well, technically, according to the Church calendar, we’re still in the season of Easter, but you know what I mean. For all intents we are now living in a post-Easter world. No more chocolate bunnies in the stores, no marshmallow Peeps, and no Easter lilies. Or, for those more spiritually-minded (like me) no more special services nor singing of Jesus Christ is Risen Today. Easter is past.
So, what’s changed? What difference did Easter make? If, as the Lord said, “I am making all things new,” (Revelation 21:5), everything, or at least something, has to be new and different. Why would we celebrate Easter if nothing has changed because of it?
At first glance, nothing has changed (except those vanishing Peeps). The world goes on just as it always has. Wars are raging in Ukraine and other places not in the news; people are still catching and fighting Covid and other diseases; accidents still injure people and take lives; criminals run as rampant as ever; people marry and divorce; poverty still afflicts much of the world; our culture continues to degrade; people age and die, and politicians lie and enrich themselves. The words of Scripture remind us of this continuity:
King Solomon lamented (3000 years ago), “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
In Mark 13:7 Jesus said, “And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.”
As life goes on with no apparent change, we are tempted to join in asking what the scoffers ask: “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4).
The daily cycle of life continues: wake up, wash, eat, go to work or play, eat some more, do a hobby or some recreation, catch a nap (oh, yeah!), interact with family and friends, eat again, enjoy some entertainment, and go back to bed. As our shampoo bottles advise, “Lather, rinse, repeat.” Beyond each day, we experience the same weekly, monthly, and annual cycles, usually interrupted only by tragedies or disasters. Nations rise and fall, kings and presidents come and go, wars begin and end, and other seemingly momentous events pass into obscurity and are forgotten. It seems that, Easter or not, nothing has really changed.
And yet . . .and yet, everything has changed. Maybe not because of this year’s festivities, but because of the event we celebrate this and every Easter: the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. In the last blog, I wrote about the centrality of the resurrection to the existence of Christianity and the Christian Church; but the significance of the resurrection is even greater than that. The resurrection is the central event in the history of the world; nothing compares to it.
Without the resurrection that first Easter, our transitory lives would not amount to much more than what Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances. . .” (Act II, Scene VII ). The pronouncement of Ecclesiastes 2:17 would apply to us all: “for all is vanity and a striving after wind.” And, as Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 15:32, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'” Or, as we might say it today, “that’s all she wrote.”
But Christ was raised from the dead, and this changes everything. How so?
- The universal law of death was overturned. As Scripture says, death has no dominion over him (Romans 6:9). Death could not hold Jesus. His resurrection is permanent. He is bodily alive forever; Romans 6:9 also proclaims, “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again.”`
- His resurrection validates his identity and ministry. It is a sure sign that Jesus is who he said he is. Over the centuries, many others have claimed to be saviors of one kind or another, but they all died and didn’t rise again. There is an interesting passage in Acts 5:34-37 in which a Pharisee named Gamaliel recounts some failed messianic pretenders. He tells how their deaths ended their revolts. But Jesus was no pretender. He prophesied his own death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21), then fulfilled them just as he said. He had already shown his divine power over sickness, storms, and spirits; by overcoming death he proved who he was.
- Christ’s resurrection showed that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Our sins have been atoned for and forgiven. It’s one thing to offer forgiveness, but how do we know the offer is valid? We have the proof in the resurrection of the One who offered himself for us. As Job said in Job 19:25, “For I know that my Redeemer lives.”
- Because he lives, Christ is able to intercede on our behalf as our high priest before the Father. Hebrews 7:23-25 tells us that whereas all previous priests died and had to be replaced, Christ “holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.” He is seated at the Father’s right hand.
- We now have the promise, and proof, of eternal life for ourselves who are joined to Christ by faith. Paul writes, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). There are many passages that promise the coming of our own resurrections to eternal life. But without Christ’s resurrection, those promises would carry much less weight.
- Finally, the resurrection of Christ changes our perspectives on life. Our lives gain new significance and importance because we know that the God who created us has provided a way for us to overcome the world and death itself. The big question of where our life is headed has been answered. We belong to a loving God who bought us with the price of his own Son, who indwells us by his own Spirit, and who is changing us from one degree of glory to another. We gain new purpose in life, praising God and telling others of who he is and what he has done.
We are living in a post-Easter world, which should give us joy and hope, for no matter what happens now, we will always be living in a world that follows the resurrection of the One who died to give us life. What happened that first Easter can never change or be negated. He lives, and because he lives, we also will live (John 14:19) – now and forever to come.
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen
Read: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.