There’s an element of the resurrection that is oft-overlooked when Christians celebrate Easter.
Yes, the resurrection is good news for the world, and yes, it’s good news for sinners like us.
But have you ever thought about how the resurrection is good news for Jesus?
After all, he was the one who was dead!
We’re so selfish in our spiritual pursuits that we skip over Jesus and jump immediately to the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for us.
When was the last time you let yourself be genuinely happy for Jesus in the same way you would be happy for a friend who just received some wonderful news?
When we forget to be happy for Jesus we diminish his pre and post-resurrection humanity. It’s as if we believe that since he was the Son of God, resurrection wasn’t that big of a deal for him. Simply a foregone conclusion.
What if when he is enduring Black Friday, he’s doing so with the hope of resurrection, rather than the certainty of it?
I know, I know, this goes against the grain of an all-knowing Jesus who always knows what everyone is thinking and what is about to happen next. But still, it makes for a more human Jesus, not to mention a better story, to see him on the cross trusting God to take care of him in death, rather than just enduring the cross so that the Father could trump evil with the inevitable resurrection card.
On the cross, Jesus asks the question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
What if he doesn’t get his answer until Sunday when the Father raises him from the dead? The resurrection is the Father’s way of saying to Jesus, “My son, I have not forsaken you, I have not abandoned you to the grave, I will not let my son see decay.”
Without the resurrection, Jesus would be just another failed Messiah who was tossed onto the garbage heap of history with all the others who couldn’t back up what they said. But Jesus is different, his Father set him apart from all the rest.
The resurrection is the Father’s way of repeating what he said at Jesus baptism, “This is my son, of whom I am quite proud, listen to him.”
The resurrection means that Jesus is alive, that Jesus is Lord, and that Jesus has been rewarded for the way he lived and died.
Let’s be happy for our Lord, brother, and friend.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
This makes great sense, particularly as the inverse is easily seen: the grief of the disciples at Jesus death surely just wasn’t for their own sake! Although that is certainly an aspect of any grief, You have to believe they also simply felt sorry for their friend! HOw much greater their joy for his sake!
You’re right. It’s always about us. . . but not Jesus. What joy Jesus must have felt. And his disciples too. Talk about celebration. I’m surprised we don’t read about a celebration. Their hearts must have been bursting with joy.
Whoever put the Q source together surely left off the greatest quotation to come out of Jesus’ mouth. Dead flesh walking again! He had to have something to say about it. “Hey guys, you got to try this out!” Maybe the writers of Matthew and Luke actually used the G source. That would explain it.
Agree. Jesus gave up equality with God and in my opinion never got it back. The whole heir and joint heir reminds me of that. He faced death just like us, trusting the Father. The price he paid was more than just becoming human for awhile. We will be like him!! Oh that we can trust like he did. And we can!! Will we??
Jesus never got His equality back?!