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Resurrection Sunday has come, we celebrated the fact that Jesus is indeed risen! It was a glorious day, a wonderful celebration, a culmination of Holy Week, and then Monday came. Back to business as usual for many. The temptation is to treat Easter like it is an ending.
Think about it, the eggs have all been found, Jesus is risen, many went to church, andnow it is back to “normal life.” But nothing was normal after Jesus! The resurrection of Jesus was a revolution. Everything was changed forever! Easter was the day after which nothing was the same ever again. When a man who claims to be God rises from the dead, “business as usual” no longer exist. Easter is not just a time to pause and reflect on some cool truths we tend to forget about the rest of the year. It is the core of our faith. It is the only reason we have to hope. If there was ever a time for significant life changes, it should be the Monday after Easter. Easter is a beginning, not an ending.
If we can simply go back to business as usual on Monday, we have not let the significance of what Christ did for each of us sink into our hearts. The cross, the empty grave and the resurrected Jesus not only give us a reason to hope for change, they give us the power to change. Rather than us trying to change from our own efforts, the resurrection changes us.
In Romans, Paul reminds us: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” And in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
We come to the Monday after Easter a changed people because Jesus’ resurrection gave us a new identity.
My identity is not in the choices I make or what I accomplish, but in who Christ’s resurrection has made me to be.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff