RESURRECTION

Some random thoughts about Easter & Resurrection:

1. Jesus told Martha that he was The Resurrection before he was raised from the dead. He gives himself a title that is a verb but here expressed as a noun - The Resurrection. You could say it this way: Jesus is the one who is raising from the dead. So for Jesus raising from the dead is not something he does it is something he is...
2. The disciples who had followed Jesus for three years were, I am sure, a little disappointed, shocked, discouraged, maybe a little angry, maybe they felt betrayed. Jesus talked about a coming Kingdom for three years but on the Saturday after the crucifixion his lifeless body was laying on a cold slab of rock. The cold slab seems dark and hopeless but it is not quite the end of the story; there is more to come...
3. Jesus cannot be resurrected if he does not die. There is no victory without at least the risk of defeat.
4. In every competition there are winners and losers. The cliche is that Jesus won and sin lost, but the way it plays out, we actually get the credit for the "W" in a "competition" that we simply were not good enough to win on our own. Death gets the "L" because even though we still sin we do not still die...
5. Martha knew that her brother Lazarus would eventually raise from the dead; she did not realize that new life was possible while she was standing there in front of her brother's grave.
6. There were a lot of bodies in graves as Jesus stood there with Martha, the only one who walked out of his grave was the one who knew Jesus.
7. Death was the ultimate proof that Jesus is the resurrection. You can claim to be the president all day, but it is only seen to be true if the military moves when you give the orders, or they ask for your signature on a piece of legislation. Any others are posers and fakes.
   

The resurrection did not just change the world it changed the lives of the people who experienced it. Their experience with The Resurrection propelled them to share their experience with others because it changed their lives and it was too good not to share. It has continued to change the lives of people who are willing to get close enough to Jesus to hear him call their name.

Just a Meandering Thought...