Passion Week: Resurrection Sunday

“And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you."

—Mark 16:6-7

Today is Resurrection Sunday!  There is no greater day in the history of the universe—nothing trumps it.  It is the day when death itself is turned backwards—when Satan was stomped, sin subdued, and death defeated. It is the defining day of humanity.  There is no other day more provocative or preeminent in the history of mankind.  Christ’s birth?  It’s amazing, but without the crucifixion it is just a miraculous birth story.  The crucifixion?  Amazing yes, but without the resurrection there is no victory; it is just another religious teacher with bold claims being shattered each moment the stone stayed in place.  It is the resurrection that shows without doubt that Jesus was and is God. 

For believers, today is the day of hope, but for the rest of the world, it is just another day.  I must say how amazed I am at the lack of attention the church pays to the resurrection.  We focus a great deal on the birth of Christ—looking toward Christmas with great hope and joy.  We decorate the house, have parties, take days off, the kids are on break, and we watch our favorite Christmas movie and observe our family Christmas traditions—all because of the birth of a baby (even though we know that it’s no ordinary baby, but God incarnate!).  Christmas is the day that we celebrate God coming near. 

But for Resurrection Sunday it’s different.  It’s hard to celebrate the crucifixion of a 33-year-old Jewish carpenter.  It’s hard to find your favorite Resurrection movie.  What happened on the cross is not something that we invite our friends over to celebrate.  Most of us don’t have that many Resurrection celebrations, or traditions surrounding this historic day.  Christmas gets most of our attention.  And while Christmas is essential and foundational in understanding who Christ is, only two Gospels refer to it (Matthew 2:1-23; Luke 2:1-40), although they do so at length.  This is not to say that the event is not important—it is.  It’s just that each of the Gospel writers sought to highlight a different theme to their audience.  The focus was more on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ than on the incarnation. 

While the birth of Christ is absolutely essential to our faith, it is the last three years of Christ’s life that receive the greatest attention, with His last week receiving the most—starting from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem  (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-18) and culminating in His crucifixion, death and resurrection (Matthew 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24; John 18-21). 

And while celebrating His death and resurrection has largely gone overlooked, these are precisely the days we must remember most. The crucifixion is a time of solemn remembrance as we seek to understand in greater depth what God did for us by sending His Son to die for us.  But the resurrection—it gives us hope.  It is the time of joyous and triumphant celebration!  There is hope beyond the grave! Every single word from Jesus’ lips was validated that day.  His claims to forgive sin, to give us life, to satisfy our every need took on new meaning once He rose from the dead.  We have hope for today and for tomorrow!  We need no longer fear death!  There is hope beyond the grave!  We have eternity as our inheritance and nothing can take that away from us!  Praise the name of the Lord both now and forevermore.  Amen.