Resurrection Sunday on The Stream
“Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21 NRSV)
Here are a few reflections on this glorious day from The Stream archives.
Because He Lives
By
James Robison
This weekend millions of people around the world will acknowledge and many will celebrate the historical fact that Christ arose from the grave. I am grateful for every occasion that reminds people in any way of God’s love freely shared through the sacrificial death of His only Son. Betty and I pray that all who attend various services honoring our Lord will personally respond to the invitation God offers by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. Because He lives we can also live and experience life filled with hope, grace and abiding peace even in the face of difficult challenges and circumstances.
I will always wonder how so many people can reject or miss the life He offers. Jesus came to show us how to live and love, then died to pay for our sins by paying the price and assuming the debt we could never cover so we could be forgiven and redeemed forever. Through the resurrection, He conquered death and the grave — and we can too. Jesus is alive to live His resurrected life in us!
Did Jesus Rise? The Extreme Apostle Says Yes, the More Extreme Atheist Says No
By
David Mills
St. Paul sounds extreme sometimes, but not so extreme as some modern atheists. Here’s Paul: “If Christ has not risen, then our preaching is groundless and your faith is groundless.” He writes that to the Christians in Corinth, some of whom seem to have been claiming that the dead don’t rise again.
This really upset him. He hammers the point home over and over again. Like this a couple verses later: “If Christ has not risen, all your faith is a delusion and you are back in your sins.” And, he adds, “those who gone to their rest in Christ have been lost.”
For Paul, it’s the Resurrection or nothing. If Jesus rose from the dead after the Romans killed him, things are great. If He didn’t rise, it’s all a huge waste of time and we look like idiots.
Run to the Empty Tomb
By
Annemarie McLean
The heavy weight of sorrow filled the room that morning. It was the first day of the week, and the eleven disciples had come back together after a devastating and chaotic few days. Judas was dead. Jesus, dead. Not one of them was there when Jesus took his last breath, except for John. Now each one had to grapple not only with abandoning their master in his darkest hour but also with the feelings of guilt, disillusionment, and fear that came after. Perhaps none struggled more than Simon Peter.
Three years earlier, Simon Peter dropped everything after being called by Jesus from the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus said he would take him from fisherman to “fisher of men,” and Simon believed him. He left his fishing nets, his hometown, and family. Forsaking all he had ever known, he followed Jesus, a man he had never known, in hopes of becoming the man Jesus saw in him.
Purpose, Justice, Hope: How the Resurrection Lets Life Make Sense
By
Tom Gilson
Some people say the resurrection of Jesus makes no sense. I say it’s the only thing that lets life make sense.
I know that’s a bold claim. I can’t cover all the territory here, but I can at least explain three ways Jesus’ resurrection makes sense of human experience, in ways that nothing else can match. Those three ways are human purpose, justice and hope.
Everyone but the most pessimistic agrees there is purpose to life. Where does that purpose come from, and what does it mean?
For more Holy Week articles, click here.
