What does resurrection mean to us?

“What does resurrection mean to you?”  A friend recently asked that question to several of us.  Many said that it meant that we get to go to heaven, that Jesus died for our sins, that we have hope of eternal life.

No doubt it means all of those things.  But if we only stop there, I think we’ve sold short the power of resurrection.  All of human history revolves around the resurrection.  We note Jesus’ birth as the start point of our calendar, in part, because of the resurrection.  The church exists today because of the resurrection.

So what does resurrection mean to us?  It means that what Jesus said about Himself is true.  That requires us to make some careful study.  In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus speaks to the people of the synagogue of Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  This is a clear proclamation of why Jesus came to embody resurrection, even before His death, and to offer the hope it brings here on earth.

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out the 70 to minister in His name.  He tells them to proclaim that the Kingdom of God has come near.   Jesus continued to bring this message of hope of the Kingdom of God in the things He said He came to do: to bring healing to people--mind, body, and soul.  He brought sight to those who suffered from physical and spiritual blindness.  He came to set captives free-even from the prisons that they built for themselves.

What does resurrection mean?  It means LIFE.  It means life here and now as well as there and then.  It means that we can live as a people of hope-in this world and look forward to the next.  It means that our spiritual deaths in this world can be turned around by Christ’s life that he brings still today.  We see this life when we practice the means of Grace which are, among others, faithful worship, regular Bible study, serving others, diligent prayer.   Would you join me in these?  For it is my prayer that this Easter season may you experience the power of resurrection, even but a glimpse, on Earth, as it shall be in Heaven.