Easter Reflections
Easter Reflections
This is the week culminating in Easter, and it is a week of reflection for me as I consider the events of 2013 thus far. I have been asked to fill the pulpit for my church while they consider their next steps in choosing a teaching team. It has been an overwhelming but enjoyable journey as I’ve prepared sermon after sermon for three straight months. This responsibility, therefore, is particularly poignant for me because this is the first Easter sermon I will ever give. The implications for me and the people I counsel and to whom I minister are somehow greater this year, and the good news of the Resurrection is all the more exciting.
What I have seen this year more than ever is that the Resurrection of Jesus is the event that overrides all others. It is the pivot point of history. God became flesh, lived his life through his Son, and then paid the price of our sin by dying on a cross. But the resurrection trumps the tragedy… it validates and vindicates simultaneously. It validates the claims of Christ as Messiah and vindicates us from the penalty of death. So in a new way, I can echo the Apostle Paul’s emphatic statement: “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
The Resurrection means that we can have a new start, a new life. And that life begins and ends in God’s Son, our Lord. So as you reflect this week on the festivities and gatherings of the season, ponder anew the reality of life after death, the forgiveness of sins, and the righteous life to which we have been called.
Happy Easter!
Jim
