“Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” (Jn. 20:8-9)
Although I believe Jesus was raised from the dead, I don’t always live into the implications of what I believe. What would it mean to live more fully into the resurrection of Jesus?
Because Jesus was raised from the dead, He’s alive now; and because He’s alive now, Jesus is always present, always available.
Because Jesus is alive now, there’s no darkness, depression, or degradation that He won’t share with us and lead us through.
Because Jesus is alive now, we don’t have any secrets from Him. Although Jesus knows all, we don’t need to shudder in fear or shame. If there’s anything in our life He doesn’t love, His grace will cover it.
Because Jesus is alive now, then all those who have died in the Lord are alive now, which means that when we say, “Dad…Mom…Alice…Ted…, I love you, I miss you, I thank you,” they actually hear us.
Because Jesus is alive now, we can draw from Jesus’ resurrection power. The power that God the Father used to raise Jesus is now ours to rely on and rest upon.
I encourage us to think and pray about where we need more resurrection power.
Are we frightened? Jesus can give us courage.
Ashamed? Jesus can forgive all.
Is some addiction robbing our will, health, and life? Jesus can free us.
Are we lost? Jesus can find us.
Has our life crashed? Jesus can pick up the pieces and give us a new life.
Are our burdens crushing us? Then give them to the resurrected Jesus so that He can lighten our load and sustain us.
Today’s scripture says the disciples on Easter morning didn’t understand that Jesus must rise from the dead. Sometimes we’re not much different than them.
Whereas the disciples didn’t understand that Jesus was going to rise from the dead, we sometimes don’t fully understand that He already has.
Reflection Questions:
- If you always remembered that the resurrected Jesus is always with you, how would your life change?
- The power from God that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. Where do you need that resurrection power in your life, work, or relationships?
- When people look at or listen to you, do they see or hear any evidence that you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? If so, how? If not, how could you better display or more clearly share what you believe?