He is Lord, He is Lord!
He is risen from the dead and he is Lord!
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
He is King, he is King!
He will draw all nations to him, he is King;
and the time shall be when the world shall sing
that Jesus Christ is King!
He is Life, he is Life!
He has died to set us free and he is Life;
and he calls us all to live evermore,
for Jesus Christ is Life.
Easter is God’s answer to the questions about Good Friday. Easter completes the story of the Good Friday. The story of Easter confirms the power of God; Easter fulfils the declaration of our Lord Jesus Christ, “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it” (John 2:19). The Easter narrative makes our Lord Jesus Christ the only person to make an appointment beyond the grave and kept it. The resurrection tells us that God has a vision which nobody, including the devil, can kill. Don’t allow anyone to destroy your vision.
We shall begin the reflection of Easter by talking about death generally and particularly the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This approach might seem a weird thing to do on Easter day, but it is fitting to speak of the rising in the context of the dying.
One of the best definitions of death sees it as the separation of the three components of the human person; spirit, soul, and body. In the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, at that point when he paid the price for our sins, his spirit went back to the Father; “Father into your hands I commit my Spirit” (Luke 23:46). On the other hand, his soul went down to Hades to minister to the souls there (1 Pet. 3:19-20). Only the body lies in the tomb. On the day of resurrection (early morning) on the third day, the spirit and soul returned to the body and at that instant, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Son of the Eternal Father rose from the dead; he overpowered all the physical and spiritual restrictions and barriers.
The word resurrection comes from the Greek word “anastasis” which means to “raise up” or “to stand up again.” At the resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ who was once standing but was brought down by death rose up again and never again to go down. By the fact of rising from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the following:
- He conquered death and the grave. Death could not stop him; the grave could not hold him; they were all conquered by the power of his resurrection. The perishable became imperishable; the mortal became immortal and St. Paul says, “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (I Cor. 15: 54-55). In another place he says, “he must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death”. (1 Cor. 15: 25-26).
- He defeated the devil. The plan of the devil from the time of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was to stop the work of our redemption. When you hear that Herod was killing innocent children, the devil planned to end the vision of God for our salvation. The devil tempted him in the desert to secure a misstep from him, but he couldn’t, and he went away looking for a favorable Several times people picked stones to kill him, but they couldn’t because the hour hadn’t yet come. At Gethsemane, the devil tried to suggest to him to abandon the mission, but he preferred the accomplish the will of his Father. Finally, the devil was defeated. You need to connect to the resurrection power to defeat all the plans of the devil in your life.
- He secured our forgiveness, faith, and salvation. The First letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 15 could be the book of details about the resurrection. Among numerous high points, St. Paul tells us that Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). He further says that if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is futile, and we are still living in sin. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which is beyond all doubts as it was confirmed by more than five hundred witnesses, shows that we have been redeemed and saved.
- He opened the gate of heaven. After the fall of Adam and Eve, and their expulsion from the presence of God, the gate of heaven remained locked until the event of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which would open the gate of heaven. According to St. Paul (1 Cor. 15:22-24):
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
This is the season for your rising. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ opens the door for you to rise.
- From darkness to light
- From failure to success
- From sickness to health
- From enmity to friendliness
- From nobody to somebody
- From scarcity to abundance
- From blindness to sight
- From the grave to the skies
Alleluia! He is risen! Let us open ourselves to the victorious power of the resurrection from this moment onwards and the difference will amaze us.
Have a wonderful Easter celebration.
Fr. Bonnie.