“See, My Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.” (Isaiah 52:13)
(ABC’s hit television show Resurrection is not the inspiration for today’s column, although I do find it ironic that the show has premiered around the Easter holidays when the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated. I will admit, however, that the television series did remind me of an old column I wrote in 1998, two years into my devotions ministry. I wanted to share it with you again.)
Michelangelo once turned to a fellow artist and said with frustration in his voice, “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures on the one theme of Christ in weakness, Christ on the cross, and most of all, Christ hanging dead?” he asked. “Why do you concentrate on the passing episode as if it were the last work, as if the curtain dropped down there on disaster and defeat? That dreadful scene lasted only a few hours. But to the unending eternity Christ is alive; Christ rules and reigns and triumphs.”
Michelangelo was right. Even though the cross is vitally important because of the redemption that Jesus accomplished for us there, Christians should not emphasize his death to the exclusion of his resurrection. Yet, we tend to focus on what Jesus did for us on the cross rather than the promise we enjoy from his resurrection.
Jesus once said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) The central tenet of our Christian faith is not just whether we believe that Jesus died for us on the cross. We must also believe that he arose from the dead. The Bible says it this way: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
The Apostle Paul believed in resurrection before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road. He was a Pharisee, a member of the same order that convinced Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus. Pharisees l believed in resurrection. But the Paul we have come to know in the New Testament was more than a former Pharisee. He was an Apostle, one of just a handful of men who had seen Jesus after the resurrection and were sent to preach the “good news”.
Paul said, “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-17)
When we ask Christ to come live in our hearts, we are given the promise of resurrection. In other words, we are no longer dead to sin, but have the promise of eternal life.
Winston Churchill understood the importance of resurrection. He arranged his own funeral. There were stately hymns sung in St. Paul’s Cathedral along with an impressive liturgy. But at the end of the service, Churchill broke with tradition. When they said the benediction, a bugler high in the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral on one side played Taps, the universal signal that the day is over. There was a long pause and then a bugler on the other side played Reveille, the military wake-up call. It was Churchill’s way of communicating that while we say “Good Night” here, it’s “Good Morning” in heaven.
Winston Churchill knew the real meaning of Easter. “When a Man steps out of His own grave, He is anything that He says He is, and He can do anything that He says He can do. The resurrection is not only good news, it’s the best news imaginable.”