DTEB, “No Death; No Resurrection”
Here is part of my journal entry from yesterday:
Sunday, April 12, 2020: Easter!
It is rainy, but not ferociously cold this morning. What was the weather like when Jesus rose from the dead? I don’t suppose it mattered. If death is not the final word, the weather doesn’t matter much, if at all.
Does death matter, if Christ triumphed over it for us all?
Yes, death does matter. Because death mattered to God, he sent his Son to die for all of us walking dead people, us zombies (Ephesians 2:1-10).
Yet, we still will need to physically die. And we go through many mini-deaths, in preparation for our big physical death. I’ve gone through several mini-deaths just in the past year:
So, if Christ has truly been raised from the dead, if he defeated death for us all, then why is there so much death still in the world? Do I really believe this stuff? Is it true?
My “3-Minute Retreat” for this morning gives one helpful response to the questions I asked above. It is based on John 20:9: “For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
The retreat commentary makes these observations:
“The disciples did not understand the necessity of Christ’s Resurrection. Do we? Would we, could we, live more fully in the Kingdom of God if we understood the necessity of embracing the cross in order to enter the new life of Resurrection? It is a question for each day of our lives. Understanding will only come through our ceaselessly seeking who and what we are to be in the risen Lord.”
And then, the retreat asks two crucial questions:
“Do you resist embracing what needs to die in your life in order to reach the Resurrection?
What do you believe about the Resurrection?”
Do I embrace the death of what needs to die in my life? Or do I simply cling to it, refusing to let what needs to die?
And yes, there are many things that still need to die. And the fact (and it is, unfortunately, a fact) that I am unwilling to allow the things to die that need to die, shows that I am not yet ready for an Easter resurrection. The fact that God has made great progress with me in overcoming my addiction does not obscure the need for dealing with a lot of other hang-ups and habits that need go.
Maybe by Easter of 2021, I’ll be more ready for resurrection.
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