As we concluded Holy Week with the joy of Easter Sunday, we read through all resurrection accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Why is the resurrection important? By completing the seemingly impossible task of rising from the dead, Jesus laid the cornerstone of our faith. Jesus is the only man to defeat death! It validated His earthly claims that He truly is the Messiah, He knew that He would be killed and raised on the third day. We can rest assured in this claim as a multitude witnessed His resurrected body on earth in the days before His ultimate ascension to sit at the right hand of the Father. Not only that, but Jesus chose to first reveal Himself to female followers. Women, who had no societal standing at the time, were elevated in their importance to Him. Jesus truly does flip the script on earth, when He elevates both women and children and their importance in the kingdom of God. God demonstrates His ultimate power and shows us that He is trustworthy, by fulfilling ancient prophecies. He is worthy of praise, glory and all authority. There is no resurrection apart from Christ. It is why we gladly participate in baptism, to demonstrate that by accepting the truth of Jesus’ act on the cross, we are able to also defeat death by dying to our earthly selves and being raised again as a new creation through the power of the Holy Spirit. Wow! As believers, we have divine peace, knowing that this earthly life we live is not the end for us. While the feeling of losing our loved ones to earthly death is never an easy season to walk through, we can have faith the spiritual family that has gone before us are eternally alive and well with their Heavenly Father! Death has lost it’s sting, we have eternal paradise to look forward to. Rejoice, my friends, that He is risen!
