He Is Risen

We've now reached the pinnacle of our Christian calendar! Easter has arrived in all its splendour and fanfare. The Resurrection, Christ's bursting from the tomb; it is the core of our affirmation of faith, the heart of our Christian message of good news.

But does the celebration of life over death have a wider resonance? Does it point towards a common facet of the human spirit - the refusal to let death have the last word?

The funeral liturgy that we follow – that affirmation of life after death, is inexorably intertwined with the celebration of birth. It’s actually an Easter liturgy and rather than a liturgy of despair it is an affirmation of Christ’s promise to be with us ‘always, to the end of time.’ But why is it that we do not look at death with the same sense of celebration as we do a birth? Our natural life rhythms seem to be denied.

In Moldova, this weekend’s news offers up chilling details of a trafficked child’s body being found in a barrel. And each day governments diligently work to obfuscate the truth of countless innocent women, children, babies, and elderly dying in Libya. Again, like a replay of Iraq, their numbers are being hidden in buffering euphemisms such as ‘collateral damage.’

And in hospitals, nursing facilities, and our private homes, people who have had long journeys are breathing shallow breaths, still holding on to the essence of life, for just a few more minutes, before they begin their new journey.

Throughout our human story, death remains the enemy. It is never welcomed; it is always looked upon as a curse or an affront to life.

As Christians we draw upon our faith in life beyond the grave from the events of Easter. That life beyond, that renewal, powerfully draws us away from the grave and invites us to live our lives knowing that it will never end in destruction. Instead our lives have a resonance and meaning that our mortal death cannot touch.

The human spirit shares two powerful spiritual emotions. First it is the awareness of what is passing away. The other is the awareness of a new life that lies on the other side of pain and struggling.

And perhaps we’ve become a little wiser, recognising that resurrection, whether in this world or the next, is never a simple return to the lost innocence of Eden.The ingredients of the new life are a culmination of the painful and costly struggles in which we engage every day.

This is why, according to our Christian teachings, when Jesus rose from the dead there were still wounds in His hands and side. They’re reminders of what He gave for us, for our salvation, for our sins, so that we may live again.

Praise Jesus!