Tuesday: He Lives!
WEEK 2
TUESDAY
HE LIVES!
Romans 6:5-11
We have seen that the third pillar upon which the Christian faith rests is the Word become vicarious. That leads us to the fourth: the Word become triumphant—“presented himself alive” (Acts 1:3 RSV). The resurrection of Jesus is God’s seal of acceptance on the offering Jesus made upon the cross. Without the resurrection we would have been forever in doubt as to whether goodness is power. Will goodness not forever writhe on the cross in the grip of a more powerful thing—evil? The answer of the resurrection is No! Not only is goodness good—it is all powerful and has the last word in human affairs.
Without the resurrection the song of life is pitched forever in a minor key, the sadness of ultimate defeat running through it. With the resurrection the note of sadness, which runs through lower nature and through human living, is transposed to a higher, triumphant key and ends with the burst of the “Hallelujah Chorus.” The worst that humanity can do has been done—we have crucified the Son of God. Then the best that God can do has been done—God has raised that Son of God and made him alive forevermore. Our worst and God’s best came into clash on that first Easter morning and the result was that the “guards . . . became like dead men” (Matt 28:4), and the One supposedly dead was alive and triumphant.
Without the resurrection the Christian faith would not have been the Christian faith. It would have been the Christian failure—a religion of unfulfilled promises, a vast might-have-been. It would have meant that Jesus tried to redeem humanity but couldn’t make the grade. But the resurrection says that he made the grade—and more! I saw a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and called “To Our Lady of Sorrows,” and my inner comment was: “Hasn’t she heard of her son’s resurrection?” Without the resurrection our religion is a “Religion of Sorrows,” but with it, it is a faith that sings an invincible song—Victory! The resurrection is God saying, “I still have charge of affairs and have the last word; whoever has the word of the first day or the second day, I have the word of the third day; and that last word is Victory!” He lives!
O God, our Lord, we thank you that your mastery is over death and the grave. We face everything without fear. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: If my Redeemer is alive, I, the redeemed, must live as though I were alive.