Resurrection Sunday meditation
John 11:25-26
“Jesus said to her, ‘ I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’ Do you believe this?”
Resurrection
The word resurrection holds a world of wonder. It means that death is not the final word at the end of Jesus’s life or ours. Resurrection doesn’t merely mean our body returns to its state prior to death but rather the person receives a new body that will never groan with sin’s effects or succumb to death. Christ’s Resurrection means that our sin is paid for and no longer separates us from having a relationship with Jesus. What words could possibly describe this supernatural phenomenon? Tolkien used the word eucatastrophe, a term he coined himself. Eucatastrophe is the sudden turn of events for the better. (Tolkien Gateway, 2022) It is the opposite of a catastrophe. In one sense, Christ’s resurrection is not a sudden turn of events because like Calvary, it was God’s plan before time began. From the perspective of the disciples and the women on that precious Sunday morning, the resurrection was indeed a eucatastrophe. No one was expecting a risen Savior. Because God did what was unexpected on that first Easter, those who put their faith in Christ can have the certain expectation that they too, will be raised at His coming to enjoy life with Him forever. Praise God!
Resurrection
Sudden turn for good
Surprise! Christ has conquered death!
Eucatastrophe
Christ’s tomb is empty!
Judah’s Lion roars to life
Lamb removes death’s sting
Tombstone rolled away
He is not here but risen
Disbelief and joy
Why are you weeping?
Tell me where they’ve taken Him!
“Mary!” “Rabboni!”
Serpent bruised Christ’s heel,
But Christ crushed the serpent’s head
God’s promise came true
References
English Standard Version (2001).
Tolkien Gateway (2022). Eucatastrophe. https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Eucatastrophe