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May 6, 2021This is Pt. 2 of a series on the resurrection started in the April 11 issue.
The resurrection matters! As I said last month, the reality of Jesus rising from the dead has a great impact on our daily life. The fact that he rose from the dead means a number of critical things.
Our sins are forgiven
Jesus’ resurrection validates his claims about forgiving our sins. After his death on the cross, Jesus went down into hell and took the “keys to the kingdom” from the enemy and those keys free us from the punishment of sin.
“After his resurrection, Christ sent his apostles ‘so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.’ The apostles and their successors carry out this ‘ministry of reconciliation,’ not only by announcing to men God's forgiveness merited for us by Christ, and calling them to conversion and faith, but also by communicating to them the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the keys, received from Christ: The Church has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be forgiven through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit's action. In this Church, the soul dead through sin comes back to life in order to live with Christ, whose grace has saved us” (CCC, 981).
Jesus is still with us
Because Jesus rose from the dead, he has conquered death and now lives eternally, and that reality is made available to us as well – more on that in a few minutes. Because he lives eternally, he is still with us, here and now! We can have a living, interactive relationship with him.
“Finally, Christ's resurrection – and the risen Christ himself is the principle and source of our future resurrection: ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. … For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.’ The risen Christ lives in the hearts of his faithful while they await that fulfillment. In Christ, Christians ‘have tasted … the powers of the age to come’ and their lives are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may ‘live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised’” (CCC, 655).
The power of the resurrection is available to us, in every area of our lives
The fact that Jesus rose from the dead brings great hope for us. It has the capacity to transform every area of our lives, every area of sin and brokenness, if we invite the power that is accessible to us. The wounds from my past become sources of a deep intimacy with the person of Christ, who literally transforms the wound into an experience of love and healing.
“Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross, but this mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life: already in his Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty: in his hidden life, which by his submission atones for our disobedience; in his word, which purifies its hearers; in his healings and exorcisms by which ‘he took our infirmities and bore our diseases;’ and in his resurrection by which he justifies us” (CCC, #517).
We no longer need to fear death
One of the greatest fears known to man is the fear of death. The resurrection speaks directly to this fear and takes away all its power. Paul says, “Oh death, where is your victory, death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 15:55-56).
“By his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has ‘opened’ heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ” (CCC, #1026).
We were not made for this world
Finally, the reality of the resurrection reminds us of our true home. C.S. Lewis once said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
Yes, the resurrection matters, and the fact that Jesus was a real person, a 33-year-old Jewish man matters as well. This topic has gleaned quite a following. I’ve received a number of e-mails since Pt. 1 was shared, much more than I typically get. One poignant comment from a reader struck me and provides a nice end point for us:
“If Christ is a personal reality, then I cannot escape a personal relationship and personal response to his love toward me. The ‘demands’ of this love require the vulnerability of a true relationship. I have to sit in front of him (literally in the Blessed Sacrament), look into his eyes and talk to him, listen to him. He may say things about me and the state of my soul that I know deep down, but I really don't like to hear. He will ask me to accept his ‘assessment’ about where I am and commit to move toward change with his help. I will have to accept his grace and mercy so I can grow!”