Resurrection: Everything Changes

Today's Reading

On the third day, everything changes. The stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and Jesus stands alive before His stunned disciples. The resurrection is not an epilogue to the story of the cross; it is the event that makes sense of everything — the vindication of Jesus' claims, the defeat of death, and the dawn of a new creation.

Reflection

The women arrive at the tomb expecting to anoint a corpse. Instead, they find an angel and an empty grave. "He is not here, for he has risen, as he said" (Matthew 28:6). The simplicity of the announcement belies its world-shattering significance. Death — the ultimate enemy, the curse of Genesis 3, the wages of sin — has been overcome.

The resurrection appearances over the following forty days are varied and compelling. Jesus eats fish with His disciples. He invites Thomas to touch His wounds. He walks with two travelers on the road to Emmaus and opens the Scriptures to them. He is not a ghost or a spirit; He has a real, physical body — but one that is gloriously transformed. He passes through locked doors, yet He can be touched and He eats breakfast on the shore.

Roberts observes that the resurrection is not merely a return to life — like Lazarus, who would die again — but the beginning of a new kind of life. It is the first day of the new creation. The prophets promised a future when God would make all things new. That future has begun in the risen body of Jesus Christ.

Paul captures the theological significance with a farming metaphor: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). The firstfruits are the initial portion of the harvest, guaranteeing that the full harvest is coming. Jesus' resurrection is not an isolated miracle; it is the guarantee that everyone who belongs to Him will also be raised.

Goldsworthy identifies the resurrection as the decisive event that inaugurates the new age of the kingdom. The exile is truly over. The curse is reversed. The King is alive and reigning. Everything the Old Testament promised — new life, new creation, the defeat of evil and death — has begun in Jesus' triumph over the grave.

Going Deeper

The resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith. As Paul writes, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). But Christ has been raised — and because He lives, everything changes. History has a direction. Death has an expiration date. The future is not uncertain; it is resurrection.