Jesus Rose

by David Lins  |  04/09/2023  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

Jesus died. A whole bunch of people saw it. The witnesses were all sorts of folks. Good guys. Bad guys. Civilians. Soldiers.

Then Jesus rose. A whole bunch of people saw it. A group of women on the road. A group of men on the road. And a group of men Locked In A Room.

But this is how it works with the Lord. When he gets knocked down, he never stays down. (Remember the stations of the cross?)

But check this out: this is also how it works with those who follow the Lord! So, if he allowed himself to die, we must do the same.

We are called to die to ourselves. For ourselves. For others. Most of all, for the Lord.

Now, I can hear you saying, “there aren’t a lot of crosses nailed into the ground these days.”

But there are crosses everywhere you look: a difficult marriage, the siren call of an addiction, a growing pile of bills, or – yes – pain in a wheelchair. This world is absolutely packed with crosses. But when we die to ourselves, God wins and we rise in Christ. But how?

Marriages survive until healing takes place. The power of addiction is beaten back one day at a time. We depend on God in our desperation. And we can turn health problems into tsunamis of exchanged prayer.

I understand discouragement, sadness, and the temptation to despair, but that is the lie of this world – the smoke of satan. And to escape it we must remember that God wins, Jesus rises, and death is defeated.

This Easter, we know that our God never stays down. And we are called to follow his example.