He is Risen!!!

I know, I know. It is the Saturday before Easter so I am celebrating early. But tomorrow we are having the kids and grand kids as well as my 91 year old mother-in-law over for Easter Dinner so blogging is out on Sunday.

Easter is a big time holy day. Bigger than the Easter Bunny and bigger than the Easter Parade or fancy Spring Clothes with big ladies' hats. It is big because it is all about salvation, victory over death and the grave and the miracle of God's power in us and with us.

German Roman Catholic and Lutheran theology has blessed the world in many ways and I am thankful for the work past saints and theologians have done to inform the world about God's gift to us in Jesus Christ. However, it misses the boat in a couple of key areas.

First, Catholic and then Lutheran theology and most of the rest of us put all our emphasis upon Justification or the forgiveness of sin and guilt. For many people, the only thing that really matters about Easter is the crucifixion death of Jesus. The emphasis is only upon what we call, "The Substitutionary Atonement" that Jesus was the person who substituted himself for our guilt and the punishment we deserved.

That is true but it is only part of the story. Another part points not to the death but the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection indicates that not only were we guilty but we were also dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead men cannot be punished for their crimes if they stay in the grave. However, the resurrection of Jesus also indicates that God chose to give us new life and to free us from the Bondage of sin and the Devil.

Many Christians carry a crucifix as the sign of their piety. I carry an empty cross. Jesus did not stay on the cross but finished His work on the third day when He rose from the tomb. I believe in the resurrection and I believe in miracles today. The miracle of the new birth and the miracles of healing prayer and the miracle of eternal life. All of that comes from knowing that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead gave life to my mortal body.

Mel Gibson is a conservative Roman Catholic so his movie about Jesus emphasized the awful gruesome suffering of His death. The stripes on Jesus' back from the cat of nine tails, the pain and agony of the nails and the taunting of the Roman guards were all played out. That was to emphasize that He suffered to relieve our suffering and punishment. The Crucifixion, however, was not all that happened. Mel tragically downplays the resurrection in the movie.

When Jesus told the twelve that the Holy Spirit would be with them and in them it was an astounding promise to carry on the resurrection power of the Spirit. I want to be a resurrection Christian who overcomes the world. My guilt is forgiven but more than that my spiritual weakness and hopelessness are gone. I can live with the assurance that we Christians together can conquer the world, the flesh and the Devil.

He is Risen! PTL!