Daily Prayer for Monday, April 19, 2021
Scripture. Luke 24: 36-37
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
Easter should be a shock.
There really is nothing like it. The story of a great leader who dies at the hands of enemies is common. But, the next part is unheard of! There is only one who lives again. There is only one who not only HAS risen, but who IS risen… who IS alive… never to die again. That one is the Lord Jesus.
The accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the Bible contain the variety that one would expect of eye witnesses. In the account from Luke, we see that Jesus appearance reminds us that a true experience of Easter should be a shock!
This shock, however, isn’t due to Jesus being an apparition, a ghostly vision, that isn’t real. Instead, the accounts reveal that Jesus is real – that’s the shock. Jesus’ resurrection is the shock that must give way to the new reality, namely, that in Jesus God has power over death itself.
This is the life that we live in now in the weeks following Easter Sunday. Jesus death on the cross shows us that our sins did not overpower God’s Love. Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice for all our sins on the cross. In His resurrection from the grave, Jesus shows that the consequence of sin, which is death, has also been overcome.
If the resurrection is a shock for us to comprehend, so also should be our Lord’s forgiveness. As Christ is risen from the dead, so are our sins forgiven and our lives restored in Him. The joy of the Lord is real for those who trust in Jesus as their Savior. The Shock of Easter is that now, even now, we have joy!
Let us pray,
I thank you Lord Jesus for the startlingly joyful news that you have given to me in the Gospel. Help me to continue to view your resurrection with joy and never to grow dull in my appreciation of this great miracle. As you have forgiven me and given me eternal life, help me to forgive all who sin against me and joyfully point all to your victory and never ending life. In your name I pray, AMEN