March 27: Celebrate the resurrection

Steve Smartt is pastor of Moultrie Baptist Church in St. Augustine.

How will you celebrate the Lord’s resurrection?

In his book, The Body, Chuck Colson tells of an incredible response to the joyful confidence discovered in the resurrection of Christ, even in the midst of fearful threat. He writes, “It was May Day, 1990. The place, Moscow’s Red Square … the priests hoisted their heavy burden toward the sky. The cross emerged from the crowd. As it did, the figure of Jesus Christ obscured the giant poster faces of [the communist leaders] that provided the backdrop for Gorbachev’s reviewing stand. ‘Mikhail Sergeyevich!’ one of the priests shouted, his deep voice cleaving the clamor of the protesters and piercing straight toward the angry Soviet leader. ‘Mikhail Sergeyevich! Christ is risen!’”

Following the crucifixion, the disciples were together in fear for the lives. When they saw Jesus for the first time following His resurrection they were “overjoyed” (20: 19-20). The reality of Jesus’ resurrection brought them away from their fear and ushered them into joyous celebration over our risen Lord. This is what we are to share with those disciples. Whether living under the threat of tyranny, or in the peace of freedom, we are to celebrate with joy that Christ is alive! For this is the promise of the Gospel. The resurrection is our joyful hope!

Unlike anything the world can offer, we have the truth of a living Savior and the confidence of His love. The story has been told of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. Explaining his decision to his friends, he said, “Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions. Standing at the fork are two men, one dead and one alive. Which one would you ask for directions?” With such great news of our Savior’s resurrection, we have the privilege of sharing its truth with others (20:21-23).

This confident joy urges us to personally confess that the risen Savior, Jesus Christ, is Lord over all, beginning in our lives (20: 24-29). Just as Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God!” we must make that same personal profession of the Lordship of Christ.

Annie Johnson Flint put it this way, “Some of us stay at the cross, some of us wait at the tomb, quickened and raised with Christ, yet lingering still in the gloom. Some of us ‘bide at the Passover feast with Pentecost all unknown, the triumphs of grace in the heavenly place that our Lord has made His own. If the Christ who died had stopped at the cross His work had been incomplete. If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb He had only known defeat. But the way of the cross never stops at the cross, and the way of the tomb leads on to victorious grace in the heavenly place where the risen Lord has gone.”

So how will you celebrate the Lord’s resurrection?

On Easter Sunday, churches across our land will be filled with Christians and non-Christians alike. Pastors and church staff will give their best efforts in presenting a worship service that calls attention to the joy of the resurrection and the hope of salvation. Church members, those who have attended faithfully through the year, as well as those whose attendance may have been nominal at best, will make a special effort to attend and to look their best. Even outside the church, there will be marketing reminders of the historical event that has shaped the flow of history and ignited the sharpest of debates as the stone in the shoe of liberal humanism. Easter is the one time of the year when all of the world must face the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, whether they choose to accept it or not. What a glorious day for the Church to celebrate!