After Easter – The Time of Realization

The gloom of the tomb is past, the Lord of life lives

The pain of birth is very real during labor and delivery. Thankfully, there are medications and procedures that help new mothers cope with the trauma of birth. Rash statements are sometimes made when the pain is severe. Some have said, “I’ll never have another child!” While at the moment she is very sincere, with the passage of time the memory of the pain fades and the joy of a new birth causes one to forget those rash promises. The joy of life overshadows the pain of suffering.

The same was true for the triumph of resurrection. As horrible and gruesome as the affliction of the cross was, it could not be compared with the jubilation experienced on Easter morning. In no way do we minimize the cost of Calvary or the intensity of Gethsemane’s intercession. It takes nothing away from the significant suffering and the supreme sacrifice of the Savior to magnify the joy of resurrection. The pain had passed, the task completed, and the resurrected savior was reunited with His disciples. There was ample cause for celebration and abundant reason to rejoice!

It was said of Jesus by the writer of Hebrews, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Nothing about the cross itself could be considered joyous, but the end result brought satisfaction. The accomplishment of redemption and the triumph of life over death was the cause for His joy.

Timorous disciples were emboldened by the realization of Christ’s victory over death. No longer did they have to fear what others could do to them. After all that Christ had suffered, here He stood before them restored to life, radiant in power, and resplendent in glory. No wonder these disciples seemed like changed men in the book of Acts. They had witnessed the worst that the world could dish out and had seen Jesus return to them with only healing scars marking the wounds of His suffering. They must have been thinking of these events when they were “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). They continued teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ publicly in the temple and from house to house. While they were threatened, and then beaten, and some eventually killed, there was a confidence in the knowledge that death is not the end. The grave is not forever.

He lives, He’s here, He’s alive forevermore. This gives us cause to proclaim His message to the world. There’s a whole lot of living beyond the present and the future joy will surpass the suffering we may endure. Paul said, “if indeed we suffer with Him, … we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:17-18).