Thoughts on Holy Week (Part 3 - Easter)

I’ll never forget the description a worship leader once gave Easter; he called it “Super Bowl Sunday”.  I love that designation because, as much as I love the Super Bowl and football, this day is so much bigger than any game.  As my pastor said today, this day is “the most important event in history” and then he added, “This day is the most important event in your history.” 

The Bible says that it’s impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18), so when Jesus claimed on multiple occasions that He was going to die, but that He would then rise from the grave (Matthew 20:18-19 is just one example of this), it had to play out that way, or Jesus, the one claimed to be the truth (John 14:6) wouldn’t be the savior of anyone.  But because of the truth of Jesus’ resurrection, I can be assured that He is exactly who He claimed to be – the God of the universe.

The legendary contemporary Christian Artist Carman (who, for a little over a year now, has been enjoying his reward in Heaven), once recorded a song that has been stuck in my head for days.  “They thought that He would be gone forever.  They thought that He would be gone for sure.  They thought that He would be gone forever, and would not come back anymore.  They put Him deep in the grave and left Him.  They put Him deep in the grave and went…they never thought they would see Him again, never would see Him again.

[Chorus] Then just like He said, He would rise from the dead, He’s alive, in glory forever…Yeah, yeah, yeah, I believe it.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is true.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I believe it…just like He said He would do, He would do, just like He said He would do” (from his album “Heart of a Champion”; track titled “Just like He said”). 

I think it’s easy to lose the wonder of this.  For example, if Kevin Bauer predicted he was going to die on a specific day, that would be crazy.  I would lose all credibility.  But imagine if I were to go on and say that not only would I die, I would soon rise from my own grave.  I would never make such a ridiculous prediction.  But Jesus did!  Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, accurately predicted both His death and subsequent resurrection.

It was back in 1992 that a comic book was released that was massively popular; it was titled “The Death of Superman”.  In it, the Man of Steel gave his life to save Metropolis, and the world, from a monstrous enemy known only as Doomsday.  It was emotionally gripping to see Superman die to save the world – and it harkens us to the events of Good Friday.  But the story didn’t end there, not in the comic book, and not with Jesus.  The conclusion to this story arc was a comic book titled “The Return of Superman”.  To try to articulate the details of this epic story is a blog for another day, but for now it’s sufficient to state that he who was dead and buried, arose from the grave, and ultimately defeated the evil that had emerged.  It sounds like a clear picture of Jesus to me.

Kevin