Easter is such a special day for me. It’s a high energy, passionate, celebration every year; because I commemorate the reality that Jesus Christ rose from the grave, alive forevermore. Jesus not only claimed that He was going to rise from the dead (see Luke 24:6-7 for one example), but He actually said in John 10: “I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again” (verses 17-18). Easter is the most glorious of Sundays, because we celebrate that Jesus is unlike any other figure in history; He took on death, and He won!
Someone is thinking something like, “Good to see some
things never change. Kevin is prattling
on about the resurrection of a Jewish Rabbi again. But so what?
What relevance does this have in my life today?” I’m glad you asked! Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever.” When He
walked on this Earth, Jesus was all about calling people to Himself; to look to
Him for significance, purpose, fulfillment, and peace; to proclaim to others
that He offered salvation and forgiveness of sin. Because He doesn’t change – because of the
truth of Easter Sunday – Jesus is still in the business of transforming lives,
just as He did those centuries ago.
You can’t have a relationship with a dead person. You can admire them, and even be inspired by
the life they led, but you can’t have a relationship with them. For example, when I was born, Roger Moore was
playing the role of James Bond. (Wow,
that dates me. Please, no jokes about
how I’m quietly getting old.) The fact
is I think Roger Moore was an extremely talented actor – and a very good James
Bond, I might add. I never had the
chance to meet him personally, and I can’t do so now, because sadly he passed on in 2017. But because of the events of Easter, how
Jesus walked out of the grave, you and I can have a relationship with Jesus
this very day.
In John 16, Jesus tells His disciples that it’s actually to their benefit that He is about to leave the world, because if He didn’t, the Holy Spirit wouldn’t come (verse 7). You see, God is at work in the world. The Spirit of God draws, woos, and convinces men and women today; He convicts humanity of their sin, and their need for the Savior of the world, named Jesus. How do I know this? Because that’s what happened to me. I am who I am today because of Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong: I still struggle with my inconsistencies and sinfulness. But even still, I echo the words of Galatians 2:20 for my own testimony: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” I’ve said it before, but here it is again: it’s my prayer that if you’ve never started your relationship with Jesus, you would give up the fight and do it today. This doesn’t mean that life will magically become a cake walk; but it does mean that you will have a Friend who will be with you, and empower you along the way, no matter what you may go through.
Let me begin to wrap this up. The 2006 film “Superman Returns” is a rather odd superhero movie. It features a good cast (Brandon Routh was
excellent as the Man of Steel, and Kevin Spacey was a very good Lex Luthor),
and there are some dazzling cinematic moments.
Such as when Superman saves an entire airplane full of people –
including Lois – from certain death. Or
when a bullet doesn’t bounce off of Superman’s S crest, but rather his actual
eyeball; not only is Superman unharmed, he doesn’t even blink. The unfortunate reality is these moments are few
and far between. Overall, the story was
mediocre, bland, confusing, and attempting to do too much. However, when I think of this film, one scene
springs to mind.
Lex Luthor manages to get kryptonite. With it, both he and his goons, physically torture Superman. To see Superman kicked while down, mocked, and get his head pushed underwater, is very difficult to watch. But the worst moment in this sequence is when Lex stabs Superman in the side with a kryptonite shard, and then he leaves him for dead. This is a cinematic allusion to Christ, as this happened to Jesus on the cross (John 19:34). Of course, Superman ultimately survived the kryptonite; he lived on, and to sum it up succinctly, he saved countless lives. This too points to Jesus, His glorious resurrection from the dead, and that He saves “to the uttermost those who comes to God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25).
God bless,
Kevin
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