No Back to Normal
“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” – Romans 8:11
Easter 2022 has come and gone. I hope family gatherings were very special this year given where we’ve been. We’ve been through the Lent season preparing our hearts in anticipation of Easter, reflecting on the importance of the cross and the empty tomb, culminating on the risen Savior last Sunday. “Christ has risen, He has risen indeed!”
We’ve been to worship, the abstinence and fasting period is ended, we’ve had our different styles of celebration with family, friends, and neighbors. But here comes the Sunday that follows Easter.
What happens to that Easter joy when we’re pulled back into the routine? Back to the “normal life.” Is Easter deemed a culmination of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection – period, end of story?
Well, if we continue the story in scripture, we learn there was no return to normal after Jesus. That first Easter Sunday transformed our world, and nothing was to be the same ever again. There is no return to normal or “business as usual.” What was that first week like for the disciples of Jesus? The disciples were afraid. It seemed that all that Jesus taught was a distant memory now as personal fears took over each of them. But when they did come into the presence of the resurrected Jesus something happened to them that transformed them from fearful men into witnesses, boldly proclaiming Him as the promised Lord – even at the cost of their own lives. That’s what resurrection is meant to them. If there was an end that happened on that Easter, it was the end of who they used to be and the beginning of who they were meant to be.
The same resurrected Lord changes us. The resurrection frees us from our inability to change on our own. The Sunday after Easter is not “back to normal.” Jesus gave us a new identity.
In Jesus’ coming back to life, the disciples came alive – so we do as well. There is no longer a “back to normal again.”
Lord Jesus, Risen Savior, may the wonder of Your resurrection fill me every day. May the memory of Your sacrifice never wane in my mind. In my newness make me an example of Your sacrificial love and care for all. In Your holy and precious name I pray, AMEN.