“He is risen.”
“He is risen, indeed.”
So goes the exchange every Easter.
But, why does it matter that Jesus is risen?
Being neither a theologian nor an apologist, I will simply tell you why it matters to me.
Every other god or leader to whom people have historically looked for life and meaning is now dust—their remains somewhere on this planet, returning from whence they came.
Not so with the One to whom I look.
I serve, I love, I trust, I worship… a risen Savior.
All the circumstances, events, and happenings of my life, from the momentous to the mundane, are anchored in a Savior who lives. A Savior who tasted death vicariously for me, but then conquered it decisively.
The feet that walked on water took the nails. The hands that cup my face bear the scars. These relics of redemption—these souvenirs of salvation—bear silent, sacred witness to just how far Love was willing to go to see us rescued and reconciled.
In His rising, grief was not erased, it was redeemed. Suffering was not forgotten, it was transformed.
Moved by our plight, Jesus came to us as one of us—in person as a person.
Our Christ. Our Savior.
The Mediator between God and man, who entered into the fullness of human pain and called it His own.
Only a God who has known suffering can rescue us in ours. And He fully immersed Himself.
Absorbing the entire spectrum of pain, betrayal, and degradation, He partook. Willingly. Completely. He drank the cup to the dregs, sparing Himself nothing, to ultimately spare us everything.
Compelled by love, He took our place, and nothing was ever the same again.
Ancient prophecies were fulfilled.
The curse of death was neutralized.
The tyranny of sin was subdued.
And access to God was granted beyond a veil that was literally, and symbolically, torn in two.
Our approach welcomed and our reception guaranteed, fear is now replaced with boldness.
Reticence is now relieved by an invitation soaked in the blood-stained assurance of a Great High Priest who knows exactly how we feel.
No longer content with distance, no longer afraid to draw near, we leave the outer courts in search of Him. Only Him.
We don’t dawdle. We don’t waver. We don’t doubt.
Because if the resurrection proclaims anything at all, it is that our trust in Him was never misplaced.
He, “the Resurrection and the Life,” is who He said He was all along: The Christ. The Son of the Living God.
Every “I Am” statement He made was proven true with His resurrection. In this, our hope was made manifest and our redemption secured.
And He, the Way who made a way, comes to us still—offering life where there has been death, joy where there has been sorrow, and purpose where there has been pain.
Only a risen Savior can do that.
That is why it matters.
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
~ 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐈𝐈
He is risen.
He is risen, indeed.
Help yourselves to His mercy.
Drink deeply of His grace.
Bask freely in His love.