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World without end

Monday, April 25, 2011

Acts 2:29-32
Peter spoke to a large crowd and said, "My brothers, David died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. But he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption (Psalm 16). God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses."

Jesus was dead; now he is alive. He had been placed with great care and ceremony into the tomb, wrapped in burial cloths, anointed with oils and perfume, and left to ... to what? What do bodies when they are entombed? Not much. Gradually become useful to the soil as fertilizer, if they aren't artificially protected.

Jesus is no longer in the tomb. This is big news. It's also unbelievable, because it never happens. Bodies don't come back to life. Jesus and Lazarus have a different story to tell, but no one really believes it, because it just doesn't happen. Not then. Not now.

We celebrate Easter for more than a day (like for seven weeks or something), so we can prolong this one sweet moment of exposure to the naturally supernatural. For just a moment, or rather for just 49 days, I am a little more likely to believe the unbelievable, a little more likely to grasp what is so slippery otherwise. Infinity isn't something a finite guy like me can understand. But because Jesus rose I can get a glimpse. As someone with a body that began its life on a certain day in a certain year, I can begin to believe that I might not have an end.

Jesus' resurrection gives me the tiniest window into eternity, but it's enough to get my mind open. I feel excited and alive! I can proclaim the doxology in all its outrageous glory ("... as it was in the beginning, is now and Ever Shall Be, World Without End: Amen!"), and believe what I'm saying. The mystery is not unveiled, but the veil is lifted just an inch. We get 49 days to look under it, and see what there is to see.

Things of heaven and things of earth are so different to me today, Lord, than they were on Saturday or Friday or Thursday last week. You were alive, then you were dead, now you are alive again. But this Alive, this is really AliveAlive! Your body is done with death forever. And I get the idea that this will be true for me as well. My fear of death is slowly losing its grip. I sleepwalk so much through this life, but I am waking up to the reality of your promises, and it feels good! True and right and good!



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