How to Really Celebrate the Resurrection

There has to be more to celebrating Jesus' resurrection than songs and sermons about going to heaven someday when we die. As thrilling as the prospect is, if we're not careful, we miss out on opportunities to celebrate the impact resurrection life has on the here and now. It's no coincidence the Apostle Paul closed the New Testament's Resurrection Chapter (1 Corinthians 15) with an exhortation to diligently be about the Lord's work here and now precisely because Jesus rose again in triumph over death: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (v. 58).

Ultimate triumph over death is one of the most significant purposes of Jesus' resurrection and subsequent exaltation as Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 explains: "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Verse 26 makes the endgame unmistakable: the enemy of death is to be destroyed. Verse 25, however, indicates the endgame has already begun: "For he must reign until...." Jesus doesn't begin to reign at the end, when the enemy of death is destroyed. Having been exalted, his reign has already begun. Even now he is seated at the right hand of the Father, seated on a throne, like a mighty king orchestrating events to the ultimate demise of death along with all of his other enemies. It's on the basis of this current reality that Paul assures us of the full value and fruitfulness of our present labor in the Lord.

The reign of death has dominated humanity ever since the Fall. No where was this more evident than in Rome. Death was the most effective means of projecting the government's authority and power. Ironically, the Romans found death by crucifixion to be particularly effective to control their political enemies. For example, the Roman government once lined a 100-mile long road with the crucifixions of 6000 of their enemies. The thinly veiled message for all passersby was, this will be you if you too dare to stand against us.

By rising again after suffering death by crucifixion, Jesus stripped the Roman empire of its most effective weapon. He took the realities of suffering a painful death on a cross and turned them into something entirely different. Once again, the Apostle Paul explains: God the Father "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Colossians 3:15). In the end, though the cross should have continued as a symbol of tyranny and agonizing death, it became a symbol instead of love and hope and life.

The Romans are long gone, but Jesus continues to leverage the painful sting of death against itself in a myriad of ways. Even when healing doesn't come, Jesus still communicates his awareness of our suffering; he also provides grace to persevere, the comfort of knowing he cares, and meaning that turns our losses into eternal gains and fruitful avenues of service—all of this here and now, while we await his ultimate triumph over death.

It isn't wrong for celebrations of Jesus' resurrection to focus on life after death. It's just that we have such opportunity right now to collaborate with our Lord in the triumphs over death he orchestrates from day to day. In the end, our lives here on earth are a form of collaboration with either the resurrection life of Jesus or with death. To understand the difference, ask yourself whether a particular activity seems more consistent with the way things will be someday when death is finally defeated completely or with the disappointing way things are for now in a fallen, sin-cursed world. The activities that clearly collaborate with the life of the resurrection become meaningful ways to celebrate what will surely come to pass someday when Jesus' kingdom is fully revealed and he begins by his physical presence to reign on earth. Here are some examples to ponder and pursue. Each one holds a magnifying glass over the new life of Christ's kingdom and illustrates in some fashion that Jesus' ultimate triumph over death has begun.

‎1. Forgive someone who has offended you
2. Share your faith with someone not from your ethnic group
3. Learn and amplify the story of some Christian who is suffering for his or her faith
4. Call or visit a widow
5. Perform an act of kindness to someone in need
6. Minister to a homeless person
7. Write a letter to someone in prison
8. Purchase a mosquito net for someone living in a malaria infested area
9. Call or visit a friend who has recently lost a loved one
10. Provide a meal or gift certificate for a military family
11. Tell someone what you admire about him or her
12. Change a habit that is enslaving you
13. Beautify an area of your yard or neighborhood
14. Slow down and obey the speed limit
15. Take time to return your shopping cart to the appropriate place
16. Take a meal to an elderly couple
17. Send a greeting card with a personal note to a foster child or teen

*A helpful resource for learning more about the impact of Jesus' resurrection on the here and now can be found in "Surprised By Hope" by N.T. Wright.