The Day of Resurrection!

Happy Easter!  After the sorrow of Good Friday, we find Sunday. 

A Sunday foretold by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53:4-11) so long ago: 

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.^[b]
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.^[c]
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
⁹ He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.

To think, Jesus took on my sins so that I could be right before God.  With every passing year I see it more clearly and my heart swells with great joy.  The God of the universe saved me.  And you. 

All because Sunday followed Good Friday. 

⁵ Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. ⁷ And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there (Matthew 28:5-7).

As a biologist, I naturally see God most clearly through what He has created.  As I take in this stunning spring we’ve had, and see the rebirth taking place all around me – from the tree buds bursting open, the chlorophyll coming back into the grass on our lawn, to the beautiful birds singing their hearts out in a dawn chorus – I am reminded of the great rebirth that has taken place in my life because of today. 

I am dead to sin.
And alive to Christ.

All because of Today.

Happy Easter, dear readers! 

I pray that you and yours have a blessed Easter celebrating the freedom and life we have – the rebirth in all of us – because of this day!  All we need to do is acknowledge the gift that is today, and live out our call all the days of our lives.