The Resurrection of Christ changes everything
Catholic Standard Editorial, March 2024
There is a tradition in the Church that at Easter the Christians greet each other with the saying, “The Lord is risen”, with the response “He is risen indeed”.
The inspiration for this greeting can be found in the moment when the two disciples who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem to report their encounter with the risen Lord. The Apostles responded by saying, “Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen indeed and appeared to Simon”.
The saying expresses the Easter joy of the disciples on Easter Sunday evening. It expresses the joyful faith of all Christians especially at Easter. The resurrection of Jesus Christ to a new and glorious mode of life is the single most important element to the Christian faith.
It was the subject of the first Christian sermon when St Peter, at Pentecost, declared that the Jesus who was crucified had been raised to life. St Peter declares the central tenet of the Christian faith when he says, “this Jesus whom you crucified [is] both Lord and Christ”. (Acts 2:29)
The Resurrection of Jesus changes everything.
It means that death is not the end to human existence. The Resurrection of Christ is the foretaste of our own destiny. St Paul declares, “But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep”. (I Cor 15:20)
The resurrection of Christ was a promise of our own resurrection. This single truth shapes everything about our lives. We live in the expectation of being raised to new and glorious life.
Faith in the resurrection gives perspective to the way we live. We know that our death will be followed by a moment of judgement. We will stand before God. We must render an account of our lives with our final destiny in the balance – heaven or hell. This impels us to strive for goodness and holiness.
Confidence in life after death also enables us to bear with the burdens and sufferings that we may encounter in life. Christians are not fatalistic, but fervently believe that good can come from the trials of life, provided we accept them trusting in God and allow them to draw us into the mystery of redemption.
Knowing that every person has an immortal soul made to share in eternal glory inspires the Christian to value the individual worth of every human being. The Christian has a consciousness that every person is precious in God’s eyes, and so as believers we uphold their essential dignity.
Thus, at Easter when we proclaim that Jesus has truly risen from the dead, we embrace a vision of life inspired by this proclamation. The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead does indeed change everything.