“If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” (Romans 6:8-12).
Oh, blessed death! Oh, most glorious life. It’s Easter! He has burst forth from the grip of death. He has triumphed over all the hosts of hell. And now he lives—lives ever more. He died to sin once for all—that means for me too, even for me. And now he takes me with him out of the cold, clammy grip of death, out of the grave, out of that house of the dead, and into the bright sunshine of Easter Sunday morning.
As he died and now lives to the glory of God, so he takes me too into a new life with him. It is a life delivered from sin, a life washed with forgiveness brought by his Word and sacraments. What, then, will be my answer to this most holy day of days, this most holy event of all the events in history and in my own history? Shall I chase the Easter Bunny, running aimlessly across the lawn? Shall I stuff myself with brightly colored eggs (while forgetting that they are just symbols of the resurrection)? Shall I dress myself in Easter finery for a parade designed to impress people with my good taste?
How silly it would be, if that’s what Easter was all about. No, even before I head off to church, I will bask in the sunshine of his grace in the new life that is mine from his resurrection. Oh, I know that I am still weighed down with my nature. I know that I will still be tempted even today to put myself first. I know that at day’s end I will still have confession to make, pardon to crave, grace to seek. Ah, but—and that’s the joy of this day—from God’s point of view my sins have all been left behind in Jesus’ empty grave. Instead of sin, I have pardon; in place of guilt, there is grace heaped upon grace. For Christ is risen! The debts of yesterday have been paid for. So too have the debts of today and tomorrow! They’re all paid for. And Jesus’ resurrection is the proof of it, the proof that God is not only satisfied with Jesus. Wonder of wonders—he is satisfied with me too! For after all, it is for me that Jesus came. For me he died. For me he has risen.
So then, will I wallow in guilt? No, not that! Will I resign myself to my sins, my weaknesses, my faults, my failings, my shame? Oh no, not that either. Rather, buried with Jesus through Baptism and now risen with him anew on Easter Sunday, I will strive and strain and struggle with joy all the more eagerly to be what I already am in God’s eyes: one risen with Christ, one washed and redeemed by his blood, one over whom death and hell no more have a claim because of everything that Jesus has done in his death and resurrection for me, even for me. He lives and I count myself alive, really alive, in him. Oh, most blessed, most happy day! The last thing I want is for sin to continue to rule over me; the only longing I have is for Christ to live ever more fully in me.
Join in the apostle Paul’s exultant hymn: I am alive to God in Christ Jesus! If Christ Jesus is alive and I am in him, then I can never die; for Christ died once and dies no more. His life is mine and mine is his. We are by the message of his death and resurrection bound together with the ties of his love and grace that not death, not the devil, not hell itself can break. For they lie vanquished, smashed, broken, and defeated by our triumphant Savior. And his triumph is ours. That’s why he came. That’s why he died. That’s the fruit for us of his rising again. It is all for me; it is all for you.
Dearest Jesus, the tomb is empty! Not just your tomb but mine as well can collect mold and must. For I am not there. I am risen with you into the bright sunshine of your Father’s grace and favor. Oh, joy beyond all earthly gladness! Write it, O God, on my heart and mind: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
This devotion was originally published in On Giving Advice to God Part 1: Devotions on the Wisdom of God and the Foolishness of Man. All rights reserved.
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