I was helping out in my son’s Sunday School class last Sunday. I came as a volunteer, so they just ask you to show up and be an extra pair of hands and play with the kids – I didn’t have to prep or teach anything. As a consequence, I had no idea what the story was going to be that day, and I assumed it would be something about Palm Sunday because it was, well, Palm Sunday. But actually, they were already teaching about when Jesus had risen and was appearing to His disciples.
The teacher asked, “How did they know Jesus was really alive and not just a ghost or something?” and one of the boys said, “Because He could eat and had a body and stuff.” She said, “Right! So they knew He was alive. Is He still alive today?” and the kids all answered with that kind of blase assurance that Sunday School can give, “Yes.”
Pretty straightforward Sunday School lesson, right? But wait, it blew my mind. I was sitting there thinking, kids, have you really thought about that? Because Jesus died 2000 years ago. Two thousand years. No one lives two thousand years. No one live two hundred years! And yet He is still alive. Why? Because He beat death. He defeated it! Death no longer exists for Him – He will live forever.
It made me want to jump up and shout it – Jesus is still alive! This is not some trite answer we learn about something that happened thousands of years ago. It’s still relevant today, and why? Because Jesus didn’t defeat death so He could live forever – He already had that right. He defeated death so that we could live forever.
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” – Jesus (John 5:24).
This Holy Week, the time when we look at what Christ did on the cross, when we mourn His death, and praise Him for His humility and love and suffering on our behalf, and when we jump for joy on Easter Sunday because we know that death could not hold him, but He is risen from the dead, let’s not make this some historic thing that’s nice to remember. This is for now, this is for today. This is for you, and your life and your future, and He has defeated death forever!
That should never stop blowing our minds. Because Jesus is STILL alive!