The Power of the Resurrection
Daily Scripture Readings
Sunday: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Monday: Luke 7:11-17
Tuesday: Mark 5:21-43
Wednesday: John 11:1-43
Thursday: John 20
Friday: Acts 9:32-42, Acts 20:7-12
Saturday: 1 Corinthians 15
Opening Prayer
Powerful God, you who have sent Jesus into the world to suffer, die, and rise again for our sake, help us to experience your transforming resurrection power within our lives and ministry. We offer our prayers in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ, our resurrected King. Amen
READING:
God wants the whole world to know the power of Christ’s resurrection. He wants us to experience a personal resurrection into a new life, knowing Jesus and the power that brought him out of the grave. Just like Ezekiel watched the dry bones come to life through the power of God, we read this week about Jesus raising Lazarus and Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Then, we read about the disciples, acting under the power of the Holy Spirit, performing death-to-life miracles in the stories of Dorcas and Eutychus.
The power of the resurrection is undeniable! It is what sets Christianity apart. But, believe it or not, the resurrection of the physical body is not the biggest miracle that we have to look forward to. We are reminded by Paul in the reading from 1 Corinthians 1:15 that “if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” And that “the first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.” That means that these physical resuscitations we witness are just for our present time on earth. The miracles attest to a greater power that is our spiritual resurrection. Paul writes that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable, but rather that God has given us victory through the resurrection of Jesus. Because in Jesus, we embody not just the physical resurrection, but the spiritual resurrection of every person who chooses to put their faith in God.
Those who understand the power of the resurrection in their own lives are now witnesses. In fact, the disciples witnessed Christ’s resurrection, and experienced the resurrection in their own lives so strongly that they could not resist telling others. They were witnesses. That beginning of the early church caused a revolution of the way people knew and experienced God. All of a sudden, the power of the resurrection through Jesus was THE WAY. Let us take encouragement from Acts 4:33: “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.”
Our job henceforth is to tell people about the resurrection. Not just the physical one, but the spiritual one we have experienced. Be a witness. Be an apostle. Be the resurrection power for someone in need. Gather. Grow. Go…