Resurrection Vision

Do you have resurrection vision? This probably sounds like some kind of superpower and in many ways it is. Another way of putting this is, do you have the ability to see the truth and transforming nature of Jesus’ Resurrection as it shows itself and as it works itself in your life and our world? Jesus’ death and resurrection is one of the best-documented moments in early history. Then following we can track how Jesus’ death and resurrection has changed societies and people. Today, Jesus’ death and resurrection is still transforming everything, but can we see it, do we know it and do we trust it?

You might initially say yes. Most of us are here because Jesus and His followers have made a drastic impact on our lives. We have seen how faith in Jesus can make an incredible impact. Yet, at the same time, it is so easy to get caught up in what is going wrong, caught up in our confusion, when there doesn’t seem to be enough, and when we can’t see God.

The same thing happened to those first followers as they followed Jesus to the cross and then approached the empty tomb. They had seen something horrendous as Jesus suffered, they felt alone, like their hope had been taken away, what was left? As Mary and the other women went to clean Jesus’ body, they thought they were doing a kindness to a lost friend. When they found it empty, they didn’t know what to think. The disciples who ran to the tomb didn’t know either, but they believed something happened. Finally, Mary came face to face with Jesus, but she didn’t see him.

Here they are coming face to face with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, something Jesus had spoken to three times and something Isaiah and many other passages had foretold, yet they couldn’t see it. They couldn’t see the hope, the redemption, the new life, the new world that was right in front of their eyes. At least at first.

We all start here. Because of the brokenness of the world, we think there won’t be enough, we think death is the end, we think an empty thing means emptiness to us. It is easy to get trapped in this and for this to determine our thinking and our actions, but that is not the reality. We need to look with new eyes, eyes that we can only receive from Jesus Christ.

Those women, those two disciples, and Mary all started in a good place, whether they realized it or not because they were seeking out Jesus, wherever he was in whatever form he was. They wanted to know what happened to him. Thankfully, we know as Mary soon found out. Jesus had conquered death and all of that suffering, he had opened up the grave and broken free. He has sent empty away, by leaving an empty tomb. He had transformed mourning into celebration, fear into hope, and doubt into faith. This truly is a day of celebration, but it is not just a day, this moment is like a cure to our human illness, it is like the repair shop for our broken world, it is like water to a thirsty and parched land. The best part is that it has come to us and is already working itself into our lives and world.

The difficulty is “Do we have eyes to see it?” Do we see that God is moving throughout and shaping our world? Even more than that, do you see that Jesus’ resurrection which overcame all loss, hurt and death is transforming everything in our midst? Do you see that Jesus is standing right beside you, in front of you? Do you see that He has emptied death? Do you see that in contrast he has filled the world?

It is so easy to let this broken world blind us from the glory and splendor of what God is doing. It is so easy to let someone, something or our business get in the way of us recognizing his presence. Just as Mary did, keep asking, keep searching for him, and wait for him to call your name. Jesus has already overcome it all, now he is calling you by name to join in a new life, a resurrected life - but we need to have eyes to see it, minds to know it and faith enough to live in it. It is not easy to live in a resurrected world, when there is so much that is broken, but thanks be to God that he has done so much to offer us a world that is far greater than what we see and know now, far greater than what we can create. Thank you God, for giving us your life, so that we might live in you from now into eternity.