The Monday after Easter. The resurrected Jesus is walking and appearing to those that once knew Him as dead. I am sure that if we could go back to “Monday” all those years ago there would be rejoicing and joy unexplainable for the followers of Christ. They could see the evidence of death in His hands and on His side, yet He was alive!
What about our Monday? Are we living in the same joy today as we were yesterday? Are we still rejoicing over our risen Savior or is it back to “business as usual”?
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 is quick to point out the “main thing” to the church at Corinth.
- Christ died for us. (Verse 3)
- He was buried. (Verse 4)
- He arose on the 3rd day. (Verse 4)
- He was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses. (Verse 6)
- He also appeared to Paul. (Verse 8)
In the beginning of 15, Paul says, “I want to clarify for you the gospel.” Now, I know there was some time (looks like about 20 years from the timeline in my Bible) between the time of Jesus’ resurrection until Paul wrote this letter, but it seems they needed some reminding of the main thing. The church seemed to struggle with purity and maturity. Isn’t that how we are today? We believe…we love Jesus…but we don’t want to truly be pure (die to self and devote our life to serving God) and we don’t want to mature. We like to live in the pageantry of a day, because it makes us feel good and then when Monday rolls around we are back to our old selves…immaturely forgetting what Christ did for us.
We must keep the main thing (Jesus’ death and resurrection) the main thing! Not just on Easter Sunday, but into Monday and beyond. We must not forget that if we are going to talk about the resurrection on Sunday, we got to live it on Monday!
Most things that are empty possess little power. There has never been more power in an empty thing as it was in the empty tomb on Easter Sunday! Live in the finished work at Calvary today and in the power of the resurrected Savior! We live…because He lives! That’s worth rejoicing about…not just on Monday, but everyday!!!
1 Corinthians 15:1-19