Life after Easter

Have you ever thought about what the day after Easter was like for the disciples? Scripture doesn’t tell us, but we can use some informed imagination to surmise. To say the Sunday after Jesus’ crucifixion was a full day would be an understatement. It started early in the morning with a few women discovering an empty tomb and being told by an angel that Jesus was alive (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-7). The women quickly told the disciples, but not quite believing them, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves, and sure enough, it was empty (Mark 16:11; Luke 24:11-12; John 20:3-10). Then Jesus met Mary in the garden, and she saw Him with her own eyes (John 20:11-17). Later in the day two others were met by Jesus as they were walking along the road, and once they realized who they were talking to and he had left them, they hurried back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples (Luke 24:13-34). In the evening, Jesus came to where the disciples were huddled together and told them to be ready—more things were going to happen (Luke 24:36-48). Now that’s a day.

If you’ve ever lived through a major event, negatively traumatic or positively momentous, you’ve likely experienced that it wasn’t until after some time had passed, perhaps until the next day after a night’s sleep, that the significance of the event began to sink in. Especially in the case of the disciples, who had gone through arguably the most traumatic day of their lives on Friday, likely their most depressing day on Saturday, and then probably their most exhilarating day on Sunday, the day after Easter would have found them experiencing a great deal of emotional whiplash.

I can only imagine their thoughts and feelings as it began to sink in that Jesus was alive. Everything they had hoped, that then for a while had seemed in vain (Luke 24:21), now would have come roaring back with all the force of the supernatural resurrecting power of God. Add onto that the self-realization that they had been completely obtuse when it came to discerning what Jesus had told them about his death and resurrection (John 20:9), and they surely felt a powerful comingling of elation and embarrassment. But as they recovered from the reeling about-face that they had just taken, the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and what that consequently meant for their own lives must have begun to sink deeply into their beings. If Friday’s cry was “Why?”, Saturday’s rumbling was “What now?”, and Sunday’s refrain was “He is risen!” then Monday’s rumination was a hopeful “So now what now?”

  

In the days that followed, more would be revealed. Jesus would meet with the disciples again to remove Thomas’s doubts (John 20:24-29); He would commission them to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15); they would witness Him ascend into heaven (Acts 1:6-11); and they would receive the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-3). But that first Monday, none of that had happened yet. They were left to sit and ponder what they had just witnessed, with a new understanding of Scripture that Jesus had imparted to them.

Now, 2000 years later, we have just finished a day of rejoicing that Jesus rose from the dead, displaying victory over sin and death. We have the benefit of knowing Sunday was coming and knowing what happened next, but I’d like to challenge us to spend a moment in the disciples’ shoes and really ponder, with fresh attentiveness to Scripture, the thrilling weight of what Sunday meant—and continues to mean.

For just a few moments, marvel at the perfect plan of God and at the intentional revelation of it to the world throughout all of human history, from the first promise of the Savior to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) to the angels’ proclamation to the shepherds near Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-14). Then revel in the fact that the realization of this God-written, true story from past to present brings with it the fact that the story extends from present to future. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was not the end of the story; it was the great turning point of human history, and God is continuing to write His story and reveal Himself to us through His Word and His Spirit as He brings all things toward the time of completion.

So today, the day after Easter, as we have come through the grief, come through the silence, and come through the rejoicing, let us settle into reflection that leads to action—reflection on the overarching narrative of God’s universe that we are privileged to be a part of, reflection on the truth that Jesus is ALIVE right at this very moment, reflection on the implications of this truth for our lives, and action to live accordingly.

How should we live in light of the resurrection? I could answer that question, but I’d rather leave it open for you to wrestle with yourself. To help you get started though, here are just a few areas to think about. How does Jesus’ resurrection affect your relationship with God? How does it affect your relationship with other people? How does it affect your communication with God? What does it mean for fear? For grief? For perseverance?  For confidence? For boldness? For compassion? For joy? As you think on these things, feel free to leave a comment below regarding your ruminations, whether they are fresh realizations or helpful reminders.

Jesus is risen. He is not a person in the past tense. He is presently living and calling you to live as well for His glory. I pray you will step into that life and really internalize all of the implications of Jesus’ resurrection, because as it turns out, life after Easter is the best life of all.

To read the Arabic translation of this post, click here.

لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا.

PC: Anneliese Billings. Used with permission.