“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

These are the words of a seasoned and mature Peter who had learned the important truth that Christ’s victorious resurrection was more than an event on the calendar to celebrate but rather an invitation to a new life every day.  This lesson was not immediately learned by the sometimes tempestuous and often arrogant and presumptuous fisherman from Galilee.  The narrative of John 21 and Christ’s post-resurrection dialogue with Peter makes that clear. Peter, seemingly frustrated that Christ’s resurrection had made no apparent difference to date, decided to return to the sea where he was most comfortable, fulfilling his secular vocation as fisherman.

It was clear that Peter had no understanding about how Christ’s resurrection affected his past failure.  In an almost ashamed and embarrassed manner, he answered Christ’s three times-repeated inquiry, “Do you love me?”  Apparently he had no awareness that the resurrection of Jesus could transform his present circumstances.  The man to whom Jesus promised the keys to the Kingdom and the one whose name meant “rock” seemingly resigned himself to his former vocation without the hope of Kingdom usefulness.  And the future implications of Christ’s resurrection did not even register on Peter’s radar, a fact clearly seen in Peter’s preoccupation with the placement of John in the Kingdom rank and file.

Peter was doing what so many do today.  They see the resurrection as an event to celebrate.  It is in the mind of many a memorial to which we return annually in the springtime.  We are built up for the event, the celebration, the memorial; but when the hoopla is over, we return to our melancholy, sink into weary cynicism, and cower in the same fear, defeat, and self-pity we walked in before the grand celebration. This was the plight of the immature Peter and remains the experience of most carnal believers who treat their walk with God as a string of events designed to help them survive the toil and difficulty of life.

What a low view of Christ’s resurrection!  What a sad way to live.  Yet, it is the testimony of most Christians, even Christian leaders.  The reality is however that Christ’s resurrection is not an event to celebrate as a birthday or anniversary of some great figure.  It is not a memorial to which we return once a year.  The memorial stone was rolled away and so instead of commemorating the past accomplishments of a great figure and gathering around His remains, we are to enjoy His ongoing provisions and walk with Him in the newness of life. 

Christ’s resurrection is an ASSURANCE OF CHRIST’S VICTORY OVER SIN, DEATH, AND HELL upon which we are to MEDITATE!  There is a certain amount of reflection that is appropriate.  Thinking on the good things Christ achieved in His resurrection is certainly a worthy activity of the believer and one that should evoke perpetual praise.  “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, My God, My Savior has ransomed me, and like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace.”

Christ’s resurrection is a PROMISE OF RESURRECTION TOWARD WHICH WE ANTICIPATE.  The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will quicken my mortal body and I will rise, see Christ face to face, and in a twinkling of an eye be transformed into His likeness.

 And, Christ’s resurrection is A WALK OF POWER AND VICTORY IN WHICH I AM TO PARTICIPATE TODAY.  Like Paul, we must know the power of Christ’s resurrection that is at work in us now, enabling us to live lives of joyful and peaceful victory.

If Christ’s death is nothing more than the death of some great historical figure, than the days after His memorial celebration should no doubt be filled with melancholy, evaluation, and reminiscing.  But if the angel’s report “He is not here, He is risen” is true, then we should live like Easter people, walking not in the shadow of a great memory, but in the power of a living reality.  Christ is risen!