Christ’s
Resurrection: A guarantee of our ultimate victory
Dearest friends, we have arrived at that night
when the power of light conquered the power of darkness, that night when the
Most High didn’t allow the power of death to rejoice over us. But some
questions keep ringing in my mind. They are begging for answers.
Dear friends, I would like you to reflect over
these questions and, possibly, answer them in your heart. Have you ever
imagined what the world would have looked like if Christ never resurrected from
the dead? Have you ever thought of the values that would have been supreme in
this world if Christ did not resurrect from the dead? Do you realize that it
took God the Father many years to prepare humanity for the coming of His only
begotten Son?
Right from the fall of man in Adam and Eve, God
took the decision to restore man to his lost glories. To achieve this plan, God
adopted the people of Israel, sent priests and prophets to teach them to obey
Him and to prepare them for the coming of His Son. The readings of this night
give us a beautiful storyline in this regard. The entire world waited in
anticipation for the coming of this Son of God. But, unfortunately, when the
Son of God finally came, the world did not recognize him. The devil locked the
hearts of the Jews from recognizing Him. The same devil, who caused the failure
of Adam, wanted to drag humanity to another failure. Instigated by the devil,
the Jews seized the Son of God, judged him unjustly and crucified Him. They
crucified the one who has come to save them from the power of the devil. What a
historic disaster, an end to the long-awaited Messiah! In the plan of the
devil, the death of Jesus was to be the second deadly blow to humanity: the
first was in Adam, the second was to be in the elimination of Jesus.
So, dear friends, if Christ didn’t rise from
the dead, the plan of saving us from the dominion of the devil would have been
dealt a heavy blow. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, all stories about him
would have been reduced to mere curiosity, a forgettable footnote in the
crowded history of lost courses. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, the
values that support evil would have been supreme on earth, injustice would have
been the order of the day. If Christ had not risen, darkness would have
conquered light, evil would have conquered the good.
However, dear friends, death did not have the
last laugh in the story of Jesus. God did not allow the story of His only
begotten Son to end with His death on the Cross, rather, His story developed
another chapter, the part which says, ‘He conquered death and rose from the
dead’.
So, dear ones, we are victorious because of the
victory of Christ. Relying on the victory of Christ, we can comfortably look at
the cross and affirm that in our individual stories, in our life’s struggles,
death, hardship, trials and tribulations will not have the final laugh or the
final word. The resurrection of Christ has given us assurance of victory over
our own problems.
The church wants us to raise our voices today,
with eyes fixed on the cross of Christ, and affirm with faith that our own
trials will also come to pass. Our childlessness will also come to pass.
Joblessness will also come to pass. Hatred will also come to pass. Sickness
will also come to pass. Hunger will also come to pass. The resurrection of Christ
is our guarantee. Easter is a time of miracles for Christians, because St Paul
assured us that if we suffer and die with Him, we shall live and reign with Him
in glory.
Fr. Isaac Chima
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment