Lesson from Fr. Paulus | The Resurrection Is What Makes Us Different

On the first day of the week, the third day of his Passion, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Today is his day.

Many great historical figures have led exemplary lives, taught wise doctrines, and even died for the truth. But only one has risen again. Among the vast array of humanity's greatest heroes, only about Jesus Christ can we say: "He rose again on the third day, in fulfillment of the scriptures."

Only in Christ's resurrection do goodness and power finally unite. The good guy wins! Only in Christ's resurrection does love prove that it is stronger than death.

In Christ and in his resurrection, a new - a wildly new - hope dawns for all mankind, the hope that if we stay united to him through faith and grace, we will rise with him, rise from our very tombs, and live with him forever in the never-ending adventure of heaven.

No one else offers such a hope, because no one else has risen from the dead to be able to offer it - only the Lord.

The Resurrection is the definitive watershed in the history of religions; it makes Christianity absolutely unique. In the Resurrection, reality becomes more wonderful than myth.

Only the reality of the Resurrection can explain the reality of the history of the Church: A few weak, non-influential, and uneducated fishermen from Galilee, frightened out of their wits when Jesus was arrested and executed, suddenly become world travelers, phenomenally successful preachers, and valiant martyrs.

And the Church they spread continues to spread after they die, holding fast to the exact same doctrine they preached, century after century, in nation after nation. Only the abiding presence of the Lord can explain this, and only the resurrection explains the abiding presence of the Lord. This is what makes us, as Christians, different.

Happy Easter, may the resurrect Jesus always lives among you.