Jesus lives. Christ is raised from the dead. The women began to believe and know this without seeing him. Others came to belief by seeing him in bread broken and shared, or from hearts afire as words of scripture were illuminated by a stranger along the way.

Living as a resurrected people informs and shapes how we navigate and are present in the world. Turning to Christ and accepting the new life offered through his living, dying, and rising is freedom and salvation.

Salvation is a highly charged word. It is mostly associated with Jesus’s death, as in “Jesus died to save us from our sins.” This is classic atonement theology that has for centuries been used to comprehend the horror of the death of God’s beloved son. But that is not enough. We cannot stop there. The death of Jesus is not the end of the story. There is more. So much more.

The resurrection takes us past the cross, beyond the tomb, into Risen Life.

Jesus rose to save us.

It is the resurrection that saves, not the death on the cross. It is the Risen Christ who saves, not the dying son on the Roman instrument of execution. Jesus’s death matters, and must be recalled and remembered; however, it his risen life that reveals God’s power to save. God’s salvific act of resurrecting Jesus from the dead, opens eternal life to those who choose to receive it, believe it, live it.

Christ lives. We are saved. We are set free.

How did you first experience the Risen Christ? When do you recall the deep knowing that Jesus was alive and present? What did the gift of eternal life change in you? How did the resurrection, resurrect you? What new life did it awaken? How do you choose to live in freedom and salvation?

Prayer: Holy One, shame and fear are transformed into love and trust through your resurrection. May I receive the freedom and salvation that Christ’s rising accomplishes. Help me live the Risen Life. Teach me joy. Amen. Alleluia.

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