He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!
...but what does this mean for today?
The Resurrection of Jesus is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. It is the zenith of the Gospel stories - their narratives all working towards it. It is the foundation of the New Testament - energizing the spread of Christianity throughout the greater Roman world, inching ever further towards "the ends of the earth." As prolific New Testament author N. T. Wright has said: "Get rid of the Christmas Story and you lose a couple chapters in Matthew and Luke. Get rid of Easter...and you lose the entire New Testament."
There's no story to tell without it! As Paul said elsewhere: "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." (1 Corinthians 15:19). Yes, new life exists - beyond this life.
But what does that life look like? What is the hope that the disciples of Jesus were clinging to that Easter morning and beyond? And is it a hope only for the future...or does it have implications for today?
We're going to be exploring all this (and more!) in our next sermon series: "Surprised By Hope." This sermon series runs from April 13th - June.
We look forward to unpacking the Resurrection with you and discovering all that it means...for the future and for today!
Surprised by Hope Sermon Archive
For the full sermon archive:
Resources
Lutheran Response to the Left Behind Series
This article was written as a Lutheran response to the popular book and movie series, "Left Behind."
A Study on the End Times and Millenialism
This is a theological paper, written from a Lutheran perspective, which explains all of the different positions that are held regarding the end times and millennialism.