Resurrection is New Life

Jesus died. He didn’t seem to die, he didn’t play dead, he died. As a human being He breathed his last on the Cross and died. On Holy Saturday his dead body lay in the tomb. He was completely helpless, completely dependent on His Father.

On Easter Sunday the Father raised Jesus from the dead. He is risen. Alleluia.

Of course, it is the human Jesus who was raised from the dead. Jesus as Divine did not die, could not die. It was Jesus’ humanity which died and was raised. This is our hope as Christians. This is why we shout and sing alleluia.

For just as Jesus’ humanity was raised from the dead so shall ours.

But what does it mean to be risen? It doesn’t mean a return to this level of existence. Rather it means moving on to a better kind of existence, to live the very life of God.

This is good news but not just for when we die. The risen life, began to grow in each of us at our baptism. It continues to grow as we open ourselves each moment to the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The new life of the risen Christ shows itself in us as we love God and our neighbour. When we spontaneously love others because it just seems the right thing to do that is the Spirit of our risen Lord alive in us.

And so we rejoice and sing, Christ is risen Alleluia.

Fr. Con O’Connell