Things I like about the Resurrection

I like that Jesus rose early on Sunday morning. Jesus said many times that after three days he would rise from the dead (Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:34). If Jesus was put in the tomb at dusk on Friday and was gone by Sunrise Sunday that’s barely a day and a half? Jesus rose at sunrise on Sunday because he was determined not to allow death to have him any longer than necessary. He was in the tomb Friday, Saturday, and early Sunday. If you were Jesus would you wait till mid-day to rise when sunrise counted as the 3rd day? Doubt it. Jesus couldn’t wait to show he had conquered death and to restore his hurting followers. When sunrise came, he was outta-there!

I like that each of the gospels describe the resurrection from different viewpoints. Imagine each gospel as a still photograph from a different camera. Each shows a slightly different perspective of the same event. Each adds different facts to our knowledge of the event. Add all those photos together and we get a magnificent montage of the resurrection.

I like that Jesus ate fish in his resurrected body! Twice! (Lk 24:42; Jn 21:9) This means we can eat fish in our resurrected bodies too! If we’re eating fish in heaven, someone has to catch them. …closing eyes, imagining, fishing in heaven!

I like that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Women were still little more than property in first century Jerusalem. Jesus chose this humble woman, from whom he had cast out seven demons, to be the first to see him. What a statement this makes about Jesus’ love for the humble, hurt, and overlooked of society. They’re not overlooked by Jesus!