“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”
John 20:30-31
Jesus came to visit with the disciples and those who had put their trust in him after his resurrection. They all needed to see that he was alive. Jesus resurrection is the promise of abundant life with God – NOW and FOREVER. That’s what salvation means — a relationship with Jesus, with God, here and now, which is a relationship that never ends. There is no other relationship that compares to this one.
Resurrection is relationship. This is a relationship that will never be broken, that will never be abandoned, that will never know separation, and will last forever. This is not a pie-in-the-sky promise. So what does a relationship that will never end mean? It must mean that our relationship with Jesus is a living relationship that is life-giving.
Probably all of us have had, or now exist in relationships that are not life-giving, that are on the brink of dissolving. The uncertainty of it may be because of our fault or maybe no fault of our own. Think about the relationships in your life that have changed over time, that can’t go back to the way they were before, or that need to change, but maybe can’t. So we exist in tension and frustration and grief because we are not sure how to handle an acceptable demise or how to negotiate what this means for our relationships in the future. Think about the relationships that ended too soon — by a disease like coronavirus, the ruthlessness of a heart attack, the sudden separations, that you never anticipated. For whatever reason or for whatever cause, these separations were unexpected and devastating. Many of our relationships fall into shambles or just dissolve for not reason that we know of.
Our lives exist and are often defined by broken relationships. But this is not so with our relationship with God because of Jesus life, death and resurrection. This is the truth, the grace, and the good news of John 20:30-31. This is the point of God revealed in the Word made flesh, the Word crucified, the Word resurrected, and the Word ascended. This is the commitment that God makes to all of humanity, like no other, to show what true relationship means. This is God’s desire to be in a meaningful daily relationship with us. Resurrection is relationship!
Questions
What does resurrection mean to you today as you live your life on earth?
Does it mean more than some future life in heaven after death?
How can resurrection give us a closer and more realistic relationship to God?
Sue is NLS Spiritual Director, since 2019 and is a retired Lutheran Pastor (ELCA). Active in VdC since 1995, she has served two terms on the Board of the Texas VdC Secretariat, and also on the Texas Gulf Coast VdC Board as Spiritual Director since its start-up in 2017.
