Buildup to Easter, Week Eight: The Resurrection

This is the final week in The Sunday School Zone Buildup To Easter and includes the week of Sunday, March 31, 2024, which is Easter Sunday. We have seen how sin and evil brought death into God’s good creation and how it grew rapidly and was something inside people. We’ve seen how Jesus came to reverse the impact of sin and restore sinners like Zacchaeus and even people like us. We’ve seen how the simple devotion of Mary of Bethany helped prepare Jesus for His soon-coming crucifixion. We’ve seen how Jesus demonstrated His “Godness” by serving His disciples and washing their feet. We’ve seen how the Triumphal Entry revealed Jesus as King, but not the kind of king the people were expecting. And, we’ve seen how Jesus defeated sin on the cross by giving Himself in sacrificial love. All of these stories point toward the new creation God would begin to reveal on Resurrection Sunday morning. We see this quite clearly in the story of the resurrection as found in John 20:1-23.

New Life, New Creation

Resurrection Sunday (Easter) is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after being crucified on the prior Friday (Good Friday). It’s important that Jesus was raised on a Sunday. From a biblical perspective, Sunday is the first day of the week. It was the beginning, but not just the beginning of a new week that was like any other week. This Sunday was the beginning of a new era, a new life, a new creation, a new world. The world had changed at the moment of Jesus’ death on Friday, but Sunday was the day the sun effectively dawned on that new world.

Taking The Throne

It’s appropriate that there was a pause between the crucifixion on Friday and the resurrection on Sunday. When God completed His work of creation at the end of six days, Genesis 2:2 tells us God “rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.” The idea here is that after completing the work of creation, God took His throne in order to begin His reign over creation. (He was not taking a nap.) This was the first Sabbath (evening on Friday to evening on Saturday). God completed His work on Friday, took His throne on Saturday (the Sabbath), and began His rule over creation following the Sabbath.

REcreation

Similarly, God completed His restorative, REcreative work through Jesus on Friday (in advance of the Sabbath), “rested” or took His throne on Saturday (the Sabbath), then initiated His reign through Christ on Sunday, the first day of the week. The crucifixion and resurrection are, in effect, the REcreation! God has completed His work, He has taken His throne, and now begins His reign through Jesus over a new creation.

First Sign of New Creation

Jesus’ resurrection is the first sign of the new creation. Whereas death was the result of the Fall in Genesis 3, the resurrection demonstrates that Jesus has conquered death and reversed the impact of the Fall. His victory over death occurred on Friday, but the victory is revealed on Sunday morning, the first day of a new week and era. If this is true, then we, like those earliest disciples, are now living in the “week after.” Just as Adam and Eve were given an assignment in the garden, so Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus in the garden and was given an assignment… “Go… and tell…” (John 20:17). Just as Adam and Eve were commissioned to take the garden beyond the garden, so Jesus would “send” His disciples into the world (John 20:21). And just as God breathed the breath of life into Adam, so Jesus “breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:22).

New Creation, New Responsibilities

The new creation that began on Easter Sunday morning carries responsibility with it. Adam and Eve were not placed in the garden to indulge themselves on its abundance. And while the new creation is equally abundant, we are not here to indulge ourselves in that abundance. We go in the power of “the Holy Spirit” just as Adam and Eve went in His “image,” but the going is purposeful. The Spirit serves His purposes, not our’s. The resurrection is cause for celebration, but it’s also cause for reflection as we consider what God desires for us to do.

Prayer

Lord, may we live and walk each day in the awareness of Your new creation and may we live in the power of your resurrection for the sake of others. May this Easter season remind us that we are called to self-sacrifice, not self-indulgence. – Amen

For Your Kids

You can find a number of free, printable activities related to the resurrection on the site. This is, of course, the primary story we want kids to study during the Easter season. Not only will it help them understand that Jesus is alive, but that in the resurrection God revealed His new creation. Other activities and resources related to Easter can also be found on the site.

This has been the week of Sunday, March 31: The Resurrection for The Sunday School Zone Buildup To Easter. To see all weeks, go here.