Celebrating the Resurrection

This time of year is a time to celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death. The resurrection is understood as the most important day in all of history. With Jesus' birth and ministry, the old covenant began its end. Jesus' death and resurrection brought an end to the old covenant. This is not a mere trifle of doctrinal detail, this is world changing. All old covenant laws and rules have been fulfilled and ended. We now no longer live by externals but by the direction of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.

There are several Protestant camps that expend a lot of time and energy on debating the extent of authority of OT law for the modern day believer. This debate stems from the issue of lack of authority within Protestantism. This is not an issue within Eastern Orthodoxy. The Orthodox Church can and does articulate the historical view on particular doctrines. And they do so with apostolic authority.

But back to the topic at hand. Jesus' resurrection has so drastically changed and defined absolutely every detail of human history that it would take a lifetime to understand its far-reaching effects. Death has lost its power and blessing and curse has moved from the temporal to the eternal. Under the old covenant, God blessed or cursed his people (the Israelites) within the realm of the physical. He did so because that was all the mankind had to look forward to. Once man died, that was it. He was doomed to linger in the shadowy realm of death, waiting for Jesus' redemptive work.  But now, since Jesus has defeated the power of death, blessing and curse are in the realm of the eternal. This temporal life is merely a preparation ground for eternity, where we can anticipate sinless life in the immediate presence of God.

So the resurrection? Unarguably the most important event in human history. One that we should celebrate in a big way and seek to understand even more.