Resurrection Hope Defies Reality

From After Easter by Scott Savage on Youversion

Have you ever thought of what it would have been like to sit in front of Jesus’ teaching? Would you have been taking rapid notes, live-tweeting His best lines, or recording it to post on your Instagram stories?

I hope I would have been upfront totally fan-boying Jesus. But, the longer I’ve followed Jesus and the more and more I re-read the Gospels, I think I would have been confused and not agreed with what Jesus said.

I might have checked out if I had been there and heard what Jesus said in John 14.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

‭John 14:12-14 ESV‬

There, He told the disciples that if they believed in Him, they would do the things He had been doing and even greater things than He had done.

What?! I think most of us have never wrestled with the weight of this verse. Because of the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised we would do greater things than He did.

The words Jesus spoke in John 14 and 16 occurred during a meal known as The Last Supper. This conversation was fresh in the early disciples’ memories when Jesus resurrected, spent 50 days with them, and then returned to heaven. It impacted how they lived in the days after the Holy Spirit fell like tongues of fire from heaven.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

‭John 16:33 ESV‬

So, as those early disciples went through their daily lives, they expected great things. They expected God to do these great things through them. And what happened? God did great things!

Resurrection was the reality of the early Christians – they touched Jesus’s new body, watched Him eat, and spoke with Him. They expected resurrection (because of the promise Jesus made). They experienced it.

These early disciples knew something that we need to know today.

Our expectations shape our experience.

When we experience the resurrection in our lives, we begin to notice the resurrection in our world. We leave room for God to bring life out of a situation that seems dead. We expect God to bring reconciliation out of betrayal. We find brokenness and injustice, and we anticipate God will bring healing and justice there. We hold onto hope when everyone else gives in to cynicism and despair.

Resurrection hope does not deny reality; it defies reality. We see the same thing everyone else does, but we also know that resurrection power is at work in the world. We don’t ignore what we see. We simply see more than other people do.

So, what are you expecting today? God will not meet every one of your expectations. He did not promise that divorce, death, and despair will never happen in your life. However, He did promise that resurrection power was at work in us. We will miss the resurrection happening all around us if we do not look for it.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

‭1 Corinthians 15:54-57 ESV‬

What if you began each day for the next week with this short prayer of expectation? “God, I believe You’re at work in the world. You’re bringing resurrection in me and around me. My eyes are open – I want to see You.” Imagine what you might see if you were looking.

Resurrection people have been made new. We accept our identity as witnesses. We take Jesus at His word.

Tomorrow, we will explore the power a community of resurrection people can have in the world. The early disciples did not live as resurrection people alone. We don’t have to either.