Observation: Paul doesn't waste a single word. Even in addressing his letter to the church in Rome (the part we'd just slap on the outside of an envelope) he's doing theology. He talks about himself as an apostle (one who was sent) of Jesus Christ, who was declared to be Son of God by resurrection from the dead.
Application: Typically, if I want to learn about someone, I like to start at the beginning. Where were they born? Where did they grow up? How many siblings did they have? If you're reading a book, you start with chapter one. If you're watching a movie, you want to make sure you catch the first half hour. In the life of Jesus, however, the normal flow of cause and effect, first-this-happened-then-that-happened, gets sort of jumbled up.
It's hard to over-stress how important this next point is: The entire significance of Jesus' life, and of our faith in him, flows from the empty tomb. Despite the remarkable stories two of the four gospels tell about Jesus' birth, despite the voice from heaven at his baptism, despite the many wonders he works, Paul is right in saying it is the empty tomb--and only the empty tomb--that makes Jesus who he is. Easter is everything. Easter influenced every story told about Jesus afterward, every letter or song written about him, every gathering of people confessing his name (who, not coincidentally, started gathering on Sunday--the first day of the week). Who Jesus is, and who we are as his followers, is centered on the cross and resurrection. Without that, everything else we say and believe about him would fall apart.
There would be no Lent without Easter. We don't turn our hearts and minds to follow a great teacher or orator, a great healer of social worker or political revolutionary. We turn to follow the crucified and risen one, or none of this makes sense. Lent isn't a game of "let's pretend Jesus hasn't died for our sins yet, and let's pretend we're not sure if God forgives us." That's why I disagree with the (mostly outdated) practice of not doing confession and forgiveness during Lent worship. Jesus is risen, always. In our baptism, we have died and risen, too. Because we have already died, we no longer need to live for ourselves. Grace is a present reality, even when we are praying for changed hearts. It's out of our sense of God's grace that we can enter more fully into discipleship in this season.
Prayer: Risen Christ, we thank you for the Easter dawn that echoes back and forth through time, drawing us into hope. May we live joyfully in it, through fasts and feasts and all the rest. Amen.
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