Observation: Near the end of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is kind of doing a "Q&A session," and he devotes an entire chapter to sharing his understanding of Jesus' resurrection and its importance for us. He begins by recounting the many witnesses to the Risen Christ (including at least one story not included in the Gospels!), then goes on to share how vitally important these accounts are to the faith of Christians. Finally, in this paragraph, Paul shares his belief about what kind of life awaits believers in Christ. It will not be exactly the same as earthly life, but it is real, and eternal, and a deep mystery. At the end of time, "we will not all die, but we will all be changed." Our mortal bodies will put on immortality.
Application: Sometimes I'm just without words as I approach such an awesome and mysterious concept as the resurrection of the dead. I need to sit with them, and let them sink into my mind and heart, and let them become a part of my consciousness, before I try to break them down into ideas or concepts to digest. What happens to us after we die continues to be a great mystery. We can certainly slice and dice various pieces of scripture and try to fit them into a collage that may give us some picture of what it will look like. But I don't think we need to. Even Paul, who saw the Risen Jesus himself, and devoted his life to making sense of him, in the end just found himself singing an old familiar hymn: "Death where is your sting?"
What we know is that Jesus is alive, and that he has promised to bring us into new life too. For now, that's enough.
Prayer: Jesus, thank your for the deep mystery of your resurrection. May it change us, even as we live, so that we may share your hope. Amen.
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