Posted By: The Wanderer
"Easter" Questions - 04/17/17 12:42 AM
OK. Please don't criticize until you read the whole post here. Today, I read the current pope's Easter message. I thought it was quite good, as far as it went. In part, this is what he said:
(https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/04/16/resurrection-not-fantasy-pope-francis-insists-easter-sunday/)
So to be clear, i am in no way criticizing what the pope said. I actually think it was quite nicely done.
The topic of the resurrection seems to come into most prominence and recognition around this time of year. But I must confess it is only because of my birthday being this time of year, that I recall this amazing theme from the Bible.
It did get me to thinking about something though. I always enjoy any focus on the resurrection, but most years, I am left wondering why so much focus on the resurrection, with so little focus on the crucifixion, or the life of our Lord?
I think of a verse that helps me to sum up my many questions:
Years ago, I was holding the hand of an elderly gentleman as he was dying, and something made me pick up his Bible with one hand and just start to leaf casually through it. The first thing that caught my eye was this text, scrawled in his hand writing. I turned to this man who was dying and told him what I saw, and he gripped my hand tight, smiled, and died.
I will never forget this text, and this text leads to my summary of all my other questions. World leaders and pastors everywhere, if they do celebrate Easter, usually focus on the resurrection. But this text mentions two things:
1) "the power of His resurrection..."
2) "the fellowship of His sufferings..."
Which of these two should we focus on more and why? What should each of these two phrases should manifest most in our daily life, and how should that look to the outside world?
Quote:
“Jesus has risen from the dead,” Francis said. “And this is not a fantasy. It’s not a celebration with many flowers [pointing at the arrangements surrounding him]. This is beautiful, but [the resurrection] is more.”
Quote:
“It is the mystery of the thrown-away stone, that ends up being the cornerstone of our existence. Christ has risen from the dead. In this throwaway culture, where that which is not useful takes the path of the use-and-throw, where that which is not useful is discarded, that stone that was discarded is the fountain of life,”
(https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/04/16/resurrection-not-fantasy-pope-francis-insists-easter-sunday/)
So to be clear, i am in no way criticizing what the pope said. I actually think it was quite nicely done.
The topic of the resurrection seems to come into most prominence and recognition around this time of year. But I must confess it is only because of my birthday being this time of year, that I recall this amazing theme from the Bible.
It did get me to thinking about something though. I always enjoy any focus on the resurrection, but most years, I am left wondering why so much focus on the resurrection, with so little focus on the crucifixion, or the life of our Lord?
I think of a verse that helps me to sum up my many questions:
Quote:
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;" (Phil 3:10)
Years ago, I was holding the hand of an elderly gentleman as he was dying, and something made me pick up his Bible with one hand and just start to leaf casually through it. The first thing that caught my eye was this text, scrawled in his hand writing. I turned to this man who was dying and told him what I saw, and he gripped my hand tight, smiled, and died.
I will never forget this text, and this text leads to my summary of all my other questions. World leaders and pastors everywhere, if they do celebrate Easter, usually focus on the resurrection. But this text mentions two things:
1) "the power of His resurrection..."
2) "the fellowship of His sufferings..."
Which of these two should we focus on more and why? What should each of these two phrases should manifest most in our daily life, and how should that look to the outside world?