Let their message of perennial life be matched in our
hearts, as renewal and rebirth come to our souls through the power of Jesus
Christ to make all things new and to make death a temporary pause. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
nothing would matter, for death would prevail as the final statement to each
and all. Since Christ overcame death and
rose from the dead to eternal life mortality is converted into the exception to
the normal existence of life. Mortality
is to be endured, and more than endured, used
to prepare for our eternal existence after we have all died and then risen from
the grave to immortality.
To be sure, our mortality is intense and at times all that
we can bear, for which reason it is mercifully short, the very oldest of us
living not long past a mere century. If
life is so important, does it make any sense for it to be so brief? If each of us is so filled with love, does it
seem right that our love ends so quickly?
With each human so richly endowed with creativity, can it be that all of
our creations corrode and fade away to nothing?
Why did my mother’s memory leave before she did, and is our memory of
her doomed to the same fate to be lost eventually forever?
The answer of death is yes, all is vain, all will be lost. Christ’s victory over death means that the
answer is no, and that all good things are redeemed and preserved forever, and
not just preserved, rejuvenated to
live and grow without end.
Which is to say that the continuation of life is reasonable,
as it is true. The joy of Easter is that
its story is real, that through the resurrection of Christ life and all of its riches
are to be everlasting, as they should be.
No fact of antiquity is more certain than Christ’s
resurrection, no event of the ancient years has left us with more
evidence. To the testimonies of those
who walked and talked and ate with the resurrected Christ, as preserved in at
least five separate records gathered centuries later into the Bible, the Savior
has brought to light the witnesses of His visit to His followers in ancient
America shortly after His resurrection in Jerusalem. Over the course of three days Jesus Christ
taught, healed, and prayed with those who had long been waiting for His
appearance, as prophesied by their prophets for six hundred years. More than two thousand of them, one by one,
touched the wounds in His hands, feet, and side,
and did see with their eyes and did
feel with their hands, and did know of a surety (3 Nephi 11:15)
that this was “Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified
shall come into the world” (3 Nephi 11:10).
Those are the ancient witnesses and evidences. They are to be treasured. These were not ancient experiences to the
people who lived them and testified of them.
They were just as current and real as anything we experience today. As Christ explained to the Sadducees, God is
the God of the living, of life (see Matthew 22:32). We need not rely on the ancient witnesses
alone. Christ has called contemporary prophets and Apostles living with us
and among us in our day, just as He did during His mortal ministry. Their witness is the same as Peter, James,
John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, and others who knew with a
certainty that Christ rose from the dead as the God of life. In this mortal life death so often seems to
prevail that we all need reminders from those who know of the triumph of life.
You can hear their modern words. They report the same message that the Savior
has shared with mankind throughout history, but God knows that we each have a
need to hear it in our own day.
With confidence, as you enjoy the buds and blossoms of spring,
take in their proclamation of life made possible by Christ’s victory over
death, by which all that is good is saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment