Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 17, 2020
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Jesus promised death would not have the final say.
Before Jesus, Jews and Greeks believed that all who died went to a single place. Jews called the place, “Sheol,” and Greek literature called it “Hades.” It was a dark place where people lived a shadowy existence. There was no distinction between good and evil people entering—it was for all, and it was a place best to avoid as long as possible.
Apocalyptic Christian writers helped introduce the concept of two separate places for those who die—one place for the wicked, and one for the righteous. Soon this idea took hold in the culture, and we still largely hold to this notion today.
Paul’s challenge in writing to early churches was first to combat Jewish thought that any could be raised from the dead. Their imagination allowed only for a single death and then largely nothingness. Paul insisted there is an afterlife—particularly important for grasping a concept of Jesus raised from the dead. (He’d have to continue to live—in the afterlife, at least—if he was going to return.) If there’s no life after death, then there’s no resurrection, and if no resurrection, then Jesus couldn’t have been raised, thus nullifying any faith in Christ Paul was trying to nurture in people.
Jesus’ promise is this—death will not be the end. Instead, death will be a gateway to a life even more important and lasting than this one. Jesus’ promise offered a word of hope for eternal life that went far beyond anything they had previously imagined. More than that, sin, which puts the sting in death, would also be defeated. Love will win.
Today we have a more solid framework for envisioning the afterlife. But there is still a sting in death. Most of us don’t know what to do with the fear of finality and loss that comes with death. Such fear can profoundly shape us, dictating our thoughts, words, and actions as we strive to avoid death. But Jesus promised death would not have the final say. What might our lives look like if we thought, spoke, and acted as if we were free from death? Might we take more chances for the sake of love?
Would we move right through fear instead of flee from it?
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