What matters Most!
I’ve been working on another manuscript about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the implications of that truth to all matters in our own lives and that of history. The title is taken from a quote by Church Historian Jaroslav Pelikan, evidently said on his death bed:
If Christ is risen, nothing else matters.
And if Christ is not risen, nothing else matters.
This is absolutely true.
In a time when worries and fears have risen, where is truth to be found? Where can hope be found? How do we tell others this truth without seeming, well, weird? We follow a man who died a horrible death by the Roman executioners’ hands and was buried in a cold, dank and dark tomb sealed as sure as the religious leaders could and guarded, by many historians’ accounts, at least four Roman soldiers who would lose their lives if they slept on duty or somehow lost what they were guarding. However, Jesus didn’t stay dead and buried but rose again having conquered sin, death and the devil.
Friends, this is the truth we have to tell them and proclaim to all we know whether friend, family or neighbor close to home or around the world.
For everyone around the world, if Jesus is NOT risen, then really nothing else matters. Nothing matters. Not our being loving or neighborly, kind, generous or even sacrificial in our giving because it will come to naught when we face death only to find out there is nothing on the other side. Nothing we say or do would really matter, except maybe to just make us comfortable in life. However, if nothing matters, then we would be uncomfortable in death knowing there was no eternal life and nothing to look forward to except that we just vanish.
This is what many in the world believe and, to be honest, it brings me to tears even thinking that if in this world only we have hope, as St. Paul says, then we are to be pitied and many reflect this by being miserable about life. In the ESV version, Paul says “your faith is futile” (1 cor. 15: 12-18). Then he says that if it is only true in this life, meaning, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then other people should pity us. Wow!
If Christ is risen, nothing else matters.
Ah, but this IS true and here is the reality we get to share with them:
Because Jesus DID rise again, fear, worries, pain, suffering, struggles, trials, sickness and even death, well none of that matters any more.
Jesus conquered death and because of that, the trivialities of life don’t matter. In fact, the majors of life (work, promotions, graduations, weddings, births, etc.) it don’t matter as much as we think they do either. While they are great and we love to celebrate and feast with each other, because Jesus truly rose again from the dead, nothing else matters.
Hast his fact sunk into your heart and mind? Have you come to realize that because Jesus did rise from the dead we don’t have to go into an eternity under condemnation but can have our sins forgiven? Is this what you long for you circle to know? As we chat with friends, family, neighbors and co-workers, we can celebrate with them, cry and or mourn with them, but what matters is that Jesus is risen from the dead and our sins forgiven. This is what matters. This is the truth we all must share with those who do not know Jesus as Savior. In fact, this is the truth we need to remind ourselves because other conversations don’t really matter as much as this.
We can must this truth to those around, support those abroad and remind ourselves that because Jesus DID rise again, nothing else matters. Truly THIS message is what matters most!
