Resurrection – past, present, or future?

What does “Resurrection” mean to you?

• For some, it is that 1^st Easter Sunday. Jesus’ death & resurrection forever changed the world.
• For others, it’s when we’re in heaven or Jesus returns. A final resurrection is coming along with Judgment Day.

Both answers are correct, but both answers are also incomplete.  They place resurrection outside the present moment.  It is either a past or future event.  Could resurrection be available to us, right here, right now, today?

In John 11, Jesus makes the bold claim, “I am the Resurrection & the Life.”  He is speaking with Martha right before he brings her brother, Lazarus, back from the grave.  What does Jesus mean, speaking in the present tense, saying I am?

You can read John 11 for context, but here is Maratha & Jesus’ exchange:

²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Here’s what I’m thinking.  Resurrection is an event & a person.  It is something Jesus offers & Jesus himself.  Resurrection is an invitation into a new kind of life, a different quality of life, a life abiding in Christ.

Here’s a provocative quote by Philosopher Peter Rollins:

“Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think… I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.  However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.”

Rollins gives us a powerful challenge against complacency by refocusing Resurrection as an event (past or future) into a way of life today.