I was having merienda with my friend Edwin one afternoon. He made a comment that made me think.
“My perspective has changed since I met Christ. I grew up somber and sad every holy week. But understanding what Jesus accomplished on the cross, things have taken a new light.”
No disrespect to those observing the Holy Week with a somber disposition. People can go overboard by not even thinking about why we observe Holy Week.
But Holy Week without Sunday is virtually incomplete.
It’s not just about the suffering of Jesus. The suffering led to what happened on Sunday – His victory over death and the grave.
Paul the apostle makes a declaration in his letter to the church in Colossae.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col. 3:13-17)
What did Jesus accomplish that Sunday morning?
1. God made us alive with Christ.
We are not just alive in Christ. We were made alive with Christ.
Through Him, death no longer has a hold on us.
2. God forgave us from our sins.
Sin separates us from God. Sin causes death. Death is two pronged – cessation of life and separation from God.
By His sacrifice at the cross, we no longer have to suffer the penalty. It should have been us nailed there.
3. God disarmed the powers and authority.
Hebrews 2:14 tells us that “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil…”
The devil has been disarmed with what Jesus did that Easter morning. He has won over death and the grave.
Because of that, we know that victory can be achieved in this life as much as in the life after.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:55-57)
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