Elder Wisdom by Sherry
At Easter we celebrate the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection, the crescendo of Christianity, the miracle generations waited for and celebrate again and again.
But, what now? We spend time planning for significant events – weddings, the birth of a child, the trip of a lifetime – but sometimes we haven’t thought through what that event will change about us and what we need to prepare for going forward.
Jesus spent much of his ministry preparing his disciples and the world for his death, resurrection, and what will be expected of them as followers of Christ. In John chapter 16 verse 32 Jesus says to his disciples “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus goes on to pray for himself “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” John 17:1-5
And then, Jesus prays for all believers, present and future, in verses 20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know you sent me.”
The good news doesn’t end with the resurrection, it begins there. The hope of unity with God through the Son is the most precious and eternal gift and the resurrection reminds us to celebrate and share that gift in our daily lives.
Lord, show me how to glorify You so that others may have the hope that only comes from You.
