A New Angle on Monday...

The chocolate Easter Bunny's ears have long since been chewed off! The smell of fresh pealed hard boiled eggs has given way to a little bit of egg salad in the fridge that might make one more sandwich for lunch tomorrow. All the earthly vestiges of Easter 2006 are fading away, and it's only Monday! All the hype is gone, now what?

It occurs to me, especially this Easter, that it takes faith to believe Jesus Christ lived and died. Like many famous personalities of history whom we have not seen for ourselves, we choose to trust the witness of others. But to believe Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, this takes even more faith as we must trust the witness of a relative few of an event that has never been duplicated, resurrection from the dead!!! After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to some 500 people and then ascended into heaven. To believe in the resurrection, takes faith, considerable faith indeed!

While the number of witnesses to the physical resurrection of Christ remains constant, as history continues on, the number of witnesses to the power of the resurrection of Jesus grows and grows. Apostle Paul stated in Philippians 3:10, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. Paul knew there was power in Christ rising from the dead, for ALL generations of people.

If it was only Friday before the resurrection and Sunday never came, then those of us seeking to personally know Jesus would never know Him because all that is left to know is someone who lived and then just simply died. But SUNDAY CAME, and because it did, we can all know Christ personally because He still LIVES! As He lives, so we live.

If its only Friday before the resurrection and Sunday never came, then those of us longing for a life-power beyond this world will only be able to rely on material and temporal things devoid of any real and significant eternal spiritual power. But SUNDAY CAME, and because it did, we realize our power is not in the flesh, but in the spiritual forces of Light which is able to withstand all amounts of darkness and trouble.

If its only Friday before the resurrection and if Sunday never came, then there is no real reason to bother with Sunday, any Sunday, for that matter. If its Friday before the resurrection and Sunday never came, then the most important Sunday of them all, never came and never does come, and our faith in a resurrected Christ is totally in vain. I choose to believe, by faith, that the Sunday after that Good Friday did come and every Sunday thereafter keeps on coming as long as the Lord of "time" continues to give us "time."

So, this brings me to Monday, especially this Monday -- the one following Easter. What difference does "Sunday" make once Monday rolls around? I got to thinking about those disciples, the first ones -- the first witnesses of the those 500 -- who saw Jesus for the first time. What an amazing moment that must have been for them.

You'd expect exhilaration, jubilant praise and awe, wouldn't you? But the Gospel of Luke suggests just the opposite saying, "they were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost" (Luke 24:36). Yeah, not the reaction I'd like to think I'd have seeing my formerly crucified and buried Lord standing in the room with me. But... there you have it! I'm not much different and when you're honest with yourself, neither are you!

When you really think about it, our Lord is as present with us as He was with them. Oh, I realize you can't "see" Him, but remember what Jesus told Thomas (doubting Thomas, I suppose) about the whole "seeing" thing... "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). So, living as those who are "blessed" is a powerful proclamation of faith. Do you really believe in a resurrected Jesus?

If you do, then let's consider Monday... yes, it is the Monday after the resurrection celebration (Easter) and I've got to know...what are you afraid of in your life today? What circumstances are really demanding you to trust? What things look so doubtful, you're not sure how you are going to come through them? They look bigger in "real life" don't they?

On Monday, it is a fair question to ask, "What are you looking at?" Maybe better stated as "Who are you looking toward?" Jesus told those disciples right before the first Monday following the resurrection to "look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). They still didn't believe. Belief is tough, even when you can see with your own eyes!

We are highly favored on Monday... because it is the day after the day we always celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Each Monday should be special in our spiritual journey... it is the "day after" the most powerful day in all of history -- Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.

On Mondays, you don't have to "see" the Lord to believe. More blessed are you, because you choose to believe, though you've not seen. The same Presence with those disciples that first Monday following Easter, is with us today. You don't have to see to trust... just believe and leave your troubles and your doubts behind. Jesus, the Risen Savior, has it in control. See?