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REFLECTION

“We are an Easter people and Hallelujah is our song” is the theme for our reflection. Easter is the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church which commemorates the suffering, death and most importantly, the resurrection of Christ. Hallelujah means “God be praised!” Among the issues Paul had to address in the Corinthian Church was the issue of Ressurection, Paul wrote, “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:12)

Dear friend, the Resurrection of Christ is the pivotal point of our faith. It is for this reason, the Protestants do not use the crucifix but prefer to use the cross. The Roman Catholics use the crucifix which has Jesus crucified on the cross emphasising His death and sacrifice but the Protestants or Reformers use the cross which does not have Jesus crucified because we believe and emphasise the resurrection as the cardinal point of our faith and hope. This does not mean that the Roman Catholics do not believe in the resurrection, they do believe in the resurrection, except that they emphasise His Sacrifice through the use of the crucifix. We are an Easter people because of the power of Jesus’ resurrection. We believe that the dead shall be resurrected at His second coming through His power of resurrection. It is the firm belief in the resurrection of Christ that makes us celebrate Easter every year culminating in our praising the Lord all the time through the Hebrew phrase “Hallelujah”. Paul vividly explained the importance of Jesus’ resurrection to our faith when he wrote that “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:13-22). In other words, without the resurrection of Christ, we have no hope for our own resurrection hence our believe and hope in the eternal life is rendered moot. Beloved in the Lord, the resurrection of Christ is linked to our own resurrection and eternal life, for this reason, we believe and emphatically proclaim that we are an Easter people and Hallelujah is our song!

PRAYER

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving us through Your unconditional love and the power of your resurrection. May the hope of our resurrection at Your second coming keep us focused and faithful to our calling and salvation. Amen