When I\u2019m trying to think of Bible stories to use as examples in sermons or Bible studies, I often fall back on to my earliest biblical training: Sunday school. As memories of puffy paint and silly songs come flooding back, I\u2019m also remembering powerful stories of God\u2019s work among our faith ancestors. David and Goliath. Daniel in the lion\u2019s den. The great saga of Abraham and Sarah. The crossing of the Red Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The great stories we tell one another share a great theme. When it looks like all is lost, when it looks like the future is hopeless, God saves. Since ancient times we have collected these stories and told them over and over again to remind each other of who God is. These stories remind us of the consistency of God\u2019s character, from ancient times till now, and on into the future. God hears us when we cry out in fear and despair, and God makes a way when there seems to be no way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this great season of Easter, we focus on the greatest story of God\u2019s saving power: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, in the Lutheran tradition \u2013 and the Catholic, Anglican, and others who follow the same liturgical calendar<\/a> \u2013 it is still Easter. The season of Easter lasts for 50 days, making it the longest season in the Church Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I love that this 50-day tradition gives us such a long time to focus on the story of Christ\u2019s resurrection. It is the greatest story, because it changes the world in a way no other story does. The other stories we tell \u2013 crossing the Red Sea, the return home from exile \u2013 these tell about God\u2019s saving power at one time and place in history, for one specific group of people. We cling on to their message and meaning for us in different times and places (and so we should!), but they really happened<\/em> way back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Christ\u2019s resurrection happened to the whole world.<\/em> I mean, Jesus of Nazareth was the only one literally raised from the dead that day. But the resurrection is not just about Jesus being raised from his death; it is about God breaking the chains of death for all of us and all creation. In Christ\u2019s resurrection God broke through the walls of time and place to pull all of time and all of creation into its saving power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the beginning of the church there has been a tradition of showing this power of Christ\u2019s resurrection in art. (The tradition has been especially preserved in the Eastern Church.) These paintings show Christ, who has just broken down the door to the world of the dead, busted locks and hinges scattered all around the ground. He stomps down on Hades or Satan while he holds out his hands to Adam and Eve, pulling them up out of their graves and into the new life he\u2019s giving to the world. A crowd of others \u2013 including other Old Testament figures \u2013 are queueing up to rise up with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We often refer to this image as \u201cThe Harrowing of Hell,\u201d but another title \u2013 and the words most often included in Eastern iconography<\/a> \u2013 are simply \u201cH Anastasis\u201d or \u201cThe Resurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the resurrection, God again made a way where there seemed to be no way. God made a path through sin and death, into the promised land of God\u2019s new creation. And this path wasn\u2019t just for Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus holds open the door for all of us. Jesus holds open the door for the power of the new creation to come rushing in to reform and renew the world even now.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n We experience that new life now as we tell and retell the stories of God\u2019s love and as we baptize people and welcome them into God\u2019s new creation life. We live that new creation life as we go about our days knowing that God is with us; as we share the love God has given us with one another; as we share our material goods; as we love even our enemies; as we strive for justice and peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And when we do feel afraid, when we feel like there is no way forward \u2026even then God comforts us with God\u2019s perfect love. For God has already made a way for us through the resurrection of Christ into new life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alleluia! Christ is risen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pr Kate<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rev. Katherine Museus Dabay<\/a> serves as university pastor at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University and takes turns writing weekly devotions with University Pastor James A. Wetzstein.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I\u2019m trying to think of Bible stories to use as examples in sermons or Bible studies, I often fall back on to my earliest biblical training: Sunday school. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-katherine-museus"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/author\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/07\/L81-Kariye-Christdefeats-medium-300x225.webp","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Katherine Museus<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Katherine Museus<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 21, 2021","modified":"Updated on June 19, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 21, 2021 9:18 pm","modified":"Updated on June 19, 2025 10:54 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":747,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions\/747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n