"GOD RAISED HIM UP"

Lectionary Text:  Acts 2:24 -  But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.

Across the ages there have been and there are those today
        who’ve tried with arguments unfounded to explain away
the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, and we’ve heard them all.
        The substance of their arguments there’s no need to recall.
The only explanation that makes any sense to me,
        accounting for the sudden transformation we can see
in all of the disciples’ lives, is this:  Because they knew
        that everything their Lord had said would happen had come true!

So now the cross on which he had been hung so shamefully
        became for them a symbol of his final victory.
They understood at last what Jesus wanted them to do,
        and having been empowered by the Holy Spirit, too,
they ventured forth to tell the world, beginning with the Jews,
        that they had been entrusted with the most tremendous news
about a risen Savior, who could save them from their sins.
        And with that message of redemption Christian faith begins.
Christ’s Church has not been built upon a myth, a fraud, a lie,
        but on the resurrection truth that faith affirms.  That’s why
the early Christians weren’t afraid to suffer martyrdom.
        They knew the meaning of the words they prayed: “Thy kingdom come!”
About the resurrection many still believe the worst.
        And even the apostles had to be convinced at first.
That they did not believe when they were told initially,
        but later did, is one persuasive argument to me.
And so are the appearances reported by St. Paul;
        there is impressive evidence to point to, after all.
It’s not believing in an unsubstantiated claim.
        The evidence demands a faith decision, just the same.
It’s true Christ’s resurrection from the dead cannot be proved,
        but it is also true that the event can’t be disproved.
For Christians it’s the answer to the fear of death, and sin.
        And when that truth is apprehended, one can’t keep it in,
for like the first apostles true believers feel the need
        to tell the world that Christ has risen.  He’s alive indeed!