Christus Victor!
May we never forget this.
As Christians – particularly those of us who are apologetically minded – seek to defend the objective historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection, may we never lose sight of the magnificence that we proclaim and the glorious implications of this Truth. Arguments, syllogisms, proofs, and debates are all useful tools to give that defense of the hope that we carry, but we must remember to intentionally make space in our spiritual lives to rest in the Beauty of this Life and take time to simply appreciate the Myth-Become-Fact for which we contend. It is indeed a Story like none other.
Happy Easter!
Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud
By John Donne (1609)
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
Donne’s concern is finished; Christ proclaimed it done. (John 19:30) May we celebrate the victory!