Reflecting on the Resurrection

The end of the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent finds Jesus telling Peter, James and John not to tell anyone about what they witnessed, about Jesus' transfiguration, "until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead." We hear that they did what they were told, "questioning what this rising from the dead could mean."

Most of us could say that Jesus died and rose to save us from our sins. But do we really ever stop to think about what that means? Lent is the time the Church prepares us for the great mystery of Easter that the Son of God not only died for us, but rose for us. Lent gives us a special time to think about what that might mean for us.

The second reading gives us a way to think about that very question. "Is it Christ Jesus, who died, and indeed, who was raised, who sits at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us?" Jesus did not just die and that was the end of it. He died and rose and now intercedes for us, pleads for us, in heaven. More than that, we are told, nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus.

If we take a moment to stop this second week of Lent to think about the very thing the Apostles thought about, "what this rising from the dead could mean," we can know with the confidence of faith that it that Jesus Christ loves us so much that He is now interceding for us at the right hand of God the Father. If we come and ask for forgiveness, if we accept the love, forgiveness and mercy of Christ, we know nothing will be able to stand between us.