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Resurrection – this word is the center of our Easter celebration. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is arguably the defining point of Christian faith – but how else is resurrection experienced? Will our bodies be resurrected from our graves one day? Clergy, scholars and fiction writers alike have been imagining and struggling with just what resurrection might mean since before the time of Jesus. From discussions of resurrection throughout books such as Acts and 1 Corinthians, we can tell that there is great uncertainty about just exactly what Jesus’ resurrection might mean for us.

In Luke 20:36, we are called “children of the resurrection.” What does this mean? Is it a reference to a future event, a resurrection of our spiritual selves? Or might it have implications for our lives and the lives of others here and now?

Can you think of a story from your life or one that you have heard from someone else that you would consider to be a story of resurrection – a move from death to life? Is there a place in your life in which you feel death and wish for life?

This message is excerpted from “Resurrection: a holy discipline” by Meagan Manas, a 2010 resource of the Women of the ELCA.