For a preacher's daughter turned preacher's wife in the south, the Resurrection of Jesus is not new news to me.
As a matter of fact, it is the sole reason I can take a breath to the deep part of my lungs.
But even though I intentionally keep the knowledge of that truth before me...I found myself frozen over one word as I read about the familiar scene of the Resurrection in Luke 24:12:
“But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.”
Marvel.
In the original Greek, this verb carries the meaning to properly wonder at, be amazed, astonished out of one's senses, awestruck. It's root word- a noun- means that the "marvel" is something that powerfully strikes the viewer personally and evokes an emotional astonishment.
Peter saw the stone rolled away, the grave cloths folded, the tomb empty.
And he left marveling: amazed, awestruck, personally and emotionally impacted by what he had seen.
And it positioned him for a step of faith.
Have I stopped truly marveling at the resurrection?
Have I stopped allowing the power and awesomeness of what Jesus did for me impact me deeply, personally?
Are we living so guarded that the power of the Resurrection no longer leaves us astonished and undone?
Or maybe that is what we are holding at bay: the possibility, the idea, the fear of some area we have in lock down becoming undone.
And so we meander by the empty tomb every now and then...never really looking in...comfortable and content with the concept of Jesus and His resurrection- but nothing more.
When we marvel and find ourselves emotionally impacted and amazed out of our senses, we can at the same moment find ourselves positioned for a step of faith.
A step of faith that requires us to stop believing that whatever we are stuck in is all there is.
A step of faith that asks us to trade death for life in every area- even that deepest, darkest place.
Why?
Because Jesus went to the deepest, darkest place and won the victory in your stead and in mine.
Because Jesus went to the deepest, darkest place and won the victory in your stead and in mine.
Peter's marveling positioned him for a step of transforming faith that turned him from ashamed denier to powerful declarer.
God doesn't need us to marvel to stroke his ego.
He wants us to marvel to fuel our faith.
He wants us to marvel to fuel our faith.
He longs for us to move past the idle thought of the resurrection and move forward in the POWER of the resurrection!
We have to let it impact us personally, deeply, emotionally, individually.
Why?
Because it will position us to be transformed from ashamed deniers to powerful declarers.
Because it will position us to be transformed from ashamed deniers to powerful declarers.
Run to the tomb.
Stoop and look inside.
See that Jesus is.not.there.
Move past the mention of the resurrection...and MARVEL at the magnitude of what the resurrection means for every piece and every part of who you are.
That is where the life change happens.
That is when the chains fall.
That is when the walls crumble.
That is when grace wins: when we refuse to be blinded by our mediocre meanderings and choose to MARVEL at the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Marvel at the resurrection.
Then, step out in a faith full of wonder and power like never before.
#SimpleTruth for a marvelous life.
And my soul shall ever be.
"How marvelous! How wonderful!
And my soul shall ever be.
How marvelous! How wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me."
-hymn, "I Stand Amazed"