The Death of Death Becoming Adam Podcast – Becoming Adam, Becoming Christ

Easter 2020. The churches are empty, and the shadow of death hangs over our land. Have we, as a society, lost something that we’ll never recover?















Listen or Read. Your Choice.















Easter

2020. The churches are empty, and the shadow of death hangs over our land. As

Joni Mitchell sang, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve

got till it’s gone….” Have we, as a society, lost something that we’ll never recover?

I hope not, but trauma changes people. None of us will emerge from this

experience the same. It’s my prayer that this enforced time apart makes everyone

realize the value of time spent together. Our God brings life from death. Evil

shall not have the last word. So, for Easter 2020, I offer a selection from my forthcoming

e-book, The Anointed. This episode merges the resurrection narratives from all

four gospels into one story. I pray that Christ, the risen Lord, might breath

his Spirit onto this valley of dry bones and grant us revival. Amen.















Chapter 31







The Death of Death







As

dawn broke on the first day of the week, an angel of the Lord appeared at the

tomb. The ground shook as violently as the guards themselves, and the angel

rolled away the stone and sat upon it. His face was radiant like lightning, and

his clothes were white like snow. The guards, for their part, were so paralyzed

by fear that they appeared to be dead.







About

this time, the Galilean women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,

Salome, and Joanna – had set off for the tomb with the spices they had prepared

for anointing the body of Jesus. As they neared the spot, they began to wonder

aloud, “Who will move the stone for us?” Although the sun had crept above the

horizon, the hillside tomb was enveloped in shadowy gloom when they saw that

the stone already had been moved, although it was extremely large. They stepped

inside and saw that the body of the Lord Jesus was gone.[i]







Mary

Magdalene ran to find Simon Peter and John. “They’ve taken the Lord out of the

tomb,” she reported to them breathlessly, “and we don’t know where they’ve laid

him.”[ii]







While

the other women waited in confusion, suddenly two young men appeared in clothes

that gleamed like lightning! The women were terrified and bowed down to the

ground in awe.







“Don’t

be afraid,” one of the angels said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,

who has been crucified. Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? Remember

what he told you while he was still in Galilee? He said the Son of Man must be

handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.

He isn’t here. He has risen just as he said. Look! Here’s the place where they

laid him.”







While Jesus’ words flooded back to

the women, the angel continued, “Go quickly and tell his

disciples and Peter: ‘He has risen from the dead, and he will precede you into

Galilee and see you there, just as he said to you.’ Observe what I have told

you.”







The

women practically fled from the scene, trembling in astonishment and joy. Yet

they were gripped by fear, as well, and said nothing to anyone because of it.[iii]







After

receiving Mary Magdalene’s report, Peter and John rushed to investigate. The

two ran together, but John was faster and arrived first.