Blessed are...

Risen Lord

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” I Peter 1:3

The One who spoke the Beatitudes, who has given us a vision of a new Kingdom, which makes such momentous claims upon our lives, yet still declares us blessed, is none other than the conqueror of death – Jesus, the Christ.

The memory of His words was pleasant, yet painful, for the women who hurried towards the tomb that Sunday morning.[1] It was pleasant to recall His stories and His claims, the challenges He had laid before them. It was painful because their present task served only to remind them that His body lay, hidden in the grave. Like Jesus, their hope was gone. They wanted to believe His words, to accept His authority, but His death made them doubt. Was He, after all, only a man? Were His claims mere words?

Then, carrying the spices with which they had hoped to anoint His body, they arrived at the tomb, and found the stone rolled away. They could not find Jesus’ body and they did not know what to think, or to do. Then, suddenly, two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them and asked the frightened women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!”[2]

Jesus Christ, the author of the promised blessings and the sovereign of the Kingdom to which we are called to give our allegiance, is the Risen Lord. He was delivered over to death for our sins; He was raised to life for our justification.[3] He speaks with authority and His claim is absolute. The way of blessing is the way of Christ. For He is Lord! He is risen from the dead and He is Lord! Alleluia!


Risen Lord,
Reigning in power, seated at the right hand of the Father,
I bow before Your majesty and name You
as my Savior and my Lord.
In humility and trust I claim the promise of the Scriptures,
that if I will confess with my mouth that ‘Jesus is Lord,’
and if I will believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead,
then I shall be saved.
In that sure and certain hope I vow to live,
and die to live again,
as a citizen of Your everlasting Kingdom,
and to the glory of Your name.
Amen.



[1] Luke 24:1
[2] Luke 24:5-6
[3] Romans 4:25