Let’s say you saw someone who had died and then came back to life. That would be an incredible surprise. “What was that? That’s incredible.” “Is that even possible for humans?” But Jesus’ resurrection meant more than that. Jesus lived his life as the Son of God, walked his path, and was then crucified on the cross.

On the cross, which showed both his own will as well as the sin of humanity, he died. So, His disciples all ran away and hid, or maybe went back to their job, fisherman, because they thought there was no longer any hope. Some went back to Emmaus from Jerusalem. Then, when it came to the resurrection, it didn’t just mean for the disciples that someone arose from the dead. The apostles and disciples realised the meaning of the resurrection: God’s Kingdom, which Jesus had revealed to them.

They realised that the new era had come in completeness, where God reigns through the resurrection.  The disciples immediately knew that to be so. If you held Jewish religious beliefs, then you would have realised this.  “The meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection is to bring on the Kingdom of God! That’s what Jesus told us while he was with us!” So, what they were certain of after the resurrection was..  they finally had faith. Which faith? “God is sincere”, “God is powerful.” “God shows his love for us and this generation.” “Jesus is the Messiah.” They had this faith and they were changed according to the faith. And how did they change? “We, too, can be part of that resurrection hope.”

In other words, so long as they were living in power by Christ’s resurrection until the Kingdom of God finally arrived, they could be certain: “Even though I lose my life, if I can follow him in this life, God will raise me up again.” They now had a clear hope, so they no longer needed to be afraid of anything.

We are all destined to die once, but now they can see beyond that destiny and know God, who gives us new life and new hope. With such belief and hope, what happened to them was they became able to share their love with sincerity. When you look at the early churches in the Book of Acts, they were all “together… and had everything in common.” When their faith in God was only vague, and they had no hope for the days to come, they could only think about their own lives. So, they were selfish and competitive. They tried to preserve as much as possible and became obsessed with doing that.

But now they had a new hope. They were finally able to understand how to love. “Ah, now I realise that these don’t matter anymore.” Our God has power and He is true. Something inside their hearts, always there but hidden, now became alive and blossomed. When we learn about the early church and the first believers, we can find some things, of course, that are less than inspiring, but you can also find great things and great characters. It’s not like great people came together and became a great community. The people who witnessed the resurrection had faith and hope, and they started to show love to each other and gather together.

Before all this took place, they were no better than any one of us. They were selfish, like us, and they had always put themselves and their own families first, but now they’d changed into those who put their hope in His kingdom. They were no longer afraid of death. That doesn’t mean you desire death. You should avoid unnecessary death, of course, and you should also avoid unnecessary pain. Still, they weren’t afraid of death anymore, and they no longer doubted God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Therefore, they were invincible, and faith, hope, and love spread to many people. That’s why the movement of belief in Jesus spread, and the church became a community that nothing could separate.

Again, it’s not like great people came together and became a great community. The communities existed because they believed in Jesus’ resurrection and lived at the point of faith, hope, and love. Many said, “It’s truly astonishing, “How” do they come to be like that?” It was because they were together that the power of the resurrection changed them.

Pray that the power of the resurrection will be revealed in our lives as Christians. Amen.