We Start from Resurrection

April 16, 2019

The death of Jesus on the cross can be understood and accounted for easily enough on a physical and historical level. But the salvation Jesus accomplished on the cross cannot be. And it is this accomplished salvation, not a coroner’s autopsy of the death, that brings us back to the cross over and over again. Revisiting Jesus’ death is different from visits we make to a cemetery, bringing flowers, keeping the memory of our beloved dead in focus. We are not at the cross to remember or do homage. We are here to probe the meaning of our daily dying in the company of Jesus’ dying for us.

“salvation. . . brings us back to the cross over and over again.”

Eugene H. Peterson

Meditating and praying with Jesus as he dies on the cross is not an invitation to morbidity. We begin all our prayers, and most emphatically when repeating his prayer from the cross, at the empty tomb, the place of resurrection. We start from resurrection. Our basic approach to the cross is gratitude.

Originally published in As Kingfishers Catch Fire, “We Start from Resurrection” is an insight from The Message Devotional Bible found alongside Mark 15.