Picture a tiny, hard seed trapped in darkness. Rain falls, the sun shines, and within that seed, cells are multiplying. Soon there’s a green shoot of life. A new plant is growing.
Now picture a baby bird trapped in a hard, unwelcoming shell. A crack appears as the little creature pecks and scratches. Out comes a yellow chick, bright and fluffy.
These are just a few manifestations of new life that we witness, season after season, year after year.
While we expect new life to blossom, we don’t expect something that is dead to come back to life. A dead bird will not fly again. Yet the Bible tells us there were many witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection:
“Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time.”[ 1Corinthians 15:3–6 NLT]
We stand amazed, just like those early witnesses. How could a lifeless, broken body, lying in the cold and dark of the tomb, spring to life? The miracle of Christ’s resurrection, flouting the natural order, is truly beyond our human comprehension.
Yet the miracle doesn’t end there. As C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) wrote, “Jesus has forced open a door that had been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because he has done so.”