Resurrection

What follows is a thought I shared on Sunday with the people at my church. The fall/winter study has been 1 Corinthians. Sunday was chapter 15. Please feel free to comment, especially if you disagree!
"If Christ be not raised, we are of all men the most miserable. "
Amy and I were talking about death and grieving the other day. The mother of a friend of ours is dying. Her brain is slowly shutting down, turning off all functions. We were talking about how different people deal differently with death and dying and how each of us even deals differently with different people depending upon their attachment to us. For instance, we might tend not to grieve as much for a Jesus follower as for a family member that did not know Christ. We might not grieve at all for someone for whom we disliked. The nature of our grief is not unlike when a loved one moves away to a distant place for awhile, only more intense. The joy we experience when that person returns is far out of proportion to the joy we experience the 100th morning in a row following their return. When a loved one dies, we grieve because we miss their presence in our lives and we know that there is no possibility of them coming back.
The disciples of Jesus were a sorry band of people following the crucifixion. The Bible says they hid out together in a room for fear of the Jews. The grief they experienced must have been so intense. They would have grieved in a way that only those from that part of the world can. When I was overseas I attended at least one African funeral. It was unlike anything that I had ever seen. The grief was palpable. What was worse for the disciples was that they couldn't even grieve in the customary public way because they were afraid for their lives. How could this have happened? Jesus was supposed to be the Messiah wasn't he? Coupled with their grief for the loss of a friend would have been the bitter disappointment of zealous followers realizing they had been chasing an empty dream for the last 3 years. Jesus was not and could never have been the Promised One despite all the wonderful things he had done. He was dead.
Now imagine the third day. Imagine all your worst fears had proved unfounded. Imagine that the faith you had almost given up for a cruel joke had redeemed itself in your spirit beyond all doubt. Imagine the loved one that you knew to be never coming back WAS back and impressing himself upon your life in a way that you had never before dreamed possible. Maybe if you can imagine these things, you can grasp the substance and significance of the resurrection. I think sometimes we get caught up in the doctrinal issues and the glossary of words surrounding the resurrection and forget to experience the resurrection like the disciples did. For them, resurrection was exactly what it was meant to be; a loved one coming back from the dead. I believe the primary essence of resurrection can be summed up in 3 words.
He is alive.