In the church's Lenten season, the 40 days of Lent exclude Sundays. While Lent focuses on the Suffering of Christ on the cross for our Sins; Sunday has always been considered a day of celebration for the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,
19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
In my own opinion, they are not exclusive, but belong to each other. As Christians we are people who proclaim that Christ Jesus has died on the cross for our sins, and has been risen from the grave for our justification.
It's interesting in reading the Gospels, that almost all of Jesus' comments on the resurrection of the dead was to respond to the unbelief of it coming from the group of Jewish leaders called the Sadducees. They denied the idea of a resurrected body, but Jesus made it clear that the resurrection of the body to life was not debatable in God's word.
Remember when Lazarus, Jesus' friend, died. John 11:17-27 (ESV)
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the
tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,
19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Later in the passage, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. John 11:41-44 (ESV)
41 So they
took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
The physical act is matched by the spiritual one. We all need that voice of God that says to us "Come Out" and then "Unbind, and let go." We who live too much according to the flesh and see too much of the power of the world around us which limits our spirit life and hinders seeing the truth of God...We need to be unbound in spirit and soul...we need to hear God's voice tell us to be free...come out...be unbound. How?
Perhaps Paul said it best:
Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV)
8 ...I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
8 ...I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of
my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may
attain the resurrection from the dead.
On this first Sunday of Lent, Peace
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