Don’t Stop at the Cross

This week is a special week for those of us in the Christian faith–we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s an interesting juxtaposition–the sadness and despair of Good Friday contrasted with the joy and happiness of Easter Sunday. Both are necessary for the full experience of Easter. In our lives, however, I wonder if we sometimes get stuck on Friday and stop at the cross.

Christians often focus on the cross as the main symbol of our faith. We hang it in our churches and homes, we wear it around our neck as jewelry, and we tattoo it on our bodies. It’s an important symbol of our faith.

But here’s the thing: we talk a lot more about the cross than we do the empty tomb. We don’t hang empty tomb symbols up around our homes, we don’t wear the empty tomb around our neck as jewelry, and we don’t tattoo the empty tomb on our bodies.

Why not?

I wonder how our focus on the cross rather than the empty tomb impacts our lives. I know for me, I often focus on my problems. What in my life is going wrong? What parts of my life feel stuck? What am I feeling guilty about? Sometimes I get discouraged, feeling as if nothing will ever change.

That’s kind of like staying focused on Friday or Saturday, rather than living in the reality that is Easter Sunday. I stay stuck, not living my life as if the resurrection really happened.

If I focused more on the empty tomb, I wonder how my life and perspective would be different. What would my life look like if I believed that new life and resurrection were really possible? How might my attitude change if I lived as if Easter Sunday were my reality, rather than staying stuck in Friday or Saturday?

Discussion: Do you focus more on the cross or the empty tomb? How does this focus impact your life? What would it look like to live as if healing and new life were actually possible?