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“On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Every week in our church we recite the words of the Nicene Creed to affirm what we, as Christians, believe. If it’s true that this happened—that for our sake this man Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate, that he suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day rose victorious from the grave—then it is the best conceivable news for humankind. It means the death of death. It means the gates of heaven have been flung open. it means the inevitable retirement of the angel with the flaming sword at the gate of Eden. It means this wonderful, broken old world’s groaning isn’t due to meaningless pain, but is the groaning of a woman in labor—and that means a birth is coming: the New Creation, over which Christ is already king. (Can you tell I get exited about Easter?)
This year we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Behold the Lamb of God tour. Each night I sang the words, “Behold the lamb of God, who died and rose again,” I was so excited that in a few months we’d be singing in triumph about the Resurrection. The fact that in our part of the world the celebration of that event coincides with the end of winter makes it so poetically perfect I actually feel kind of sad for people in the southern hemisphere. And the thing is, the long, dark winter is intrinsic to the joy of spring. Resurrection only works if a death precedes it.
If you didn’t make it to one of the shows last year, the format goes like this:
Part one, like the Behold the Lamb shows is pretty loose and fun. I get to introduce the band, along with two very special guests: Taylor Leonhardt and Skye Peterson. Skye, of course, is my singing/songwriting/rock climbing daughter. She’s just oozing talent, and she loves to tell people about Jesus, through her songs and over coffee. Taylor isn’t my daughter, but she feels like part of the family. Not only is she a mentor to Skye, she’s one of the best songwriters around (not to mention hilarious). I couldn’t be a bigger fan, and we had such a great time last year I invited her back. I’m so glad she said yes.
Part two is where we really get into the story. We sing through the five songs on Prologue, which begin with Christ on the cross and end with his interment in the tomb. After each song we extinguish a candle until the whole room goes dark. Then after a moment of silence during which we feel the darkness of the tomb, Brandon begins the triumphant opening to “His Heart Beats.” I’m sitting here right now with a lump in my throat just thinking bout how much I love to sing that song. After that the songs are all about Jesus and his victory. In the same way that the long, dark winter is why spring feels so wonderful, we walk through the agony of the cross in order to remember the great joy of the resurrection.
The apostle Paul said that if Christ wasn’t raised, we should be pitied. If this didn’t actually happen, then this is all a waste of time. Christianity hangs on that one fact. And I believe it; I’ve seen too much to deny it. I believe it happened, and there’s truly nothing I’d rather spend the rest of my days singing about. I hope you’ll join us. If you do, get ready to sing.
AP
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