From Pastor Biar’s Pen 

The Holiest Day

            I know I’m probably preaching to the choir with this one, but still it ought to be said. Theologian Jaroslav Pelikan once remarked, “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not – nothing else matters.” The death and resurrection of Jesus are central to Christianity. Paul himself remarks that “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”[1] The resurrection is the lynchpin of our faith as it is the proof that Jesus is indeed who He says He is – not a madman, not an errant prophet, but indeed the Son of God, the chosen Messiah, and the atoning sacrifice for humanity. His resurrection fulfills the Christological prophecies of the Old Testament and verifies for us that Death has indeed been defeated by Him and has no dominion over Him, so that now we who have been joined in a baptism like His shall be joined in a resurrection like His.[1] This is therefore the most significant event in human history, hence the martyrs who would give their lives rather than recant that they had seen the risen Christ with their own eyes. “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters.”

            And if He has not risen, if our faith is in vain, if there is no God and we are indeed bags of stardust with anxiety by some great, cosmic, accident, then truly nothing else matters. Nihilism is true, and we are all just particles randomly bumping around in the void until our atoms get rearranged into a new shape and pattern. I can explain this more in detail in person if you like, but I only have one page, here.

            The point being, a few weeks from now as we celebrate Easter, we are celebrating the holiest day of the Church year. Rejoice, celebrate, bring your friends to church as we remember it’s not all jelly beans and colorful eggs. What we remember and observe in these coming days matter – with eternal significance. 

God’s Blessings,  Pastor Biar

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