Easter Mystery Revealed Every Day

“…the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of His glory” (Col. 1:27b)

St. Paul apparently did not meet Jesus when Christ was ministering during His three-year mission to reveal the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

But Paul did encounter the risen Christ while Paul was on his way to arrest the followers of Jesus.

Jesus did not meet Paul the way He met the other disciples… walking through streets… or calling to them in boats while He was on the shore. He met Paul as the resurrected and glorified Christ, knocking Paul down with His blinding and glorious light from heaven and – at first – a fiery Voice of condemnation: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4)

But God gloriously revealed the same forgiveness to Paul that He had shown to the fisherman and tax collecting disciples. And Paul’s life was changed. Grace interrupted guilt and anger.

One day, everyone will meet in person the resurrected Jesus. Christians, like Paul, get to meet the risen Christ early. We meet Him in His Word, in the regenerative waters of Baptism, and in the mystery of the sacrament of the altar.

Easter comes to us first by faith, where Jesus calls us from darkness to light, as He makes His home in our hearts.

This is what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote of the mystery of faith: ““…the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of His glory.” (Col. 1:27b)

God has set His glory (heavenly life, love, and reign) within our soul, resurrecting our spirits, giving us a foretaste of the heavenly feast to come.

I cannot think of the word “hope” without recalling Hebrews 6:19. “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil.…”

Instead of our anchor going down, it goes up to heaven. We are anchored in the Resurrection! “The hope of His glory” is our heavenly heart, “created in Christ Jesus.” “Christ in you….” Peter called this heavenly heart a “living hope.” (I Peter 1:3)

When you walk down a sidewalk, buy groceries, or talk with your friends, “Christ is in you, the hope of His glory.”

Your friends will meet Christ the King one day, but because you are anchored in eternity already, God wants them to meet Him…through you! Now!