“Monday 5 Things” ….. Not Just Another Monday …..
April 21, 2025 by D. Paul Graham
“Risen Indeed” photo by D. Paul Graham
The Easter lilies will soon start to wilt, brunch leftovers in the fridge will soon be eaten, and in another week, church pews will soon return to their usual numbers. But the power of the resurrection? That’s just getting started. Easter Sunday was the crescendo, but Easter Monday is where resurrection life really begins. It's where we decide if an empty tomb changes anything and everything today. This morning’s M5T celebrates the resurrection and the launch of a life shaped by the miracle of an empty tomb on Easter Monday.
1. THE STONE. The massive stone sealing Jesus’ tomb wasn’t just a historical detail. It’s a spiritual metaphor. On Easter morning, when the stone was found rolled away, it wasn’t to let Jesus out. It was to let us in so that we could witness the miracle, to feel the emptiness of death undone, and to start believing in things far greater than we could ever imagine possible. Easter Monday is about walking into that space of an empty tomb in our own lives. We all deal with disappointments, anger, griefs, and spiritual fatigue. Often those feel like a stone too heavy to move, locking us into dark places. But the stone rolled away with Christ’s resurrection is a reminder that you don’t have to remain in a tomb, in the dark. Not by our strength, but by God’s grace. The stone was rolled away for all of us and Easter Monday reveals that this is not the end.
2. VICTORY OVER DEATH. Our world is full of endings. Some soft, some brutal. We all carry graves inside us with hopes we have buried, dreams we have abandoned, and people that we miss. But Easter says that even death, couldn’t hold Him. Easter Monday exists because Sunday wasn’t a one-day event. It’s a movement. Death wasn’t a dramatic conclusion. Victory over death was the dawn of a new beginning. If death doesn’t win, then neither does fear, regret, shame, or despair. Death didn’t get the last word. Christ’s resurrection declares eternal life.
3. MORE THAN THE AFTER-LIFE. Too often the resurrection is reduced to a golden ticket to heaven. But it’s far more profound. The early followers of Jesus didn’t just rejoice that they’d one day rise. They started living as if they already had. Easter Monday calls us to a resurrection right here, right now. It’s the power to forgive what seemed unforgivable. To start again when it feels like too much has been lost. To walk back into places of pain with healing in our hands. The resurrection doesn’t wait for death. It invokes and invades life. The resurrection isn’t an escape plan. It’s a transformation plan for the rest of our lives, leading to eternity.
4. DOUBT ISN’T THE ENEMY OF FAITH. On the Monday after the resurrection, not everyone who saw Christ was convinced. Some believed immediately. Others, like doubting Thomas, needed to see, to touch, to process. Jesus, full of grace, met Thomas where he was at. Too often, particularly here in North America, we’ve made faith look too clean and too easy. Easter Monday is for the messy believers. The ones who hope with trembling hands. The ones who sing hallelujah through cracked voices. The ones who show up even when they don’t fully get it. Doubt doesn’t disqualify you. It means you’re still in the story. Belief in the resurrection isn't about certainty. It’s about trust and faith in the face of the mystery and majesty of Christ.
5. YOU’RE NOT WHO YOU WERE. The resurrection doesn’t just change what happened. The resurrection changes who you are. You’re no longer defined how dead you may feel inside, or by your worst mistake, your deepest wound, or your heaviest label. You’re not just surviving. You’ve been raised. Easter Monday is a manifest reminder that the resurrection is personal. In Christ, you’re a new creation. Not a patched-up version of your old self, but something entirely retooled, revised, and reborn. That means you don’t just live differently. You are different to the very core of who God made you to be. So, in a world full of dark tombs, walk into today and this week like someone who’s been raised from the dead. You don’t have to live in the dark anymore. Let today be your resurrection day. Forgive absurdly. Love your enemies. Give generously. Be gracious. Risk boldly. Speak life. Show up for whoever you are with. Serve quietly. Celebrate wildly. Stand for truth. Choose peace. Embrace the ordinary. Live like the tomb is empty and with the faith that eternity has already begun.
Here's to living a life with the quiet audacity of someone who knows how the story ends and chooses to live like it.
For over 13 years, D. Paul Graham has published “Monday 5 Things” ™, also known to readers as M5T™. He continues to try to live a resurrected life.
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