Jesus Is (Still) Alive! by Emily Owen

This time last month, I was in hospital, following an operation. I’m fine, all went well, but the reason I’m mentioning it is this:

The bed that was found for me was in an Intensive Care (ICU) room. I didn’t need to be there medically, but that’s where the bed was. After a shift change, a nurse walked into the room and I said, “Hello”. She jumped a mile! She knew there was a patient in that room but, being ICU, she’d thought the patient would be unconscious.

Basically, she got a shock because she hadn’t realised I’d be so alive.

We’re currently in Easter weekend. Yesterday, many of us celebrated Easter Sunday, rejoicing in the fact that Jesus is alive.

That first Easter Sunday, a bit like my nurse, people got a shock when they realised Jesus was alive.

I’m not belittling what that nurse experienced – to be honest, she nearly hit the ceiling – but, the thing is, she could have known. She could have known which patient was in that room. She could have known, by checking notes or speaking to colleagues, just how ‘alive’ I was.

I’m not blaming her that she didn’t, or in any way being negative about the above excellent care I received, I’m simply saying that she could have known.

A bit like that first Easter Sunday, people could have known Jesus would be alive. Hadn’t He told them He would be?!

What about us? In our lives? In our writing? Do we sometimes wonder how alive Jesus really is in it all?

Maybe, like the stone in front of the tomb, or the ‘ICU’ notice above my door in hospital, the evidence we think we see or know suggests to us that He is not very alive in our situation, in our life, in our writing.

But He is alive and, like that nurse, we always ‘could have known it’. Even better, we always can know it.

There are many other verses which assure us that Jesus is alive in every second of every day. The bible is full of ‘notes we can check’, to remind us of that. We have colleagues to check with, too, right here in ACW. Every time I read and/or am part of the conversation threads, I’m reminded that Jesus is with us in this group. As we encourage/laugh/cry/struggle with each other, He’s there.

One of the reasons I was in hospital was to have a benign tumour removed from my arm. It was quite large, and used to particularly bother my five-year-old nephew. He didn’t like 'my lump' (though, true five-year-old, he also had a sort of fascination with it!). He wished I didn’t have it. He told me to tell the doctor to take it out.

When I saw the doctor, I passed on Josiah’s message. (I’m not fully giving a five-year-old sway over a surgeon’s decision making, but I did pass on the message.)

Last weekend was the first time I’d seen Josiah since my surgery. As always, he looked at my arm. But this time, there was no lump.

He said, ‘The doctor took it out!’

I said, ‘Yes, he did.’

Josiah said, ‘That’s because I encouraged you to tell him.’

Jesus is Alive! I encourage us to continually encourage each other – and ourselves – in that knowledge as we live and write for His glory.