Christians, at mass, eat bread and drink wine, this belief suggests Christians look back to Jesus’ resurrection and that the bread is Christ’s body and the wine his blood. They use bread and wine to symbolise Jesus’ last supper with his disciples when he told them to break the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of him. It’s proof to Christians that Jesus lives on in the bread, his body, and the wine, his blood. Also the Sunday as a day of rest marks back to the day of Jesus’ resurrection which happened on a Sunday.
Hospices also show how the resurrection changes Christian’s actions in worship as it shows Jesus’ passion. Hospices help people with terminal diseases overcome death. They help Christians share in Jesus’ suffering. Patients die in pain just as Jesus did in order to go to a better place. Hospices allow the patients to have the best quality of life and to die in dignity. Hospices help Christians face up to death, ‘Death has lost its sting’. The resurrection of Jesus helps Christians see that when they die there’s something to look forward to and not to be scared of death.
The idea of life after death helps Christians soften the idea of it. Great martyrs such as Maximillan Kolbe, who gave his life to save others in a German prisoner camp because he believed that life would be better after death. This has happened all through history; Christian martyrs were persecuted by the Romans and crucified or fed to lions. Mary the first also burned Protestants, and they all believed that after death Jesus would be waiting. This helps Christians die in peace and in the knowledge that Jesus would be waiting for them after death.
Funerals are another way in which the resurrection affects Christian’s lives. Christians and their families can celebrate that members life and celebrate them dying in order to pass over to Jesus. In Psalms there are extracts used for funeral services in which they say,
“I will not die but live, and will proclaim
what the Lord has done. This is the gate of the
Lord through which the righteous may enter”
(Psalms 118:19-20)
This shows that Christians believe that after death you’re still alive and that the gates of heaven shall be opened so that you will be able to join Christ after death. Also in Matthew Christians are reassured that the mourners will be comforted, this helps the family as they know that they will see their loved ones after death and be blessed in Jesus’ glory. A report in the Church times about Suzy Lamplugh, who died and whose body was not found, is about a stained glass window in their local church. The window shows her being resurrected just as Jesus was
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they
will all be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)
The Nicene Creed summarises all Christians faiths and it talks about resurrection.
“…For our sake he was crucified under
Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was
Buried. On the third day he rose again in
accordance with the scriptures; he ascended
into heaven and is seated on the right hand of
the father” (The Nicene Creed)
The Nicene creed is a statement of Christian belief in which all Christians are expected to believe that Jesus was resurrected and that he was a normal human being given the ‘rank’ of god.
