I was transferring money to my credit card today to pay it off, but after I clicked “Make Payment”, I received an error: “There are insufficient funds in your account to make this payment.”

I’ve had an internal debate for quite some time about the precise meaning and implications of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Should I focus more on the perfect sacrifice achieved through His death, or His victory over death itself when He rose again? We have a Saturday every year between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday to sit and ponder.

The Israelites had to sacrifice animals daily for the atonement of their sins. One animal wasn’t enough to pay off their entire dept. But Christ’s sacrifice was perfect! His death was sufficient to cover all of humanity’s sins for all of time. And what’s more, it was more than enough. So much more that He received His life back. The resurrection of Jesus proves to us that His death was truly enough to cover all of our sins and more.

Imagine receiving an inheritance from a relative who passed away. Maybe you still have a bunch of college loans to pay off, so you could use the money for that. But what if the amount you received was not only enough to cover all of your debts, but to provide for your welfare for the rest of your life.

Through His death, we receive the inheritance of Christ’s life. His life enables us to fulfill the calling He has given us. We are called to be holy, righteous, and fruitful. This can only happen if we abide in the Vine, and let His life be our own.

PS. Turns out that I had just selected the wrong account to transfer money from. Maybe there is something to be said about us attempting to pay our debt from the wrong account (self-righteousness), but any analogy has its limits.