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Easter Season · Resurrection of the Lord · Year A

Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43

Your Life Is Hidden with Christ

April 5, 2026

God Inviting Christ to Sit on the Throne at His Right Hand, Pieter de Grebber
God Inviting Christ to Sit on the Throne at His Right Hand, Pieter de Grebber, 1645Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht
The Son arriving at the throne and being shown the seat beside it.So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.Pieter de GrebberDe Grebber, a Haarlem painter who took the boldest subject in scripture quite calmly.Museum Catharijneconvent, UtrechtMuseum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht.Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 20:1-18Jn 20:1-18 orMatt. 28:1-10Mt 28:1-10
EpistleCol. 3:1-4Col 3:1-4 orActs 10:34-43
Old TestamentActs 10:34-43 orJer. 31:1-6Jer 31:1-6
PsalterPs. 118:1-2, 14-24Ps 118:1-2, 14-24

Overview & Insights

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.” (Colossians 3:1)

The lectionary offers a choice here, and this option puts a baptismal argument where a sermon might otherwise stand. Colossians has already said that its readers were buried and raised with Christ in baptism (2:12), and these four verses draw the consequence for the imagination: seek what is above, set the mind there, because that is where your life already is. The phrase seated at the right hand of God cites Psalm 110:1, the verse the New Testament uses more than any other to locate the risen Christ. Holding the paragraph together is a pair of opposites, hidden now and revealed then (vv. 3 and 4), which keeps Easter from being described as a visible improvement in circumstances. The alternative, Acts 10:34-43, is Peter’s sermon in the house of Cornelius, appointed for the first reading in either arrangement.

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Take it further: Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43

Commentary

Commentary on Colossians 3:1-4Commentary on Col 3:1-4 workingpreacher.org

Lutheran voice on being "raised with Christ" as Easter ethics.

Colossians 3:1-4 CommentaryCol 3:1-4 Commentary cepreaching.org

Reformed homiletical take on seeking the things that are above.

Colossians 3 - Bible CommentaryCol 3 - Bible Commentary enduringword.com

Evangelical verse-by-verse commentary on the chapter's resurrection ethic.

Colossians 3 CommentaryCol 3 Commentary preceptaustin.org

Exhaustive word-study commentary covering the opening verses.

Colossians 3:1 CommentaryCol 3:1 Commentary biblehub.com

Multi-commentary compilation (Barnes, Pulpit, Cambridge, etc.) on the opening verses.

Background & Word Study

Book of Colossians SummaryBook of Col Summary bibleproject.com

Overview video on Colossians' argument that Christ is the center of all reality.

Set Your Mind on Things Above theologyofwork.org

Background on how the "seek the things above" call reorients everyday life.

The Church Fathers

Colossians 3Col 3 catenabible.com

Patristic comments on the resurrection life described in Colossians 3.

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