Easter Message

It’s the Lenten season, but Easter’s coming!

We know what happened on that first Sunday morning—the Lord Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to several persons, among them Mary Magdelene, who had witnessed Jesus’ death on the cross. The Gospels give many details about the Passion, so we have many historical details of that first Easter. And though we don’t have every detail, we have more than enough—we know what happened on Easter Sunday, and what it means for us.

But what if we didn’t? What if the historical facts about Jesus’ death were uncertain at best, and mythological at worst? It makes one wonder how Mary and the other followers found the desire to get up early on Sunday to visit Jesus’ tomb. Mary must have thought the only thing she could do was to care for Jesus’ dead body. After all, she saw Him die horribly on that cross on Friday. He was dead, and His death had left her with nothing but tears and fears. Jesus had promised that Mary would see Him again, but this sounded like so much wishful thinking. To Mary, death had the final word.

We get it. We’ve been there. We’ve shed tears over loved ones we’ve lost. We have false assumptions about our future. We get Mary’s early Easter morning sorrow, and her questions, and her pain.

But our Lord Jesus doesn’t leave Mary and us with our tears and fears. When Mary and the women with her arrived at the tomb, they found the stone rolled away. Mary peered inside and was horrified that the Body was not there. “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.” Mary must have assumed Jesus was still dead because death had the final word.

Mary had lost hope. It didn’t even seem to register with her that maybe there was some significance to the fact there were two angels sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying for three days. What must she have thought when they spoke to her: “Woman, why are you crying?” But Mary can’t get out of her own way. She is so crippled by what she thinks she knows to be certain that she continues to limp through life rather than celebrate Jesus’ victory over death and the grave.

But Easter drives away Mary’s tears and fears, and we’re there, too.

All it took for Mary was a word, one word that changed everything. One word spoken by a man she had assumed was the gardener. One word whose real identity was kept from her until He gently said to her, “Mary.” Then she was certain the Lord was alive and standing with her. This man was no gardener, and He certainly wasn’t dead. It was Him, no doubt about it. And the truth for Mary, and for us, is that Jesus Christ’s resurrection changes everything for us.

Simply put, Jesus Christ’s resurrection proves that He truly is the Son of God. None of us can defeat death like this. People had been raised from the dead before, but no one had taken their life back from death. Jesus’ resurrection proved He is what He claimed to be, Immanuel, God with us, and that there is no promise He’s made to us that’s too big for Him to keep.

Christ’s resurrection gives us comfort when death hangs over us. Easter Sunday proves that our God has power over death and the grave. And the resurrection assures us that when death stabs at us, we can stand next to the grave of a Christian and let God’s promise of eternal life wipe every tear from our eyes.

May the Lord bless you and make you a blessing.

Pastor Keller