“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matt. 28:6
He is not here…
During the course of Jesus’ ministry on earth he encountered many individuals and groups of people; some who were very poor and homeless, others absorbed in themselves declaring their deity and building their kingdoms on earth. There were others who were sick and dying, without anyone caring for them.
As I have traveled to places around the world I have seen both wealth and poverty and the majority of people are living and working toward some sort of purposeful dreams and goals for which they will be remembered by family and friends. The ones who are most hopeful are those who believe in the resurrection of the body and this is what Resurrection Sunday or “Easter Sunday” is all about.
The truth of the matter is on the morning the women mourners came to apply burial ointment to Jesus’s body, they were met with an empty tomb. Suddenly their despair and disappointment was turned into hope and excitement.
“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples…’” Mark 16:5-7
Jesus came to rescue the perishing, care for the dying, offering hope to those who were hopeless. The disciples hope for an earthly king had been shattered but yet their hopelessness and unbelief at the time didn’t stop Jesus from dying, then rising.
Jesus was dead, buried and in the grave. But, this wasn’t the end of the story or God’s plan for mankind. Resurrection Sunday is not about an empty and final resting place here on earth, it is about an eternal home beyond our earthly understanding and is where Jesus will greet everyone who becomes His disciple, once their physical bodies die.
Christ’s resurrection is a promise for everyone who will believe in the person of Jesus. He isn’t just someone who lived a memorable life, then died and we honor His works and contributions and gifts to mankind. Jesus is risen indeed! He is alive and is in fact God, the Creator of mankind. He has already prepared for us to be with Him once our life here on earth is over.
Unlike any other idol or god, Jesus rose from the dead just like He promised he would. “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” John 11:25
One day I was told the story of Jesus. That day as I prayed, I believed in my heart that what I was hearing was true. Jesus is the bondage breaker and takes away the bondage of sins and sorrows that plague our lives. There is no other prescription for change than the one Jesus has already written.
He lives inside of me!
“That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” Eph. 1:18-21
