We rose early this morning to make the sunrise service at our church followed by a wonderful time of fellowship, a church breakfast, and an egg hunt on the church lawn. It was truly a blessing. As I contemplate the meaning of this day, my thoughts turn to another group of people who, a couple of thousand years ago, began this day with a much more somber outlook.
To take a bit from our pastor’s sermon this morning, Jesus’ followers, disciples, and family still mourned the horrific torture and death they had witnessed a couple days before. Jesus had been scourged, hung from a cross and pierced with a spear. He had been taken down from the cross dead. His spirit was gone. Only the torn shell of his body was left. Their hopes had been shattered and His words forgotten. “In three days, I will rise from the dead.”
Women arrived at the tomb to wash the body of the man they had all loved. Imagine their distraught state being amplified by not finding him there. His body was gone. Things could not have gotten worse but suddenly they had.
“Why do you look for the living among the dead ?”
The sudden realization and joy they experienced is hard to fathom, but it must have been beyond exuberant. I am sure tears flowed, but this time filled with elation. God had moved again and Jesus was alive. They raced back to tell the others.
We serve a living God. He died on the cross for all, Jew and Gentile. His resurrection is an event worthy of celebrations beyond our capability, but this is what Easter is about. We should feel as those women did that morning so long ago as they ran breathless back to share the news.
He is risen, He is risen indeed !
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