Easter

For the Christian, Easter is always a high point. What can trump the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. The old hymn says, "I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. He walks with me and talks with me along my way." We had a great celebration at our little church. We started with a time of fellowship around the breakfast table. Then we moved from there into the sanctuary and celebrated our living Savior.

Our scripture for the day was John 20. This is the story of Mary Magdalene. She went to the tomb and, much to her dismay, found the tomb open and empty. Of course she thought, as any rational person would, that the body had been stolen. She ran to get Peter and the disciple "that Jesus loved", John. They ran to the tomb. John seemed to be the better runner because he got there first. Peter finally arrived and didn't wait, but ran into the tomb. Yes, it was empty. Then John came in. Something about the placement of the bodily coverings convinced John. The Bible simply says that he believed. Yet, Peter and John just went home.

Mary stayed at the tomb. Finally, she got up the nerve to look inside.Yes, it was empty -- but, wait! There were two angels there. Before she could do anything, she heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw what she believed was the gardener (Jesus seemed to be hard to recognize -- and of course, no one really expected to see him up and walking around). She asked him if he had been the one to take Jesus' body. Then he said one word -- Mary. Immediately she recognized him. She knew her Lord and He knew her. Don't believe the Da Vinci Codes. This was not a romance. But it was love. God is love. Jesus loved Mary deeply and Mary loved him deeply. But this was not all. He gave Mary a message to take to his brothers. No, it wasn't a message to James and Judas, his siblings, it was a message to his disciples -- the ones that had deserted him. He called them his brothers. He loved them and he forgave them.

Many don't believe in the resurrection. Others who believe, think it was kind of a spooky ethereal kind of thing. The scriptures say it was a bodily resurrection. The witness given is overwhelming. The Apostle Paul even says that he appeared to over 500 people. Paul wrote this when those people would have been around and able to refute this word. I think that in many ways the best evidence for the reality of the resurrection is the change that we see in the disciples. They were somewhat flaky before Jesus' crucifixion. But after the resurrection, they were all business and gave their lives as martyrs. Why would they do this if it was all a hoax?

I believe in the resurrection. I have been to both the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Jesus isn't there! I don't know whether either of these sites is the real tomb or not (the Church has real good evidence, and the Garden Tomb looks like it ought to be it). I just know that looking at the empty tomb gives me goose bumps. But that is nothing compared to the reality of meeting the real Jesus. I met him (not in the flesh) and nothing has ever been the same.

Happy Easter