Jesus is Risen! Alleluia!

We have heard the Easter story so many times, it is easy to underestimate the true magnitude of the Resurrection. Look beyond the crosses, flowers, eggs, and bunnies to look with new eyes at the most amazing miracle in all of history.

I have been trying to put myself in the place of the Apostles. I close my eyes and picture them behind locked doors, defeated, confused and fearing for their lives. I am sure they were wondering how they could have gotten things so wrong.

Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be the Messiah? Wasn’t He the ‘One’ to free God’s people?  Instead, He had been condemned to a brutal and tortuous death. They saw Him die. They saw the crowds and the religious leaders mocking and laughing and going away smug with victory. They saw His body being taken down from the cross, bloody, limp and lifeless. Imagine the despair they must have felt!

It was all ended. Three years wasted on a dream, shattered! Night came on, and with it, a profound emptiness. Where was God? Didn’t He care? Were we fools to believe? Like John the Baptist, rotting in his prison cell, the questions came, but not the answers. Again, overcome by sorrow like Gethsemane, the Apostles drifted asleep in the locked upper room while Jerusalem and the leaders went on with their hollow rituals of the Feast.

Another empty day dragged on, and no one spoke much. Peter probably felt gnawing remorse inside, thinking of his denial. We shouldn’t have run away. We should have disobeyed Him and used our swords. Others thought of Judas, if only they had stopped him. If, if, if. The world went on and God was far away…from their consciousness, from their sense of hopeless reality. But silently, God Almighty was at work, just as He always is, shaping history and our individual lives at the same time. 

Another night fell, dark with emptiness and fear. Roman soldiers marched on the streets, crowds murmured as they turned into their rooms at the inns, temple workers cleaned up the blood of the thousands of sacrifices, money changers gloated over the coins they amassed from all over the Empire, and the world was unaware that the universe had changed. It would never be the same.

On the third day, as the sun rose after a restless night, Mary Magdalene arrived in a panic. Someone had stolen Jesus’ body! As John and Peter ran and gazed into the tomb, there certainly must have been a whirlwind of emotions. What happened? Could the impossible be true? Their thoughts must have turned to the events they had witnessed over the previous three years—Jesus’ transfiguration, Lazarus being raised from the dead, Jesus’ predictions about His own death and resurrection. His words, which had fallen on deaf ears before, suddenly began to make sense. The truth of the situation was seeping into their hearts like rays of sunshine seeping through window shutters. Something deep within them knew that life would never be the same again. A new era had dawned and salvation and grace had come to mankind.

I can relate to that feeling in a small way. On that Sunday, twenty-four years ago, after so many decades away from God, I distinctly remember the inner turmoil of my heart as it reached its peak. I cried out to God in surrender. It was as if all my life were condensed into that one moment, and I begged for God’s mercy, repented, and committed myself to His service. The following morning, I did not hear any angelic trumpets but deep within my soul I knew—something was different, and my life would never be the same.

Each day God calls us to never be the same. Consider the flowers of spring. They cannot remain in the dark soil forever. They must grow and push their way through the earth to lift their heads to the sun, to blossom into their fullest potential. We, too, grow and push ourselves towards the Son. This is especially true during the moments when we feel suffocated and buried by difficult situations in life. When God seems silent and far away, and the situation seems hopeless, God calls us to turn our eyes back to Him and gaze upon the light of His love. That same love that conquered sin and death, can conquer our fears, doubts and heartache. His love brings new life and gives us the strength to grow and blossom.

Today, rejoice, and thank God for giving you a new life as His beautiful creation! Join Jesus in salvation and the resurrection of your soul in Him.  

Christos Anesti! Christ is risen!  Alithos Anesti!  He is risen indeed! All things have become new!