Easter Sunday
Rev. Laraine Waughtal
John 20:1-18
Christ the Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed! It is a statement and a truth that we can never celebrate enough! Thirty-three years before Jesus’ crucifixion the world had been given the greatest gift ever given. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. God’s Son came to live among us in the humbleness and the miracle of a baby.
Thirty-three years later Jesus suffered the cruelest of deaths by dying on a cross. But this just wasn’t any death. There had been thousands of other crucifixions but this was the one that made the difference for the world and for eternity. This crucifixion was God’s Son who bore the sins of the world on Himself. He who knew no sin took our sin and boldly said, “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.” This death on a cross would be the only one that would climax with the resurrection of Jesus defeating sin and death.
Mary Magdalene and the other women went to the tomb that Sunday morning to be with their Lord. Notice that they went while it was still dark. As dark as their spirits felt still grieving the loss of their savior. As they came to the tomb they were shocked to see that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. They went back and told the others. Peter and another apostle came running to the tomb to see. They were astonished to see that the tomb was empty. Was it possible? Was Jesus raised from the dead or did something else happen. They had seen others raised from the dead by Jesus – had he defeated death also? They left confused.
Mary remained behind crying wondering what had become of her beloved Savior. Wasn’t it enough that He had died? It was then that the sun began to rise and a new light began the day. It was then that she thought she saw the gardener and asked what had become of Jesus body. It was then that Jesus spoke her name. It was then the she truly realized that the Son did rise today! Her savior was alive! Jesus instructed her to go and tell the others that He is alive and has risen from the dead. They had gone from the darkest of days on Friday to the greatest of days on Sunday! Jesus is alive!
Through the love and grace of our Lord we are now a forgiven people and we will one day live in eternity with God. Christ has broken the bonds of sin and death and restored us to a right relationship with God.
God’s kingdom is now alive in each of our hearts and nothing in this world can ever defeat us.
A young marine tells a story. A Marine and I lay in the bottom of a foxhole during an artillery barrage. He struck a match, lit his cigarette, and then held the burning match up in front of my face, and with a quick puff of his breath, blew it out. He said: “That’s life, isn’t it, Padre?” And I replied: “You’re wrong. Remember those little trick birthday candles that we used to have, where you supposedly blow out the candle on the cake and it would be dead and smoldering? Then you would turn away for a moment, and then you would look back, and you would discover that the candle was not out at all, that it was still burning brightly. That’s life, Mac, and don’t ever forget it.” Through Christ we can be fully alive and never have our light put out and enjoy the blessings of God’s peace and love each day because we have a hope like no other. In so many ways many of us are dead because we are not living full lives in Christ. Jesus wants us to live in wholeness and love. Jesus wants us to be born a new in our own lives today. We need to become alive in Christ and live fully in His grace.
Joyce Hollyday tells the story of a schoolteacher who was assigned to visit children in a large city hospital. She received a routine call requesting that she visit a particular child.
The teacher took the boy’s name and room number, and was told by the teacher on the other end of the line, “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in this class now. I’d be grateful if you could help him with his homework, so he doesn’t fall behind the others.”
It wasn’t until the visiting teacher got outside the boy’s room that she realized that it was located in the hospital’s burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in great pain.
The teacher felt that she couldn’t just turn around and walk out. And so she stammered awkwardly, “I’m the hospital teacher, and your teacher sent me to help you with nouns and adverbs.” This boy was in so much pain that he barely responded. The young teacher stumbled through his English lesson, ashamed at putting him through such a senseless exercise.
The next morning a nurse on the burn unit asked her, “What did you do to that boy?” Before the teacher could finish her outburst of apologies, the nurse interrupted her: “You don’t understand. We’ve been very worried about him. But ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back; he’s responding to treatment. It’s as if he has decided to live.”
The boy later explained that he had completely given up hope until he saw the teacher. It all changed when he came to a simple realization. With joyful tears, the boy said: “They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a boy who was dying, would they?”
This wonderful story invites us to celebrate the gift of life even when all we seem to see around us is pain and disappointment and brokenness. It shows us that on the other side of pain, there is resurrection. It reminds us of what is possible whenever there is hope.
Because of Christ we all have hope in our lives no matter what we face. We all have trials; we all have had disasters and times that seem without hope. We all have faced times we have wondered if life will ever be better. Through Jesus we can find the strength to face all that is before us. We can experience mini-resurrections in our lives when we realize we have the hope of families and friends who love us and will help us in difficult times; we can experience mini-resurrections when we realize that we are not alone and that others care for us; we can have mini-resurrections when we find a new job, our children are safe, we have hope of defeating illnesses, and that we can truly make a difference when we reach out and help others.
Most importantly, when we lose a loved one even in the midst of our sorrow we have hope because we have resurrection through Christ.
Today is a day to celebrate with great jubilance. We come and see that the cross no longer holds Jesus and neither does the tomb. Each day is a day to celebrate because of the love that Jesus has for each of us. So, let us go forth celebrating and shouting to the world…Christ the Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed! May each day of your life be by a rebirth of who you are and may you be made new in Christ. Amen.