It’s Sunday. And Hope is Risen.
That’s right. Just three days ago it seemed like hope was lost. It appeared that hope had died. Friday brought a darkness like the world & never seen before & would never see again.
But today? Today is Sunday. And a new light has dawned.
On this side of the cross, we know the story. And we know how the story ends. The Jewish leaders finally got their way. Their plot to arrest Jesus was successful. Their desire to have him executed like a criminal was accomplished. In their minds, this threat had been neutralized. What they couldn’t contain & couldn’t explain had been dealt with, defeated, buried in an unmarked grave.
But they had to be sure. Knowing how fanatical his followers were they had to be sure no one would take his body. This had to end now. So, with one more appeal to Pilate, the tomb is professionally sealed & soldiers from the empire are placed on site to prevent anyone from doing anything that would prolong the misery of this man’s story.
I love how A.W. Tozer describes this moment… “This last precaution was the brain child of the priests & the Pharisees, & how it backfired on them is known to the ages, for it went far to confirm the fact that the body was completely dead & that it could have gotten out of the tomb only by some miracle.”
Then, it happened. Sunday came. The morning light dawned.
First as the sun rose over the horizon. Then as a stone mysteriously began to roll away from the face of an unmarked grave. This day would be like no other day before it or like any day since. Because on this day, Jesus would rise again. And with him, hope.
The first to learn of his rising were the women who came to the tomb early in the morning. They became the ones trusted first with the message of his resurrection, of this hope.
These precious women who had been his followers, his disciples, brought such incredible news to the other disciples that no one could believe it. No one could comprehend it.
But they would. Because Jesus would appear to them. They would see his hands, his feet, his side.
In fact, more than 500 people would witness him alive.
An empty tomb by itself isn’t much of a case for a resurrection.
It is the experience of the risen Jesus by his followers that convinces the world that what we believe is true.
Jesus first followers sat at the feet of the risen Jesus. They touched his hands & his feet where the nails pierced through. They saw where the spear had pierced his side. It was their experience with the risen Jesus that gave them the faith that he had risen from the dead. It was their experience with he risen Jesus that gave them hope for the future. A new kind of future. A future full of hope. A future without fear. A future that essentially said, what can man do to me? Even if you take my life I have faith that I will rise again because I serve a man who is risen from the grave.
Have you experienced the risen Jesus? Have you shared your experience with the risen Jesus with others? It’s our experience with the risen Jesus of Nazareth that gives us hope. That takes away all fear.
Because hope has a name.
Jesus.
And today, Hope is Risen!
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