He is Risen!

Alleluia!

Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!

Alleluia!

This is the foundation of our hope, fellow Christ-follower. This is the truth upon which our faith is grounded, upon which the axis of the earth turns.

If Christ had not been raised, we would be a people to be pitied. A deluded and foolish people, who believe in fairy tales, who escape into wishful thinking, and who have no hope.

But we are not to be pitied... because the tomb is empty!

The long nights of confusion and dread, as Jesus' followers wondered what had happened to the good news revolution, were undone by the shuddering thunder of a moving stone, tumbling from a tomb entrance. Roman soldiers were left helpless and fearful by the strange things that happened that morning. Grieving women were startled by an angel. The gloom of Friday and the seemingly endless Saturday were shattered by the ecstatic triumph of Sunday. Strange things after much grief.

Welcome to the resurrection. Welcome to life as we have never known or seen it. Welcome to the new thing that God is doing (Isaiah 43:19).

Streams now flow in deserts (Isaiah 35:6). Mountains made low, crooked paths made straight (Luke 3:5). Sinful hearts washed and reborn. Life is the final word. Not death (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Life.

In the Fridays and Saturdays of your life, do not be afraid. Even as the waves of despair and death surround you, and cover your head, your deliverer is coming. He who has conquered death is on his way.

Sister in Christ, we have the hope that we will, one day, be raised to new life.

Prayer: Go out now as God's chosen witnesses to testify that Christ has been raised and that we are raised with him. Set your minds on the things of God and do not be afraid, for your life is safe with Christ in God. And may God raise you from all that would entomb you. May Christ Jesus be your life. And may the Holy Spirit empower you for all that is good. Amen.