The Message of Easter

this is from the book of john, chapter 20:

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

“Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my
God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

i love the way this passage closes. mary tells them, "i have seen the lord!" and then she gave them the message. that very much sums up what we are to be about. we may not have literally see the lord in his bodily form, but we have seen what he has worked in our lives. we have seen evidence of his ressurrection. we have seen the lord! now, let's go give others the message. i hope god truly blesses you this easter. i hope you know the joy of his ressurrection. have a great easter!

Holy Week

as we begin holy week, or the week leading up to easter, i have been spending some time really considering what the death and resurrection is all about. this is the simple truth of the gospel. mark batterson summed it up beautifully in his blog today. here is what he said:

On a personal note, I went through a season in my early twenties when I explored lots of different religious traditions. And I was impressed with some of the concepts and rituals and practices. But it also cemented this core belief: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one else lived a sinless life. No one else died for my sins. And no one else was raised from the dead. My faith isn't anchored in concepts or rituals or practices. My faith is anchored in a person who was fully human and fully God.

this is the power and grace that only god has the authority to shower on us. this is the jesus that gives us access to god the father. this is the god that saved me. this is the god we give our lives to. as the week goes on, i will plan to share more of my thoughts on its significance.