Sermon 1: Tell the Story

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

¹Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. ²You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing. ³I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, ⁴he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures. ⁵He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, ⁶and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time. ⁹I’m the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God’s church. ¹⁰I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.

 

Sermon

Today is the day we tell the story. It is the story of all stories. It is the story that changed the face of the earth so many years ago, and the story that continues to change our lives every day as we relive and retell the Easter story. It is the story of Jesus Christ and his victory over death. Let us not make light of the story—did you hear it?—victory over death! This is no small feat.

Psychologists, psychiatrists, ministers, astrologers, life coaches, and so many others have written book upon book about how we should approach death, “deal” with death, and live life not fearing death. Yet, so often, death consumes our thoughts. Particularly after a loved one dies, after a mass tragedy, or as our birthdays seem to come quicker and quicker on the calendar, death scares us.

Here we gather to tell the story of Christ’s death, of a terrible, painful, and public death for our sins. Holy Week takes us on the journey of Jesus’ last week of life. We relive and recount the gruesome way we crucified the Son of God. We recollect the disciples’ experience of three days of life on earth without the Messiah. Three long days go by in which we can only imagine the depth of their grief and sorrow. Three long days take forever, it seems, as we wait for what we know is to come. Finally Sunday morning comes with the promise of a new day and a new life. Today we celebrate that the story did not end with Christ’s death. Christ’s crucifixion may have been a gruesome death, but what follows after three days in the grave is the most amazing sign of life, and for those who believe, eternal life. Praise be to God, Christ rose again. He came back from the grave. Christ conquered death.

The question then follows: if one has conquered death, what comes next? What follows that which we believed was impossible? What happens when the Scriptures really are fulfilled just as they were written? What do we do when God has kept God’s promises? What does life after death mean?

The signs are all around us—Easter eggs, Easter lilies, children in bright new Easter clothes, the hallelujah choruses—all these and more point to new life, a sloughing away of the old ways, a celebration of beginning again. Look around you in this room; today is one of the highest-attended days for the church around the world. People come today to hear the good news, to receive a fresh start, to celebrate, if only for a day, that Christ rose from the dead to offer a new beginning. Today is all about good news: Christ has died, and Christ has risen! Hallelujah! Praise be to God!

We are empowered to live new lives, lives of confidence and assurance in the power of Christ. He has conquered death; Christ has come back from the grave. What, then, should we fear? What can stop us from living lives of absolute certainty in knowing that our God is the Lord over life and death, sin and salvation, good and evil? Our God came to us in human form, modeled a life of humility, servanthood, and unconditional love, died a humiliating and excruciating death for our sins, and then returned from the dead to prove to those who needed just a little more evidence that our God keeps promises and fulfills the Scriptures. Today is the day we tell the story, because as believers in the resurrected Messiah, this is also our story. We too will have life after death because we believe that Jesus has life after death. We believe and we rejoice! So ring the bells, sound the trumpets, smell the lilies, hunt the eggs, and sing the uplifting songs. But let us do the same again next week and next month and in six months. We cannot forget, as our Corinthian brothers and sisters may have done, that this is of first importance: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3), he was buried, and he rose again. Christ has conquered death. My brothers and sisters, Christ has conquered death! Praise be to God!

—Victoria Atkinson White

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Sermon 2: A Matter of Curiosity

Scripture: John 20:1-18

¹Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.” ³Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. ⁴They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. ⁵Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. ⁶Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷He also saw the face cloth that had been on Jesus’ head. It wasn’t with the other clothes but was folded up in its own place. ⁸Then the other disciple, the one who arrived at the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹They didn’t yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.
¹¹Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. ¹²She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. ¹³The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” ¹⁴As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.”
¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher ).
¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
¹⁸Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she
told them what he said to her.

 

Sermon

In Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard tells of how, as a child, she would place a penny in the crack of a sidewalk, or the root of a tree, and draw arrows to it. She would then entice passersby with words like “Money this Way” or “Surprise Ahead.” “I was greatly excited,” she said, “during all this arrow-drawing, at the thought of the first lucky passer-by who would receive in this way, regardless of merit, a free gift from the universe” (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek [New York: Harper Perennial Classics, 1974], 16). Curiosity is an underlying theme of the Easter story. Mary Magdalene’s curiosity is piqued when she discovers that the stone in front of Jesus’ tomb has been removed. Her first reaction is fear as she runs to share her anxiety with Peter and another disciple, likely John. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2). Peter and John run to the tomb.

When Peter and John leave the empty tomb, Mary is left weeping outside. “As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb” (20:11). What Mary sees shocks her. When she peers into the tomb, two angels in white are there and ask why she is weeping. “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him” (v. 13). She turns to encounter the resurrected Jesus, although she does not recognize him. She is asked the same question, “Why are you crying?” (v. 15), and she responds again with curiosity about the location of the body. Mary is in a deep sense of grief and things are not as they should be.

People deal with the loss of a loved one in unique ways. Grief becomes especially complicated when there is no sense of finality. Jesus’ body is gone, and Mary is left wondering how to make things right.

I have a distant cousin who is listed as Missing in Action from the Vietnam War. His daughter has been to Vietnam seeking information about him, only to be imprisoned herself. Still, the family clings to hope. His wife continues to list her telephone number under his name as Lt. Colonel. The grief process for my family continues to be incomplete as it was for Mary, who was unable to find Jesus’ body.

In conversation with this individual whom she believes to be the gardener, something happens to change her level of curiosity. Jesus calls her by name, Mary, and at that point she apparently wants to touch him. “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father” (20:17). A new relationship emerges between Mary and Jesus. Her curiosity about a missing body is transformed into a curiosity of a spiritual nature with one word, Mary.

Curiosity is also part of Peter and John’s story. Mary runs to share her experience of the empty tomb with Peter and John, who then rush to the tomb, John reaching the tomb first. Out of curiosity, John “bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in” (20:5). Peter’s curiosity moves him to enter the tomb. Then John enters the tomb, and we are told he “saw and believed” (v. 8). Given that the disciples return to their homes, it is not

clear what John believes. The Gospel also indicates that neither John nor Peter understand the Scripture that the Messiah must rise from the dead. Whereas Mary’s curiosity moves to a spiritual level once Jesus speaks her name, it would seem that the curiosity of Peter and John remains on a different level, as the two continue to muse about the missing body.

Pilate displays curiosity about Jesus. “Are you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33) he asks Jesus. And when the Jews report to Pilate that Jesus claims to be the Son of God, Pilate responds in fear. “Where are you from?” (19:9) Pilate asks. Although Jesus explains that his kingdom is from a different world, Pilate continues to see him as King of the Jews. On a sign above the cross, Pilate angers the Jews by writing “The King of the Jews.” “What I have written I have written” (19:22), says Pilate. Pilate’s curiosity about Jesus never elevates to the spiritual level. However, Pilate is clearly curious and seemingly moved by Jesus. The curiosity of the Pharisee Nicodemus moves him to become a disciple, albeit secretly. Nicodemus seeks Jesus at night so no others will see him. Now, as Jesus’ body is moved from the cross to the tomb, we find Nicodemus along with Joseph of Arimathea preparing Jesus’ body for burial. It is said that Nicodemus brings “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds” (19:39).

The Easter story piques our curiosity. None of us postmoderns enter the story from the human side. We are not curious about a missing body. We are not curious about the influence of Jesus with the Jews. We are, though, quite curious about the Resurrection. Like Mary, we have heard Jesus call our names. We know about the empty tomb. We are at some level of spiritual curiosity, wondering what a resurrected Christ means for us.

Mary Magdalene’s curiosity is transformed as she encounters the resurrected Christ. She wants to touch Jesus, to use her physical senses to satisfy her curiosity. The Resurrection, however, moves us to a different level, a level of the ultimate and the eternal rather than the temporal. God has drawn arrows toward the divine truth for us, and at the end of those arrows is a free gift from the universe. If we allow our curiosity and concern about worldly matters to control us, we may miss the opportunities offered by God. The risen Christ is calling our name. The risen Christ calls us to a spiritual level of curiosity, to receive the gift of eternal life!

—Dan L. Flanagan

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Easter Sunday, Year A

Sermon on the Old Testament Reading

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:1-6

¹At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they will be my people.
²The LORD proclaims:
The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness.
As Israel searched for a place of rest,
³the LORD appeared to them from a distance:
I have loved you with a love that lasts forever.
And so with unfailing love,
I have drawn you to myself.
⁴Again, I will build you up,
and you will be rebuilt, virgin Israel.
Again, you will play your tambourines
and dance with joy.
⁵Again, you will plant vineyards
on the hills of Samaria;
farmers will plant and then enjoy the harvests.
⁶The time will come when
the watchmen shout from
the highlands of Ephraim:
“Get ready! We’re going up to Zion
to the LORD our God!”

 

Sermon Title: Easter, A Time of Hope

Easter is a time of hope. After the gray days of winter, spring comes and life returns. Flowers bloom, leaves appear on trees, and green grass begins to grow. In the Christian life, Easter is a reminder of the hope we have in Christ. No matter the circumstance or the situation in which we find ourselves, we are reminded of new life in Christ.

Jeremiah is writing to people in despair. He has told them that their cities will be destroyed, and they will be taken captive by the Babylonians. We come to chapter 31 and the prophet’s message of hope to a broken people. He speaks at least three messages from God that provide words of hope to broken lives today.

I. I See Your Condition (vv. 1-2)

First, the prophet assures the people of God’s awareness of their broken condition. They are going to be taken in chains to a strange place, will raise their children in a foreign land, and will be dispersed across the northern kingdom. However, God will be with them.

Sometimes life doesn’t seem to make sense. The faithful of Israel will suffer alongside the wicked. Why doesn’t God punish the wicked and spare the innocents of the world? Rabbi Harold Kushner asks the same question of many: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Surely, Easter reminds us that God understands suffering.

On that Friday we call “good,” God watched his only Son die on a cross. Charles Bugg, in Learning to Dream Again, says of that day: “This God is a God who knows what it is to lose a child.” God sees the condition of his people.

II. I Will Always Be with You (v. 3)

The prophet next reminds his hearers of God’s steadfast love. God’s love has been faithful even when Israel turned its back on God. Jeremiah says that God has never left or forsaken the people. Rather, God has “loved you with an everlasting love.”

God’s love is faithful and true today. The often quoted poem “Footprints in the Sand” reminds us that in the lowest and saddest times of life, God carries us. It’s more than poetry, isn’t it? As we look back on painful experiences, we can see that God stood beside us, if only we would notice. As we recall shameful experiences of the past, when we wandered off into a wilderness of our own making, we know God was but a prayer away.

God overwhelms us with love. Jeremiah finds hope for the future only because of God’s wondrous love. In the midst of a confusing world, God’s love is the one point of stability providing hope that life will be better. It is also this astonishing love of God that compels us to follow. James Leo Green says, “If the realization that he loves us with a limitless love that goes the limit for us will not ‘draw’ us—melt our hearts and wills into contrition and submission— nothing else will.”

III. There Is Hope for the Future (vv. 4-6)

The final part of the passage tells of a great homecoming and a new relationship between God and his people. The people will return from exile, and there will once again be rejoicing in Jerusalem. Fields will be replanted, homes and lives will be rebuilt, and there will be music in the streets. Jeremiah reminds his hearers that this future is based not on the power of the people but on the will of God. Therefore, they will worship God in acknowledgment of this. In the wintertimes of life, when darkness seems all around and hope is gone, we can know that the spring is coming, and in the spring, God will fill us with life again.

—Greg Barr

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Sermon on the Epistle Reading

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-4

¹Therefore, if you were raised with Christ, look for the things that are above where
Christ is sitting at God’s right side. ²Think about the things above and not things on
earth. ³You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your
life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

 

Sermon Title: Transformed by His Resurrection

The New Testament’s firm confirmation of the Resurrection is clear. However, demonstrating the relevance to human lives years after the event and among alien Gentile cultures was something of a task. Applying the Resurrection to contemporary lives is no less difficult or more necessary. This passage details the results of the Resurrection in our lives. Paul begins the passage by saying “so if” we have been raised with Christ, indicating that the following results should occur in our lives.

I. Our Desires Are Transformed

Paul begins in verse 1 to command us to seek things “above.” It is so easy to fall into the trap of avoiding the New Testament command to “seek after God’s righteousness and the material things will follow in due course.” This passage indicates that our belief in the Resurrection (Christ’s and ours) changes our desires and the things we value.

When we recognize the reality of the Resurrection, more real than finite life here, temporal things, problems, and wealth begin to pale. In light of eternity, the statement “you can’t take it with you” has a deeper meaning. Children of faith have high values placed on those elements of eternal quality; that is our treasure.

II. Our Perspective Is Transformed

In verse 2, Paul calls us to set our “minds” on things above, not on earthly things. Our view of life and responses to our dealings in life are to be tempered by our perspective of the Resurrection. When we examine how we think, we realize we are the ones who largely determine the quality of our lives. God “sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). Those who have placed faith in Christ realize that a little rain is just a temporary hassle in the larger picture of an infinite future with Christ. We can continue in joy even when we face difficulty. This perspective speaks of contentment in any circumstance and the fruit of joy and peace in the lives of believers.

III. Our Lives Are Transformed

Verses 3-4 touch on how believers’ lives are transformed through the Resurrection. There are two dimensions of this transformation. The first is the present life before eternity. Christians have “died”—that is, through the Holy Spirit victory over sin becomes possible. Believers’ lives

are presently “hidden” in Christ, ultimately forgiven and ultimately changed to bear his nature and image. Such lives are those guided by his Spirit to proclaim Christ as Lord of creation and Lord of their lives.

The second dimension of our transformed lives lies in the future. When Christ appears, we are guaranteed that we will appear with him “in glory.” We may experience moments of human exaltation—splashes of glory in this present life—but our future glory with Christ defies human description and can be grasped only by faith. Such splendor is the spectacular conclusion of our lives, which in comparison will seem like dull tales. But in God’s plan, through the act of Christ’s resurrection, our future glory is a reality awaiting the fullness of time. Our hearts and minds should be set on that reality.

—Joseph Byrd

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Sermon on the Gospel Reading

Scripture: John 20:1-18

¹Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.” ³Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. ⁴They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. ⁵Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. ⁶Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷He also saw the face cloth that had been on Jesus’ head. It wasn’t with the other clothes but was folded up in its own place. ⁸Then the other disciple, the one who arrived at the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹They didn’t yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.
¹¹Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. ¹²She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. ¹³The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” ¹⁴As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher).
¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
¹⁸Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she
told them what he said to her.

 

Sermon Title: The Questions of Easter

It is odd that we know so little about a woman whose testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is so central. I speak of Mary, called the Magdalene. Both Matthew and Mark mention her by name as coming to the tomb on Easter morning, and John’s resurrection account is essentially her testimony. What do we really know of this woman? Since St. Augustine in the fifth century, the “sinner” woman of Luke 7 has been identified by many with this Mary. Is this “sinner” also the woman from whose life Jesus cast seven devils, and who joined that group of disciples following Jesus? Since the “sinner” woman—Mary Magdalene—and Lazarus’s sister Mary both anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume, are these women one and the same? Is Mary Magdalene the quiet, devoted Mary of the Mary and Martha stories?

She had the honor of being present at the death of Jesus; she stayed at the sepulchre when all the disciples went away; and Jesus appeared to her first and made her an apostle to the apostles. Nobody has a testimony like hers to the life, the love, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus— and of herself. But then, nobody has a testimony like yours or mine, either. Each Christian has a unique testimony of what Jesus’ resurrection has meant to him or her. The tragedy is that we do not share more of the difference Jesus has made in our lives and our love for him. But look with me step by step at Mary Magdalene’s testimony of Jesus’ resurrection.

I. She Came to Easter with Questions

In John 20, we note that Mary Magdalene came to Easter with questions. She must have had dreams of a glorious new kingdom, of Jesus taking the throne of David and sending the Romans packing. What of those dreams now? Surely she must have had fears that, without the encouragement of Jesus, she would fall back into her old lifestyle of immorality.

I expect, on that bleak morning, that she was also harboring some disillusionment about the disciples. After all, the men who said they loved Jesus more than life itself had broken and run away. Only John dared stand at the cross with Mary Magdalene and the other women. All these feelings are summed up in a heavy, concrete way by a practical question Mary Magdalene and the women asked each other as they trudged along to the tomb: Who will roll away for us the stone from the front of the tomb?

Every honest person comes to Easter with questions. The unbeliever asks, “Could such a thing happen?” The Christian asks, “Why can’t I, why don’t I, live a purer, higher Christian life with the power of the Resurrection available to me?” And many folks come to Easter with disillusionment with modern disciples: “Why don’t church people show more of the power and the presence of the risen Christ?” I suspect that the person who comes to Easter without questions is spiritually dead.

II. Easter Also Asks Us Questions

Matthew’s account tells us there was a mighty earthquake, and an angel rolled back the heavy doorstone of the tomb and sat on it, while the soldiers fainted—so much for this world’s power! Apparently, the women were nearby, for the angel gave them the facts succinctly: Jesus has risen; come and see; go and tell. The women went inside the tomb with their burden of spices and perfumes with which to anoint the body, and they stood there weeping, unclear and unconvinced by what the angel outside said. This does raise a question about angels, doesn’t it? Someone said to me recently, “Wouldn’t you think that if you saw an angel, you would believe what he—or she—or it—said?” Well, remember that angels don’t always appear angelic, with wings, halo, and so on. In fact, these angels at the tomb are referred to in some of the Gospel accounts as simply young men.

The angelic messengers in the empty tomb asked questions of the women: Why are you weeping? Who are you seeking? Why do you look for the living among the dead? And Luke’s Gospel tells us the angels reminded the women that Jesus had told them he must be crucified and rise on the third day. Easter is a call to remember, to remember the promises of Jesus that he would rise from the dead, and to remember the power of the Father, a power that not only raised Jesus from the dead but also abides in the life of the believer.

Apparently after seeing the empty tomb, Mary left the other women and ran to find Peter to tell him the body of Jesus was gone. It seems she missed the message of the angels in the tomb and left with only the message that the tomb was empty. Peter and the beloved disciple went to the tomb, and while they went in, Mary stood outside weeping.

She saw Jesus standing near the tomb and, not recognizing him, asked if he was the gardener; if he was responsible for having moved the body, and if so, where she may find it. She did not recognize the person of Jesus, but she immediately recognized his voice as he spoke to her, saying only one word, her name—Mary. She responded, “Master,” and fell at his feet. Then Jesus cautioned her not to touch him, “I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Why didn’t Mary recognize Jesus? Why did he not want her to touch him? Was he a ghost, a phantom, an intangible body her hands would go right through? Was his body of some otherworldly substance that her touch would contaminate? We simply do not know. It is clear that both her lack of recognition and his comment are tied to the fact that there is a definite change from the natural to the resurrected body, and that this is tied to his coming ascension. There is a mystery to the Easter story that comes under the verse: “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). We won’t understand all about the Resurrection until we wake up on the other side of this veil we call death. One more question about Mary Magdalene’s experience: Why didn’t the disciples believe the good news? Luke’s Gospel (24:9-11) tells us that the women went to the entire group of the apostles and told them all these things, but they received it as idle talk. It is because the resurrection of Jesus is unnatural. There is nothing natural about it. The Pharisees believed in a resurrection, but not just now! Jesus’ resurrection violated all their beliefs about the resurrection of the just at the last day. We know that Jesus is the “firstfruits,” the early harvest of all Christians who will be resurrected on the last day and who, from the moment of their trust in

Jesus, are set free from the power of death and the devil. There is nothing natural about God in human flesh dying on a cross and being buried in a tomb, so there is nothing natural about his flinging open the gates of death! It was so unnatural for the Creator in human form to die that the sun hid itself at his death; and the earth shuddered in earthquake at his resurrection.

III. Faith Answers Our Questions

Resurrection is unnatural and unbelievable until you and I actually experience the Resurrection in our own lives. I know a woman who cries when we sing “Because He Lives,” and one day she asked me, “Why doesn’t everyone cry when singing those words?” The long-form answer is, folks are put together differently emotionally and so on. The short-form answer is, we all would cry when we sing that hymn if we had her experience! She met the risen Christ, experienced the reality of his resurrection and her own, as an adult. Like Mary Magdalene, she realized her need for an exchanged life. And in Jesus she received the power to exchange the old for the new, the dead for the living, the earthly for the heavenly.

Easter is where broken dreams and the power of Jesus’ resurrection meet. Easter is where disappointments and angels clash. Easter is where the worst the devil could do is destroyed by the power and love of God. Experience Mary’s Christ.

—Earl C. Davis