The best evidence for the Resurrection of our Lord is the resurrection of His Church! The grief and despair of the little mourning company who followed Joseph of Arimathea was paying honor to the Dead. “The Way,” as the followers of Christ were called, died with Jesus. But who can deny the joy and triumph into which this same group were quickened after a few short hours had passed. There is no naturalistic explanation of that change. There remains only one reasonable explanation for that revived faith, that overflowing gladness. The Resurrection of the Master – Easter – was needed to account for the resurrection of the Church, and the resurrection of the Church is only explained by the Resurrection of the Master.
Today, as much as in the First Century, we need to be reminded that Easter truly happened! In this world, where right is made to appear wrong and wrong is deemed right, where the Bible, prayer, church attendance, and even the traditional celebrations of Christmas and Easter are being assaulted, we need to remember that Christ did not stay in that borrowed tomb. “The Way, The Truth, and The Life” could not stay in that cemetery; He had to come out! Their clouds of disappointment and sadness dispersed. The Disciples were set free from the chains that bound their spirits. They became, in the light of that liberating truth, victors over the world, over circumstances, and over life and death. The message of Easter did all this and more for the Disciples, and it can do the same for us today!
What did it mean for those Disciples at that moment when Easter had come?
First, It means that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of God! Before that wonder-filled morning, the Disciples had been the victims of uncertainty, chilled by cloudy moods of doubt and fear. But, with the Resurrection, the uncertainty ended. The hope that died on the Cross and was buried with Jesus in the tomb, sprang up into new and imperishable life at the Resurrection. In spite of all the scorn and contempt many placed upon the Jesus of the Cross, Easter morning proved Him to be “God’s King”!
Second, It meant that His power was available as it was before He died! Everything that Jesus had done before the Cross could now be done through His followers. Jesus told those Disciples that they would do “even greater things”! Through faith, they found victory over sin and the power to meet all kinds of tasks and troubles.
Third, It meant the ultimate triumph of His cause! The Crucifixion seemed to culminate in the triumph of Christ’s foes. His movement seemed to be crushed. How could the Disciples get on preaching the message of this Kingdom in the face of such defeat? But Easter Sunday reversed all those verdicts. Always after that Good Friday, with its crucifixion of Righteousness and Love, there comes Easter Sunday. Easter means that goodness is stronger than falsehood and love will triumph over hatred. For His Disciples, it meant they could go on with their mission with high hearts and with unflickering hope. Through hardship, toil, and sorrow, they could go forward in the faith that the victory is already won. The Chruch is moving on, not to defeat, but to victory, not to a sunset, but to an everlasting dawn. Easter preaches this faith still exists! We will move upward and forward today because Easter is real!
Fourth, It meant that they lost forever the fear of death! Someone said, “We may all die, but Christians shall never truly be dead!” Man at his best and highest always hoped that this world was not the end. These first Disciples saw Him alive and found that death had not broken the thread of continuous life, or cut the cord of memory, or dimmed the light of love. Life and immortality, if we know Christ, are not things of doubt now! They are out of the shadow, brought to the glorious light and certainty in the Gospel of our Lord. Into our hearts come the same wonder and joy which filled the heart of Mary when she found her Lord again, not in a dark sepulcher, but out in the living world, walking amid the lilies and green of the young grass.
If anyone is still wondering if Easter truly happened, you are invited to come and see as we worship a Risen Savior at the Sunrise Service on Port O’Connor’s front beach, Easter morning at 7:00 a.m. There all will see that many of our friends and neighbors have experienced their own personal Easter and will learn how each can experience Easter personally! Easter is a reality, and it is continuing to happen every day for someone. You could be next!
