When the armies of Napoleon swept over Europe, one of the generals made a surprise attack on the little town of Feldkirch, on the Austrian border. As Napoleon’s formidable army maneuvered on the mountains above the city, a council of its citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether to surrender or attempt a defense. In this assembly the venerable Church Pastor arose to declare: “This is Easter Day. We have our Lord’s Resurrection to celebrate. Let us ring the bells and have our service as usual, and we will leave the matter in God’s capable hands. We know only our weakness and not the power of God.”
The council of citizens affirmed his plan, and in a few minutes the church belfry chimed the joyous bells announcing the Savior’s Resurrection. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night, so they broke up their camp, leaving most of their equipment behind. Before the Easter bells had ceased pealing, the danger had been lifted.
For what reasons should we be praising our Lord on Easter Sunday?
When I simplify the Good News of the Gospel, as I understand it, I find three (3) words that immediately spring to the front – Faith and Hope and Love. These three subjective terms are truly undefinable. While in undergraduate university, I wrote a paper on Love. I went to the greatest and wisest source I knew and asked my dad what love was. He told me, “Love is the tinkling sensation of the heart that can’t be scratched!” I have fully brought in to this idea and have written several times about love.
Faith and Hope are closely linked in Scripture and confirmed in Christian experience. These two spiritual qualities nourish one another. We believe because we hope (have confidence) in God’s many promises. Through faith, hope grows and its strengthened. The Christian becomes increasingly convinced that what God has promised, God is able to perform.
The Easter message is a significant example of how faith and hope work together. The fact that Jesus arose from the dead is the basis for our faith in Him as the Son of God, our Savior. But it also is the basis for the hope that we shall share His resurrection glory. The Empty Tomb gives us reason for both faith and hope.
It was this Blessed Hope of unending bliss that rendered D.L. Moody triumphant in life and all glorious in death. Before his “home going” he said, “Some day you will read in the newspaper that D.L. Moody is dead! Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone higher, that is all! I was born in the flesh in1837; I was born in the Spirit in 1856! That which is born of flesh may die, but that which is born of the Holy Spirit will live forever!”
Easter is more than a Bunny running around the area, hiding colored (chicken) eggs and a few plastic ones with prizes inside. The fact is that the Empty Tomb, the symbol of Easter, is the Cradle of the Christian Church. Christianity is based on the resurrection of Jesus. If the women who came early to the Tomb where Jesus had been laid, or the Disciples who came behind them, had been able to find Jesus’ Body, there would be no Church, no Bible, and little knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth. The words, deeds, miracles, and all the great events of Christ’s life, wonderful as they were, can never be credited with establishing the Church. It was the Resurrection that made the Cross of Calvary significant, that transformed Disciples from men of fear to men of faith and courage. The mission of the Christian, its Church programs to evangelize the world, began when Christ arose, our Conqueror of death, hell, and the grave. Without the Resurrection it would be impossible to explain Christianity!
When we have not found the power of Easter living in our personal lives, we need simply to confess our sins and ask for Jesus’ forgiveness. If we only believe that His blood that was given for us over 2,000 years ago is still available to cover our sins today, we can receive Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord! Try the Risen Lord for yourself!
