Someone stopped me in our church lobby this past Sunday and asked, “What does the resurrection of Jesus mean for us today? What difference is that supposed to make since that happened 2,000 years ago?”
Great questions that beg for even greater answers.
I shared with my friend in the lobby that if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. The empty tomb means death is not the end of the story. Hope has merit. Healing, reconciliation, and justice are possible. A sunrise future is on the horizon because the resurrection brings certainty in the midst of a dark reality.
Andy Stanley once wrote, “If someone predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off, I go with whatever that person says” (Carter, Grieve, Breathe, Receive, 47). History tells us that Jesus is not the first to claim He was the Messiah. In fact, many religious and political leaders in the ancient Near East made similar claims. However, their religious movements fell short when the government or others killed them for their heresy.
Until Jesus.
When Jesus died, the government and religious leaders expected the Jesus movement to die with Him. But then He rose from the grave and changed everything. Author Barbara Johnson wrote that Jesus’ resurrection taught His disciples to live as “Easter people living in a Good Friday world” (Splashes of Joy in the Cesspools of Life, 193).
Because Jesus conquered death, we can live as people of hope and resurrection in spite of present circumstances. The resurrection transforms our past, brings strength to the present, and hope for the future. It brings certainty to expect that good is on its way.
“The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). As Jesus followers, we have this V12-supercharged-resurrection power flowing through our veins, so why do we drive our lives like a four-cylinder, 1996 Honda Civic?
My challenge to you is to DARE to hope. DARE to believe. DARE to trust that, regardless of present hardships, there is the resurrection power for future glory.
Desire something good.
Anything is possible.
Resurrection brings certainty.
Expect good to be on its way.
You may be in dark season right now, a time of grief or pain. If so, I pray you will receive the truth of the Resurrection that there is hope on the other side of grief and healing beyond your pain. I pray you will DARE to believe that since the tomb is empty, anything is possible.
Let’s be Easter people living in a Good Friday world.
