April 4: Resurrection Sunday
Read: Isaiah 25:6-9; John 20:1-18
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
These days it’s easy to be discouraged and disappointed and even a bit hopeless. We’ve just come through one of the most challenging years. Racial tensions, political divisions, and the pandemic strengthen the sense of hopelessness that had already invaded many people’s hearts and minds.
We have all around us a crisis of hope. Despite our wealth; despite the advances of technology; despite all the advances we’ve seen over the years, many lack peace and not everyone enjoys prosperity. Even those who have a degree of peace and prosperity find it doesn’t really satisfy. They want something more. So many people set their hearts on something and when they achieve it or receive it, they feel as empty and disappointed with it as they did without.
The resurrection offers something different. It offers true hope. It offers a hope that doesn’t disappoint. It offers hope that is rooted in history. Jesus really lived. He was really crucified. He really rose from the dead! He was seen by hundreds of people. His life, death, and resurrection prove there really is something beyond the grave! There is something better than all the things this world offers to satisfy our deepest desires, In Jesus, there is hope rooted in history!
The four gospels record that the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were women. At that time, women were not allowed to testify in a court of law. Their testimony didn’t count. And yet, they were the first recorded witnesses to the greatest work of God ever! Why would the gospel writers record their witness first unless it was true and added weight to the historic event?
The resurrection offers hope because it is powerful. This power that raised Jesus from the dead is now available to all who believe. It is the power to transform a life; to take us from the kingdom of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of light. It is the power of love and forgiveness and a future that is secure. It is the power of hope!
The resurrection offers a hope that is personal. Scripture says God knows our name. He numbers the hairs on our head. He knows our going in and out. He knew us in our mother’s womb. He loves us! He loves you and he loves me. Jesus died for you and for me and his resurrection offers hope that will never disappoint. Revelation 2:17even says that he will give each believer a new name that only he and that person will know.
The resurrection offers a hope that is magnificent. One day every person will face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). At the cross, those who believe have already been declared forgiven and free! The empty tomb declares we are alive and will be forever! Toward the end of his life, D.L. Moody said, “Someday you will read in the papers that Dwight Moody of East Northfield, Massachusetts is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment, I will be more alive than I am now.”
You may remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed because of resistance to Hitler, Before his death, he wrote to his parents from the cell, “I’m about to experience the supreme festival on the road to freedom.”
It’s incredible to think, even back in the days of the prophet Isaiah – nearly eight hundred years before Jesus would be raised from the dead – God told his people he would swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. He told them that one day it would be said, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Our King has come! Despite whatever circumstances we find in our lives and world, he offers us a hope that is historic, personal, powerful, and magnificent! He offers us the hope that he will never leave us in this life and the one to come. He offers us the hope that he will complete the work he began in us.
Do you have such hope? That’s the hope of the resurrection! That’s the hope we have as believers in Christ! That’s the hope that changes everything!
Questions for Reflection
Over the past year, have you had moments when you’ve struggled with a sense of hopelessness? Why do you think you have (or haven’t)?
Take time to imagine being with the disciples in the upper room when the women came back from the tomb and reported it was empty. What would you think? How would you feel?
Imagine you were there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples very much alive? How would you respond? How does the resurrection bring hope to you today? Ask the Lord if there’s any way he’s inviting you to live differently in light of this magnificent hope!