But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
Luke 24:1-5
Once there was a man who wanted to get rid of a bamboo plant in his driveway. He cut the plant down, took an axe and chopped the roots, poured herbicide on the area and buried what remained with several feet of gravel. He finally covered it over with cement and laid it to rest for the long cold winter. Nevertheless, in the springtime, the cement began to crack as the bamboo plant broke through the pavement in a surge of life and growth.
Easter teaches us the great lesson that life triumphs over death, and through Jesus, death has lost its power.
Phillips Brooks once wrote,
“Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say,
Christ will rise on Easter Day.”
What we celebrate on Easter Sunday, and in fact every Sunday, is that God created us, cares for us, and that God cares so much, that God became involved with the world and sent to us a Savior. And through Jesus, God offers to each one of us a life full of wholeness, full of goodness, and full of mercy. Remember our hope in Easter, that God can bring good out of evil, love out of hate, and hope out of despair.
Praise be to God our Father who raises the dead to life,
praise be to Jesus the Son who shares his life with the faithful,
and praise be to the Spirit who makes us one with him.
I pray that God will draw us closer throughout these last days of Lent, and renew us in our faith, hope, and love during Holy Week and Easter. The Lord is risen, indeed!
Peace to you at Easter, and always,
The Rev. John G. Rights
