Easter Sunday

It was a quiet morning. It was still dark outside but she rose from her bed. She hadn't slept anyways. The pain was still too fresh. Her heart was broken. Her body felt heavy with grief as she dressed. Every motion seemed to require ten times as much energy as normal. She wanted nothing more then for someone to tell her that this had all been a bad dream, that none of it was real. That wasn't going to happen. She knew all to well that everything she had witnessed was real. Jesus was dead. He had been crucified. They had buried his body. Now, the first day of the week, she would go to visit his tomb.

The story continues as we all know. The women walk down to the tomb and they find the stone rolled away. In John 20 it says that when Mary Magdalene found the empty tomb she went running to the disciples to tell them that Jesus' body had been stolen and she didn't know where it was. When Peter and John come running to the tomb Peter goes inside and he finds the burial clothes that Jesus had been wearing. 

Then in John 20: 11-18 it says that Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping and when she bent over to look inside she sees two angels sitting where Jesus's body had been. They ask her why she's been crying and she tells them what she told the disciples. That Jesus's body has been stolen and she doesn't know where it is. Then she turns and sees a man, she didn't recognize him so she asked if he had taken her Lord's body away. She begged him to tell her where it was. Even now she still loved her Lord and she wanted to visit his grave.

Then Jesus said her name, "Mary" and that was all it took. And suddenly she knew exactly who He was. And He gave her a very important task of going to tell His brothers of His resurrection. 

Although the first paragraph of this post is fiction based on my own imagining of what she must have been feeling that first Easter Sunday the rest is pulled straight from the Bible. 

No matter what you're doing this Easter Sunday I would highly encourage you to go back and reread the story of why we celebrate this day. You could start in John 12:12 with the triumphal entry. Or John 13 with the Last Supper. Skip forward to John 18 when Jesus is betrayed and arrested in the garden. If you're in John 18 the trial really begins in verse 15.

Wherever you start, I hope you reread the story. Remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Remember why He made it. Teach it to your children. Remind your loved ones as you gather together to celebrate. Talk about it with those around you. 

Without Easter we have no reason for hope or faith. This isn't just another holiday we celebrate. It's our reason for faith. The foundation we have built our lives on as we live for the Lord.

Happy Easter my friends. He is risen!