Day 8
Easter Sunday
I hope that your church pulls out all the stops for a raucous celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without this historic event and the promise it gives us, “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). We should absolutely make Easter Sunday the biggest and best date on the calendar!
But what will you do with Easter once Easter Sunday is over? What will you do with Easter when a particular area of sin looks attractive to you, and you feel weak and unable? What will you do with Easter when someone has betrayed you and thoughts of vengeance enter your head? What will you do with Easter when you’re struggling in your marriage, and it seems impossible to love one another as God has designed? What will you do with Easter when you’re facing another situation with a rebellious child, and you feel as if there’s no patience left? What will you do with Easter when you lay in bed tonight, wondering how you’ll face tomorrow?
What will you do with Easter once Easter Sunday is over?
As much as I’m captivated and riveted by the reality of the Empty Tomb on Easter Sunday, I need to be honest with you: it’s a struggle for me to remember it once the celebration of Easter has died down. This is where 1 Corinthians 15:58 is so helpful for me:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
(1 Corinthians 15 is arguably the New Testament’s longest and most detailed treatise on the Resurrection. In the final verse, the Apostle Paul gives us marching orders for how to live because of Easter.)
There are three things the Empty Tomb does for us every day of the year:
1. The Empty Tomb comforts us.
Difficult and unpredictable realities of life in a fallen world are guaranteed, but we can “be steadfast and immovable” even when we don’t understand, because our Risen Savior rules over everything that would confuse us.
2. The Empty Tomb motivates us.
If Christ rose from death, reigns in power, and is coming back again, we should be the most motivated community on earth, “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Enough of mere survival - we should help others thrive right here, right now, because we believe in victory, redemption, and transformation.
3. The Empty Tomb assures us.
If the Resurrection guarantees eternity, then we believe that our suffering and ministry “is not in vain.” Life will get discouraging - at times, it won’t seem that there is an end in sight or progress is invisible. But a Second Coming is coming, and we will be rewarded for our faith.
Don’t wait until next Easter to celebrate these realities again. They are yours today in Christ!
Scripture Reading
John 20:1-29
(New King James Version)
The Empty Tomb
20 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the [a]handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
The Apostles Commissioned
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Seeing and Believing
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Sing to the Lord Jesus Christ, click here
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