"He is risen!"

"He is risen, indeed!" That's the message of Easter. Christ died and was buried and rose again on the third day. He is our redeemer. On Good Friday, Jesus was the Lamb of God. On Easter, he arose as the King.

Easter church services are always crowded and our church has a Saturday evening service so we went to that last night. As part of the sermon, our pastor repeated the oft-told story of Jesus' resurrection and the part I am always surprised and delighted with is the writers of the Gospel admitting that none of Jesus' disciples and followers really understood or believed that he would rise again on the third day. They thought that their cause had died with Jesus on Golgotha. The men all scattered and were afraid. The women, who didn't run away but went to the tomb, didn't believe either because they went to the tomb to put burial spices on a dead body. They were all shocked and elated to see Jesus alive. The fact that they were willing to admit this just speaks to the truth of their message in the Gospel. If you were making up a story to set yourself up as the leader of a new movement, wouldn't you try to make yourself seem to be all-knowing and understanding the message of your movement? The disciples were just telling what happened. The message of Jesus' death and resurrection was the message. Not their own abilities or lack of them. They were the first to acknowledge that their power came not from themselves but from God, his Son and his Holy Spirit. This lovely picture is from this site.

I wish for you all the truth and light that comes from understanding these things.