Luke 24:1-12 (The Message)
1-3 At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.
4-8 They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.
9-11 They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.
12 But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that’s all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head.
Easter is hope.
What oxygen is for the lungs, hope is for the spirit.
Without it suffocation takes place; despair takes over; paralysis sets in. Without it, as Jean Paul Sartre put it, “man is a useless passion”.
Without hope there is no meaning to living.
Easter is hope! Hope born of an event and a promise which touch the very core of human yearning. The event is a resurrection; the promise is eternal life. Both so incredible they are difficult to believe yet so powerful that nothing can overcome them.
We are living in times which cry out for hope for those caught up in hopelessness and despair. And we see it appear in places of great pain and destruction as the people of Ukraine struggle to be free and most of the world struggles with them, doing what can be done to keep hope alive in the midst of that which sometimes must seem hopeless.
It doesn’t sound like much yet it is vital to their survival that hope not be extinguished and they know they are not alone. This must be at the heart of all we do to walk with them for it is the gift of Easter born of a Resurrection!
Yes, Easter is hope! The hope which adds to the love of living and will never disappoint. The resurrection says there are no closed doors, the future is open, anything is possible. For Jesus lives and we live in God’s eternal love!
Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me to live in hope with love,
born of your resurrection . And keep hope alive in the hearts of all who walk this day in despair and hopelessness. Especially the people of Ukraine who face the evil of the senseless destruction of their homes and communities.” Amen
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