Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home. (John 20:1-10)
I pray God would “break your frame” this Easter! Christ is risen from the dead, conquered the grave, and busted into our lives with an immeasurable grace this world had never fully known until this moment. And in that moment of grace, as the grave was found empty, all of creation joined in a heavenly chorus of alleluias to the risen Savior of the world! Can you imagine the sound the angels sang?
Know this: “Because Christ rose from the dead means that we can live a wider story, a story of redemption, a story of victory!” Through the cross and tomb God weaves us into the bigger creation story that takes us as we are, just as we are, and makes us one of His own dearly loved children. Our story, our true life, is woven into Christ’s redemption story through blood, some nails, a cross, and an empty tomb. As the tomb cracked open that first Easter morning, our frame is broken once and for all to reveal the new person God has been at work to create since the beginning of time. New life begins with resurrection!
You are forgiven! You are loved! You are free! Amen! Amen! Amen!
Praising the “Frame-Breaker” this Easter morn!
N