Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Our verse for today comes from Matthew 28:6, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
The cover of our church bulletin for this Easter Sunday will have today’s verse on it. Actually, it will have half of the verse on it, specifically the first half where the angel declares to the ladies at the tomb that Jesus has come back to life as He said He would. In stark contrast to the claims of the scribes and Pharisees a few verses earlier that this deceiver claimed He would rise after three days, this “last deception” has actually come to pass, just as it was magnificently planned before there was time and space. And as good as you and I feel when our own plans come together and things go as we hoped, the celebration for this nonpareil event orchestrated in eternity past between Father and Son is infinitely more deserving. That’s part of the reason our churches will be more full this Sunday. The folk who are not so inclined to celebrate the risen Lord on many of the other fifty-one Lord’s days are at least in the habit of coming to church on the “biggest” day of the year. But why will they not come back? What is lacking that keeps longtime church members from attending consistently or entitles some to come to certain things at church but skip out on others?
There is no simple answer that conveniently addresses every situation, except to say that something somewhere is not as it should be between that person and Jesus Christ the risen Lord. Maybe if they could walk into that tomb and experience the second half of today’s verse, the part that shows a stone grave without a dead body, then maybe they would grasp the work He did on their behalf. Or maybe if someone posed a difficult question to them, asking if it was worth not submitting to the truth they know to be real just so they can live however they want, but to have to face the wrath of a just God at the day of judgment. It’s impossible to know when, how, or if God will grab hold of a heart that hangs around the circle of His kingdom without really and truly coming in. It could be this Easter, or it could be some random, ordinary weeknight. “As He said” goes for a lot of things, so make sure you and those around you have peace in what He said.
As we seek Him today, ask Jesus to be the risen Lord in your heart of hearts and set aside the pride or indifference that keeps Him at a distance.
Have a glorious weekend and Easter, and I will be with you next Tuesday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
