And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:1-6)
Sunday! The tomb is empty! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Love is greater than hatred, mercy is greater than sin, life is more powerful than death, good is greater than evil, sin and death have been conquered! He’s alive! There are no lost causes, there are no helpless cases, there is nothing beyond the reach of God’s love, there is nothing beyond the scope of Christ’s redemption. Jesus lives, and so, too, shall we live! The universe stands witness to the fact that God is indeed God, the one who is both All-Powerful and All-Merciful, the Creator of Sustainer of the Universe, the One who is too righteous to ignore our sins but too loving to leave us in our sins. It demonstrates that God is righteous, and that He is loving, and that the universe is moving in the right direction because God is at the helm and the Lamb has overcome. If God is God then He can never be defeated, and the resurrection declares that God has accomplished what He set out to accomplish. The universe makes sense again. Defeat has been defeated. We now have a reason to be joyful! Resurrection Sunday is a declarative celebration that is worthy of the celebration we would have if war and violence and injustice and poverty and discrimination and cancer and AIDS and all other diseases were abolished on the same day, times infinity, because it marks the defeat of all the enemies of God and of humankind, forever. It marks the defeat of humankind’s two greatest enemies, sin and death, out of which all the other of humanity’s problems flow. It marks the breaking of the curse of sin and death. The head of the serpent has been crushed by the wounded heel of the woman’s seed. God had created an unspeakably beautiful and glorious universe, humankind had rebelled, sin and death had reigned for a season, but in the resurrection of Jesus God has the last word. God will accomplish his purposes. Sin and death and their consequences have been abolished. God is at work restoring his children, his earth and his universe to their original wholeness and beauty, and all obstacles have been forever defeated by the One who died and arose from the dead. God can never be defeated, and his purposes are good. Herein lies our hope and our joy: He is risen! Sunday! Glorious Sunday! Death conquered, sin defeated, hope restored, curse broken! The power of sin and death has been broken, and hopelessness can never again be an option. The hands that were pierced are now raised, though still pierced, in the joyful “Yes!” of the victor. He’s alive! God is real, God is alive, God is victorious, and God can never be defeated! The universe is singing its song of celebration, though not every heart is tuned to hear the song. God hears the joyful sound, and His heart is made glad. I want to join in the song; I want to share in His gladness! Humanity, open your eyes, your redemption is here! Look, see, believe, rejoice!
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