I lay awake after the house was quiet and looked back at the weeks leading up to Easter. In this year of 2020, the holiday had been different that was for sure. With the world basically shut down due to the Corona virus and people unable to attend church for the first time in over 2000 years, our lives also have become different…Then I thought about Jesus and the change He experienced after three days in the tomb.
The last thing He felt was tremendous pain from being beaten, forced to carry a huge wooden cross, nails being hammered through his hands and feet, his side pierced with a sword…and most of all the weight of shame and guilt caused by sin…which He never committed…sins we individually should have suffered ourselves. These thoughts squeezed at my heart and tears filled my eyes. Greater love has no man than this…
I imagined Him opening His eyes and seeing the tomb aglow with a light from heaven… as it revealed the angels there to serve Him. His grave cloths lay neatly folded in the corner…and the pain was gone. When He moved His head, no thorns pricked His brow. “Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?” The glory of God surely shown all around Him and the peace He felt surely was beyond our understanding. As He no doubt looked at his hands and feet, felt of his side… and only the scars remained…maybe He whispered again, “It is finished.”
Then, He thought of His followers, the disciples who had stood by Him through it all. How much of what had happened did they fully understand? He must show Himself to them, so they would know and the rest of the scriptures be fulfilled. As He stood up, the angels moved the stone and He stepped once again into the world of the living…His appearance was different, but His passion and goals still the same…to reveal the power and love of God, the Father, to now bring repentance and salvation to an unbelieving world.
Perhaps the first thing He saw outside the tomb were the soldiers who’d been assigned to guard Him. They had trembled when the Angel appeared and removed the stone. The fear they felt froze them like dead men, as it is recorded in the final verses of Matthew. As Jesus walked away from the tomb, the men became conscience and agreed among themselves to go into the city and tell the elders what had happened. As they left, Mary Magdelene and another woman named Mary appeared.
The women gasped when they saw the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and an angel sitting on top of it. “Fear not,” the angel said to them, “for I know you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. He goes before you into Galilee and you will see him there.”
Overjoyed by the news, the women ran quickly to tell the disciples. They had not gone far when Jesus appeared before them saying, “All hail.” The women threw themselves at His feet and worshiped Him. “Don’t be afraid,” He told them. “Go and tell my brethren to go into Galilee and they’ll see me there.” The women ran quickly to tell the disciples, but were met with doubts and unbelief. Jesus made Himself visible to them several more times before they all believed and agreed to carry out His commission to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Many of us were hoping that with the passing of Easter some great miracle would occur, this virus that plagues us would suddenly disappear and our lives return to normal. Though this seemed to have happened to us rather quickly, we are learning that it was around for a while before we were all informed. The President was on top of it and procedures for our safety put in place as quickly as possible, I believe… without causing unnecessary fear and possibly a world-wide panic. We know how people are.
Also, knowing how people are, we should not be surprised if when we are once again allowed to interact with each other more closely, the joy and changes will be fleeting for some as things do get ‘back to normal.’ But let’s not be dismayed. Many have changed their habits, found better ways to communicate and found new peace from this forced slow-down. Let’s pray that when the churches reopen it will be with a new energy and an increased desire to fulfill the goal Jesus set before us. Let us all remember the greatest love of all time and the last commandment He gave us in John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
There will be miracles to come, I have no doubt of that, and that this situation will soon pass. Let’s remember to watch for them…the miracles…and be prepared for His return as wise and faithful servants. “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Romans 12:1