He IS Risen!

Happy Resurrection Day!! I absolutely love this day and everything it stands for. While Christmas is my favorite holiday, Easter has much more significance in the weight of what we’re actually celebrating. The birth of Jesus was long awaited and exciting, but his death and, even more so, his resurrection change our lives in ways that his birth alone do not. It is because of his death and resurrection that we now have the opportunity for eternal life with the Father in heaven. It is the reason our sins are forgiven. It is the reason we can walk in freedom and not under the old covenant of continual sacrifices. 

This morning, my teammates and I woke up at 5:30 for a sunrise service with our host. A couple of the guys here led us in worship and then Juan shared what was on his heart in regards to Resurrección Domingo. Between what he shared and some things that stood out to me when I was going through the resurrection story in all 4 gospels, there have been 3 specific things that I’ve been pondering this Easter Sunday: 

1. Where are you looking for Jesus 

Luke 24:5-7 “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He has risen! Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee: The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”

Despite the fact that they were told by Jesus multiple times that he would be resurrected on the third day, the women still went to the tomb on that third day expecting to find him dead. They should not have been surprised and yet in the book of John we see Mary Magdalene mourning over the fact that she didn’t find Jesus in the tomb. 

This is what our host talked about this morning as the sun slowly came up. While the direction he went with it wasn’t what I’ve been pondering today, it was still him talking about this verse that brought me to the question that is now in my mind: how often do I miss where Jesus really is because he where I expect. Or, hope often do I miss what he’s doing because he isn’t doing what I expect? 

Sadly, I think for a lot of us, this happens more often than we’d like to admit. From what we perceive as unanswered prayers, to what we perceive as God’s silent… maybe we’re just missing him because of our misunderstandings or human limitations. 

2. Women 

Matthew 28:5-6 “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” 

How cool is it that women are the first people to discover that Jesus is risen. What’s extra cool about this is that it really wasn’t his best move to reveal himself first to women. In that culture, the women weren’t considered valid witnesses. Their testimony would not have been listened to. 

This just adds to the fact that you can’t deny that it’s true that he rose from the dead. If this was some fake story that the gospel authors were trying to convince everyone is true, they would have changed the story and written men as the witnesses since men would have been believed more easily. 

God doesn’t go for what’s easy. He’s gonna do the things that are undeniable and unexplainable. He’s a God who loves to “Wow” his creation. I’m wowed by the fact that women got to discover his resurrected body. I’m wowed by the fact that God loved us enough to sacrifice his only Son so that we can know him. I’m wowed that he even created this world for us to enjoy in the first place. 

3. Obedience 

Luke 23:55-56 “The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” 

Have you ever noticed that the women didn’t go to the tomb right away like they wanted to? In this passage we’re told that right after they went home after seeing Jesus laid in the tomb they prepared the spices. Then they waited. 

That would be so freaking hard for me. I don’t know about you.. but I’m really not good at waiting. I can get really impatient. I love Disneyland. Hate the rides. I don’t often enjoy cooking dinner because I’m usually hungry by the time I think about what I want and then I don’t want to wait for it to be ready. Waiting while mourning is probably even harder. 

I don’t know much about the mourning practices of biblical times, but I would imagine that the spices the women prepared to take to Jesus’ tomb had to do with mourning. Yet they still waited in their obedience. The blessing in that was immense joy. If they hadn’t waited, they would have gone to the tomb and mourned Jesus’ death and they would’ve missed out on being the first ones to discover is resurrection. 

This story teaches me that there are blessings in obedience and in trusting God’s timing. It’s way better than going my own way and creating my own timing. 

What’s been on your heart this Easter? Has God revealed himself to you in new ways? 

Blessings, 

Kaci