Easter Brings Hope! 

April 17, 2022 

The Easter story has a happy ending, but it starts in darkness. Mary Magdalene is determined to get to the tomb to show her devotion to Jesus. She leaves home Easter morning while it’s still dark. Jesus died and she can’t change that, but she can go visit his tomb. She waits to come until Sunday, when the sabbath has ended. Now in the dark she arrives at the tomb. When she gets there the tomb has been disturbed. The stone is rolled away! 

That little consolation Mary had, that she could at least visit the tomb, that is taken away from her. She thinks that someone has robbed the tomb and taken Jesus’ body! Where is he? 

She’s running low on hope! Have you ever been there? The worst scenario you can imagine happens to you. Then, it gets even worse! 

Mary runs to the disciples and tell them Jesus body was taken. Two disciples run and look in the tomb. They don’t understand exactly what is going on, but one disciple believes God has done something! Then, the two leave.  

We say someone is in the dark when they don’t know what’s going on. Mary is in the dark. Perhaps it’s getting lighter, it’s sunrise. But she is still in the dark. She is upset and alone and no one has told her what happened to Jesus’ body. So, she cries. 

She bends over to look into the tomb. Two angels are sitting there. They ask her, “Woman, why are you crying?”   

It seems to Mary that she has a very good reason for crying! Jesus was crucified, and now someone stole his body! But still they ask, “Woman, why are you crying?” They are asking her, Don’t you know, God has done something amazing? Don’t you know there is reason for hope? 

Mary explains again her very good reason for crying. She says, They took my Lord away! Of course, I am feeling so alone and devastated! Then she sees Jesus. But she doesn’t know it’s Jesus, and she tells him why she is crying. Mary believes her only hope is herself. She has to fix this problem. SHE has to do it: find Jesus’ body. Hope will come only from herself. 

Finally, Jesus says, “Mary.” And then she recognizes him! She says “Teacher!” Jesus tells her, “Don’t hold onto me.” But go tell the disciples, I’m ascending to God my Father, who is your God and Father. 

Because of Easter, Mary has hope. We can live in hope, too! Because death has lost its power. It’s not the end. Mary couldn’t give Jesus a hug. But she knew God had defeated death, and Jesus would be with God. Jesus wouldn’t be on earth in the same way. Still, he was not gone. No matter how dark the day is, because of Easter we can live in hope. 

A few years ago my Dad went into a hospice center in Dayton, Ohio because we were told, there was nothing that could be done to extend his life. He only had maybe a week left to live. He still had a sense of humor: when the hospice nurse asked if he’d like to take out his dentures, he said, “No, they’re cemented in.” (Because he still had his real teeth.) The next day, I said to him, “Dad, I’m going to leave now, I’m going back to Pennsylvania.” My three brothers would be with Dad. He knew he wouldn’t see me again. And I remember his blue eyes, they were moving around, he was thinking about what to say. (Don’t worry, he was not a sentimental person.) He said, cheerfully, “Good children, God bless!” What did that mean? 

Good children: I think he meant thanks for all your help in these last years. Good children. 

God bless. My Dad wouldn’t be around on earth. But he would go to be with my God and his God. He would be ok. And we would be ok. God would take care of us. God would bless us. No matter how dark the day is, because of Easter, we can live in hope! 

So many Christians, have an attitude of hope like my Dad had when they die. They aren’t worried about themselves. They are ascending! They are going to be with your God and my God, your Father and my Father. 

My homework for you this week is to think about how do you try to manufacture hope? Where in your life do you think hope is all up to you and what you do? Give that job to God! Hope comes from Him, not from what you or I do. Hope comes from God, what He has done and what He will do. 

No matter how dark the day is, because of Easter, we can live in hope! We are saved through Jesus taking our sins upon him on the cross. Jesus has overcome the world! So even in the darkest times, we can put our hope in God. God will bless us, give us strength, and get us to a better day. Amen.