March 29, 2018

Easter Reflections

A compilation

Audio length: 11:25
Download Audio (10.4MB)

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him! … Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!—1 Peter 1:3–4 MSG

A spot along the way home

A little girl who had to walk through a cemetery on her way home from school was asked if she was afraid. “No,” she replied. “I simply cross it to get home.”

That is what the Resurrection has done with death. It has turned it into a harmless pathway on our journey home.

That doesn’t mean that God won’t let you or your loved ones die. The message of Easter is not that faith is easy, but that above the greatest storms of your soul, there is hope.

The Resurrection struck a new note of hope in the lives of Jesus’ disciples. And likewise it strikes a note of new hope in the lives of those in sick rooms, in hospitals, in cemeteries burying their loved ones—those who suffer.

We will at times be in pain or grieve, but thank God, we are not left hopeless and helpless. That is because of an event that took place in one awesome moment in history some two thousand years ago, in a small cemetery outside the walls of Jerusalem.

It was early on a Sunday morning. Some women had walked together to visit the grave of their beloved friend and heard the angel say, “He is not here; He has risen.”—Vince Gerhardy (Australian pastor)

Approaching eternity

Plenty of great teachers, mystics, martyrs, and saints have spoken words full of grace and truth. In the case of Jesus alone, however, the belief has persisted that when He came into the world, God deigned to take on the likeness of a man in order that men might reach out.

For myself, as I approach my end, I find Jesus’ outrageous claim ever more captivating and meaningful. Quite often, waking up in the night as the old do, I feel myself to be half out of my body, hovering between life and death, with eternity rising in the distance.

I see my ancient carcass, prone between the sheets, stained and worn like a scrap of paper dropped in the gutter and, hovering over it, myself, like a butterfly released from its chrysalis stage and ready to fly away. Are caterpillars told of their impending resurrection?—How in dying they will be transformed from poor earth-crawlers into creatures of the air, with exquisitely painted wings? If told, do they believe it? I imagine the wise old caterpillars shaking their heads—no, it can’t be; it’s a fantasy.

Yet in the limbo between living and dying, as the night clocks tick remorselessly on and the black sky implacably shows not one single streak or scratch of gray, I hear those words: I [Jesus] am the resurrection and the life, and feel myself to be carried along on a great tide of joy and peace.—Malcolm Muggeridge (British journalist who became a Christian late in life, 1903–1990)

Resurrection motivation

Let Jesus’ example encourage you. The many trials and setbacks Jesus experienced, as well as that great final and monumental one, were worth it all for the joy that He would bring to the world.¹

He kept the heavenly vision and the connection with His Father that helped Him to press on toward the goal, even though He faced great spiritual struggles and torment. He endured the persecution of His tormentors, physically and spiritually. He identified with the agony of every lost soul, the anguish of utter hopelessness. He went through the terrible, the horrendous, so He could understand what humankind goes through—not from an observer’s viewpoint, but as one who had experienced it in every way. He willingly faced the horrors of fear and even death in order to overcome, defeat, and destroy them.

Nothing that we experience in emotional and spiritual suffering is greater or more painful than what He has already faced for us. Jesus really does understand what we are passing through.

Because He was raised to life, we now live! Because we live in Him, many others live, having been delivered from the bondage of death. We see the miracle of resurrection life on every hand as we fulfill the mission He gave us: “As My Father has sent Me, so send I you.”² By His Spirit, we can have the anointing of His resurrection love and motivation to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, marching bravely through the struggles of this life all the way into heaven’s glory. Jesus called us to suffer for Him, having set the example for us, but He also said, “If you will suffer with Me, you will also reign with Me.”³

He delivered us from death and sin so that we could serve in newness of life,⁴ and so that we can say with the apostle Paul: “The love of Christ constrains me.”⁵ As we consider the miracle of Easter, let it motivate us to embrace the adventure of following Him and living for His glory!—Maria Fontaine

The promise of Easter

“Because I live, you shall live also.”⁶

We need these seven words above to help us to endure
The changing world around us that’s dark and insecure;
To help us view the present as a passing episode,
A troubled, brief encounter on life’s short and troubled road.
For the fact that life’s eternal because our Savior died
And arose again at Easter after He was crucified
Makes this uncertain present, in a world of sin and strife,
Nothing but a steppingstone to a new and better life!
—Helen Steiner Rice

Overcoming crises

Are you worried about your future and that of your loved ones? Does it feel like your world recently came crashing down around you? Do you feel helpless, depressed, isolated, or lonely?

If so, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, these are challenges that people all over the world are confronted with. And the gospels tell us that Jesus’ disciples faced similar uncertainty and apprehension after his execution.

In their case, the solution was realizing that the Master was still around and that they could continue depending on Him, just as they had done until then. It took a while for them to understand it, but seeing the risen Christ put everything else into perspective and confirmed that He was powerful enough to provide all the help they could need.

The same is true for us today. Jesus didn’t promise that everything in our lives would go smoothly or that we wouldn’t face problems and opposition. But He did promise that He would never leave us,⁷ and that He will always love us.⁸ Our path may not be easy,⁹ but we are not traveling it alone.

If we don’t let the trials and tough times overcome us, but instead use them to strengthen our connection with the one who can give us hope, joy, and peace,¹⁰ we will come through our personal difficulties and crises stronger than ever, just as Jesus’ disciples did.—Samuel Keating

Now the iron bars are broken,
Christ from death to life is born,
Glorious life, and life immortal
On this holy Easter morn:
Christ has triumphed, and we conquer
By His mighty enterprise,
We with Him to life eternal
By His resurrection rise.
—Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885)

Published on Anchor March 2018. Read by Jerry Paladino.
Music by Michael Dooley.

¹ Hebrews 12:2.

² John 20:21.

³ Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:12.

⁴ Romans 7:6.

⁵ 2 Corinthians 5:14–21.

⁶ John 14:19.

⁷ See Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5.

⁸ See John 14:21.

⁹ See John 16:33.

¹⁰ See Romans 15:13.

Posted in: audio, compilation, death and afterlife, easter

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