Allelluia! He is Risen, Indeed!

John 20:1-9

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus ' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Food for thought

Today, we celebrate the greatest day in the history of humanity. Today we celebrate the great truth that Jesus Christ, who was crucified on a cross and died, arose from the dead just three days later! 

This one truth is what sets Christianity apart from every other systems of belief in the world! All other religious leaders have died. Buddha died! Mohammed died! Confucius died! Every founder of every religion that has ever existed has died. However, only One has died and risen from the dead! 

If we were to strip Christianity of the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, then our faith would be no more than just another religious system! If Jesus did not arise from the dead and is not alive today, then everything He did was in vain, His death was a waste of a life and all of His teachings are simply the ravings of a madman! If Jesus Christ is not alive, then you and I have no salvation. 

Mary came to the tomb a good while before daylight. When she arrives, she finds the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Immediately, she runs to find the disciples of Jesus and she tells them that the body of their Lord is missing from the tomb. When they heard this news, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see what had happened. When they arrived, they both saw that linen clothes lying there undisturbed and the napkin that had been around His face lying folded, in a place by itself. 

And talking about the grave clothes. 

I believe that Jesus left His grave clothes behind for a reason. He left them behind so that they could preach a message to all those who saw them early on that Sunday morning. 

The gospel says that the linen clothes were lying still in their folds. This means that they looked exactly like they were still around the body of Jesus. You see, the burial spices would have hardened the cloths around the body and would have formed a cocoon; the cloths still resembled the shape of the body of Jesus.

Another truth to note is that the scene is very orderly and undisturbed. Had the body been taken by grave robbers, the wrappings around the body would not have been removed, and if they had been removed, they would not have been left in such an orderly fashion. 

Then, there is the matter of the napkin, which had covered the head of Jesus. Had the body been removed by others, the napkin would merely have lain where it had fallen. Instead, it had been folded and laid in a place by itself. Everything speaks of calmness and order in the empty tomb of Jesus!

The only logical conclusion to the matter is that the tomb was a scene of order and calm because Jesus had merely passed through His grave clothes; he simply evaporated. He then must have folded His own napkin and laid it aside. He left behind a scene of peace and order so that all those who look in would believe. And they did. At least John did. The gospel says that he saw the clothes and believed.

The part that love plays in this story is extraordinary. It was Mary, who loved Jesus so much, who was first at the tomb. It was John, the disciple whom Jesus loved and who loved Jesus, who was first to believe in the Resurrection; when John saw the scene, he believed. Why? Because he was the disciple who loved Jesus most; he is the only disciple who followed Jesus until the end. All the others run away. Love gave him eyes to read the signs and a mind to understand.

Here we have the great law of love. Love is the great interpreter. Where there's love there's understanding; if you love someone, you will understand them; you can't understand someone you hate. If you don't understand someone, like your spouse, it is because you don't love him or her enough. You will never understand someone whom you don't love.

It is good news to know that love is true, and truth is immortal. We can suppress love / truth, accuse it of being a lie, condemn it, torture it, kill it, bury it in the grave but on the third day love / truth will rise again. 

Remember this and do not give up on Love / Truth even when everybody seems to give up on it. Do not give up on Love / Truth; do not give up on Justice. Do not give up on doing what is right. Do not go corrupt because everybody around you has gone corrupt. True will always be true. Just will always be just. Right will always be right even when the world around us would have it otherwise. 

We must learn to believe in the sun even when it is not shining, knowing that sooner or later it will shine again. It is the end of the story that counts. 

That is why we all rejoice today and are glad. Even those who are going through very difficult times: through betrayal, unjust discrimination, lies, misrepresentations; even those people whom the enemy seems to be winning the battle in their lives. 

Today Christ has won. And we know that in Christ we are not losers but winners. Yes, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).