By Guest Writer
I love Easter morning. I know this is an unremarkable statement, but it’s so deeply and viscerally true that, even now, I cannot help but feel the familiar tug of tears and smiles that always appear as I remember the resurrection of Christ in the company of my beloved church family every spring. On Easter morning, I feel nothing but joy—a picture of what awaits us in heaven. “It’s all true” is the refrain that echoes in my heart the whole day. “He is risen!” we say. “He is risen indeed!” someone inevitably responds. Joy bounces off the walls, praise on every person’s lips. Christ the Lord is risen, today.
As I read Mary’s story from Easter morning, I think she must have felt utter confusion. Picture it in your mind: these women, coming to keep watch, to sit a vigil, alone by the sacred ground of the tomb. They must have been weeping. And I’m sure, somewhere in that mix of fear and grief, Mary wondered if Jesus was really who He said He was and if the things He had promised were true.
When they arrived, they found the tomb was open and empty. Two men who brought a message from the Lord that the prophecy had been fulfilled and Jesus had risen from the dead! We cannot fathom what she must have felt at that moment. Some of the ways the Gospels describe her in these moments are frightened, alarmed, trembling, astonished, afraid, fearful, having great joy, and weeping.
One of the men spoke directly into all of Mary’s thoughts, fears, and questions. He said, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?….He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” (Luke 24:5–7).
It’s all true, Mary must have thought. Racing to the disciples to tell them the news: It’s all true. Peter sprinting to the tomb, finding it empty. It’s all true, he must have known in his bones. The old prophecies and promises, the words spoken from Jesus’s divine-and-human lips—all of it true. What a perfect ending to every story. We can join with the saints of the ages this morning singing the words of Psalm 149:1–2 “Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel celebrate its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.”
Written by Melanie Rainer
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