Easter

Sunrise Service at Clevedon Bandstand, 23 Apr 2008

Life and death, death follows life, this is the one certainty for us, this and paying taxes. You may be crossing a road and bam; you’re hit by a car. Or you get some incurable disease, the dreaded C and you’re numbers up. All our memories, all our hopes and everything that we’ve worked for, they’re all gone. I mean we all know that when you’re dead you’re dead, right?

Is this not what the apostle John and Peter thought on Friday? Jesus, that great, great man of God, Holy, loving, a brilliant teacher and prophet, and their closest friend was brutally put to death with such finality that could there be any hope? When you’re dead you’re dead, right?

But then that “crazy” woman Mary came and said the tomb was empty! Right, like that’s going to be true. But even so, Peter and John thought we better check this out. As they were running to the tomb, all kind of thoughts were going through their minds; fear, guilt and sorrow. Could it be possible that someone could rise from the dead? No that just crazy talk, isn’t it? John gets there first, but its Peter who goes in to see the empty tomb, you can almost taste the shock, where’s the body? Where’s the body of our friend? Who’s taken it? What cruel twist of fate is this? They couldn’t even leave his body alone to rest in peace. Then John steps into the tomb. He see the same evidence but believes, he believes that Jesus has actual risen from the dead, without seeing the risen Lord he believes. He remembers that Jesus said he would do this, He lets go of all doubt and worry and sorrow, he trusts God and believes. For some believing in the resurrection from the dead is harder that for others. I mean when you’re dead you’re dead, right? No, wrong.

Let me tell to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. Then our dying bodies will be transformed into bodies that will never die, We will say “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”, Christ was raised as the first; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. Hallelujah, Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.