He is Risen

   The stone is rolled away; the tomb is empty; the burial shroud is discarded and left behind.  Jesus has risen from the dead!

   Easter Sunday has arrived.  We’ve made it through another Lent and have hopefully grown in our faith and strengthened our relationship with God. Though Lent is over, now is not the time to just get on with our lives.  There is so much more for us to do.

   Easter is a new beginning.  “The one who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:5).  Jesus made all things new through His life, death and resurrection.

   By His life He taught us how to live.  No longer were we to hate; not even our enemies.  No longer was adultery just a physical sin but also a sin of desire.  By His teachings we learned that sin is not just of the body, but of the heart.  God sees what is in the heart; appearances can be deceiving.  He taught that love overcomes all, including sin.  If we truly love God and one another we will avoid the harm sin causes to all.

   By His suffering and death He taught us that sin has a price.  A price that we are unable to pay. Only through the sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God could sins be forgiven.  There is no longer the need for the annual “scapegoat” to carry our sins into the desert as was done before.  Jesus has paid the price once for all.

   By His resurrection He taught hope.  The hope that we can share in His glorious resurrection.  The hope that we can spend eternity in the company of our God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

   We celebrate Easter in many ways.  We gather as families and friends to share a meal.  We put on our finest apparel and fanciest hats.  We dye eggs and celebrate the joy of our children as they search for them, hoping to find as many as possible.

   This Easter, as we do these things let’s remember why we do these things.  We gather to share the love given by our Lord with those we love in this world.  We wear our finest clothing to honor the glorious resurrected body of Christ.  We search for eggs of wisdom and love to better understand, love and serve God.

My Easter prayer for you is:

May God light your heart afire with the love of Jesus.

May Jesus live always in you.

May you share the love of Christ with all those you meet.

May we share the true meaning of Easter and look forward to our own resurrection

   and reunion with our Lord.

God bless you and Happy Easter!