🌄 HE IS RISEN! 🌄

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.” Matthew 28:1‭-‬10 NLT

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not a fairy tale. It is not something we tell ourselves to feel better about the end of life. It is so powerful because it is true!

Read the testimony of Pastor Rick Warren from Lee Strobel’s devotional Case for Christ.

My friend and former colleague, the pastor of Saddleback Church and the author of The Purpose Driven Life, has taught about the truth and relevance of the Bible for decades. But in recent years he, together with his wife, Kay, discovered anew the power of Jesus’ resurrection. This happened when they went through the devastating loss of their twenty-seven-year-old son, Matthew, who took his own life after battling depression and mental illness for many years.

About a year after this unthinkable loss, Rick said, “I’ve often been asked, ‘How have you made it? How have you kept going in your pain?’ And I’ve often replied, ‘The answer is Easter.’

“You see, the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus happened over three days. Friday was the day of suffering and pain and agony. Saturday was the day of doubt and confusion and misery. But Easter — that Sunday — was the day of hope and joy and victory.

“And here’s the fact of life: you will face these three days over and over and over in your lifetime. And when you do, you’ll find yourself asking — as I did — three fundamental questions:

“Number one, ‘What do I do in my days of pain?’

“Two, How do I get through my days of doubt and confusion?’

“Three, how do I get to the days of joy and victory?’

“The answer is Easter. The answer…is Easter.”

Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg, The Case for Christ, Daily Monent of Truth, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 68-69.

Rick Warren, “The Answer is Easter: Find Hope This Easter with Pastor Rick Warren,” an excerpt of a promotional video sent out by Saddleback Church prior to their 2014 Easter services. Posted on YouTube by Saddleback Church, April 12, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHcfq1Hf1hE.