Three Promises That Easter Brings That Change Everything for You
The first promise of resurrection is that God is in the moments we would never choose just as much as he is in the moments that we would choose. This is good news for us because the longer you are alive, the more you realize life is full of moments you would never otherwise have chosen as David Brenner writes. Part of what creates real anxiety for us is the uncertain future. What scares us is all the moments we wouldn't choose that life will inevitably hand us. Job security. Financial stress. Struggling children. Death and loss. Political unrest. Global unrest. Whatever we might be facing, we are assured with the promise that God will be there with us. Resurrection is the good news that we do not have to change our circumstances in order to meet God.
Consider Mary, encountering the empty tomb on Easter morning in John 20. Her heartbreak over Jesus' unjust death mirrors our own experiences of shattered dreams and unexpected paths. Despite her initial despair, the resurrection brings a renewed closeness with Jesus, transcending her expectations. Likewise, we're freed from the exhausting pursuit of controlling our lives, knowing that God's presence – our ultimate need – remains steadfast. Paul tells us in Acts 17:27, "God is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist." There is one thing that is certain in the midst of uncertainty and that is the continual embrace of God Himself.
The second promise of resurrection is that God is eagerly awaiting our awareness of His Divine presence. When God seems distant it is not because we have run him off, or that He doesn't care, it is because we are still learning to develop an awareness of His presence. Resurrection means that distance is never a sign of divine disapproval. Some of us have adopted a bad theology that says God will come to us if we come to Him, but this is misplaced. When we draw near to God, we actually discover that He has, in fact, already drawn near to us. John tells us that we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19) and Paul tells us that while we were still his enemies Christ died for us (Romans 5:10). Most of us have grown accustomed to the idea that we must do the right things for God to come near to us, but in fact, Mary had no idea what Jesus had just done that first Easter. At first, she thinks He's the gardener, then she calls him "Teacher", which is a huge understatement (He was her teacher, but He is also Lord and Creator and Sustainer of all things. She seems less aware of these things when she addresses Jesus simply as "teacher"). She didn't need to get it right the first time, or even the second time - Jesus' purpose for her will not be changed. It's not about getting everything right but about growing in awareness and listening to the One who loves us.
Lastly, resurrection brings the promise that we can learn to trust God again through our embrace of one another. Jesus tells her to go and tell the other disciples that He goes to "my Father and your Father". The Lord's prayer begins with the plural address to God of "our Father who is in Heaven". Louis Evely, a popular priest in Europe says, "In order to be sons and daughters of God we must be brothers and sisters to God's other children." And here lies the true purpose of the church, which Jesus has just laid the groundwork for here in John 20 with Mary. Church is more than coming to learn a few interesting theological facts about God - church is where we help each other trust in God again through our love for one another. The Divine whispers to us through the warmth of Christian friendship. God is a friend who speaks to us through our friends. Admittedly, for many of us, the idea of trusting God's people is challenging because they may have hurt us in the past. But we are also given the promise that we will learn to trust God through the love of His other children. It is a profound promise that we will never truly be alone.
______________________________
John 20:1-2; 11-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.