Easter Sunday, April 4 Holy Week Day Ten

God is Walking with us Again

Scripture Reading: John 20:1-18

G. K. Chesterton, speaking of the experience of Christ’s disciples on the first Easter morning, penned these words:

What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.

Those who first encountered the Risen Christ unquestionably marveled at the great miracle, but knew very little of the benefits or implications of Christ’s victory over death. It is for us, however, to know and experience the great outworking of the empty tomb and to walk in the light of that revelation.

The fact of Christ’s resurrection provides me with present hope, enduring strength for the journey of faith, and heightened anticipation for my future reward. In the present, Christ’s resurrection ensures me that nothing is beyond the hope of repair or restoration. My failures, shortcomings, sins, and rebellion may have resulted in what seems like irreparable damage, but the empty tomb says there is still hope. God still forgives, restores, and makes possible the impossible.

The certainty of Christ’s resurrection brings strength to me in the weary moments of life’s journey. At times I feel that the burden and cares of life are too heavy to bear and find it hard to see beyond the seemingly futile and repetitive cycles that entrap me with a sense of both my mortality and apparent insignificance. But, in those times, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and now dwells within me, points me toward the Risen Christ who bids me come to Him for rest, feast on Him for sustenance, and wait on Him as He strengthens and perfects my faith. Before Him I find assurance that my sins have been atoned for, that my struggles are no match for His power, and that my sufferings are working a glorious transformation of my weakness into the likeness of His exceeding great power.

His Resurrection also piques my anticipation as I imagine fellowship with loved ones, no pain or suffering, no dark glass clouding my view of Christ’s splendid beauty and majesty, and no inhibition when I fall prostrate before Him. The resurrection of Christ not only ensures these experiences, but invites me to anticipate.

Prayer: Father, let me with eyes of faith, gaze upon the Risen Christ and His empty tomb, and in doing so find certainty in my standing, strength in my journey, and assurance in my future.