Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 Search Archive Print This Article He is risen Sunday, April 24, 2011 Matthew 28:2-10 There was a violent earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see." The women hurried away from the tomb ... suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers." In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter pulled out his knife and cut off a soldier's ear. Jesus stopped him and healed the ruined flesh. "If you live by the sword, then you die by the sword," he said. Jesus died by the sword anyway. This weekend I watched The Passion of the Christ. The "sword" or rather the whip, ripped Jesus' body into strips and pieces before he even touched the cross. It was impossible to watch, even on a video screen. But things like that happen every day. Easter dawns on battlefields. Little children scream for their lost mothers and fathers. Mothers and fathers weep without consolation for their lost children. Men torture other men without hesitation when they need something from them. Life seems to be worth very little in the midst of scenes like these. But Jesus comes back to the scene of the crime. "Father, forgive them for they know NOT what they do!" An earthquake shook the temple and tore down the curtain hiding the Holy of Holies. Jesus in every way really did "make all things new." Go and tell my brothers," he says. And do not be afraid. Ever again. There is no fear in love. "I have died to pave the way for you too to die," Jesus seems to say. Because as it was for me, your death is not the end of anything, but only the beginning of eternity. Come and be with me forever. Sometimes a body dies in the midst of this Crime Scene called Earth, sometimes it doesn't. But Jesus makes it clear today, on this day unlike any other, that life wins. Love wins. Jesus is the champion. For the sake of your sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, O Lord. You have risen, you are right here, you have risen indeed. No fear. "; Add      Edit    Delete