Happy Easter everyone! I wanted to take some time and reflect on what Easter can mean for Christians now, in 2023. Yes, I could mention the arguments made in defense that the Resurrection was a real historical event, but something in Matthew’s account caught my eye that I hadn’t considered before.
He is Not Here
When explaining what happened to Mary Magdalene, the angel uses these words in Matthew 24:6, “He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” On the surface, this verse just seems to verify the fact that Jesus was dead in his tomb, but has been raised to new life; but let’s stay with the image of the tomb for a moment. The angel said that Jesus isn’t here. Where exactly is here? The tomb, a place of death. The place where Jesus conquered sin, death, and the power of the devil. The tomb wasn’t just a place of rest for Jesus’s body. It is a reminder that Jesus’s former life prior to his suffering has been left behind.
Rising from Our Own Tombs
I believe the message of the angel is meant for us today too. Over this past Lent, the Lord has helped me come to grips with some of my own sin, especially those scenarios when I am extremely likely to give in to temptation. Yet by the power of grace, I know Jesus is calling me forward out of the tomb of my past sins. That’s what I want to encourage all to do in this moment, to run from our tombs. Leave behind the burial cloths of your former way of living and enter God’s goodness fresh and clean. For those like me who are Catholic, we have the grace of the sacrament of Confession, where the priest through the ministry of the Church established by Christ can free us from sin by the grace of Jesus. If you or someone you know isn’t Catholic, I still encourage you today to recommit yourself to a life of holiness. You will find nothing better. Yes, we all might go back to those same sins, binding ourselves and “dying” again, just like Lazarus, and all the others Jesus raised from the dead while he was here on Earth, but the point still remains God has given us what we need to be holy, so just walk with him.
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