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| Photo source: FrancisCorps |
My kids and I enjoy creating resurrection gardens around Easter time every year with our friends and neighbors. They remind us of the three crosses of Good Friday and the empty tomb the disciples found on Easter Sunday. If the grass sprouts, which may or may not happen in our climate (that is where green moss can come to the rescue!), it also makes for a lovely Easter-themed centerpiece for our dinner table.
As I have been eating meals around our resurrection garden these past few weeks, I have reflected upon the meaning of the empty tomb and the power of God's resurrection in my own life. I have discovered that there are several straight-forward, yet transformational truths, that shine forth from this compelling symbol. Here are just a few, of many, I am sure.
The empty tomb means:
- God is powerful. He can bring life out of death! This is a power that is unknown by modern science and technology, unlike any power we understand here on Earth.
- Eternal life is certain. What is most exciting is that Christ's resurrection becomes my resurrection! Because Christ fought the battle against death and WON, so will I, as His child and as an heir to His Kingdom.
- There is hope. God can infuse hope and joy to any dire situation or circumstance, even an unjustified death on a despicable cross.
- God is faithful. God keeps His promises! Jesus told His disciples numerous times that He would die and rise again. They never quite got the message (I remember as a child wondering why the disciples were so surprised on Easter morning...I mean, they were told ahead of time!). But Jesus foretold it, and He kept always keeps His promises (see Matthew 16:21, John 2:18-19).
- Jesus is alive today. Unlike any other prophet or holy man, Jesus lives today! This validates Christianity and sets it apart from all other world religions. And what is Christ doing this very day? The Scriptures say that He sits at the Father's right hand, interceding for us as believers (Romans 8:34).
- God is in control. No matter how crazy life seems, or how many bad things are happening to you or around you, we can reflect upon the empty tomb and see that God is ultimately in control over ALL things.
- Jesus is coming back. Did you ever notice the detail within the Scriptures that tell us that Christ's face cloth was found folded and set apart from the other grave clothes on that first Easter morning (John 20:7)? I recently read a story about the significance of that gesture. It spoke to the fact that in ancient Hebrew culture, the master, having eaten his meal, would wipe his fingers, mouth, and beard and wad up his napkin to signal to his servant that he was finished with his meal. However, if he got up from the table and folded his napkin, laying it beside his plate, then the servant would know that the master was coming back. Jesus WILL return one day to usher in the new heaven and the new earth, gather His children to Himself, and ultimately destroy Satan, death, and Hades (see Revelation 20-22).
This is all GOOD NEWS, my friends!
May you be encouraged this Easter season, when you reflect upon the empty tomb of Christ and ALL that it means to you and yours!
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