Earthquakes

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“I feel the earth move under my feet / I feel the sky tumbling down, tumbling down / I feel my heart start to trembling / Whenever you're around.” This opening stanza from Carole King's 1971 rock anthem might well be the words of the soldiers posted at the tomb of our Lord that first day of the week, the day of our Lord's resurrection.

They felt the earth move under their feet as the Lord of Life broke the bonds of death once for all and the tomb that could not hold the Living God was burst open and the Prince of Life who died strode forth in immortal splendor. He is not dead; He has risen!

Of course, this is not the first earthquake in these few days of history.

"Remember How He Told You"

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On the first day of the week, after the Passover had ended, the faithful women who had ministered to Jesus throughout His earthly ministry came to do their fallen Lord one last service. They came bringing spices to do for Him according to the custom of the Jews, that they might prepare His body properly, since there had not been time to do so on Friday, before the start of the Sabbath. They came with heavy hearts and downcast spirits.

No doubt, the events of the past weekend were a shock to the system. They had, in the course of one week, seen the crowds adoring the Lord Jesus Christ as the coming king who would sit on the throne of David. They had witnessed Jesus overturning the marketplace set up in the Temple precincts. They had heard His wondrous but perplexing preaching.

“He Is Not Here”

He is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The women came to the tomb very early on the first day of the week, after the Sabbath of the Passover. They had bought the spices necessary to do for the body of Jesus according to the custom of the Jews. They arrived, and were thrown into a tailspin. Instead of a sealed tomb and a dead body, they found a rolled-away stone and a young man dressed in a white robe.

The women had come to the tomb, expecting to do for the body of the Lord according to the custom of the Jews, to do for Him what was fitting for the dead. They had good intentions. They were seeking to perform a last act of kindness for Him who had shown them such great love throughout His life.

But Jesus is not there. They come to the tomb and find it devoid of a dead body, and instead an angel showing them the place where Jesus had lain. They have seen the signs and wonders that Jesus performed. They have witnessed the things He has done, and the things He has endured, through the past week. And yet, they do not understand. Where is the body of the Lord?

If Christ Had Not Been Raised...

Christ is risen. Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Many people in this world doubt the facts of the resurrection. To some, it is an article of blasphemy. To others, it is simply a physical impossibility. Many people consider bodily resurrection a flight of fancy, to be dismissed with witches and leprechauns.

Islam says that Jesus was not crucified. The Quran says that Jesus was only a human prophet, born like anyone else, son of Mary and not God. Allah supposedly promised Jesus that he would not die a shameful death, which certainly means that he did not die on the cross. To Muslims, the idea that Jesus would have risen from the dead is blasphemy, because no one rises from the dead.