What Is the Resurrection?

When the darkness of death drapes over your life it is devastating. Loss, sharpened by violence, cuts to the soul. We not only lose the presence of someone we love, but also, the hope for a future we believed we had. It was no different for those who loved and followed Jesus, their promised Messiah, as they sat at the foot of the cross and watched Him die.

Death by crucifixion was considered the most excruciating form of capital punishment. Those closest to Jesus gave up all they had to follow Him. As they watched Jesus heal the sick, and teach them of God the Father, how could they have imagined their Savior would willingly take upon himself such a shameful and cursed death.

Yet, He did, and the earth shook. Darkness fell and his disciples scattered.

The man they believed to be the very son of God, was dead, and so was their courage for the future. The following days and nights were spent in hopeless sorrow. Mourning. Waiting. Listening for the sound of soldiers’ feet.

Would they be next?

Just after sunrise on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, the woman who Jesus had driven out seven demons, went to the tomb. The stone that once sealed Him inside, was rolled away. His body wasn’t there. Her first thought was someone had taken Him. An angel, sitting beside the tomb told her to not be afraid. He is risen. Just as He said. Then, He told her to go tell the disciples and she would see Him there. (Mark 16:1-8)

The unthinkable struck the apostles, along with the first followers of Christ. They lost everything on that cross. Out of the darkest hours of their lives, came a dawn of a new life. That sunrise revealed an empty tomb. The curtain of death was ripped apart. What they saw as unbelievable loss, God turned to unimaginable gain.

When Jesus appeared to Mary and his apostles, the depth of the sorrow they felt the day before, was met with unspeakable joy. Jesus was, and is, the Son of God.

To this day, the resurrection of Jesus brings life into the darkest hours of all our lives. Not only did Christ conquer death, He brought life that shines through fear and sorrow. He gives back our hope for the future. We live in uncertain times. Just as in Jesus’ day, there is death, cruelty, and poverty. And yet, we also know that with each new sunrise, there is new mercy and goodness that comes from the Father’s hand—because, He is risen.