An Empty Tomb

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday have passed. Today is a day of waiting for the Lord’s resurrection, though to the disciples, it was a day of agonized fear. All they thought they knew was gone. They were sure they had found the Messiah, but before their very eyes, he was cruelly murdered and they had to hide from the authorities lest they too be arrested.

Whatever they were thinking and talking about, it wasn’t hopeful. We see Saturday from a perspective that they were not able. It was not a time of expectation for them. It was a day of dread and hopelessness. I can imagine them debating what to do next, but always falling back on the tearful silence that comes when your world has fallen apart and you don’t know what to do next.

There have been times in my life when all that I thought I knew fell apart. Such a time was twenty-four years ago when I was in the last stages of alcoholism. I wanted my life to be better, but I could not see how that was possible. It was a time of utter hopelessness. I could not see a future of anything but the same futile way of living. But then a glimmer of hope was extended to me in the form of AA and I saw that a new life was within my reach.

I understand the hopelessness the disciples must have felt on that Saturday before the resurrection. My hopelessness paralleled it. But like Easter morning when the stone was rolled away and the tomb was found to be empty, my life under went a profound resurrection as well. My own form of death was overcome by a new way of living. I was given new life by the One who stepped out of the tomb 2,000 years ago and made all things new.

The grave is empty. That is why we celebrate Easter. Death and sin no longer rule, but rather life and righteousness. God has conquered death and it no longer has dominion over those who believe. We have much to rejoice about in this holy time of year.

Whatever may be a matter of hopelessness in your life, let me encourage you with the picture of a garden and two women who are on their way to anoint a dead body. As they walk there, they ask one another who will roll away the huge stone that encloses the tomb entrance. But when they arrive, rather than seeing a boulder in their path, they see an angel who asks them why they are seeking the living among the dead, that the one they seek is no longer in the grave but has risen and calls them to follow him in newness of life.

A new hope was born that day and that hope is there for all who seek it. It can never be taken away. Light has overcome darkness, life has overcome death, and joy has overcome grief. My prayer is for those who need hope, that they will find it because he is risen. He is risen indeed!