The Promise of Resurrection - by Pastor Rod

While on vacation recently with our family, our 3 1/2 year old grandson spotted a cat in a craft store where we were shopping.  He has been curious ever since last November when Grandma and Papa’s 20 year-old kitty died about why we no longer have a kitty and if we are going to get a new one.  So when he saw this cat lounging in the sunshine of the window sill, he shouted, “Papa, come here.  Here’s your kitty that died.  Jesus made it come to life again!”

Our best guess is that his Sunday School class has talked about the Easter story recently and resurrection was fresh in his mind.  So he somehow made a connection between our kitty that died and this cat that was full of life.

In the account of Christ’s resurrection in Luke’s Gospel, the question is posed:  “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?”  (Luke 24: 5) These are the words of the two angels to the women at Jesus’ tomb.  “Why are you looking among the dead…”  These women were terrified.  They had heard of resurrection, but never dreamed that there might be evidence of such a thing in their own life. Even though it was Jesus Himself who said on an earlier occasion:  “I am the resurrection and I am the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and of death.  Because I live, you shall live also.”

This is a difficult Easter for our family.  Both Jan and I lost our fathers very suddenly this past year.  And we are mourning the loss of a former staff member here at Redeemer and some other dear friends.  But during this season of Easter, we are reminded again of God’s faithfulness.  Sometimes as we face grief and death, it seems that God has left us.  Then I recall the words of Mary Magdalene to Simon Peter on that first Easter morning:  “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put Him.” (John 20:13)

However, the reality is that the resurrection had already occurred. Jesus was alive and had conquered sin and death – bringing hope to people in the midst of loss.  And it is in this same risen Savior that we find love and hope and joy.

St. Paul made a statement in his letter to the first century church:  “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with Him the believers who have died.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

We do not grieve as those who have no hope!  St. Paul did not say that we won’t be sad or lonely or miss the people we love.  We are human.  But he did say that for Christ-followers, we will one day live with Him and be reunited with those we love.

Let that be our hope this Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.

Hymn of Promise – words and music by Natalie Sleeth, 1986.  Hope Publishing Co.

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed an apple tree; in cocoons, a hidden promise:  butterflies will soon be free!  In the snow and cold of winter there’s a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody; there’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.  From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.  In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.