"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre."  
Matthew 28:1-20

  For Jesus’ closest disciples and friends it must have seemed that everything they had believed in and all that they had been living for the last several years was dashed upon the rocks of despair and hopelessness.  The very man in whom they had placed all their hopes and dreams had been put to death  in an attempt to silence his powerful and unconventional message and ministry.  And up to that very moment, it seemed as if the World, with its agents of hate, cruelty, and death had conquered this kind and gentle son of a carpenter

  But wait, something was different this morning…something that was to change the World forever.  While a handful of powerful men thought they had silenced a heretic and someone who called into question their authority, the fact of the matter was they had unknowingly made the way whereby God’s ultimate plan of salvation might be made known to all of creation.

  Jesus, by allowing himself to undergo such pain, hopelessness, and suffering, was able to demonstrate the all-pervading love of God through his own resurrection.  But this was not enough.  There was, and is, more. 

  Jesus did not undergo all of this to impress the World of how important he was to God the Father, but instead, so that all people might know how important they are to God and how much He loves them.  Jesus did not overcome death and despair for personal glory or fame.   He did so to express God’s all-powerful and all-encompassing love for His creation.  It was in Jesus’ own resurrection, that God made it abundantly clear that death itself was subject to His will. 

  On this Easter morning, we are once again reminded that because Jesus overcame pain, suffering and hopelessness, we too can overcome these things with our faith and trust placed in the One whom the Father sent.  Jesus has not only conquered death, but He has ultimately replaced it with strength, peace, and hope.  Remember, it is in placing our faith in Jesus’ resurrection that we find not only our own resurrection, but where we find God’s all-powerful and all-encompassing love for us.
   
  Dear God, help us to never take for granted all that You have done for us through the life, ministry, and most importantly the resurrection of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  AMEN.  

                                                                                                                                  Todd C