1 Peter 2:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you
Let’s look at Matthews Gospel and his account of that first Easter Morning and find our own discovery of Joy over the fact that Hope is Alive!
He Isn’t Here!! The disciples Misunderstanding of the problem leads to
Have you ever looked for hope in the wrong place?
The problem for Mary and the disciples is that they misunderstood what Jesus was doing, particularly the scope of his mission.
Jesus had come to liberate not just his disciples, but all of humanity. He came to bring freedom not just politically but more importantly, spiritually.
We, like Mary Magdalene are often looking for our hope in the wrong spot. It isn’t here!
He is Risen!! Misunderstanding the solution
Because the problem wasn’t actually their bondage to Rome, because our problem isn’t really the external things in our lives, the answer is a bit
The real problem is the fall and the truth of Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.
And Easter Sunday is His place of ultimate Victory. Jesus took the punishment, he paid the price, he faced death. And he defeated it by his resurection
1 Corinthians 15:55 (NIV) “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
The lasting victory that we look for is not found in our strength. Making things better, working harder, find a better spouse. It is found like Jesus, in
Matthew 16:25 (ESV) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
The Best News Ever!!
Matthew 28:7 Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead
This is the best news ever and is why the news of Easter is so very important and joyous. Because if Jesus didn’t rise again, we our biggest problem still exists.
1 Corinthians 15:17-20 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
This is why Easter is what it is. It means everything.