John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live,
even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do
you believe this?"
On Feb. 27, 1991, at
the height of Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the
Pentagon. It stated that her son, Private 1st Class Clayton Dillow had stepped
on a mine in Kuwait & was dead. Ruth Dillow later wrote, "I can’t
begin to describe my grief & shock. It was almost more than I could bear.
For 3 days, I wept. For 3 days, I expressed anger & loss. For 3 days,
people tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great."
But 3 days after she received that message, the telephone rang. The voice on
the other end said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." Ruth Dillow said,
"I couldn’t believe it at first. But then I recognized his voice, & he
was alive." The message of his death had been a mistake! She said, "I
laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels because my son whom I had
thought was dead, was alive. I’m sure none of you can even begin to understand
how I felt."
Maybe not, but some
who walked the pages of the New Testament would have understood how she felt
because they experienced the same emotions themselves. One day they
watched their best friend & teacher being nailed to a cross. They witnessed
His pain as He cried out, "I thirst!" & "My God, my God, why
have You forsaken me?" They listened as finally He bowed His head &
said, "It is finished!" & "Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit." They watched as His body was taken from the cross &
buried. All their hopes & dreams were buried with Him. Friday & all day
Saturday they mourned, until finally, on "the first day of the week, early
in the morning," the scripture says, some women made their way along the
path that led to His tomb, wondering who would roll away the stone for them.
But when they arrived, they found that the stone had already been rolled away.
And an angel of God gave them this message: Matthew 28:5-6 The
angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he
said. Come and see the place where he lay. "He has risen!" That
is what we celebrate this morning. When all the evidence is in, we’re convinced
that Jesus is alive. He has risen from the dead, & what a difference His
resurrection has made!
Before His
resurrection, the cross was known only as an instrument of horrible death,
rough wood soaked with human blood. So terrible was this form of execution that
the Roman Empire prohibited the crucifixion of Roman citizens. Crucifixion was
only for the worst of slaves & enemies of the empire. Roman citizens were
forbidden even to discuss the subject of crucifixion. But today, because of His
resurrection, we wear a replica of the cross as a piece of jewelry, a thing of
beauty, for all around the world the cross is seen as a symbol of hope, & a
reminder of God’s love for us.
Before the
resurrection, for most of the world, the grave was looked upon as the final
chapter, the closing of a great door, the end of everything. But because of His
resurrection, we can rejoice today that beyond death is where life begins,
& it will never end. That makes you wonder, doesn’t it, why we spend so
much time worrying & fretting about material things?
I spent a little over
a half of a century of my life searching for the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow. Which by the way I never found!! Then, Thursday, September
3rd, 2003 at 8:15 pm I found something worth more than all the gold
and silver in the world. Do you know where I found it? I found it at the foot
of the cross.
Before the
resurrection, death was the end. Before the resurrection, death was the final
curtain call. Before the resurrection, all we could do is mourn as those who
have no hope. But after the resurrection, when someone dies, we mourn because
we have lost a loved one. But we mourn as people who have great hope because
Jesus Christ is alive, & Scripture promises that if He is alive, then we,
too, can live forever. What a difference the Resurrection makes.
Our sins are forgiven
by His shed blood, & we have the promise of everlasting life. It changes
the whole concept of death itself (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) The
resurrection makes the difference. Before, life was filled with despair. But
now it has purpose & direction & meaning. Before, death was the end,
but now it is the beginning.
What a difference the Resurrection makes.
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