Finding Refuge & Strength

For the child of God, no other day in the year should contain more joy and celebration than Easter. Why? The resurrection of Christ means “We win! And ultimately triumph over that age-old enemy – death!”

No matter what your age, you might have experienced losing someone you love. Every time I stand over an open grave, I am tinged with anger because death robbed me of someone I love.

When Jesus came forth from the grave, He triumphed over death. The empty tomb means we have hope that we shall live forever with our risen Lord, help for our weaknesses because He intercedes for us, and certainty that there is more to life on Earth than just merely existing.

In the play, The Trial of Jesus, playwright John Masefield has the centurion Longinus report to Pilate after the crucifixion. Pocula, the wife of Pilate, asks the centurion to tell her what happened afterward.

He recounts the story in vivid detail, and when it is finished she asks, “Do you think He is dead?” Longinus answers, “No, lady, I don’t.” “Then where is He?” she asks. He answers, “Let loose in the world, lady, where neither Roman nor Jew can stop His truth.”

The Easter lily wilts but the great truth of the resurrection lives on and on. “If what you say is true,” said a young man to the keeper of the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem who had just told the story of the resurrection, “then there should be singing and dancing at this spot every day of the year.”

Yes, indeed! Easter is the reason for rejoicing – every day of every year.

Dr. Harold J. Sala

But Christ has indeed raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

–1 Corinthians 15:20