Easter: Comeback of Love
John 20: 3 – 9 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
Easter Sunday is about the comeback of Love. At sunrise, the earth around the tomb trembled. The rock rolled away to reveal an empty grave, a new chapter, an unfinished story, a never-ending story! Jesus of Nazareth, dead and buried on a Friday and silenced for a Saturday, came back on Sunday and He is alive! And that’s why we’re here today: to celebrate the comeback of Love, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, to celebrate the restoration of hope, and the realization that eternal life is now within our grasp. Easter is about the comeback of Love.
Easter is about the bigness of God. Easter reminds us that God is a powerful God. God is bigger than life; God is more powerful than death; God is the giver of immortality. He is the One who raised Jesus from the dead and brought Love back to life. Jesus alive, waiting to be found.
I remember my years working as a youth director. It was my duty to organize the coveted Easter egg hunt at the church. My wife and I decided to have a prize egg in the hunt. This egg was like no other egg. It was bright green, with yellow trim. If you saw it, you couldn’t mistake that this was the egg. People started to bring their children. Grandparents brought their grandchildren — and then there was Billy. Billy didn’t seem to fit in very well with the other kids. He was all alone and didn’t know the other children. He was little over weight and the other children laughed at him. His mother said that he had a self-esteem problem. I went out to hide the eggs, while my wife read a story to the children about the meaning of Easter, she later told me that children were not particularly interested. They kept asking “when are going to hunt the eggs?” I searched for just the right place to hide the prize egg while the others hid the regular stash. In the tree? Nope too high. Out in the open? Too easy.
Then it came to me — in the cemetery. I climbed over the fence and placed the egg on top of a tombstone. Then came time for hunt to begin. The children rushed outside and began grabbing every egg in sight. I couldn’t believe it, everyone was passing up the prize egg, even though it was in plain sight. But then there was Billy. He knew where to look. It was as almost he knew were to find the egg. He ran over to the fence, vaulted over it with all his effort and grabbed the egg. He brought it back, smiles all over his face, and showed me the egg. it was his proudest moment. The day had changed for Billy. He was proud to have that egg. It didn’t matter that was the only egg that he got that day. For Billy, his day was transformed when he went to the grave to see if what he valued was there.
That disciple couldn’t bear it any longer. I have to go in. I have to know, I have to see. That day would be the day that would change the life of that disciple. Jesus wasn’t there. He was gone. Jesus was not to be found in the last place where people want to find him. Jesus has a way of doing that. There has been a lot of effort and study to try to name this disciple. Some say it was John, some say it was Thomas. But I’m glad this morning that the disciple wasn’t named. That morning it was Billy who entered the tomb. That day it was I that entered the tomb. That disciple is no other than us this morning. The meaning of Easter becomes clear to us. Even when the days are the darkest, when we’re getting that speeding ticket for being late. When we look over and see a disciple passing us up. We know. It becomes clear. Nothing in this world compares to the resurrection of Jesus. Love is alive.
THIS IS EASTER! Look and see for yourself. But it doesn’t end at the tomb. The encounter with Christ happens outside the tomb, waiting for us, just as Jesus found Mary.
In His love and with His power, He is here for you and for me now. Just as He was there with the two disciples and Mary, God is present with us today. And God’s great desire is that we enter the tomb, to see with our own eyes that they may be opened so we, too, may recognize His presence, see Him for who He is, and live each day in fellowship with Him. The days after Easter are about living in the power of the resurrection; the days after Easter are about being alert to the presence of God trying to break through; and the days after Easter are about giving yourself over to the presence of God, walking and talking with God, and sharing life with the Savior who was once a stranger but is now a friend.
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Editor’s note: The Rev. Dr. Scott Stewart is the pastor of Pea Ridge United Methodist Church and Brightwater Methodist Church. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted at revjstewart@ gmail.com or 479-659-9519.