Expect Resurrection
I saw the nails driven into His hands and feet.
I barely recognized Him.
I had to look away.
A crown on His head
The thorns in His brow.
Blood flowing
Tears streaming down.
King of the Jews?
On a cross made for sinners?
Not like this…
“Darkness fell across the whole land…”
Matthew 27:45 NLT
Light from the sun was gone…
How can this happen?
It’s the middle of the day.
Everything is dark.
This feels dark.
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Matthew 27:46 NLT
Did God abandon His son?
Can He do that?
How could He do that?
He’s suffering alone now
Pouring out His last words.
“It is finished”
John 19:30 NLT
Not my Jesus…
It can’t be.
Is it done?
Is it over?
This isn’t what I was expecting…
Nothing came with the sunrise.
He’s really dead.
Dead, buried, and guarded.
I saw it with my own eyes.
You can’t argue with death.
What’s done is done.
They were right…
It was impossible
It is impossible.
Another sunrise, another day without Him.
Dead things don’t come back.
We are on our own.
Everyone is against us
We can’t even show our faces.
Am I next?
What’s going to happen to me?
I’ve never been more afraid.
Silence.
Doubts come in the silence.
My questions will never have answers.
What more is there to say?
He isn’t who He said He was.
He didn’t do what He said He would do.
There’s truly no hope
Life. Ends.
His was no different.
It’s still dark.
The women want to go see Him.
They’re prepared for a body
They’ve prepped for a funeral.
Yet…
Something else?
Sunrise is leaking.
It’s quiet. Calm.
There’s light in the air
Something is different.
Where is the stone?
The tomb is wide open
The body missing
The grave clothes empty.
It can’t be…
Earth shakes.
Light breaks.
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?”
Luke 24:5 NLT
Alive?
He’s alive?
But how?
Where?
“He is not here for He has risen.”
Matthew 28:6
I remember now!
This is what He told me.
It was so hard to believe then.
“At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him.”
Luke 24:31 MSG
He was dead. He’s not anymore.
He was here in this tomb. He’s not anymore.
This Jesus is who he claimed to be.
He was right all along
How could I have missed it?
I never expected resurrection.
Do you? Expect resurrection?
When nothing makes sense
When you’re all alone
When doubt creeps in
When you only see stone.
When you look down at empty hands
Empty rooms
Unanswered questions
Missing pieces
Broken dreams
When you’re slow to understand.
When it feels dead and done.
When you don’t expect resurrection…
Don’t. Miss. Him.
This Jesus.
My Jesus.
You can expect resurrection:
In your community
Your city
Your family
Your marriage
Your home
Your relationships
Your work
Your resources
Your health
Your plans
Your hopes
Your heart
It’s…
Ground to sky
Grave to rise
Bound to free
Dark to light
Despair to hope
Done to undone
Ending to beginning
Nothing to everything
Death to life.
Resurrection is what God does
It’s who Jesus is.
Resurrection then.
Resurrection now.
Resurrection on the horizon.
Resurrection right in front of you.