Don’t Tame the Resurrection

“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.” 

John 20:18 

Have you noticed how people try to tame the resurrection of Jesus with sentimental images of lilies, cherubs, and bluebirds? Could it be we’ve lost touch with the shocking reality of what happened on that Sunday morning?  

Only minutes before Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb, this Man was stiff, gray, and stone-cold dead—a battered corpse like you might see under a sheet in a police morgue. The prophet Isaiah tells us He was barely recognizable as a human being (Isaiah 52:14). And then the dead Man opened His eyes and sat up; the stone was rolled back; and He walked out of the grave into a dark, cool garden night—with God’s glory permeating every fiber of His being.  

There was nothing tame or “sweet” about this miracle. This was a death-defying, victorious Christ who defeated sin, death, and hell so we might conquer sin in our own lives, live for Him all our days, and experience eternal life in heaven beyond the grave. 

Because You came out of that grave, Lord Jesus, I have a hope that nothing on earth can quench. Not paralysis, not pain, not cancer, not even death itself. Because I have received Your resurrection life, I can face anything this world or Satan himself might throw at me. Because You live, I will live forever with You.