Easter Everyday

In Paul’s last letter, he wrote to Timothy, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom.”

Tradition has it that Paul was beheaded by Nero because of his faith in Jesus.

And it does seem kind of ludicrous, doesn’t it? Is being beheaded coming safely anywhere?

Sometimes, at Sunday school, I look out at the beloved faces of the children who have gathered. They are impish, grinning, asleep, or whispering to one another. I’m teaching them about how the armor of God will protect them or about how the Holy Spirit can produce the fruit of joy in their lives. 

Though they are children, they have seen a lot of suffering. Some have been abused. Some are hungry. One talked a caretaker out of committing suicide. Another lost a little sister to an act of violence. They struggle with addiction, pornography, lying, and the temptation to rob you blind (even at church). Few have both parents still involved in their lives. Many have lost a parent or have been placed in foster care.

It’s ludicrous, isn’t it? Teaching them that if they pray and ask Jesus to forgive their sins, they will have forgiveness, love, peace, and joy? It doesn’t make any earthly sense.

Easter is this Sunday, and I will tell them the story again. You know the one. 

Jesus was arrested. He never argued during His trial. He was mocked and beaten and spit on. He was crucified, buried, and dead. 

But on the third day, He rose again. 

And we will eat a meal. Empty tummies go home full. 

Paul was full of confidence when he wrote, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom.” His confidence, though ludicrous, was not misplaced, because He rooted it in the ludicrous (but true!) resurrection of Christ.

It’s a confidence as full as the children’s stomachs after eating a plateful of taco spaghetti because of the emptiness of the tomb. 

Recently, a woman called me. She’s married with two children, owns her own home, and has a rewarding vocation. She was once a child who attended my Sunday school. She was once abused, neglected, hungry, and abandoned.

She also believed the ludicrous story I told about Jesus. It may seem so unreasonable, but she believed that it is true.

“I want to be mature in Christ,” she said, “so I have started praying that I will be able to forgive my caretaker for the harm I suffered just like Jesus has forgiven me.”

The empty tomb isn’t just a once a year Easter thing to her. It’s an unbelievable story that she chose to believe because she didn’t have anything else to hold on to. It’s a true story that has truly transformed her and enabled her to say, “Jesus rescued me.”

Jesus is risen indeed so that we can exchange our emptiness for His fullness of joy and be brought safely into His heavenly kingdom.