He is Risen. But why?

Healing the sick, raising the dead, and preaching justice, peace, forgiveness, and the coming of God's kingdom? Do these sound like capital crimes to you? 

They did to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders of Jesus time. And because of this, Jesus was beaten, disfigured, and hung on a cross to die. His body laid in a tomb and a huge stone, to stop the body being stolen, rolled across the entrance.

But on that very first Easter morning, an angel rolled the stone away, and waited to tell Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Jesus, what had happened. How awesomely terrifying and joyful that meeting must have been for the Marys. Not only had they been visited by and angel, but Jesus, whom they loved dearly had risen from the dead!

As they left, Jesus appeared to them before they ran to tell the disciples.

The disciples were afraid. They did not want to be associated with Jesus, because he had just been condemned and executed. They had experienced this personally, and were terrified. So even though they knew that Jesus had risen, they met secretly behind locked doors. But Jesus suddenly appeared among them, saying, “Peace be with you.”

And peace they needed, just as we do now. Like the disciples, many people today are afraid.
Even though, in most countries, we now have the freedom to believe in Jesus, we hide our faith behind closed doors. Like the disciples, we also long for peace without knowing where to find it. Jesus offers this peace to us, a peace that will take away all our burdens and sins.

This peace is the answer to all our political and social problems. We live in a fractured society, where, despite the access to social media, everybody is divided from everybody else, and simple joy in life is often squeezed out of us.

This particularly affects children. Our world is removing the ability for children to have any exposure to the bible outside of a church setting. Bible in Schools is effectively being shuttered as the backlash to the message of Jesus; The message of Easter grows in our increasingly secular society. When we take God away from them, and don’t let them come to Jesus, they are afraid.

The battle between good and evil has been raging since the beginning of time, but today it is impossible to ignore. Warfare is everywhere. In the impoverished nations of Africa there is war over water and other resources. Millions of people are dying because they do not have access to the basic necessities of life. Every day we hear of more atrocities occurring all over the world, such as of the killings that continue to be reported because of ISIS and other terror organisations.

Jesus came to end all suffering and human need. He loved us so much that he was willing to die for us. As the apostle John writes, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” This is the gift that Jesus offers us. When we celebrate Easter this year, let’s remember that Jesus was victorious over death and over fear.
We can claim this same victory and receive his gift of life and peace.

I pray that, as we remember Jesus' death and resurrection, that we would dwell on the reason why He rose, the gift He gives us, and the need for the world to experience that same gift for themselves.

He is Risen. He is Risen indeed!