Start Your Easter Journey - Look to the Star

It it sad when a loved one is called out of this life. When Mary stood beside the empty tomb, not even angels could comfort her. When she saw Jesus, she thought that he was the gardener. Was it because she couldn’t see through her tears? Was it because he was dressed differently or somehow disguised himself? That is possible, but the Bible doesn’t say that. I think that the problem with Mary was that she was grief stricken. Her dear friend, yes her Lord, was taken from her, crucified. Now someone had taken the body! What a horrible trick. Mary could not start her Easter Journey because she was looking for a dead body.

There are some who have tried to solve problems like Mary’s by reconnecting with the dead person, not through witchcraft or the occult, but through technology. What if we could upload all of Jesus’ emails, tweets, texts, and even his snap chats? Jesus didn’t have a smart phone, of course, but what if we could do that with his gospel accounts? Sound far fetched? A company called Eternime is working on doing just that! Still sound like science fiction? A Russian engineer has accomplished this with a dear friend named Roman Mazurenko. Roman’s mom commented about speaking to her son, “There was a lot I didn’t know about my child,” Roman’s mother told me. “But now that I can read about what he thought about different subjects, I’m getting to know him more. This gives the illusion that he’s here now.” An illusion? I can understand that if you are grieving, you are willing to hold onto anything, but understand what Easter offers us… offered Mary as she wept outside that tomb.

Jesus wasn’t an illusion. Jesus is alive. God doesn’t offer an illusion to us. God offers life. Eternal life! Mary was able to hear Jesus say her name. She could embrace Jesus in a hug. One day you will be able to embrace not only Jesus, but all of your loved ones again. On Easter Jesus strangled death and left it in the grave. On the Last Day you will to the same as you answer the command of your Lord and rise.

Start your Easter Journey at the empty tomb. Jesus lives!