Matthew 28: 1-10. God's Promises Kept

            Grace, mercy, and Peace to from God our Father and from our risen Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ: AMEN!

            It is a glorious day isn’t it? It does not matter what the weather; it does not matter if it is raining, snowing sleeting or sunny and warm it is a glorious day! Anybody care to guess why? Call it out loud; of course, because it is Easter.
            We spent the last 40 days leading up to this moment. We got our Ashes on Ash Wednesday, how appropriately named, and we began to follow Jesus; knowing that it was going to lead us to the place that some of us may not want it to lead. Jesus’ journey takes us into Jerusalem where he shares his last meal with the disciples and gives them the Good News that this is my body and blood given for you and he commands them to “do this in remembrance of me.” This past Thursday evening was the night where we were called to that upper room and share the body and blood of Jesus, the Son of God.
            It was in the act of that meal that we digest the gifts and blessings that Jesus taught and acted out in his words and actions and they are passed on to us. It was on that Good Friday where Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sin. He sacrificed himself on the cross for you and for me so that we would know that we are broken; that we make mistakes. We say and do things that hurt ourselves and one another. Jesus shows us that in that brokenness, there is still hope. Because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross there is hope, mercy, redemption, and forgiveness from almighty God.

            We know this because, just three short days later, we all wake up to find that the tomb is empty. Jesus who hung on the cross, was humiliated while hanging there is not where he was laid. There was a major earthquake when the two Mary’s got there. The angel came and told them that the Jesus they knew was gone. Not that the body was taken, but that he had been raised! He invited them to come and see that the Lord is no longer a lifeless body in a tomb BUT THAT HE IS ALIVE! For that we can say ALLELUJAH! It is, indeed something to celebrate! Then the angel tells them to “go quickly and tell his disciples.” They did not waste any time either. They got the word and they were off; no questions, no decisions to be made; they just went.

            Today is a glorious and blessed day because there is one thing that is certain on this day that the Lord has been raised; and that certainty is that God keeps God’s promises. God, through Jesus, foretold of the day that he would be handed over. He does this three times; and each of those times he tells how “the Son of man will be raised in three days.” Today, we see that keeps that promises in the raising of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
            We live in a world where promises are made and not often kept. We live in a world where products are sold with claims to make our lives better, machines to make lives easier, and sometimes people tell us what we want to hear. Today, we read, hear, and are witnesses to the empty tomb. We are witnesses to the promise of God that Jesus has been raised.
            In this promise of God, there is so much more than just a raising of a dead person. In this promise is the fact that God so loves each and every one of us that God sacrificed God’s only Son on the cross for you and for me. In this promise is that despite our brokenness and making mistakes, or doing something to hurt ourselves or someone else, God tells us that we are all valuable and that asking or giving forgiveness as always a possibility. In this promise is the fact that we are SO loved that God will not let death have the last word; in fact, God promises life eternal to all who seek it in living out God’s love for us by sharing God’s love, grace, and mercy with one another.
            Today is the day when God’s promises come to us in the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. It is not the only day that this promise comes to us, because it is in this Gospel of Matthew where Jesus tells us to “remember, I am with you until the end of the age.” God’s promises come to us each and every day.
            So now, that we know God’s promises are true and will last forever, because of this Easter Day. It is fair to say that this day is the new beginning for us in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ and as disciples of the living God. So how are we going to live out God’s promises in our everyday lives? How are we going to celebrate the new life we all have in the risen Christ?
AMEN!