Happy Easter!

Today we celebrate a new day, our freedom from sin, a second chance and new beginnings. All, thanks to our sweet Jesus and by the grace of God. Easter is the blessed Christian  holiday in which we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his ascension into heaven. What an amazing experience for those who were able to observe it first hand! Nothing is more beautifully written about this than the scripture and testimony of the disciples and Mary Magdalene. 

John 20: 1-23 (NLT)

The Resurrection

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.  ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.  ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— ⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then they went home.

Jesus Appeared to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.  ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”  ¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.  ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”   ¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said.She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). ¹⁷ “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

^{Jesus Appears to His Disciples}

¹⁹ That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.  ²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!  ²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”  ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Easter also marks the beginning of Spring, my second favorite time of year. With spring comes new life, rebirth and renewal. Life that lay dormant over the winter starts to emerge.  As I look out my office window this morning, I can see the calla lily's and roses in bloom.  There are new tiny lime colored green leaves emerging on the walnut tree and new fragrant blossoms on the orange tree.  I take a deep breath and inhale the fresh, clean air of Spring and my spirit is filled with joy.

As with nature, this is also a time of renewal for us.  Take time to see the possibilities, filled with hope and with gratitude for the second chance that God has given us to live our lives as he intended.   

"Twas Easter Sunday. The full-blossomed trees filled all the air with the fragrance of joy.—" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow