Promise Fulfilled

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟒𝐚, 𝟑𝟕-𝟒𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟖: 𝟏-𝟐, 𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟑 “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞; 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝.”

𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟏 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟓:𝟔𝐛-𝟖

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟐𝟎: 𝟏-𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅.” (𝒗.8)

The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ without any doubt is the greatest story the world has ever come to know. And for those who have faith even the size of a mustard seed, believing may not prove difficult but for those who will hear of the Resurrection for the first time may need time before they can fully comprehend and grasp this amazing story.

When Mary Magdalene, Peter and John saw that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb it only meant one thing – that he did what he said he would do and that he will rise from the dead on the third day. And if Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter morning, walked the earth for the next 40 days and ascended into heaven on the 40th day after his Resurrection – it means that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and is very much alive today.

There are three characters in this story, and we have a piece of each of these three personages. As it was the belief of the Jews that the spirit of the dead hovered around the tomb for at least three days and would only depart when the body had become unrecognizable due to decay, it became customary for the Jews to visit the tomb of a loved one for three days.

But because it was Sabbath the next day after Jesus died and was buried, the disciples of Jesus could not come to the tomb, and this was the reason why Mary Magdalene went right when the Sabbath ended when the night ended at the break of dawn.

Mary ran back to tell the other disciples when she found the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb. Peter and John tried to outrun each other into the tomb (𝐯.𝟒) but John looked inside and only saw the burial cloth lying at the tomb. Peter rushed in and saw the napkin that covered the face of Jesus to be neatly folded and placed separately from the burial cloth. Both Mary and Peter, however, remained bewildered by what they were seeing and couldn’t make anything out of what was before them.

But what was clear in this scenario was the bond of love that all three, Mary, Peter and John, had for Jesus. It was Mary who loved Jesus so much that she anointed the feet of Jesus with an expensive perfume (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟐:𝟑) who was the first to come to the tomb.

Regardless of the three times he denied Jesus (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟓-𝟐𝟕), Peter out of love was the first to go inside the tomb. And John the disciple whom Jesus loved and who loved Jesus finally went in and “𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅.” (𝐯.𝟖). It was not what John may have read in the Scriptures that convinced him that Jesus would resurrect but what he saw in his own eyes.

Today, we as Christians believe not only in the Resurrection of Jesus as an historical event in the history of the Church but that Jesus had truly risen from the dead and who is alive today, now and forever. Such belief is necessary because this is the key to our Christian faith – to believe in the fulfillment of His promise.

To help us understand and believe, let me just run through at least four major pieces of evidence that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead: (1) 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘥 (𝘑𝘯 19:33). (2) 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘣. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 (𝘷𝘷.5-9).

(3) 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 (𝘷𝘷.11-18). 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 (𝘷𝘷. 19-20). 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 (𝘔𝘬 16:14). 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘦 (𝘑𝘯 21: 1-25). (4) 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴.

Jesus is alive now as he was on that first Easter morning and he still invites people today 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐇𝐢𝐦 (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟕:𝟑𝟑), 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐦 (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟐:𝟑𝟕), 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐦 (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟐:𝟐𝟔) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐦 (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟔:𝟐𝟐) 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. Many of us who were brought into the Church and the Community especially those who have been baptized in the Spirit have been transformed because we have encountered Jesus the living God.

And Jesus revealed Himself to us out of his great love for those whom God has created in “𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔” (𝑮𝒆𝒏 1:26). In the same way, it is out of love flowing from our hearts that we allow the Holy Spirit to keep touching us with His life and power.

This is the great law of life in that there can never be a union among us unless there is a bond of love and sympathy that exists in us. A music concert conductor for example cannot interpret the composition of a composer unless he is filled with love for the music he is to conduct.

Love is the greatest purveyor of truth because we can easily grasp the truth when there is love even if our finite minds grope and struggle with the truth. There was once a story about the great French artist 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐞’ (𝐉𝐚𝐧. 𝟔, 𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟐 - 𝐉𝐚𝐧. 𝟐𝟑, 𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟑) when a young artist brought a picture of Jesus to him for his review and evaluation. It took Dore’ some time and when he finally spoke, he said: “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.”

This is the same with us. Like the young artist, we will only come to know Him, love Him, serve Him and be happy with Him if we will step out of our unbelief and believe and have faith in Him who said he will rise from the dead and he did.

For us to truly believe we must roll out the stone in our lives. Over the years since childhood, we have picked up some or even many negative vibes that have clouded the original image of God in us such that we have become a person that God would not even recognize.

We have clothed ourselves with arrogance and pride, filled our lives with lies, indulged in self-exaltation and thinking highly of ourselves. But one thing is certain. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, we would not have heard of him and we would not have had the chance to be transformed into the image and likeness to which we have been created. But we need to roll out the stone – the negative influences that have stained our souls – so we can share in the glory of Easter and be resurrected to a new life.

A promise fulfilled and no other god or prophet has risen from the dead except Jesus the one true God. Surely this man was the Son of God! (𝐌𝐤 𝟏𝟓:𝟑𝟗). Today, we continue to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us the eyes of faith and the joy to personally know Jesus our Savior and King! (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 20, 2025)