Easter Monday - Jesus Is Alive - What Does It All Mean?

 EASTER MONDAY - JESUS IS ALIVE - WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

So it’s Easter Monday – the first day after our celebration of Jesus rising from the dead.  There’s a wonderful story in the Bible of an encounter Jesus had with two friends on that resurrection day. 

Two followers of Jesus were heading home to a little place outside of Jerusalem called Emmaus.  Their world had been turned upside down by Jesus’ death on Friday.  As they are walking they are joined by someone they didn’t recognize who shows them many amazing things about Jesus from the scriptures.

It was near evening when they got home so they invited the stranger in to have dinner with them and as He broke the bread they recognize who it really was.  They hurried back to the others to tell them what had happened. Let’s pick up the story directly from the Bible:

There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.”  Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!   Luke 24:33-37

Well, as we see things recorded here, these friends of Jesus had perhaps been too consumed with their own experiences and disappointments to see what was right before their eyes, until Jesus broke bread with them. But, once the despair and darkness was lifted, they saw recent events in a whole new light. 

God wants to lift us out of whatever sorrow and darkness has clouded our own souls with life’s challenges.  Our part is to realize that we are not seeing reality as clearly as we should.  God is with us, has been with us, providing us whatever we need for whatever we face.  God is doing more.  God is ready to explain more.  God, in fact, is doing so much that if we paused to let Him show it to us, we would be amazed.

Lord, today, in spite of whatever hardships we’ve experienced, we choose to look to You and listen to what You are saying to us right now. 

You are always doing new things.  You are always doing more than we know and yet, in our frailty and limited understanding, You are also always showing up with us in our journey to give us the comfort of Your companionship with helpful understandings that get us through today well. 

We need Your words of life and so we will give ourselves to reading Your word and taking moments to sit quietly before You so You can reveal truth to us that we can hang onto during tough times.

Help us to stay simple, to stay focused on You, and to allow Your amazing resurrection power to live in us today.  Amen 

Let’s have a great day living in the powerful love of our risen Lord.