Easter: Monday, March 24, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 12:14-27

We see here one of the constant refrains in the Old Testament. God tells the people to do something, and then He says, now when your children ask, why are we doing this, you can tell them it was because we were once slaves and the Lord has freed us. We see in the Law and in the Exodus, every time something happens, they build and altar so when they children see it, they can explain what happened.

This does two things that we should do. First, we must remember. We must remember what God has done for us. We must remember how His grace has been made known to us, day after day. Second, we must pass down. We must share, we must tell other about what God has done. We must teach the children, and we must teach those that do not know. We must proclaim the goodness of God to everyone, through our words, and more importantly, through our lives.

New Testament Lesson

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

One of the things that Paul did was that He preached the simple Gospel. He didn't try to drown the people with controversial theology, He simply told them that Christ died for them, and was resurrected. Sometimes we try to make things more complicated than they really are. I heard someone say once that Christianity is not very hard to understand. It's just hard to live out. The Gospel is simple. God loves us. He loves each of us enough that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son for us. But, the sacrifice was not in vain, for it brings us back home; and the grave could not hold Him down. We see through the empty tomb that live, mercy, and grace, in the end will win.

Let us rejoice today in God's victory, and our victory!


Gospel Lesson

Mark 16:1-8

In Mark, when they see the empty tomb they are bewildered at what happened and they are afraid. Of the four gospels, Mark has the shortest Easter scene. Here, they simply come to the tomb, and don't know what to thing. For, the dead are not supposed to rise. But He has.

That is the power of Easter. The dead are not supposed to rise. Sins are not supposed to be forgiven. Hearts are not supposed to be healed. Families are not supposed to be restored. Life is not supposed to win. But through the power of Easter and the power of God, good does win! Life does win! Grace does win! Love does win! Let us be thankful for all the good that God has done.