“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” – Matthew 28:6 (New King James Version).
While Christ raised a few people from the dead during his ministry, resurrection morning still stands as an unprecedented affair. One may not be out of order to regard it as the greatest miracle of all. To some, it is the greatest and most important event in human history.
The Jewish authorities deemed Jesus Christ a subversive threat and logically believed that a public execution sufficed to silence him. However, that was not going to be the case.
It would have been tragic, to say the least, if the stone had not been rolled away. Christ fulfilled prophecy by emerging from the grave after suffering torture and arguably the most humiliating death form conjured by man.
There are a handful of lessons to learn from resurrection morning alone. These will now be addressed.
- Divine purpose is inevitable: God’s plan for man’s redemption involved both the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ alluded to this, in the form of bringing down the temple and rebuilding it in three days. The Jewish authorities and Pontius Pilate were simply fulfilling divine purpose by crucifying Christ. No guards, no grave, no stone could have held Christ back on resurrection morning. Mortal men make plans and resolve to do everything in their power to bring them to fruition. Success may be likely, but never inevitable. It is different with God, which makes it advisable for one to submit to God and His will.
- Dead ends are a myth: In the words of Winston Churchill, failure is not fatal. Every human can relate to having an unfinished venture or a venture that is simply a lost cause. More often than not, plans have been made and work has gone in, only for everything to fall through. It hurts. Sometimes, walking away may be the best and most logical option. However, there are other doors that can still be opened. There is no ultimate dead end, save for eternal damnation. If you are committed to succeeding and achieving purpose, there is a nigh infinite number of doors to knock on. There is always room for rebirth, for resurrection. Death itself is not a dead end.
- There will always be doubters: The disciples doubted the news of the resurrection, despite witnessing numerous miracles and a few resurrections during Christ’s three-year ministry. This goes to show that human beings will always doubt, even if the face of glaring evidence. Ironically, a good number of these doubters would be one’s closest companions. There may be love and respect, but doubt is simply an overwhelming feeling.
The resurrection morning should remind us to expect doubt from ourselves and outsiders, even after submitting to God’s will. However, the resurrection morning also calls us further to constantly subdue doubt with faith.
Resurrection morning is all about hope for humanity. However, hope is a tough virtue to sell to Nigerians.
Every year seems to give the previous year a run for its money and nothing seems to be changing.
It distracts from the fact that the Easter message is more focused on personal journeys than national ones. Regardless of whether one successfully emigrates or not, there is always hope for a better tomorrow — on a personal level.
