Sabbath Devotional :: A Message of Hope on Easter

The Empty Tomb by Mikhail Nesterov (1889)

Today we celebrate the day that the resurrected Lord broke the bonds of death, arose from the grave, and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. It is considered one of the greatest moments in all of human history. And yet I must admit that the glory of it sometimes feels a bit out of my reach. In the past few years, I have tried to be better about celebrating Easter more deliberately and incorporating holy week traditions that help me prepare. This year though, I’m sorry to say that it has crept up on me without much preparation at all.

In the process of attempting to correct course over the past few days and refocus my attention to the things that matter most, it occurred to me that the original Easter morning wasn’t exactly the glorious one that we imagine for those who were closest to the Savior during His mortal ministry. We read about the women who went to the tomb very early Sunday morning prepared to anoint Jesus’s body with spices. They weren’t prepared to find that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. In fact, they were still trying to figure out how they would roll the great stone away from the door of the sepulchre. Their encounter with angels testifying of Christ’s resurrection was met with confusion, amazement, trembling, and even fear. The angel’s question is telling as to their lack of full understanding: “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” Even still, they are the first ones charged with spreading the good news.

The disciples who went to Emmaus weren’t exactly prepared either. They walked approximately seven miles with the risen Lord, listening to Him expound all of the scriptures that prophesied of Him, without realizing His identity. It wasn’t until after He had administered the sacrament to them and then vanished that they asked themselves, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Once again, despite their “foolishness” and slowness in believing, they rushed back to Jerusalem to testify of the risen Lord.

Even Christ’s beloved apostles were initially afraid and struggled to fully understand. Consider this passage about Thomas’s Easter experience from John 20:

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Thomas, like so many of us at times, needed some reassurance. He was suffering, struggling, wounded by the loss of his beloved friend and Lord. He probably felt abandoned and confused by a loss he had not anticipated. Maybe he wondered if he had been tricked or deceived. Most likely, he felt left out because all the others had claimed to have seen the Lord. He needed proof. And the fact that all the other disciples had received their witness probably didn’t make it any easier.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Our merciful Savior and loving Redeemer was able to give Thomas exactly what he needed. The risen Christ, with His resurrected and perfected body, kept the scars of deep wounds borne for all our sakes so that Thomas would be able to recognize Jesus both as his friend and as his Savior. Thomas is nearly always judged as lacking faith, forever unable to escape the label “Doubting Thomas.” The reality is that Thomas was a beloved disciple of Christ, a faithful follower, a devoted friend, and a believer. We could read these verses in a way that judges Thomas as the last of the disciples to see the resurrected Christ physically, but the first to recognize Him in his divine role as Savior and Redeemer. Maybe what we learn from “Doubting Thomas” is that the Lord rose again to heal our hearts and bind our wounds and alleviate our doubts so that we will know Him specifically as our Savior. If only those who never doubted or struggled could be saved, why would the Savior have kept his scars at all? He kept His scars for Thomas and for all of us who sometimes need reassurance.

As we celebrate one of the greatest moments in all of human history, we can be comforted by the fact that we are not expected to be perfected in Him instantaneously. And we don’t have to be perfect in our understanding before we can testify of Him. That moment in which Christ broke the bands of temporal death guaranteed in an instant that all of our bodies would eventually be restored to their proper frames. But when it comes to saving us from spiritual death, our Savior ministers to us individually with patience, compassion, long-suffering, generosity, kindness, and love — which He is uniquely capable of doing because He has overcome the world. As the angel said, He is risen!