An Empty Tomb

AN EMPTY TOMB

As christians, we are called Easter people.  Easter is a Christian church festival that celebrates the return of Jesus Christ to life following His death. (Merriam Dictionary). This day commemorates the resurrection of Christ from death, with the proof that the tomb where He lay was empty!  What does an empty tomb mean? Based on the scriptures it tells us:

1.          Don’t Be Afraid.  Human as we are, we fear a lot of things that surround us.  Some of it we are able to overcome, some of it we dread. 

a.         Health – as we grow older or as we lack rest from our daily activities, we face problems in our health.  This fears some of us, as it may cause us expenses, broken relations or even death.

b.        Wounded soul – as individuals, we are prone to sins.  We sometimes fail to reconnect to God and thus cause us wander away from the comforting hand of God.

c.        Emptiness – when we have nothing, maybe money, time, relationship, successes, we may feel we have no value at all in life.

d.        Life’s situation – where we are, and who we’re with is a situation in life we are afraid of.  We may want to escape from reality, because we feel burdened and we cannot deal with it.

2.       Believe He is Not Here – Like Jesus, who was ressurrected from the grave, God will be able to let us out of the tomb of hopelessness, self-centerdness, sinfulness, sickness and our worries. Believe that Jesus did not remain in the tomb so what besets us will not be here.

3.       Go and Tell – Jesus Christ’s resurrection reminds us to share His goodness, His power and victory over death to others!  (with points from HEC’s minister’s sermon – Pastor Nimrod Morales)

In life, we may feel empty, that is, having nothing or the feeling of no value to others or we feel we are valued for just a simple reason and we are buried with problems in life’s  situation that we are in.  Just remember, an empty tomb is Jesus’ triumph over all trials, just so with Christ we will be resuurected from the tomb of problems in life.  Believe and Share.

The CROSS

The cross may be a noun, a verb, a person, a symbolism or whatever we describe it, is a relevant symbol this Holy Week.  As defined, a cross is a long piece of wood with a shorter piece across it near the top that people were once fastened to and left to die as a form of punishment, the cross on which Jesus Christ died.(Merriam Dictionary)

The cross is not just an object, it may mean something to us in a lot of ways:

Pain.  The cross we bear everyday of our lives be it physical, emotional, mental or spiritual is pain.  Whether we experienced a fatigued body from work, overworked mind of thinking or worrying, or spiritually pained of sin. Pain is a prominent cross to bear – a heart ache, a loss, a feeling of being alone and left out. But pain with a purpose is heartwarming. Jesus Christ suffered a lot of pain, but He continued to carry the cross to save us all from sins. Our responsibilities may sometimes seem to be a cross of pain for us, but that is a pain with a purpose.

Guilt. The cross we carry when we keep on sinning. We ask God for forgiveness and yet again we keep on coming back to our old self, with a lot of weight on our hearts and minds for what we have done to others and to God.

Agony. The cross of distress that we may be feeling for the need of help when troubled by daily cares, a difficult situation of not having enough of what we needed, a desperate need of somebody to bear the cross with. Jesus was helped while carrying His cross, a brief relief from agony. That is what we want in life when we are in agony, someone who will carry the cross for us.

Joy.  The cross we bear daily may be a source of happiness to someone, a blessing. Although it may seem absurd to be glad with bearing a cross, but who knows others were looking at how you handled the crosses in your life – with patience, contentment and praises to God.  Joy, that despite of all the problems in life, God is always there to carry our burdens with us.

Hope. The sacrifices we bear as we carry the cross everyday brings hope, a desire with anticipation of a better life, that pain will go away, guilt will end, agony will be over and joy will be obtained. Hope springs eternal. The cross of hope will lead us to our eternal home.

Whatever cross we bear today, believe that we can carry it through! Our crosses, our burdens were lifted at Calvary’s cross…