On the morning of the third day, when it was still dark out, we were all dead in our sin. Our bodies had been buried in the ground with Christ; there was no hope of life. It was as if we were stuck, buried in the ground, enclosed with soil, dirt and earth on all sides. We could not move, not to the left or to the right, we were trapped. The earth had enclosed around us. The ground froze over and we were stuck in the freezing cold ground, trapped with no hope. We tried to climb up through the soil but it was no use, it was so hard to move because the ground was frozen and ice and snow had covered the ground in many thick layers. It was suffocating. Even when we got near the surface we hit the inches of thick ice and snow, it enclosed our own mortal lives. All of humanity was trapped in the depths of the earth, tangled in our own depraved imaginations. We were a long time lost; it felt like God had abandoned us, like there was no hope.
Nation warred against nation. Child after child died of hunger. Women were beaten, neglected and abused. Teenagers cut themselves and no longer wanted to live because of the devastation. Those who had food could not eat it because of the vain beauty that had been turned into idolatry. They were indeed stuck, trapped in their sin. Then something miraculous happened, something unexpected. They began to feel the earth move beneath their feet. Was it the warmth of spring coming or was something else happening? What was this glimmer of life, this hope from a distant land? They waited and watched in expectation, they could feel the tremors. From the depths of the earth, from the depths of sin and depravity, a plant began to grow. Against all odds an impossible event started to happen; new life began to rise up through the frozen ground. Life was breathed into Christ’s body. Life came to his hands and feet, to his arms and legs. His blood started to flow, his fingers began to move. God his Father breathed life back into his lungs and He began to sit up. When the entire world was in darkness, trapped and entangled in the soil, roots and weeds, Jesus began to rise. Jesus rose through the depths of our sin, through the famine, through the hatred, through our deprived beings. He was like a shoot beaming forth in the spring. He rose and grew, bigger and bigger. He began to move earth, to shake the land everywhere. He rose up through the ground, through the dead bodies and broken bones until he reached the top. He reached icy ground level that had been too thick for any human to break through; He reached the top and looked at everything that had kept us dead in our sin and said, “No more”. In one swift move, in an act of resurrection, Jesus broke through the icy ground, he came to life. But Jesus didn’t leave the dead bones in the earth, rather he breathed life into the earth so that the ice melted away, the ground was opened up and the people of the earth began to rise to life. Jesus, through his death and resurrection, opened up the ground that had kept us all captive for so long. “Get up and live” he said, “come and follow me.” After Jesus had risen from the dead, on that Easter morning, it was still cold outside, but we had seen the Son rise. Even though we humans still struggled, even though there was still war, famine, poverty, violence and hatred, we now knew that there was hope. We didn’t need to stay underground, trapped in our sin. We, too, with Jesus began to live a resurrected life where it was possible to be healed, to be transformed, and to be a people of love and hope. When all of the angels saw that the son of God had risen they started in their celebration dance. They began to blow their trumpets for they knew that hope had been born again. When God’s people heard the noise they began to join into the heavenly dance and song, saying “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia to the lamb who was slain.”
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