March 31 - Easter triumph!

Contributed by Shirley H. Showalter, president of Goshen College on Saturday March 30

Scripture

Matthew 28:1-18 - After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You must say, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Devotion

Here is an astonishing thing! The fact that God came and died in human flesh is a mystery. Easter Sunday is the day to contemplate that mystery: Christ came in the body not once, but twice! He came once to dwell among us. He came the second time so that we could look at his hands and his feet with new eyes.

The "triumph o'er his foes" we sing about is not triumph over Pilate or over those who cried "crucify him!" The triumph is ultimate, supreme - life over death, love over hate, good over evil. Only God can claim this victory.

In these perilous times when we hear our leaders pronounce the word "evil" over and over again, let us remember that evil is not all external. We cannot banish it with guns, bombs, missiles, stealth, "intelligence," money or any other form of power. As the poet W.B. Yeats said in "Easter 1916," his poem about war and violence, a "terrible beauty is born" in every death inflicted by one person or one nation over another.

But the resurrection of Jesus gives us power to believe not only that God will eventually right all the wrongs but also that the suffering we do on this side of the grave can have meaning. We can live in our own "holy temples" knowing that even if we die, now or later, we die in Christ. From this position we can become bold, fearless warriors for love, truth, justice, mercy, and peace - through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to our astonishing God!