The following homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist service Easter Sunday 4/5/26.

Scripture Reference:

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead. (John 20:1-9)

When I first said I was going to do this homily three weeks ago, I was thinking in my mind, “God, what did I sign up for?!” I had this realization that, even though the Blood of the Lamb saved me, I had never truly known the magnitude of what Jesus did. I read of the miracles, knew of the Crucifixion, and believed in the Resurrection. However, I never knew the magnitude of these things. So, in my hardheadedness to not give up, I prayed to God that he would reveal to me who Jesus is. If any of y’all decide to pray that prayer next Easter or at any time, just brace yourselves. It started in John chapter 20, but I ended up reading the prior chapters first. Here I began to realize the pain that Jesus had to endure even before he got to the cross. He was persecuted by greedy and corrupt Pharisees who were afraid of losing their earthly positions. His own disciple betrayed him and joined in the plot to arrest him. Despite the signs and the miracles that this God-sent, innocent man performed for the people, they still chose to put him to death. But above all, he could’ve saved himself when he was nailed to the cross, but he willingly died for us. And by his death, our sins were forgiven.

So, when reading John chapter 20, I noticed something interesting in the last verse. The language that was used toward the end where it says, “That he had to rise from the dead.” This caught my eye the first time that I read it. It carried a prophetical weight, that he had to rise from the dead for the prophecies to be fulfilled. But it also carried something else, something greater than the prophecies. It carried victory. God raising Jesus from the dead signified that death itself was defeated. Since he had already experienced every temptation and weakness of the flesh, it was necessary and inevitable that he would defeat the ultimate weakness, the weakness that all of us share: death. Now through this victory, when we proclaim Jesus as our Lord and savior, we may have eternal life.

As some of you know, I like to cite Paul a good bit. So, I looked beyond the readings and went to chapter 8 of Romans. Paul says here, starting at verse 1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” When Paul talks about the law of sin and death, he is referring to the Old Testament law, you know, the one that you see with all the burnt offerings that David is giving. However, it was through this law that we gained a disadvantage. Our sinful nature kept us from following the old law. We as human beings couldn’t follow it because of the control our flesh had over us. But, through Jesus’ death, the old law would be fulfilled, and now through the Resurrection, a new law is established. The new law being of the Spirit, it no longer required reliance on our own flesh and the sinful nature that followed it, but rather a reliance on faith and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I like how Paul puts it in verse 3 of Romans 8, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” Because Jesus walked the Earth in flesh, died by the flesh, and was raised up from the flesh, we are now no longer obligated to stay in sin’s grasp. Through Jesus, we walk according to the Holy Spirit. We are no longer bound to the ways of this world, but we can now follow the Spirit and chase the things that God wanted for us.

So now that we walk by the Spirit, we are given a mission. In Acts, we see Peter preaching to Cornelius and his family, who were all Gentiles wanting to hear the good news. It is here where Peter lays out the mission very well. “And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the Living and the Dead. To Him, all the prophets witness that, through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins.” I thought it was a nice detail that Peter, being Jewish, was called to bring the good news to a family of Gentiles. He wasn’t called to keep it among his own people but to spread the word of Christ’s resurrection to all people. And when he began to preach the word to them, the Holy Spirit fell on them and they started speaking in other tongues and worshipping the Lord. This is our goal as believers. This word may be helpful for us, and we may apply it to our lives, but it is also supposed to be shared. The purpose of the sacrifice that Jesus made was for all to hear and receive the gift that he is giving us. We are given the purpose of spreading his word and drawing others to him, so that they may receive him also.

One more time, I’m going to add a little bit to your reading. In Acts 10, verses 34-35, it says, “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness, is accepted by him.” God doesn’t show favoritism. He loves all of us equally. He loves us so much that he sent his own son to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. He didn’t do it for specific people, but for all, so that everyone and anyone who believes in him will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. There is nothing that you can do that can separate you from the love of God. Not even the powers of hell that come against you, day after day, can separate you from this love.

In conclusion to all of this, we now have the opportunity, through the sacrifice of Jesus, to reject our sinful nature and follow him. We have the opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit so that we may also lead others to Jesus and let them experience eternal life alongside us. To the ones here who haven’t received Jesus, it doesn’t matter where you come from, only that you start walking with him. It is a gift ready to be received. All you have to do is reach out.

Amen.

A Gift Ready To Be Received: Drake Lewis

POWERED BY SQUARESPACE