by Rev. Dr. Mariano C. Apilado
God is in control. That is the good news of Easter. Crucified on Friday, he is resurrected on Sunday! God has triumphed over Satan. The good has triumphed over evil. Love has triumphed over hate. Life has triumphed over death!
The story of Easter inspired the followers of Jesus Christ and transformed them from a tearful, fearful and cowardly group of 12 disciples into the Christian Church with millions of members, the biggest and most powerful religious group in the world today!
The biblical narrative in John 20: 1-18 captures the honesty in showing the good and the bad, the faithful and the unfaithful, the strong and the weak in the story of the resurrection.
The disciples make their way to the tomb. They are shocked! Expecting the decaying corpse of their friend, they instead find an empty tomb. Such a wake-up call spurs different responses in each of them.
One believes on the basis of circumstantial evidence at best. The story doesn’t tell if Peter believes or not. He simply goes home. Mary misunderstands completely and thinks someone has stolen Jesus’ body and begins again to grieve the loss.
The resurrection is God’s exclamation point to declare who He is in the world and how He acts as God. Jesus predicts these events several times throughout his earthly life. However, based on what we read in John, those who heard Jesus before evidently don’t hear Jesus now.
John’s resurrection story reveals a deliberate God who is faithful despite the reaction of people.
The Resurrection is an example of how God works. God does what He wants to do regardless of how people respond. The Resurrection is a statement that God’s will is going to be done! God will do what God will do in history – period!
The good news is that what He wills is good! God patiently works to bring me to a place of trust and faith.
Today, the resurrection means that even as dangers, difficulties, disappointments, fears and doubts may come our way, Christ’s resurrection dares to remind us that God is in control in the world.
The good news of Easter is that the resurrection boldly proclaims God’s will – nothing more, nothing less! God’s will is good!
