Holy Week - Sunday
EASTER SUNDAY
He Is Risen!
Resurrection, new creation, and the victory of love
JOHN 20:1–18 / 1 CORINTHIANS 15:54–57
John 20:1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb.4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.10 Then they went home.
REFLECTION
He is risen. He is risen indeed. It was a wonderful morning of worshiping our RISEN Savior!
The resurrection of Jesus is not the happy ending to a sad story. It is the beginning of the new creation. Paul writes that Christ is the 'first fruits,' the first of a whole harvest of resurrection that will one day encompass all who are in Him. The empty tomb is not merely a miracle proving Jesus was who He claimed to be. It is the declaration that death is not the last word, that the cross was not defeat, and that the love which reached down into the grave could not be held there.
For the Wesleyan tradition, resurrection is about transformation, not merely continuation. Wesley's doctrine of sanctification teaches the possibility of entire consecration and growth in holiness is rooted in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us (Romans 8:11). We are not simply forgiven; we are being made new.
The first person Jesus revealed Himself to according to John was Mary Magdalene. Don’t forget, she was a woman once broken, now chosen to be the first herald of the resurrection. The risen Lord continues to overturn every hierarchy, to seek the overlooked, and to entrust His greatest news to the most unlikely messengers. This is the kingdom of the Servant King — and it has no end.
VOICES FROM THE TRADITION
John Wesley - Founder of Methodism (1703–1791)
"Best of all is, God is with us. The resurrection is not past — it is the present tense of the Christian life. Christ is alive. His power is available. His love is inexhaustible."
Athanasius of Alexandria - Early Church Father (c.296–373)
"Death has been swallowed up in victory. He whom death thought it held has risen, and in rising He has broken the authority of death for all who are in Him."
Charles Wesley - Hymn writer and co-founder of Methodism (1707–1788)
"Finish then thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be; let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee. Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place."
APPLICATION
Today is not the end of Holy Week, it is the beginning of everything. Write down one area of your life where you need resurrection power this week. Bring it to the risen Jesus. He meets us where we are, just as He met Mary in the garden, and calls us by name. We do not have to live in the defeat of death, nor bow to the power of sin because of what Jesus accomplished with the open and empty tomb! Ask God to release that resurrection power in your life!
TODAY'S PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You are alive. Alive! We needed You to be real, not only beautiful. We needed You to be present, not only historical. And here You are risen, reigning, and near. We receive Your life into our death, Your light into our darkness, Your future into our fear. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah. Amen.