Dear BPWCAians, Easter is always a special time of the year. To the world, it is about Easter eggs and celebrations in partying with friends. For the believer, it must be special because of its significance concerning our beloved Saviour’s resurrection. While the typical scene year after year for many in this world is about the excitement of getting up early so that they can hit the beach, or go on a road trip, or have a big Aussie breakfast, what happened some 2000 years ago on the morning of Christ’s resurrection for His followers was markedly different. Let us revisit what some of them went through and be reminded of the blessed Sunday morning when our Lord resurrected.

Our Lord greets the women. On that Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome headed to the tomb, as soon as the Sabbath was over at sunrise, with their spices to embalm their beloved Master’s body which had been in the tomb for about 39 hours by now. The big barrier for these women would not only be the Roman soldiers who had been tasked to guard the tomb, but also the very heavy stone rolled in place to cover the only entrance to the tomb. They wondered among themselves, “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre”? But our Lord had known their predicament and had already sent an angel to remove both the seasoned Roman soldiers and the heavy stone! He wanted them to see the tomb – that it was empty because He had resurrected. What love and devotion these women showed to their Master! I wonder if any of us would have woken  up so early to go to the tomb? Would we have bothered especially since the Master is already dead? O may we show more love to our Saviour knowing that He is resurrected! These women did not know. And how assuring it is to know that our Saviour considers our situations ahead of time when we seek Him and prepares the way for us to know what He wants us to learn. Seeing that the great stone has been rolled away, Mary Magdalene hurried in ahead of the other Mary and Salome, only to find Jesus’ body missing. This caused her to dash quickly back, without waiting for the other ladies, to tell Peter and John that Jesus’ body was not in the sepulchre. When Mary and Salome reached the tomb themselves, two angels in shining robes told them to go tell Jesus’ disciples, especially Peter, that He has risen. With this reminder, these ladies recalled their Lord’s Words just as He had told them in Galilee before – that He would resurrect on the third day after His crucifixion. It was when they were going back with much fear and joy that the Lord appeared to and greeted Mary and Salome with these words of “All hail”. This is the record of our risen Saviour’s first appearance after His bodily resurrection. They threw themselves down and held His feet and worshipped Him! Each time we read this, our hearts must be filled with great wonder and joy like these ladies and cause us also to worship Him afresh. I serve a Risen Saviour, He’s in the world today! But oh what kind graciousness our Saviour had to Peter who had denied Him repeatedly, despite his vow that he would never desert Him even if others did. He ensured that these ladies were instructed specifically to inform Peter. This was a great assurance to Peter that His Lord has forgiven him and wants him to know it. Does this blessed reminder also rekindle our gratefulness to our Lord, knowing we too have been forgiven of the times we failed Him so miserably? O how this must stir us to repent like Peter and never to do what we have done again, since we have been restored in mercy.

Our Lord cheers Mary Magdalene. Perhaps the most touching and convicting reminder every Easter is our Lord’s appearance to Mary Magdalene when she returned to the tomb the second time alone without knowing that Jesus had risen. Would we have returned, knowing that the tomb was empty? I always wondered why did not our Lord appear to Mary Magdalene earlier. Perhaps it is to teach us how much she loved Him and how little we love Him. She went back, hoping to just locate her beloved Master’s dead body. But we find it a chore to even go to Him in prayer, to come to church to learn about Him and serve Him, despite knowing we have a risen and living Saviour. Notice her reply to the angels who asked her why she was weeping, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him” (John 20:13), and to Jesus, whom she first thought was just a gardener tending the tomb area, “Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away” (John 20:15). She did not say “Jesus”, but “my Lord”. In her mind Jesus was permanently dead, but He was still “my” Lord. And how could she, being one woman, carry away the dead weight of the limp body of a man? Yet she said, “I will take him away”. O we know so much more than what Mary Magdalene knew at this scene, yet how much less we own our living resurrected Saviour as “my Lord”, and how much less are we willing to bear for Him. With great joy, she clung to her Lord when she recognised Him!

I pray that these blessed reminders of our Lord’s appearances and His followers’ responses at the first Easter Sunday morning will bring great joy and assurance. It should hence cause us to run to tell others about Him because we indeed serve a Risen Saviour. And like Mary Magdalene, may this blessed Easter reminder that He lives cause us to cling tightly to Him, treasuring this knowledge that Christ Jesus lives today!

Yours in our Lord’s service

Pastor