What happened the day after the resurrection?
We do not know all the answers to that question, but we can be confident that Monday looked significantly different than Saturday. The resurrection of Jesus changed everything. Sunday came and Sunday went, but life was never the same again.
Jesus’s followers saw him suffer and die. They mourned his loss and feared for their own future. But God was not finished.
Friday came.
Saturday lingered.
But on Sunday the grave was empty.
Everything changed. The crowd could not silence Jesus. The government could not overcome the Christ. Death no longer had the final word. Sunday was life and joy and confusion and excitement.
Then came Monday. The day Jesus’s disciples attempted to live their normal life in a new reality. Sunday had to be wild, but Monday was some kind of normal with the excitement of the resurrection bubbling under the surface. Monday was back to normal life living in the power of the resurrection.
What happened? We do not know the details, but we know that Jesus’s followers did not stop with an experience on that first Resurrection Sunday. Jesus’s resurrection was the launching point for the church and from their his followers would turn the world upside down.
What about you? Many of you made it to church on Easter. I hope you found love, joy, hope, peace, and forgiveness. But, I also hope you found a reason to be different this week than last week. I hope that Easter was more than an excuse to dress up and eat too much. I pray this Easter changed you. I pray this Easter was a starting point for a new week, a new month, and a new life lived in the power of Christ’s resurrection.
Don’t let Easter be a once a year Sunday experience. Allow Christ’s resurrection to be the defining point of your life that changes everything.
