Luke 24:1-12

On this day we remember… we remember that on that glorious Sunday the women went to the tomb and found it empty. Angels in dazzling white like lightning appeared to them and said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

Our Lord Jesus had been tortured, crucified, had died and been buried. But on that morning as the women went to his grave to anoint his body with aromatic and soothing spices, they found that the stone to the tomb where they had seen Jesus’ dead body buried, that very stone, had been removed making it possible for them to enter that dark and cold place of death. But Jesus, Jesus they did not find!

We have no police investigations, laboratory reports, or security cameras to confirm what we remember. But with hundreds of thousands of others from throughout the centuries, we remember by faith and we believe. We believe that Jesus our Lord was not in that tomb on that glorious and amazing morning because he had been resurrected by the mighty power of God.

Jesus’ resurrection is God’s response to the cruelty of the world that crucified Jesus. It is God’s response to death. It is God’s response to our human need for salvation from all that causes us suffering, and from our sin. In faith remember! Remember that Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen indeed!

May our Risen Lord bless you and bless all of God’s creation on this Easter!

Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop
The United Methodist Church