There is a book named Church Humor by Judson k. Cornelius, the book has a section called ‘Epitaphs’. One of them is an inscription on the tombstone of a pastor who was a missionary to a country. Let me quote,
“Here lies Rev. AB
For many years missionary in B district,
He was accidentally shot by his native servant,
WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.”
Epitaphs are inscriptions suggested by themselves or by somebody else that are inscribed on the tombstones. Usually they have phrases of these kinds in the beginning of it …”Here lies the remains of so and so“.
The tomb of Edward 1 of England has this words ‘here is Edward 1, the hammer of the Scots’.
Benjamin Franklin’s tomb has these words,’ the body of Benjamin Franklin…lies here food for worms’, and for Voltaire it is… ’Here lies Voltaire’.
Alexander the great has this inscription,’ A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough’.
You may ask why I am quoting so many epitaphs. While the entire grave stones repeatedly say these words…. ‘Here lies, here is ‘or similar phrases like ‘rest in peace ‘, there is a tomb in the land of Palestine without an inscription on it. If at all somebody attempts to inscribe something on this tomb, definitely that would be the words of the angel, which say: he is not here, he is risen (Mathew 28: 6).
In John 20:19 we read one of the several narrations of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples after the Resurrection: When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciple had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you”.
Those who followed Jesus were ordinary men and women who were leading ordinary life. They found something extra ordinary in the life of Jesus Christ and followed him .In the case of the disciples they left everything and followed Jesus. The death and burial of Jesus brought fear in the lives of the disciples and the absence of Jesus shattered all their hopes. Now they are in a situation of despair. Every day of their life after they had decided to follow Jesus was wonderful.
They had listened to the sweet voice and teachings of the Lord and witnessed the miracles of Jesus until their master was arrested and crucified. But the week after the burial of Jesus was completely a different week from the previous ones because it began with fear and uncertainty. They had no idea what would happen to them from then onwards so they closed the doors of the room and stayed thinking they would also face the same fate that their master had received from the hands of the Jews. Unexpectedly Jesus came and stood among them and said, “peace be with you “. Jesus did not leave them alone but he came and stood among them thereby changing the first day of the week, which in the beginning was a day of uncertainty for the disciples in to a day of hope and peace. For the disciples the death of their master was the death of their hope. Their courage was dead. Their hope was dead. Their future was dead. But the appearance of the lord was a moment of regeneration. Their hope is regenerated, their courage is regenerated, and their future is regenerated.
Like these disciples sometimes the world around us becomes horrifying. Suddenly everything in our life becomes dark and dead and we are forced to lock ourselves inside our own rooms losing every hope in the presence of the lord with us .We isolate ourselves from the world in fear. But don’t ever loose hope but wait for the lord who is the resurrection, it is certain that in our problems Jesus definitely intervenes and stands among us, in our fear he offers peace, in our feeling of being abandoned his presence will be there. Resurrected Jesus changes situations instantly; the whole circumstances will be changed immediately.
Jesus does not lie in the tomb but he is alive and he is with us in our situations of fear. In Romans 8:11 we read, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his spirit that dwells in you. Jesus not only raises your bodies from the dead but also will help you resurrect from your everyday situations of despair to hope, from uncertainty to confidence, from fear to peace and from isolation to fellowship. We have our lord Jesus who had defeated the death and resurrected from the dead. Resurrection therefore brings hope of the coming of the Lord in all our everyday situations of despair and fear. Jesus that is the resurrection is able to defeat the situations that make your life dreadful.
Resurrection brings hope in everyday life. Children of God, since we have a lord who has defeated the death, resurrection from every situation is possible for us.
