"Nothing" to Celebrate

 

"What's all the fuss about?" the skeptic asked.  "What are you Christians celebrating anyway?"  "Nothing," I responded, "absolutely nothing."

On November 28th we celebrate God's provisions, how He cares and provides for our needs.  It is a celebration of a full pantry.  On December 25th we celebrate God's greatest gift, His son.  It is a celebration of a manger filled with the Christ child in Bethlehem.  Easter is the season of highest celebration for the Christian.  We do not celebrate something being filled, we rejoice because of emptiness . . . the emptiness of the tomb.  The angel of the Lord proclaimed: "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come; see the place where He was lying. (Matthew 28:6 NASB)

This is the unique message of Christianity.  The founders of other world religions are enshrined in marble and granite as a tribute to their contributions to their followers.  Christians have no monuments with the remains of their founder.  They took Him from the cross and placed Him in a borrowed tomb.  Death and Hell could not keep Him, on the first Easter He burst through the powerful death grip of the tomb, defeating the powers of Satan, leaving nothing where His cold body was!

Nothing gives us power.

Sin gets a death grip on people's lives.  It defeats them and leads to spiritual death.  Though sin may defeat us, Christ defeated sin and death and He gives us power to live a productive spiritual life.  The risen Lord can transform people's lives because He can break the power of sin.

Nothing gives us hope.  They stripped Him of His clothes, beat Him, and placed a crown of thorns on His head.  They drove spikes through His flesh onto a cross made from rugged timbers.  The heat of the sun beat upon His head as they spit in His face and mocked His name.  They thrust a sword under his rib cage and pierced His heart.  They took His cold, sweaty, pale body from the cross and threw it into a cold damp tomb.  This was a dark, bleak, hopeless day.

Nothing reminds us that just because we are down, does not mean we are out.  What was in the tomb Easter Sunday?

Nothing!

Praise God, nothing!  Death could not keep Him, He arose!  And since there is "nothing" to celebrate, why not do it at the church of your choice this Easter.