Once I Was Blind, Now I See: Easter Sunday
On Friday, the Jewish leadership said that if they saw Jesus come down from the cross, they would believe. That is, if Jesus was delivered from the death of the cross, then they would know God approved of him. Well, it’s the third day, and Jesus has been raised from the dead. They know it. Do they believe? No. Some people don’t want to be cured of their blindness. Some people would rather live in a constant state of denial of reality than face the implications of a resurrected Jesus.
On Friday, the women viewed the cross from a distance. As they come to the tomb on the first day of the week, they have a new vision. “Seeing” language is all over the text. Looking up they see the stone rolled away (Mk 16:4). They see a young man sitting on the right side dressed in a white robe (Mk 16:5). They are invited to see where Jesus had been laid (Mk 16:6). The disciples will see Jesus in Galilee (7). These women shared the blindness of the disciples, at least in part. Now, they are invited by the young man to see, to understand, what has happened. Their hopes were crushed on Friday, but Jesus rose as he told them he would.
One of the ladies, Mary Magdalene, is focused on in Mark 16:9-11. Jesus delivered her of seven demons. She must have wondered what would happen to her since her deliverer died. Now that she sees the resurrected Jesus, she can know that the powers that once dominated her life will never do so again.
On Friday, the disciples couldn’t be seen. They forsook and denied Jesus. Jesus sends his gracious word to them. Where their sin abounded, his grace much more abounded. Peter specifically needs to know that even though he sinned greatly, Jesus still loves him and will fulfill his promise to him.
What do you see?
Jesus is risen from the dead. You affirm that. You believe it. You know it is history. But do you see the implications? It means that Jesus was right about everything. It is only in him that we have forgiveness of sins. He has shown us the way life must be lived; that to have life, we must lose it. Do you see that? Many times, like the disciples who failed him miserably, cracking during the hour of testing, we are ashamed of ourselves. To you, the resurrected Jesus tells you, “You are forgiven. My resurrection guarantees that.”Yes, he will rebuke you for your unbelief and hardness of heart. That too is his grace to you. He does so in order to restore you and set you on the right path.
I know you’ve failed, but do you see the forgiveness that is yours in the resurrected Jesus? Do you see that he has conquered all the sin, uncleanness, and even demons that dominated you in the past? See it. Believe it
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