Easter Means Good News

We often live in the past. We allow things that have happened to shape our lives to the degree that God’s future for us is obscured by our past. In John 20 we see Mary Magdalene, so hurt by the loss of Jesus that when He reappears she clings to Him. She longs for things to be as they were. But Jesus realizes that the resurrection means that things will never again be as they were. In fact, when the truth and power of the resurrection sinks in, the followers of Jesus will be thrilled that the past is just that – past.

Fred Craddock writes,

"...even for disciples like Mary, Easter does not return her and Jesus to the past; Easter opens up a new future. The earthly ministry is over; now the ministry of the exalted, glorified, ever-abiding Christ begins. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you’ (16:7). In fact, the one who believes will do even greater works than Jesus did, ‘because I am going to the Father’ (14:12). Therefore, Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, ‘Do not hold on to me’ (v. 17). Rather, she is to go and announce his resurrection and his ascension to the presence of God, from whose presence the Holy Spirit will come to lead, comfort, and empower the church."

The resurrection says to us, “The old is gone, the new is come.” From now on our faith builds on the past but looks to the future. God is building a Kingdom. The resurrection proves that what He started He can complete.