He Is Not Here
Easter is complicated for me.
There- I said it.
I love the hope of it, and the theology of it and I especially love the “the tomb is EMPTY” part of it.
But there are seasons where the weight of what I carry makes it hard to feel the joy and promise of the resurrection the way I think I’m supposed to feel it.
And that’s okay.
Faith is not a flat line. It’s not perpetual sunshine and certainty and perfectly timed worship music swelling in the background of your life. Faith is messy and cyclical. Sometimes you’re staring at an image of the stone in front of the tomb, wondering if anything is EVER going to move.
“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” – Matthew 28:6
Just as he said.
He told them. He told them exactly what was going to happen- and they still doubted. They still grieved, and they still showed up at that tomb with burial spices because they expected to find a body.
I find that comforting.
Comforting, because carrying doubt and grief and then having to show up anyway is a very old, very common, very human response to very hard circumstances.
Mixed with that comfort is also a measure of conviction, because it’s a reminder of the many times He has already shown up, already come through, and already proven faithful to me- even though I’m STILL showing up with burial spices.
So consider yourself in good company if Easter finds you walking a tightrope between faith and uncertainty.
And if you ARE in a season where it feels impossible to believe- if you’re stuck in the gap between the promise and the reality, and the gap is so wide that you can’t see across it, please know you are not alone. I know that gap- it’s the space where you’re not sure you have the faith to get out of bed, let alone believe in resurrection.
And I’ve been there- more than once, and more often than I want to be. I am, admittedly, still bracing for the worst. Even though I know the stone was rolled away.
So I invite you, to “come and see.”
Not “come and have all your questions answered.”
Not “come and feel a certainty you’ve never felt before.”
Just- come and see.
And let that be enough for today. Just come- and look. Let the empty tomb be what it is, even if you don’t fully understand it yet.
He is not here. He has risen- just as He said.
Happy Easter. 🙏🏽
Where are you this Easter- full of hope, somewhere in the middle, or just showing up anyway?
