Be at rest, thanks to Easter

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living (Psalm 116:7-9).

He has risen! He has risen indeed! Our Lord Jesus has stepped from the grave filled with life, filled with love, filled with power. He lives so that He can share these gifts with you. Through Christ, you also can be filled with life. Through Jesus, you also can be filled with love. Through God’s Son, you also can be filled with strength. That is the blessed hope of Easter. That is the confidence voiced by Psalm 116.

Life can be very difficult. There are times when money is short and hard choices have to be made. There are times when sickness or injury disrupt your plans and fill your days with worry. There are times when fear, anger and jealousy tear apart relationships and you are left feeling hurt and unloved. There are times when death steals away the people most precious to you, resulting in confusion and loneliness. When life becomes difficult it can sap your strength and steal your joy, leaving you feeling weak and helpless.

When things seem bleak and the future hopeless, it is time to remember the words of the psalmist: Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. God has been good to you, and nowhere is that more evident than on Easter. Easter is the culmination of God’s saving work undertaken on your behalf. Jesus was conceived in Mary in order for Easter to happen. Jesus was born in Bethlehem’s stable to make Easter a reality. Jesus was baptized by John and tempted by Satan to get ready for Easter. Throughout the three years of His public ministry, Jesus’ teachings and miracles all pointed towards the message of the empty tomb. Jesus suffered, died and was buried so that Easter could be celebrated as the greatest miracle of God ever performed. Every moment of Jesus’ life was dedicated to giving you the blessing of Easter.

You, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death.If life is ended forever by death, what’s the point of living? At funerals you will often hear people say things like, "as long as he lives in our hearts, he is never really gone." Thatis hardly a comforting sentiment—how many people know the name of their great, great grandfather? Does he still live on if no one remembers him? Other people try to leave their mark on the world by building things, enacting important legislation, or establishing a charity. But out of all the human beings who have ever lived, how many do you remember studying in history class? Of all the people who wanted their lives to have lasting importance, even after death, almost all have been forgotten.

If life is ended forever by death, what’s the point of living? You might as well eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die. And many do live this way—pleasure for today, with no thought of consequences tomorrow. Such lives are superficial and empty; ironically, many who live like this are so unhappy that they turn to suicide in an attempt to escape the pain of living without purpose. But the LORD has been good to you; He has given you the blessing of Easter life. Jesus is living proof that the grave does not end life forever. Christ has ended the power of death to hold us captive. Life from death—this is the gift that the Savior offers you. Jesus said, Because I live, you also will live (John 14:19). Jesus’ Easter resurrection gives us confidence that we can and will live forever, that death will not leave us forgotten, that the life we live has purpose and meaning.

But what good is life, if life is nothing but misery? Psalm 90 says, The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we spend more time causing pain than we do soothing hurts. When we get mad at others, we lash out by making fun of them. We tease people so we can get a laugh at their reaction. We sulk and whine when we don’t get our way. We blame others for our mistakes to escape punishment; we tell lies to get something we want but haven’t earned. We break promises when keeping them becomes inconvenient. Our lives are filled with pain—pain that our behavior causes, pain that our behavior invites.

But You, O LORD, have delivered…my eyes from tears. Love is what motivates Jesus. It was love that brought Him to earth to live among us. Love filled His every word as He taught what it means to be a child of God. His great love for all people led Jesus to the cross, where He endured the hellish punishment that our sins deserved. Love laid Christ in the grave, and love raised Him from it alive so that He can share His love with us forever.

The LORD has been good to you.He has given you the blessing of Easter love. His love has freed you from the guilt of your mistakes; all the hurts you have caused are washed away by the blood He shed for you on the cross. At the same time, His love frees you from living alone, wary of contact with others; the love of Christ enables you to forgive those who have brought you grief. The love of Jesus is a love that mends what was broken—it mends your broken relationships with God and with each other. And as old hurts are replaced with new bonds of love, your tears are replaced with smiles of happiness.

You, O LORD, have delivered…my feet from stumbling.No matter how hard we try to be good and loving people, we keep getting tripped up. Sometimes we have good intentions, but we fail to follow through—we overestimate our abilities or miss a deadline because we let other things distract us. Sometimes other people get in our way by making competing demands for our time or resources, or they flat out oppose us because their goals don’t agree with ours. And sometimes it seems as if nature itself is against us, when bad weather or an unexpected accident forces us to change our plans or put them on hold.

But the LORD has been good to you; He has given you the blessing of Easter power. Easter is God’s declaration of victory. By rising from the dead, Jesus proved His power over the three enemies who work to trip you up—the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature. Your sins could not keep Jesus buried—instead, your sins are buried in Jesus’ grave. The world could not keep Jesus buried—on Easter morning an angel opened the tomb to show the world that it was empty, and no matter how many lies that have been spread since then, the world has been unable to hide the truth that Christ has risen. And Satan could not keep Jesus buried—in fact, between His death and resurrection, Jesus visited hell and told Satan face to face that the forces of evil had been defeated forever.

The road through life is littered by obstacles, but the power of God can keep us from stumbling. He says, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). Paul reminds us, God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). Christ has given us access to His power. We get it from His words in the Bible. We get it through prayer. We get it at Baptism and through the Lord’s Supper. The power of Jesus is at our fingertips; all we need do is immerse ourselves in it by spending time with the Savior.

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.The goal of Christ’s work was to give us rest—rest from worrying about sin, pain and death. On Easter morning, Christ achieved His goals—He emerged from the grave victorious over sin, death and the forces of darkness. He lives to forgive us, to replace our sorrow with happiness, to give our lives meaning and help us through the rough spots with His power. Jesus rose so that you and I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living forever, sharing in the eternal life that His blood has earned for us. That is the blessing of Easter.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!