"Christ's resurrection is the switch that changes your life."
During the occupation of Holland in World War II, a Dutch pastor and his family decided to do something with their lives. They joined many other brave folk and began hiding Jews in their home to keep them safe from persecution by the Nazis. Eventually, they were discovered by the SS troops, and in the dark of one night, they heard the sound of heavy boots on the street and a frightening knock on their door.
Their "crime" had been discovered and they were arrested at gunpoint. That night they were placed in a cattle car to be taken to one of the notorious death camps. All night long they rode in heartbreaking anguish, jammed together with other prisoners. They were absolutely terrified, for they knew they were going to die.
Finally, as daylight was breaking, the train stopped. The doors of the cattle car were opened and everyone marched out. As the guards lined them up on the side of the railroad tracks, the pastor and his family looked at one another knowing they would soon be separated and led off to certain death. But in the midst of their gloom, they discovered news too good to be true, news beyond belief. Looking around in the bright morning sunlight, they realized they were not at a death camp, they were not even in Germany, but in Switzerland! During their long night of terror, one courageous person had tripped a track switch and sent the train to Switzerland and freedom. Instead of being sent to certain death, they were welcomed to new life.
This story of redemption and release is truly an Easter story, for it helps me understand what it must have been like for Jesus' family and friends when He stood among them in the light of the first Easter morning, resurrected, full of life and light.
On this special day of celebration we try to recapture that glorious feeling of Jesus' presence of light and life with colorful vestments, spring flowers and grand music. The resurrection has also been the subject of great art since the time of Jesus. I saw one of the most dramatic portrayals of this while visiting the chapel at Keble College in Oxford, England. One of my most favorite paintings hangs over the altar there, a visual presentation of those famous resurrection words of Jesus in the book of Revelation: "Behold I stand at the door and knock."
The artist, Holman Hunt, portrays Christ standing in a garden before a closed door (which clearly represents the heart of each one of us). The door has not been opened for a while, for ivy grows over it and brambles cover the sill. It is also obvious that there is no doorknob on the outer, garden side of the door. It can only be opened from within.
Christ stands at that door. With his right hand he knocks at the door, in his left hand he carries a lantern, but the centerpiece of the painting is Christ's face which is the second light in the scene. It is a tender, loving face; its radiance dominates the whole garden with its light, proclaiming the Easter message of hope, life and salvation.
"Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with you and you with me." (Rev. 3)
Along with light, the second symbol of Easter resurrection is life because Christ has conquered death. Like the experience of the Dutch pastor and his family, Christ's resurrection is the switch that changes your life, diverting you from despair to hope, from the fear of death to the expectation of eternal life.
I recently found a human-interest story which makes this point so well. A man wrote about a fascinating experience he had as a youth delivering newspapers in his hometown:
"I figured out that I could work one block faster if I cycled through the back alley, but there was one drawback. In that alley was the biggest, fiercest old black chow dog I'd ever seen. We did battle every morning when he came out charging as I rode through the alley. I soon discovered that I could lift my legs and coast out of harm's way.
One morning as the sun was rising, the enemy didn't appear. I let down my legs and began to cycle freely when all of a sudden this hairy monster leapt out of the semidarkness and bit down on my leg. You cannot imagine my initial fear and then my incredible sense of relief when I realized that old chow dog was harmless. He had no teeth!"
From that moment on, that dark alley no longer held its daily terror; the dog had lost its sting. The Apostle Paul summed it up best when he wrote:
"Death is swallowed up in victory, O death where is they victory, O death where is thy sting? Thanks be to God who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Perhaps the most poignant telling of this Easter victory of life over death comes from the life of Winston Churchill. As he did with everything else in his life, Churchill took full charge of his funeral. At the conclusion of an eloquent liturgy in St. Paul's Cathedral, Churchill requested that a bugler stand high in the dome of that grand place and play "Taps" as a closing benediction, the universal signal that the day was over and night had come.
But that was not to be the end of it, for as a saddened, tear-filled congregation rose and began to leave, they heard from the other side of that great dome a second bugler, filling the cathedral with the familiar called to "Reveille." " It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning." This was Churchill's proud Easter message to all the world; the last word is not Taps but Reveille. Death is not the end, but the beginning of new life with God in Jesus Christ.
And thank God for that!
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
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