‘Happy Easter’!  We said that to a checker at a nearby grocery store.  She wished us a happy visit from the Easter bunny!  We thanked her while pointing skyward mentioning the One who is risen from the dead!  She smiled back, agreeing that that’s her hope for Easter as well.  Let’s leave aside the poor old Easter bunny.  Also, the brightly colored eggs and chocolate bunnies.  Let’s get back to the basics.  What Easter is all about.  Jesus has been crucified.  He died.  Was buried.  But then…and this is huge…He’s ALIVE!  Can be seen and heard!  Walks through locked wooden doors!  Death has been swallowed up in victory!  Victory in Jesus!

Looking at Matthew 28: 6, did you notice what the angel said to the two women at the tomb?  ‘He is not here; He has risen, just as He said’.  ‘…just as He said.’  Those four words grabbed me by the collar.  Jesus means what He says.  He’s true to His word.  What He says, we can count on.

Then should we not take Him at His word?  You better believe it!  Then, what was the angel referring to?  What had Jesus said?  Check out Matthew 16:21–‘From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.’  ‘…just as He said.’

Here’s a challenge–to put His Word into our hearts and minds.  So we can hear Him as we experience life’s ups-and-downs.  Hearing Jesus reassures us of His help just when we need it most.  Death and defeat have lost.  He is risen!  ‘…just as He said’.

We know where we can hear His Word.  We do, don’t we?  Shouldn’t we firmly embed them in our minds?  Still the greatest story ever told!  The Bible…God’s Word!  The living Word.  From God Himself.   ‘…just as He said’!

Prayer:  For your Word given to us in the Bible, Lord, we thank you.  More than that, we commit to spending more time in our Bibles.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.